Photos: Grace Kay, Roz Neave and derek o’leary
Young Australian dressage rider, Grace Kay put her Marcus Oldham Scholarship to good use, not only enjoying the greatest show on earth – Aachen – but also visiting two of Europe’s great trainers. The first was the German master trainer (and breeder) Wolfram Wittig… Let Grace tell the story:
It had taken the full six months after winning the Aachen challenge in December of last year for it to actually sink in that I was going to Europe. I think sitting on the plane I still wasn’t convinced that I had managed free flights to Germany and was going to be spending my time working with some of the world’s best trainers. I decided to make the most of the free flights that Marcus Oldham College had so generously sponsored and to extend my stay.
I promised my dad that I would have my 21st Birthday in Australia, however didn’t exactly mention that I planned to leave the very next day until all the flights were booked and there was no going back! So on the 25th of July with my very economically packed 20kgs of luggage (all my connecting flights were strictly 20kgs!) I was settling in for a full 23 hours of travel. I didn’t count on my flight being delayed in Abu Dhabi, missing my booked train or staying an unplanned night in Düsseldorf but hey, where’s the excitement in a perfectly executed travel plan!
Luckily for me my first stop was to be in one of the most well performed dressage barns in Germany – Wolfram Wittig’s Dressage stable where I would be working for the following two weeks.
Finally I arrived and I found myself being driven down a perfectly manicured tree-lined driveway, an elegant wood panelled indoor to my right and Mr Wittig’s retired super star performance stallion Breitling W grazing on my left. Stepping into the stables and indoor for the first time was, I’ll admit, very overwhelming. There were clients, grooms, riders, farriers and chiropractors working everywhere and amongst it all I stood rather awkwardly with my minimal German and bleary aeroplane eyes, not having a clue where to go, or, who to see.
Soon enough though I was greeted at the indoor by Mrs Wittig – Brigitte, riding her beautiful Grand Prix Gelding Brioni W (whom the Wittigs had bred by Breitling W) passaging effortlessly across the centreline. This was soon followed by a tour of the stables with head rider Catherine Mayer and the initial ‘oh-my-goodness-what-on-Earth-am-I-doing’ feeling was gradually fading, this was only helped along when I walked into the tack room and saw rows of Equipe saddles lined up! I have to say that in a foreign environment with foreign horses that it is a very nice feeling to have a saddle that I know and love!
I started to realise early on that the Wittig’s stables were not just a business where you bring in green horses and spit them back out with flying changes and a million dollar price tag, but these animals were an integral part of their life. This was made especially clear during one of our many humorous conversations when Wolfram called me over with a deep “Graaaaace Kelly” (I continuously tried to explain I was in no way royal but that didn’t seem to bother Mr Wittig in the slightest!) when he explained that as a breeder, the horses’ welfare and upbringing are incredibly important to him. According to Mr Witting, seeing each stage of these beautiful animals lives gave a sense of deep satisfaction that no amount of wheeling and dealing could ever provide. The horses should enjoy their work and have a sound frame of mind to explore their further training. This is helped a lot by producing horses who have a natural athletic ability and temperament thus enabling them to excel in this field. It was the beginning of a deep respect that continued to grow during my stay.
I rode for the first time that Monday afternoon and even though I tried to tell myself that I’ve sat on countless new horses with no issues, it was of little comfort. There’s something about riding in an arena with mirrors on three sides and a world renowned trainer by the door that made me nervous and if you can step into that environment for the first time and be totally relaxed, then I take my hat off to you!
My first ride was on Carruby a 16.1 Warmblood by Carrabus. He wasn’t all that big or flashy but he was always trying super hard, had a lovely rhythm and an incredibly cheeky face that was always searching for treats. A recurring theme that I heard during training sessions was inside leg, outside rein. There was a strong focus on riding in a forward steady contact with the shoulder in front. If there were two phrases that Brigitte and Wolfram had down pat in English it was “Inside Leg” and “Shoulder in-front!” It was different riding with slightly more emphasis on the inside leg. At home I don’t use inside leg quite as much and tend to have more of my aids based on the use of my outside leg, but I did appreciate the similar ways in which the Wittigs look to collect their horses. Using shoulder in, shoulder fore and half passes to keep the inside hind constantly active and weight bearing was very similar to the way in which I had been training with Miguel (Tavora) and seeing it in a slightly modified version was really interesting.
I slept very well that night and luckily so as the next morning I was picked up at 5:30. Tim and Lennart were the other two riders for Mr Wittig and unluckily for them, they drew the short straw to pick me up each morning! I did try and reason with them that leaving 15 minutes earlier wasn’t all that bad but they were having none of it (typical boys!). We started at 6am with horses being prepared for Ms Wittig and Catherine to ride and then for the clients. Mr Saito who owned three horses and was training with Mr Wittig for four months as well as Tomo (who came from the family who invented Tamogotchis, how groovy!) who owned two horses that were stabled there.
I would typically prepare around six horses for Catherine to ride each morning and when I had a spare few minutes it was lovely to watch her riding. One of my favourite horses she had in work (and it’s not because he was orange I swear!) was Lezard 12 (Lord Loxley x Ricca G). A handsome gelding that Isabell Werth rode successfully to Prix St George before he was purchased for a very handsome fee by the Ahorner family. Catherine had recently started the Grand Prix work with him and I hope they continue together as they were quite a sight. As things started to slow down before lunch and Catherine was through most of her horses I would normally start riding. During the two weeks I rode an assortment of different horses but they were all ridden in the same way, super responsive to the inside leg, soft but steady through the neck and always going slightly shoulder in front.
One of my favourite rides was on a young black mare Butterfly. She was incredibly pretty, had a super canter and was the most rideable young horse I had sat on. Often when training at home I find that I don’t experiment enough and I get bound by the fact that they are only 4 or 5 and I don’t want to push them too far. This little mare was five but she had established changes, she was starting tempis, had effortless half passes, had started lovely pirouette canter and it was all done in such a relaxed and happy manner that you would think she’s been doing it for years. There was never any tension (other than when we did extended canter and she threw a cheeky kick up in!) and I had so much fun playing around with her. It wasn’t just Butterfly that had started the higher level work, all the horses as soon as their paces and balance are established and they are strong enough, are steadily progressed. Unlike what you can often see in young horse classes though, with stressed and worried animals that are confused and pushed around, the horses at Wittigs were relaxed, working willingly and looked as though they were thoroughly enjoying their work. It was through this that you could really start to understand Mr Wittig’s logic behind breeding for temperament. It was a pleasure to watch and ride them.
The days were long and there were always horses to get ready, bandages to roll, bridles to clean, aisles to sweep or cobwebs to collect (to all the riders amusement Mr Wittig was rather Aracnaphobic and there were to be no cobwebs in sight, ever!) I had never worked in a large stable like this before and to be a part of the daily routine was a fantastic experience. It was certainly helped a lot by the wonderful people who worked there and made me feel very welcomed. After a two hour break over lunch the last few hours (3-6pm) were a bit more relaxed with all of Brigitte, Wolfram and the clients horses worked there was a bit more time. I would ride another horse and then start helping clean over for the afternoon. With more time on our hands though and some pretty warm days I did find myself being soaked as I passed the wash bays, having saddle soap wiped on me or being constantly asked for tips on how to play the didgeridoo!
As my stay was coming to an end Mr Wittig had one last treat lined up for me, it was a beautiful Saturday morning and both he and Mrs Wittig were riding their Grand Prix horses in the sunshine outside. He asked if I wanted to come out and watch, of course I jumped at the opportunity! Wolfram was on his Grand Prix stallion Bertoli W (another home bred Breitling W progeny), as they went through their training session it was easy to see the basics that we worked on every day formed beautifully through all the upper level work.
As Mr Wittig explained once you have an established GP horse then you mustn’t work every movement every day, some sessions on canter work, some on the trot and some sessions solely on the walk, as all the walk movements are worth double. That day was canter work and as they strode across the diagonal with 15 tempi changes I couldn’t help but smile, they collected, turned down the centreline, were super straight (all that shoulder in-front I imagine!) no hint of a change and proceeded with an incredibly balanced double pirouette. They were magnificent. This was made more so when they finished the pirouette, dropped the reins and galloped happily around the arena. Mr Wittig was beaming, Bertoli looked incredibly impressed with himself and I felt so very lucky to be watching such a sight on such a wonderful day. To watch such horsemanship and ease was a lovely reminder as to why we do this sport. It’s beautiful, it’s effortless and when the horses feel happy, relaxed and strong they are just magnificent.
Training in such a wonderful environment was an incredible opportunity. After spending just two weeks there it was easy to see how our sport should be done. The training was systematic but catered to each horse, their welfare always came first and watching the thirty horses work each day was a fantastic learning experience. I’ll be bringing back new ideas, new experiences and new friends but most importantly a new inspiration.
MEET WOLFRAM
Wolfram Wittig is one of Germany most respected, most professional trainers – for him training horses has been the journey of a lifetime.
“I started at the age of 13. I trained with a very well known man from the Spanish Riding School, Walter Biedermann, he was in Germany and I worked with him for two years. Then I trained a lot with Mr Rehbein. I had clinics with Harry Boldt, Jo Hinnemann, Jean Bemelmanns, with Klaus Balkenhol as well, because he was the German coach. The main thing is to open your mind to everything…”
Wolfram runs an extremely successful training centre, and stud, with his wife, Brigitte.
Wolfram won many Grand Prix with his homebred stallion, Breitling W before he retired him, and most recently, both Wolfram and Brigitte have been winning and placing at Grand Prix level Breitling progeny.
“I started breeding horses because I had always been interested in young horses, and especially the gaits and the movement. Then everyone was saying to me, if you try to breed, you will not have success, because it is not possible to breed your own sporthorses. And I asked myself, why not? Why shouldn’t it be possible – and now we are doing it.”
This year, Wolfram has been going well with Bertoli W, yet another product of the magic cross, Breitling over the Wittig’s foundation mare, Devisa, with placings in four Grand Prix classes, including a 2nd at Mannheim.
Aside from being a very fine trainer and competitor, Wolfram is a very funny man. In an interview with THM, he commented:
“As a rider you have a feeling but you know we get no marks for our feeling. Dressage is like a peep show, you only get points if it looks good. You get no marks for your feeling. If it looks good and you feel bad, you get high marks, and then you are successful. If your feeling is good and you get bad marks, then you are not successful, that’s it.”
The next time we visited Isabell Werth, one of Wolfram’s most famous pupils, she had a copy of the magazine on her coffee table, and she was not amused, ‘what is this Wolfram saying dressage is a peep show!’
As you will find from the story with Grace Kay, Wolfram has not lost his dry sense of humour…
More from Wolfram here: