Dressage.it has the honour of hosting in its spaces and sharing with the fans of our discipline an exclusive interview, conducted by Andrea Kerssenbrock, with trainer Johann Riegler, former Chief Bereiter of the Spanish School of Vienna. The topic? His reasoned assessment of the importance of dressage. Johann Riegler currently runs the St. Lukas riding centre in the Vienna woods with his wife Eva. He wants to continue this work and continue learning as he has always loved to do. Mr Riegler regularly spends time abroad to pass on his knowledge to many international riders.
Mr. Riegler, what does dressage mean to you and why is it so important?
«What does dressage mean to me? For me dressage is the scientifically grounded development of the horse’s body which results in a horse that is stronger, more flexible, and better able to carry a rider’s weight in a balanced manner. I want to use dressage exercises to improve the horses‘ strength and flexibility and advance his training. To me, this is dressage. The movements should not be practiced just for a dressage test; rather, they are the means by which I train the horse. For me, the reverse way is the wrong way. Time and time again, I see that specific movements being practiced exactly where they should be ridden in the dressage test. So if we take the walk pirouette as an example, I must teach the horse the walk pirouette and then be able to ride it anywhere-at any place in the arena. When the horse has learned all the required movements, no matter at which level, it is of course important to practice the entire test because the movements come one after the other.This is also true for the transitions; for example, after an extended trot or in the Grand Prix test where the Canter-Trot transition is often not so easy to ride. Riding a dressage test in a show or in a performance means that I want to show the results of my training.Therefore, it is important that the horse is supple and balanced. A good competition rider will ride the movements and transitions in the test with pinpoint accuracy. Without question, this is extremely important for a dressage test in competition. Riding dressage is a lifelong pursuit and challenge which one continually tries to fulfill. One never stops learning-in part because we are dealing with other living beings who also have good days and not-so-good days».
How did you become involved with dressage and why did you choose it?
«That is a very personal question. To be honest, my riding dressage was pretty much a coincidence. I was fortunate to be asked if I wanted to work at the Spanish Riding School. For me, that was an unbelievable, almost utopian opportunity. If I had been asked if I wanted to do carriage driving or show jumping, I would have done it. The only thing that mattered to me was to work with horses. That was my dream.
As a child I had heard of Peter Lichtner-Hoyer and his horse Decisio de Nora. At the time, he was already a show jumping legend. In my imagination, I jumped as high as he did. I was lucky to end up in the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. It was an opportunity-and I took it seriously. In the beginning, I focused mainly on getting the technical aspects of riding right-sitting correctly and executing the various movements. It took a few years for me to figure out what dressage is all about. Now I know we have to study it for the rest of our lives. Only if you can feel how the horse should be you can learn to ride. The best teacher is always the horse. Of course, advice, corrections, and instructions should come from the riding instructor; and every rider deserves the best. But you have to learn to feel yourself, or else you remain a “puppet“, depending on the instructor to tell you what to do in every moment. The development of the ability to feel the horse is something each rider can only discover for himself.
For me, the first time I taught lead changes to a horse, I was able to feel how the horse must react in order for me to ride well. It is like music, even if I can play all the notes on an instrument, it doesn’t mean that I can make music. And if I have no feel for the horse, I am only a passenger.
In the past, I was often asked if I wouldn’t like to jump a bit as well. To that I can only say that I wouldn’t mind at all, but I am so busy with my work that I don’t have any time for jumping. Training a horse every day and keeping it healthy through correct training is itself a daunting task. The most important thing is always the return to the basics. After all, we don’t ride a dressage movement just to ride the movement. Riding the movement is not an end in itself. We ride the dressage movement in order to gymnasticize and develop the horse’s body. So for example, I have used canter pirouettes to improve the rideability of horses which don’t have much quality to their gaits. This doesn’t mean that they went out and won a dressage competition, but they were more comfortable to ride afterwards and they stay healthy longer thanks to this work. As another example, I don’t only practice piaffe when I have the feeling I am training a future Grand Prix horse. Rather, the piaffe is part of the gymnastic training. For example, if I teach piaffe to a horse that doesn’t yet know flying changes, the horse won’t be able to enter a level M/Fourth level competition, but the piaffe is nonetheless valuable for keeping the horse’s body healthy. This is of course true for all the other dressage movements as well».
What makes a successful rider?
«Remaining with the music analogy, one has to be able to do more than play individual tones. Just playing the tones is not enough. If I, as a rider, am riding the best horse in the world, I still can’t teach this horse to perform nine one tempi lead changes between two pirouettes from memory. This is because if I don’t actively ride the lead change, the horse will either perform the change incorrectly or not at all. I also have to give the horse correct aids for the pirouette or the horse will perform it incorrectly, turn too quickly or too slowly or lose its self-carriage. So I still have to ride even a highly talented horse. Of course I can achieve a fair amount with only a little ability to feel a well-learned technique, but something will be missing. As an accomplished rider, I have to be able to present my horse optimally in a dressage test. Here I am not talking only about Grand Prix, but every level. If I want to be a champion, I also have to give expression to the horse».
What makes a champion horse?
«In addition to expressive movement, there is also the charisma, the elasticity, and the way the horse presents itself. But even more important is not to spoil his charisma through poor riding technique. Unfortunately, this happens very often. The horses lose their individual beauty because they are turned into machines. It might still be technically correct, but it is not beautiful. It is not necessary for a horse to have perfect conformation to shine. They only start to shine through their innate charisma. That’s why I can never predict how a horse will develop-because it is also an art to maintain the charisma the young horse has from the beginning. A winning horse must be not only technically perfect but it also needs charisma».
Breeding versus training-which is more important for a promising dressage horse?
«When I look at horses which have been under saddle for a short time, the most important criteria is the canter. A good uphill canter is a must! And in trot the horse must have the natural talent to swing through its body. The movement must go through the body so that, through collection, I can bring the horse to passage. The back must swing in the piaffe. The piaffe might sometimes be even more spectacular when the back is held in tension, and I think a lot of people are impressed by this. However, for me, it’s not that valuable. When horses piaffe correctly-that means with the weight on the hind legs, swinging through their body, gently changing from foot to foot-they are not stressed. But when they only learn to stay in one place and to lift their legs, they are stressed. Then you often see them refuse during the test. That’s only because they didn’t learn it properly. A horse that learns how to piaffe properly is not stressed. Whether the upper leg then comes parallel to the ground or not – this depends on the front leg. Here breeding comes into play.
I do look at the pedigree, but it is not the first thing I look at. It is interesting for horses which have not yet been ridden – from the pedigree, I can get an idea of the horses character».
As a trainer, how can one optimize one’s relationship with the judges?
«Judges have a great responsibility because they determine the direction of the sport of dressage. It has happened often enough that spectacular, tense steps have been positively judged. That was a development which has now, thank heavens, gone away. These days beautiful, quiet, and sublime riding is rewarded. Perhaps this is also a result of the breeding. You can ride the horses more relaxed and you don’t have to make them tense in order to make them spectacular and have charisma. I would always advise judges to be present during training and to look for what the horse does well. They should see how difficult it is to train a horse. At competitions, you only see the end product. Judges can definitely become involved with training. For example, they can say how they would evaluate a movement from the judge’s point of view. Then the trainer can work with the rider to improve the movements so that a higher mark is possible. Riders, judges, and trainers should work together much more. After all, they are not in competition with each other.
Unfortunately, judges tend to look for faults. In reality, for each movement, a judge should question, “why it is not a 10“?” Especially with less well-known riders, the marks should not stay within the range between five and a half, six, and seven. Instead, high marks should be much more emphasized when something succeeds well. And of course, low marks should be given when something doesn’t go well.
Fortunately, at the moment, one can say that the judging is moving in a positive direction».
Who had the greatest influence on your riding?
«My most important teacher was Georg Wahl».
