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Reitinstitut Egon von Neindorff
by Mary M. Smith

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Mary M. Smith, a dressage instructor in Florida, spent a month riding at the Reitinstitut Egon von Neindorff. This is her series of reports.

The Horses

There are horses of many breeds and types at the school, ranging in age from 5 years old, to mid-30s. The breeds include: Lipizzan (of course), Oldenburg, Wurttemburg, Polish Warmblood, Andalusian, Trakehner,Hanoverian, Standardbred, Russian Warmblood, and some crosses that no one knows the ancestry. There are roughly 60 horses there. The school has about 20 of the horses that they use for everyday school horses, and the balance of the horses are used for special performances, or are privately owned horses by either people who have their horses in training, or are regular students who themselves own horses. Other horses are trailered in by their owners for lessons, too.

Mary Smith riding learned Professor Schneeman
(Snowman) at canter in lesson

All the school horses have been excellently and thoroughly trained, and are (maybe unconsciously) divided into two groups.....beginning student horses (NOT necessarily people who are beginners, but people who are new to the school, regardless of their ability to ride), and horses who are for the regular, or long term students. The only problem with the "beginning horses" is that, like ALL school horses, they are not regularly ridden by knowledgeable riders, and even though they KNOW their job, they are a bit numb to the aids, and you have to drive them forward a bit more with the whip than I like to. Once you convince them that you will not accept having them behind the aids, however, they are willing to show you what they know (as long as you know how to ask! LOL). But THAT is as it should be!

When an aisleway was converted to a stall
by merely adding a pole across the door,
this horse gained a rare stall with an
outside window.

The only other less than ideal thing is that they (unavoidably) have to stand in their stalls for 22 to 23 hours a day, (there is no turnout available) and they are VERY stiff at the beginning of the lesson. It takes fully 15 minutes on a good day for them to work into suppleness. But they do not skimp on the hour at the school, and you get a GOOD session each time. Truly, by the end of each hour, I was really tired myself! I do not like to work so hard, but everyone at the school agrees, that if you can ride THESE horses, you can ride anything! The only problem is that you have to keep riding THESE horses to remain THIS strong and secure in your position! LOL

Continued: The People

Reitinstitut | The School | The Horses | The People
The Philosophy | The Future

Classical

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