Katharina Nowotny-Boles

2009 Region 3 Gifted Recipient, for training in 2010

Transitions, Transitions, Transitions - My Gifted Weekend with Ed Rothkranz

How many transitions can you fit into a 50 minute dressage lesson?  100, 500, 1000?   I still don't know for sure and stopped counting mid-way. As Ed says - you have to feel how many is enough. And when in doubt, do 50 more. And even though it sounds very tedious, the results were magical as the horses come on the bit "without knowing it". After transition 100 the horses start listening and chewing quietly. After transition 300 they come under in the back and up in the front. And by the time we made it to canter/walk, they are so fine-tuned to my aids, that I just have to think about the transition and it happens. And it was all so easy!!!

Katharina, Klaus, and Olympia

But let's start at the beginning: I am a typical middle-aged adult amateur with a full-time job as supply chain project manager, a house, a garden and of course my horses.  For a couple of years I have been working towards Second Level, and even though we made progress in the lessons we took, I did not feel confident that I really knew when we were "correctly" collected nor how to reliably get there.  My goal for my Gifted weekend was to develop that feel, practice movements, and learn exercises that I would be able to use at home to be successful at Second Level and beyond.  We specifically needed to work on better balance in our 10m trot circles, more powerful lengthenings and smoother canter/walk transitions. 

Ed Rothkranz
My chosen dressage instructor was Ed Rothkranz, one of the old Masters.  Ed grew up in Germany, where he competed in Grand Prix Jumping in the 1950s.  He then moved to Canada in the 1960s, and was a member of the Candian Olympic team before finally settling in Kentucky in 1980.  He told me that initially he learned a lot from the German military instructors, but over the years developed a system that is quite uniquely his own.  It suits me and my horses in that it is demanding, but never forceful or overworking the horse.  "Ein gutes Wort" (a good word, i.e. praising the horse) were frequent reminders.  Stretches and breaks kept my horses sound in mind and body.  Ed also considered the horse's frame of mind as the lesson progressed.  If the horse was tired, we practiced walk/halt.  If the horse was forward, we did something that required impulsion.  If an exercise was not going well after a few tries, we changed to another exercise and then came back to it later.

Preparation
Several weeks before my intensive 5 day weekend, I took my horses up to Ed's for one lesson each.  I wanted him to see them and tell me what I could do at home to prepare and get the most out of our time together.  That's when I first got introduced to the concept of "Kleinarbeit," which translated means "little work."  It's the kind of work that is easy on the horse, yet incredible powerful in making the horse supple and on the aids.  It consists of 3 elements:

· picking up the reins to begin the work

· 30-50 transitions in quick succession

· completely loose reins to allow the horse to relax and re-establish the swing

I practiced that for several weeks and could already tell a huge difference in my horses before I even returned to Ed's.  They were not just any transitions - when he says we work on walk halt, then it's 2 steps walk, halt, 3 steps walk, halt, 2 steps walk - you get the picture.  So on a 20 m circle we probably halt about 30 times.  Then, if this goes well, we progress to trot/walk.  Same idea - 4-5 steps trot, 2-3 steps walk.  Then we introduce some side-ways.  Then we do trot/halt and if all goes well, we do canter/walk.  That’s how far I got in my initial lessons.  Now the weekend was coming up and I was so excited to see where we would be able to go next!!!

My horses
Finally the big day arrived and I loaded my two horses Olympia, an 8 year old chestnut mare who is schooling First Level, and Klaus, my 17 year old Rhinelander gelding who is schooling Second Level, into the trailer.  They were joined by Murphy, a 10 year AQHA who belongs to a friend of mine and whom I have been riding for the last year.  It would be one more horse to learn on and also allow me to give my horses one day off without losing a lesson - they are not used to being ridden dressage 5 days in a row!

The lessons
We quickly settled in and had our first lessons that afternoon.  As the days progressed, we worked on different variations of the same theme with all the horses.  At the end of the weekend I had 4 lessons with Klaus, 4 with Olympia and 3 with Murphy. I usually had a lesson in the morning and then another one in the afternoon.  In between I was able to spend time with my horses just hanging out and enjoying a gorgeous Easter weekend.  After a long and cold winter it was wonderful to feel the sun on my skin.  I also got to see Ed teach other students and horses, which was a great learning opportunity.  One of the riders was practicing exactly the same exercise that we had worked on earlier, except she schooled flying changes rather than our simple changes.  It was really nice to see what we were preparing for, and how all the work is ultimately connected. 

Daily Warm-up
We always warmed up the horses on the double-lunge.  I had learned how to do that several years ago, and have seen so much benefit from it.  I can observe the horse that day, make sure everything looks good, and get their muscles loose before I even get on.  So, because we do that and work on long and low on the lunge, I asked Ed whether I still needed to do the warm-up walk/trot on a pretty loose rein that is so often recommended in books and articles.  Here is what he said: "If the horse has already gone down and stretched on the lunge line, then I would not ride with too loose contact.  I would ride with contact to start with.  If you did not lunge, then yes, work on down.  But he has been down, then don't waste time and mileage, get the reins and do something."

Walk/Halt/Walk transitions to get the horse listening to the aids
"Tuning up" or "Kleinarbeit," as described earlier, was often the first thing we worked on.  Typically the first exercise was Walk/Halt/Walk transitions.  Here are some key theories:

• If a horse puts its face up when you halt, then ride the last few steps shoulder-fore, just a bit sidewards.  It could be a bend in or a bend out.  Keeps hands still, no see-sawing!!!
• Don't worry about how the halts are, just do them.  Any resistance you might experience just ignore, it will go away if you do it often enough.   You can do a lot of them because it is not hard on the horse (especially for an older horse like Klaus).  Also do them with a younger horse too, but not when they are excited, then you have to let them go forward.
• "Innere Ruhe" (inner peace) of horse and rider is necessary to get good halts.  I was riding Sunday morning and there was a huge thunderstorm going through and rain was pounding on the roof - not a good day to be working on halts - and so we did not.
• We were having issues with Murphy & Olympia not wanting to stand at the initial halts, but Ed said not to worry.  "If the horse is not ready to do it, then wait and try again in a few minutes.  Don't do what you know you cannot get!" And he was right, when we did the exercise a little later in the lesson, they both were more relaxed and stood perfectly still for me.

Picking up the reins
Since the horse gets loose reins often as a reward and to keep them relaxed, we practiced picking up the reins a lot.  Ed's secret: Pick up the reins in 4 steps: inside rein, outside rein, inside rein, outside rein, for a smooth transitions without any jogging.  Don't hurry and always focus on this task, be very concentrated and deliberate, especially if a horse likes to jog (Murphy did a lot of jogging when we first got there - but I can proudly say we just came back from a schooling show and not a single jog in First Level Test 1 and 2).  According to Ed, a well schooled horse is back up in the reins in 2 strides, but for now we are happy with 4-5 strides.  And yes, you can (and should) give the reins at least 50 times in a lesson and pick them up 50 times.  It is very good practice!

Forehand turns + initial sideways in walk
I do this with all my horses for a few minutes at the beginning of the ride.  It is still considered part of the initial "Kleinarbeit" and is done using the same technique.   One approach is to bend in a few steps, then bend out a few steps as you are going along the wall.  Mix it up with some halts, backups, turn on the forehand.  Slow the movements down, and ride it one step at a time. 

Ed reminded me often that "a good bend" is half the forehand turn.  Bend until you see the inner eye.  Then during the sideways steps, take and give every step.  You take when the rider’s inside leg goes on, then give to let the inside hind leg of the horse step through.

Walk/Trot/Walk transitions
In typical QH fashion, Murphy drops the contact, comes behind the vertical, and takes too small steps in the trot.  A lot of that has to do with his initial training in Western Shank bits.  So rather than doing a lot of Walk/Halt transitions (which made him even tighter in the neck), we focused on trotting with a long neck, very slow initially. with whatever steps he offered.  Then keeping the same rhythm and feel, I would try to make the steps more active and longer.  Ed encouraged me to experiment with little half-halts, taps with the whip, and also explained the concept of "Arret."  It is a slight upward motion with one or both reins, very brief, very light.  I found it a bit confusing, so we left it with Murphy, but when I tried it with Olympia in my next lesson, she started to come up for a few strides.  Whenever I lose the horse (i.e. the nose drops behind the vertical), I drop the reins, take a deep breath and start all over.  After doing this 50 times, we actually got some minimal lengthening through the body and I felt a pleasant pull into the bridle develop for a few strides here and there.  This is an excellent exercise for both Olympia and Murphy, and certainly one I can easily continue to do at home.

Pole exercise to improve on our 10m trot circles/voltes
One of my issues with Klaus is that we lose our energy and balance in the smaller turns.   So Ed brought out a pole in a concrete block and placed it in the middle of the arena.  I was instructed to ride Klaus in an 8m walk circle with a slight shoulder fore position.  The goal was to keep the inner ear the same distance from the pole at all times.  It sounds easy, but was incredibly difficult!!!!  Especially to the left, Klaus always wanted to fall in over his inside shoulder.  We ended up bending him out a little until we could get a round volte, and then I would start positioning him in shoulder fore again.  If he started falling in again, I'd bend out.  After a few rounds he finally got the idea and started engaging and stepping with the inner hind leg.  Next we had to do the same exercises with a slight haunches in position.  After that went decently, we progressed to a trot, again in a shoulder-fore position.  It was an incredible feeling when we got our first perfectly round volte to the right!!!  And as Ed pointed out - if I can do 8m, then the 10m required at Second Level would be really easy for us. 

On the Merits of Walk Work
Ed has many years of training and riding experience and therefore a lot of stories to tell.  His favorite, which he calls a "life-changing" experience, is the following.  When Ed was still living in Canada, the winters were of course long and very cold.  So out of safety concerns, he had his 16 year old student, Pam Cowen, work a young mare throughout the winter only in walk with some halts and sideways.  Not a single trot step for 5 months!  Then in the spring Ed gets on the mare.  Walk work goes well, so he starts trotting.  Super.  Collection/Lenghtenings.  No problem.  Canter smooth and balanced.  A few half-steps - all there.  Of course it was a very talented mare, but it nevertheless made him realize how little trot/canter might actually be necessary to successfully train a horse.

Canter/Walk Transitions
Klaus and I started on this during my first visit to Rhineland Stud Farm, but now we were ready to take it to a new level.  Our walk/canter transitions are really easy, Klaus just lifts up and away we go.  But since he is 17.2 hands, 17 years old and has a long back, it is hard for him to get his hind end under for the canter/walk transitions.  We always have a few trot steps and it feels like he is just falling onto his forehand in the transition.

Ed had us making transitions every few strides on a 20m circle with a laser focus on the preparation.  I had to do tiny-half halts with my seat and hands, shorter, shorter, until Klaus had to walk.  Not once, not twice, but another 50 times.  Then suddenly, I could feel his hindquarter underneath me in a couple of transitions and Ed says "Hallelujah."  We quit for the day and walk on the outside track on loose reins until Klaus cools down.

Another exercise on another day was to ride a canter serpentine the width of the arena, i.e. 10m canter half-circle starting at one end of the arena (A or C).  Then just before crossing the center line, we had to walk, change the bend and start the new canter.  So in a 20 by 60m arena, we would do six of those half-circles with five simple canter lead changes.  At first we were still falling onto that forehand in the transitions.  But the more we practiced the same sequence in our lessons, the more Klaus started working with me, until at the end I only had to think transition and we were walking.  Repetition is indeed a miracle cure!

After every serpentine we had a complete loose rein stretch for about half a circle and then we picked up the reins again to start all over.  That short stretch did wonders to keep Klaus engaged and ready to work with me - he always knew there would be a reward at the end of the line.  Ed also told me that this exercise is in preparation for flying changes later on, and I was lucky enough to see one of his students school that exercise during my stay.

We also worked on Walk/Canter transitions with Murphy.  To the right they were nice and smooth, but to the left he would always put up his head and get very hollow.  Ed's solution was to go back a step and first make sure we could get smooth Trot/Canter transitions.  After about 20 transitions, we went back to Walk/Canter.  Much better, but I really had to focus on the proper preparation: set up the bend, make sure I keep the outside rein on, ask when the inner hind is coming forward (next is the outer hind which will strike off into the canter), ask quietly with very little leg, don't throw the reins away, don't hold them too tight and most of all: let the canter out.  But when I got it right, Murphy lifted into a smooth, collected canter and stayed with me until we transitioned back to walk.

Collection & Short/Long
Getting a horse collected is really easy according to Ed: transitions, transitions, transitions.  Walk/Halt 50 times, then Trot/Walk.  First more steps, then less steps.  Then, when the horse is up, don't hold much, just the weight of the reins.  And he was right: all of my horses had some collected moments in all of my lessons using this approach: Olympia for the shortest periods, Klaus for the longest, but the best thing was that I could feel it on all of them and when Ed would shout "there, there", I was able to make a mental snapshot for the future.

We also started working on short/long (think Akkordeon!) with all three horses, but the degree of difference in the short and long steps was adjusted depending on whom I was riding.  With Olympia he told me that as long as I could feel it, it was enough.  With Murphy we really needed to keep that neck long, so we built it up and back down very gradually and carefully.  But with Klaus we really did very crisp transitions - 5 steps short, 10 steps long - both in trot and canter - and only towards the end of the lesson when he was nicely warmed up and on the aids.  It was the most wonderful feeling when we ended up with a few trot half-steps quite by accident!

Haunches in/Travers
This was the most difficult exercise for Klaus and me as I didn't seem to be able to communicate to him what exactly I was looking for.  We usually did not get the front turned enough, or I was losing the haunches.  We tried several exercises, and finally hit upon one that allowed us to at least get a few correct steps.

The first exercise was on a square.  We first did turn on the forehand at every corner point.  No problem.  Then we tried a turn on the haunches.  No luck.  I could not get the front to move over enough.  Or we would do a couple of really nice steps and then I'd lose the haunches again.  We then moved to the wall to see if that would help, but I ran into very similar problems.  I could not figure out how to set it up correctly and it was probably the most frustrating lesson I ever had.

That night Ed called me and said that he wanted to make sure we had at least one more lesson with Klaus, so we could try out more things.  Oh no!  More disaster!  Nevertheless I showed up with Klaus the next morning and after our initial "Kleinarbeit" we tried a different approach.  I was to walk on a 20m circle and ride first haunches out a few steps, then haunches in a few steps.  Once that was smooth, we started the haunches in and then he had me try and make a smaller circle.  And that's how we finally got it.  "Hallelujah."  It was so exciting!

Half-Pass
After our struggle with Haunches in, it was very relieving that Half-Pass was so much easier for us!  We first did some Half-Pass from the center line back to the track in Walk, and then in Trot.  One mistake I made though was that I would try to correct something while already in the movement, thus actually "ruining" it.  So with Ed's guidance I would set up the movement and if he said "that's it," then I worked really hard to stay out of Klaus's way until we reached the wall.  That was probably one of the key lessons during the entire weekend - that even though I should be riding every step, that didn't mean that I had to adjust something every step.

Of course there is still plenty of room for improvement:  to the right we have too much shoulder, to the left we do not have enough shoulder.  It is of course a direct function of our joint crookedness, and certainly something I need to actively keep in mind as I practice these movements at home.  Too much shoulder means that I have to remember to keep him a little straighter with my outside rein and watch that I don't lose the haunches.  Not enough shoulder I have to make sure the shoulders are clearly leading and that I get a solid bend.  But the secret was always in the setup - if I set it up right and supported Klaus throughout the movement by being very still, we had some really good first half-passes.

Next steps
I walked away with my head spinning after these 5 intensive days, but I also made great progress with each of the horses and got a clear game plan for the immediate future.   It involved lots of transitions for all, a focus on up and out (i.e. a long neck) and more collected work, especially for Klaus.  Olympia requires a lot of forward down riding with bigger steps, as well as canter transitions and forward seat canter on big circles.  Murphy's focus will be on beginning collection and walk/canter transitions, especially to the left.  With Klaus I will need to continue riding all the exercises that Ed introduced me to, to help him get more underneath himself and strengthen him for showing him Second Level this year.

Conclusion
Several years ago Ed's wife Helga asked him to sum up in one sentence how his method differed from all the others out there.  His answer was "I give when others pull."  It was obvious during my 5 day stay that Ed truly practices what he preaches.  I am very grateful to The Dressage Foundation and the Gifted Fund that afforded me the opportunity to work with Ed and I know I will carry these lessons with me for the rest of my life.  I also want to thank my friends who helped achieve this dream: Nancy Spear, who encouraged me to apply and proofread my Gifted application; Pam Bullington, my trainer and friend, whom I stayed with; Ed & Helga Rothkranz, who were gracious hosts; Marie Llloyd, owner of Murphy; and finally my husband Mike.  THANK YOU ALL FOR MAKING THIS WEEKEND POSSIBLE!!!