Holly Spencer

Training with Gunnar Ostergaard

    My horse is Festina, a five-year-old Danish Warmblood mare that I bought in the late summer of 2007.  In 2008 we showed at Training and First Levels.  My regular instructor is Amy McElroy, and we both ride with Gunnar in clinics 5-6 times per year.
My goal for this week’s training was to introduce flying changes to my young mare.   We have been doing the preparatory work throughout the late fall, developing her counter canter and simple changes. 
    On the first day, I expect Gunnar will want to take look at everything we’ve been working on at home so he can plan the rest of the week’s work. At the beginning of the lesson Gunnar asks (as he always does) if there is any particular problem I want to work on.  I tell him that I’ve been struggling at home with getting Festina’s hind legs quicker and more engaged, especially in the trot.  Of course, she is ‘on fire’ today, so his comment after watching our warm up is “Her hind leg is fine, what is your problem?”  Oh, well.  He does ask me to ride her much deeper and more over her back, especially in the warm up phase.  Today this is not so easy, as she keeps trying to peek over the solid 5’ kick boards that surround the covered arena!  Some easy leg yield and shoulder in loosen her up, and then we go on to work on developing longer medium trot strides.  Her natural trot is lovely and quite big, but the engagement isn’t always there for a good lengthening.  Gunnar asks for a shoulder in for half of the long side, then to straighten (onto the track) immediately into a lengthening.  I can feel a better push with this exercise, but we still have a long way to go!
    After a walk break on the buckle, we go on to the canter.  It’s easier for me to compress and lengthen Festina’s canter than her trot; the main issue in the canter is straightness.  She has a tendency to want to fall over her inside shoulder in a turn, especially to the left, and I have a tendency to let her.  Gunnar wants to test for the changes with a standard exercise:  a 20m. half circle right from E to B, then a half diagonal to K, asking for the change near the second quarterline.  He asks me to keep her quick behind on the circle, and then ride a bit forward on the diagonal.  As we cross the centerline I’m to collect a little and ask for the change.  On the first try to the left I don’t keep her straight enough, she drifts to the left as I ask for the change; needless to say, no change happens!  We repeat the exercise without asking for a change so I can concentrate on keeping her straight and upright on the line from B to K.  Gunnar suggests moving both hands evenly to the right a little to help her stay straight on the line, which works well.  We practice the pattern several times without asking for a change, keeping the counter canter around the short side and then with a simple change on the line.  I really have to watch the tendency to fall to the left, even in the simple change.
    For the right change the pattern is reversed, and as we come onto the diagonal Festina feels very straight and balanced.  This time she does attempt the change on the aid, although it’s a little close behind.  She gets some sugar from the jar at ringside.  The lesson finishes up with a little trot work to cool down a bit, then Gunnar takes a look at our walk turns and we go for a cool-down walk around the field next to the arena.
    After my lesson I watch Gunnar ride a young horse and get a much better idea of how engaged and deep he wants a horse to be.  The horse’s hind legs really step under in a strong, definite rhythm, bringing the back up and allowing the head to come down into a deep, soft (not curled) connection.  Tomorrow I’ll try to duplicate this in my own ride.
    Next day, Gunnar worked his Grand Prix horse Monhegan in long lines, which was fascinating to me, as I haven’t had the opportunity to see much of this except as a part of starting a young horse.  The horse worked just as if he was being ridden, beginning with a forward, suppling warm up and continuing with transitions (between and within gaits) on circles and on the track.  He finished with some really nice piaffe, rhythmic and soft.   It was also fun (during a walk break) to see Monhegan hear “good boy!” and immediately look at Gunnar for his sugar.
    In my own lesson we worked on getting a more prompt response to my leg aids, particularly in canter transitions from the trot and walk.  Festina must step into the canter immediately upon feeling the aid, and for that she must be not only mentally attentive but physically engaged.  We did many canter/trot/canter transitions on a 20m circle while keeping a slight shoulder in positioning.  I can feel her becoming more balanced and much quicker to the aid.  Between canter sets we freshened her with some easy lateral trot work.  We finish up with some forward and back in trot on the circle, and a nice stretch down followed by another hack around the field.  Tomorrow Gunnar wants to work Festina in the long lines to see if she wants to piaffe, which will a help engage her hind leg in the trot. I can’t wait!
    This morning Festina is tacked up with a surcingle over the saddle and bell boots in addition to her regular polo wraps.  The long lines go through rings at the top of the surcingle, then through the bit rings (outside to inside) and back to be snapped to another set of surcingle rings about 8” below to top ones.  Gunnar explains that the lines could be snapped to lower rings if a stronger bending effect was needed.      Although Festina has been lunged with side reins quite a bit during her early training, I don’t know if she’s ever been long lined.  It will be interesting to see what she makes of it.
    Gunnar begins by working her in a circle as if lunging. At first she is very strong, but with a lot of transitions she gradually becomes softer and more engaged.   When she has relaxed a bit Gunnar moves her to the long side, walking behind her and slightly to the inside of the track.  He asks her to come back from the trot into half steps, then forward again into trot. After a few repetitions she really sits and offers some pretty nice piaffe steps!  She halts and I give her sugar after each successful effort.  She has a short walk break, the driving gear comes off and I get on.  She feels much more connected and powerful; when Gunnar has me repeat the trot to half step pattern I’m surprised at how strong my half halt has to be to bring her back.  Gunnar stays slightly behind us with the whip to help keep her hind leg active while I learn to coordinate my aids.  This is the level of collection we need to work towards, and I try to memorize the feeling without losing my focus on my horse and Gunnar’s words. 
Later in the day I watch Gunnar ride a seven-year-old Danish gelding that he has in training.  It was easy to see the thoroughness and power in this horse; he shows lovely, fluid lateral work and strong passage steps, staying supple and balanced throughout the ride.
   Gunnar has the flu today, but Birgit has offered to keep an eye on us while she rides one of her horses.  We warm up in the field (I don’t want to interrupt the lesson Birgit is teaching in the covered); Festina is nicely forward and seems to be happy in the deeper frame we’ve been working on.  When we go inside the energy is still there but I have trouble keeping her as deep and supple as Birgit would like.  Sometimes when working with a new instructor I listen so hard that I forget to ride; today it seems to take forever to follow even the clearest suggestion.  Birgit, thank goodness, is very patient with me.  After about fifteen minutes work, the three of us riding in the covered stop and walk while a very green three year old gelding is brought in and ridden by one of the working students, and then by his owner.  When I pick her up again, Festina is much looser, and we go on to ride through a little shoulder in and half pass, always thinking about keeping her really stepping under and supple.  I tend to get too much neck bend in the long, shallow half passes, and Birgit suggests an exercise to help with this.  Rather than turning onto the centerline and half passing back to the track, we are to turn onto the second quarter line, gently change the bend, and half pass to the nearer long side.  Riding this pattern gives us much better balance in the half pass, which needless to say, also does away with the exaggerated neck bend. 
    Today Gunnar wants one of the working students make a video of Festina to send to her breeders, who are old friends of his in Denmark (Karen and Andreas Seemann).  So, no pressure!  Fortunately, Festina warms up really well; we do many trot/canter transitions until she is really forward and supple. Going on to trot work, we go on the track and come from a strong trot to short steps and back out.  I can feel her really start to ‘sit’ when I ask her to collect for a few steps.  We do the same exercise in canter on a circle; she does it easily and happily.
         In a few minutes, Gunnar asks me to bring her over and halt in front of him.  For a moment I wonder if he’s seen a problem, then he leans forward and plants a kiss on Festina’s nose!  Apparently Karen made him promise to kiss Festina when he saw her!  With the video session over (thank goodness) we take another look at the changes. Her canter feels so big and lofty with much more suspension than at the beginning of the week.  It’s easy to feel when to ask for the change, although I still need to keep her straighter so the change can come through.  Gunnar says not to worry, the changes are there; but I must concentrate on always keeping her straight so that the clean change is easy for her.  He has some exercises to help me: the first is the one we did in Monday’s lesson; another is to ride a serpentine of multiple loops with what Gunnar calls ‘small turns’ (almost quarter pirouettes) coming off of the track, riding absolutely straight (parallel to the short side) with a change through the walk or trot over the center line and another ‘small turn’ back onto the long side.  These are things I can do at home to improve the changes even when I have no one to watch from the ground. 
    The notes and thoughts about the daily training sessions were written as soon as I returned from Florida, but I have waited a few weeks to write this summary of my training time.  While my personal goal (to introduce my mare to flying changes) was certainly met, since returning home I’ve realized that something much more important happened in that week of training. 
          Five solid days of watching truly forward, engaged, supple horses at all stages of training gave me a much more thorough understanding of those basic and necessary elements.  Riding in an uninterrupted series of lessons and struggling to produce work of that same quality brought home to me how important it is to do correct work on a daily basis, so that it becomes habit and the normal way to ride and train.
         These are concepts that I would have said I understood, but this training session gave me a new realization of what they really mean in practical, applied daily training.  It was great fun to find that Festina has talent for the changes, but gaining a better understanding of the training basics was the most rewarding result of the week.

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