Classical Principles with Hubertus Schmidt

Hubertus Schmidt is not only one of the most tactful and elegant dressage riders, ever; he is also an exceptionally charming and approachable human being. I am grateful that he took time out from a very busy Aachen schedule, where he was under enormous pressure with the German team selection process still grinding along, to record this very special interview. Thankfully, Hubertus made the German team and for many dressage fans his performances in Athens with the mare, Wansuela Suerte stood out like a beacon at a time when many feel that some of the real qualities of dressage are under threat. It was an issue that was first on my mind when I talked with Hubertus at Aachen…

At the moment in the world of dressage there is a big discussion about ‘competition’ dressage and ‘classical’ dressage – we are seeing some horses winning covered with sweat and really tense – but you always seem to produce your horses in the classical way?

“ I hope so. I think it is dangerous what sometimes happens, when we see the judges prefer a horse with spectacular gaits, instead of the horse that is really through and supple. I think there is a discussion around this subject, and I hope this discussion goes in the right direction. The good thing is that this is being talked about – that is a first step. Something will change. You have to look at the whole test, not just piaffe and passage – and you don’t want to see that the whole of the time the horse is tense. That the horse is strong the whole time, not really loose… the discussion has started and I hope that will help change a few minds.”

What is distinctive about your training method that produces a horse like Wansuela Suerte, so calm, so supple, so relaxed?

“ For me it is from the beginning. I concentrate on looseness and suppleness when I start, and I don’t start trying piaffe if the basic is not okay. I think a lot of the riders train only the movements, not the whole horse. If the horse is not really supple in normal trot, then I won’t start with piaffe or passage. If I have crooked three or four times changes, I don’t start with twos or ones. A lot of riders and trainers, they only see the Grand Prix, see that they have to learn one tempis, piaffe, passage, and all these movements, and they don’t see the whole system.”

So when do you start with movements like piaffe – how old is the horse?

“ That depends. Normally I start with them when they are six. Six is the age when I start riding them myself, before that my Bereiter, or the students, work them. I don’t want to start too early with them. I start riding them when they are five or six, and in the first year they have to learn flying changes, they start with working pirouettes. At the end of six, it is like playing with piaffe. Not trying a real piaffe, just playing with little half steps, swinging through, a little forward, three four half steps, then go forward again, then three or four half steps, but not really trying to get 15 steps of piaffe on the spot.”

Do you like to start the horses yourself as three and four year olds?

“ No because I can’t ride so many horses. Often now I have ten or eleven Grand Prix to Prix St Georges horses, and I don’t want to start with a three or four year old. That’s not necessary, if you have a good Bereiter, good students. Three is too young to start with anyway, we start them when they are about to change to four. When they are four we do a little work on the basics, nothing special, maybe a few basic shows so they learn about transport and going to different places. But not much.”

“ Training starts when they are five, then you can start to collect them a little bit. Start the counter canter. At the end of five we start shoulder in, half passes, start with the flying changes. They can do that when they are six, then you need their six-year-old year to bring them up so that when they are seven they can start with St Georges. You have to start with the piaffe normally at the end of six, then they have one year in St Georges, and in that year they have to learn everything for Grand Prix, so they can start Grand Prix when they are eight. When everything works perfect, it is like that, you can start with an eight year old horse in Grand Prix, but you need a talented horse for sure, and you need a lot of experience in training.”

“ If you don’t have so much experience, it takes longer, and that doesn’t matter. But for me, I start really training with the six year olds and they learn M class, seven to St Georges, and at eight, the Grand Prix.”

Is the most important thing when they are starting out that they accept the contact without resistance?

“ That they stay loose is the most important, the most mistakes are made when the riders start to collect them. Collection is not slower or shorter, collection is more cadence, more energy behind, and that only works with a really loose back, with suppleness – and that is what they lose. We have so many super super good three and four year old horses, you see them moving at the Bundeschampionate, and it is unbelievable how many super super good horses – but how many go on to the sport later? Because most riders when they go to collect them, make them too stiff, too tense, too often it is only with the hand, that they only make the neck up, short, instead of making them lower behind. To collect them, you have to start behind, and not in front.”

When you show your horses, it is always as if there is a little loop in your reins – very soft to the hand?

“ I do that mostly with the double bridle. With the snaffle we need the contact, they have to go into the bit. But I am very loose with the curb and only use it when they are too strong. Steady on the bit is very important, if they have nothing in hand it is as bad as too hard in the hand, because then you never get them forward. You need the contact on the snaffle but I like to have them very light on the curb. Then if they get too strong, maybe after extended canter, and the half halt doesn’t come through then you can use the curb, then you have to be light again – but if they are laying on the curb you never get piaffe or passage, you only get them when they are light in the hand and loose in the back.”

So they are listening to your seat?

“ Everything comes together, you never can say you need your back, or you need your leg, or you need your hand, it is only when these three things work together that you can get a good result. But you are right in that I think pushing is more important than holding. For me you can only make a very good Grand Prix horse, from a horse that is very sensitive, but not hot, they must want to go. If you have to push so hard, then at the end of a Grand Prix, you are never going to get a good piaffe / passage tour. For an amateur, it is easier to ride a horse that is not so hot. The hot horses are mainly held in the hand, then they get a short neck, a bad back, and everything is stuck there. It is more difficult to push a hot horse than a lazy horse, but to get the nice picture as if everything goes by itself, in piaffe, passage, tempi changes, you only get that in a very sensitive horse.”

Do you think we’ll be able to keep the proper way of riding in the 21st century?

“ Yes, I think so. It’s the only way to get a nice feeling – for me riding is fun, that is very important at the end. OK, I don’t think the horses have so much ‘fun’ in training, but we have to make it as nice as possible also for the horses. The result of good training is that after a few years the horse is light and easy, not fighting, you don’t have to pull the neck between the front legs, you don’t have to always push with the whip and spurs – the result of a good training must be very light work.”