Dressage, Naturally with Karen Rohlf

Creating healthy biomechanics and stronger partnerships through combining natural horsemanship principles with the art of dressage...

photo: Terri Miller

never underestimate the potential for harmony & lightness to improve in ways you cannot yet imagine

This Month:• Student feedback, and Q & A

• News, including a contest

• Atomic

• Tips on successful Gym-nastic exercise

Upcoming Clinics: Clinic schedule: CLICK HERE

October 3 Private Lessons at Temenos FieldsContact K2@dressagenaturally.net

October 4Open Format Workshop at Temenos FieldsContact K2@dressagenaturally.net

October 12-17 6 Days at Temenos FieldsFULL, closed to auditors

Novemeber 1 - 6 6 Days at Temenos FieldsFULL, closed to auditors

A U G U S T 2 0 0 9

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Welcome back to the Temenos...Temenos is an ancient Greek word. It refers to a sacred space that has no lim-its, where special rules apply and extra-ordinary events are free to occur.

Sometimes the further away you get from something, the more

clearly you can see it.~Karen

Home of:

Auditors Welcome!

FROM STUDENTS

Hi Karen,     I was wondering...  When you are training a new horse or one that you are bringing back, do you work the natural horsemanship or the dressage training first or both together?  If you work the natural horsemanship first then how do you recondition or keep you horses conditioned during this time?                    Sincerely,                                Courtney

Hi Courtney,I think it is a matter of keeping the big picture in mind, as far as the priority in training. For example, foundational issues must be in there first... the basics must come before the advanced. But the real-ity is, especially with horses that have had previous training, some-times you have to stop everything and ‘install’ the missing pieces and sometimes you don’t have to stop everything... you can continue and blend...

I think, any horse needs to be in a calm, responsive state of mind in order to do anything, so if that isn’t there, then that is the priority. Then they have to understand some ba-sic communications, and if those aren’t there they need to be ad-dressed. Things like the Respon-sibilities of the horse and human are a top priority for me.

Then, if you think about the Big Picture as I outline it in my book... you add on conversations about Relaxation, Energy and Balance in order to find a good biomechanical way of going, and then do exer-cises for Flexibility, Mobility and

Collectibility as you go along with the dressage development.

For any horse, if they have the prerequisites, you can advance... Some relatively young horses may be ready ‘ahead of schedule’ in some areas, if they are talented, and easy, Some horses that need rehabilitation may need to step back. But the more experienced you get, you will realize how to put those prerequisites in there rela-tively efficiently, and it goes pretty quickly. If it doesn’t, it is easy to be patient when you realize that taking the time to ‘go back’ is actually progress!

You can keep them conditioned by exercising them well during the positive moments. The Parelli pro-gram as it is known, remember is a people-teaching program... and people learn relatively slowly! Horses tend to get the hang of things much faster, and so it doesn’t necessarily have to be the case that a horse hangs out for years before there is enough good foundation in there to go on with their progress.

I hope this helps a little!~Karen

I was fortunate enough to be present as an auditor at Karen's clinic at the JR Foundation last month.

It was a throughly enjoyable oc-casion in so many ways. The hospitality and the venue were both excellent, as was the com-pany, both human and equine.

Karen's teaching was so inspir-ing and interesting. I have bought her book and DVDs and look forward to studying them.

What is also very remarkable is that a back condition affecting me since last winter finally be-gan to subside markedly during this clinic. I think it says a great deal for the depth of Karen's biomechanic understanding if a mere spectator can feel so re-laxed and benefitted from her presence and example.

Please could you thank her for this. With best wishes Diana H

Dear Karen,Just a line to thank you for a great clinic last week. I have had dres-sage lessons in the past from time to time and have frequently strug-gled to grasp what the instructor has been trying to get across. I of-ten got the impression that the 'school master' horse I was riding was all too familiar with the script and that I had little more than a walk-on part. When one has a young horse that doesn't know the plot, let alone the script, the need for clarity from the rider becomes paramount. In my experience you are peerless in your ability to ex-plain the concepts of dressage and to apply them appropriately to the horse and rider in front of you. I found the three days in Wiltshire to be engaging, educational and enthusing. You are an insightful and inspirational teacher of a de-manding subject. I applaud and thank you and look forward to see-ing you again next year.My best wishes,Paul. (there is a photo of Paul on pg 4 of this newsletter!)

2 copyright 2009 Temenos Fields, Inc August

OPEN FORMAT WORKSHOPS & PRIVATE LESSON OPPORTUNITIES

This fall and winter I am continuing to hold Open Format Workshops once a month. In addition, the same week-end as the Workshop I will do a pri-vate lesson day!

These workshops have been incredi-bly fun and successful the past few years, and I am happy now to also have this chance to also get some individual time with people.

As you can imagine, spaces are lim-ited, so if you are interested, or have more questions, please email Karen Jones at: K2@dressagenaturally.net. The focus will be on the material of Dressage, Naturally. Discounted package prices for signing up for mul-tiple sessions.

Auditors are welcome and encour-aged for the workshops and the pri-vate lesson days. we love to have you join, and there is opportunity for Q & A with Karen.

The Open Format is two 3-hour ses-sions, per day. You can sign up for one or two sessions/day. The time is yours, you can use it as you like, bring a couple horses! There will be no formal presentation, but each stu-dent has the chance to get feedback on exactly what they are playing with!

The schedule is as follows:October 3 - PrivatesOctober 4 - Open Format Workshop

November 21 - PrivatesNovember 22 - Open Format Workshop

December 19 - PrivatesDecember 20 Open Format Workshop

January 9 - PrivatesJanuary 10 - Open Format Workshop

February 13 - PrivatesFebruary 14 - Open Format Workshop

CONTEST!

In the 3rd DVD in the Results in Har-mony Series, there is a scene where you see a clip from a movie being played on my TV.

Can you identify the movie? If so, email me your answer... All correct answers will go into a drawing that will be held on October 1st, 2009. The winner will receive $100 credit in the DN web-shop and one free ship-ping!

NEW DVD ON TROT LENGTHENINGS

almost ready!!!

The new DVD is almost ready! It is in post production and should be avail-able for purchase at the end of this month. We will send a special notifi-cation out when it is ready, as well as a discount code for the entire web-shop, so stay tuned!!

REQUESTS FOR DVD SUBJECTS?

I have a lot of ideas for more DVDs in the Results in Harmony Series, but would love to hear from you as far as what you would like to see, to help me decide what order to make them in! Please email me at karenrohlf@dressagenaturally.net to let me know.

UK and SWITZERLAND CLINICS

I just returned from clinics in UK and Switzerland. The UK clinic was hosted by Parelli Instructor, Lyla Cansfield, and took place at Parelli Instructor James Roberts Foundation Station in Wiltshire area. Parelli in-structors Alison Jones and Sally Brett participated also. This was my second time teaching here... It was a wonder-ful group of riders and an enthusias-tic, supportive group of auditors. The facility was excellent, with home-made food being cooked by the owner, Joanna. We were truly spoiled (especially when a silver tray with yummy meringue desserts were brought out to the middle of the field where I was teaching)! I also had the treat of stay-ing with a local artist while

I was there. Judy Boyt was finishing up a larger-than-life sculpture of a bull, and I was there for the comple-tion of it! Click on her name above to see her work.

A big thank you to everyone involved in creating such a lovely experience.

Then it was on to Avenches switzer-land for a 5 day clinic hosted by Par-elli Instructor Carmen Zulauf.

I have been to Avenches I think 6 times now... So it was so nice to see the new as well as the familiar faces and all the improvement. I was so proud!

It was held at the IENA in Avenches, where Carmen is based. This is a state of the art equestrian facility that needs to be seen to be believed.

Here I learned that if you can’t find chocolate croissants, you can just take fresh rolls and put bars of choco-late inside and it is totally ok to have that for breakfast!

There are a few photos on the next page. We were lucky to have profes-sional photographer, Claire Spelling in the UK, Please visit her website for more images.

THE ANSUR SADDLE

I recently decided to become a dis-tributer of Ansur treeless saddles. I did this because I am so happy with mine, and I found myself recommend-ing it a lot, anyway! I will have some different models at my place in Florida this winter. If anyone would like to try them, or has questions, please feel free to contact me.

And remember, no saddle is perfect for every horse or rider, so I am not saying this is the only answer, but I can say that I love it! Check out the Ansur website, and of course tell them that I sent you! ;-)

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News, etc.

UK & Switzerland Clinics

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UK group

Lyla Cansfield

Victoria in Switzerland

Paul in UK

Switzerland Group

Atomic is my wild child. Perhaps you have seen the video of him playing with a huge soccer ball?

I bought him sight unseen for almost nothing as a ‘toy’ and I right away realized he is a pretty special character. He is the smallest one of mine, but he thinks of himself as top dog and is ready to fight for the position. My first attempt at catching game with him ended in about 30 sec-onds with me running out of the paddock, swatting my carrot stick behind me in self-defense. More recently I have needed to develop a technique for preventing myself from being bitten while I ride him!

But he certainly has a right to express his opinion! I have needed to learn a lot about the delicate balance between being clear in defining my boundaries and get-ting his respect... and being careful not to give him something to cause him to think he needs to defend himself. I also really needed to remember that he cannot be

trust-worthy until I trust him. Not always easy when his circling game often feels more like he has be surrounded!

But he is so smart and he is coming along beautifully now. I am at the point where I need to stop telling his ‘old story’. As much fun as it is to tell of his wild, ag-gressive beginnings, he is not that horse anymore.

My goal is to keep his spirit and his pride, but make sure he is also confi-dent and calm about our relationship.

The past 6 months have felt like he finally looked at me exhaled and said: “You know... everything is really ok!”

I think I have finally figured out what kind of leader I need to be for him.

I am sure I will share more about our progress in the future, but for now, here are some photos to enjoy.

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Atomic: A Big Horse in a Small Package

Even though I aim for the higher position as far as leadership... I still like him to feel like he is the big man on campus.

Photos: Dana Rasmussen

Some tips on Gymnastic DevelopmentI wanted to write a little about one aspect of the process of learning gymnastic exercises. There are several stages and steps involved, and if you aren’t aware of the steps, it may lead to frustration or doubt.

The main stages are:

Picture It

Prepare the Ingredients

Build the Movement

Practice the Movement

Gain the Benefit

Picture It:

Before you ask you horse, it is impor-tant to have a picture in your mind of what you are asking for! This may seem like an obvious point to make, but it is often overlooked. Even when doing basic yields, it is helpful to have a picture of the advanced maneuver you would like to do later, so you bet-ter understand the ingredients you are creating now.

Prepare the Ingredients:

Once you know what you are trying to create, you can begin to realize the necessary ingredients. For example: To do a shoulder-in, you need to be able to: yield the shoulder, influence the hind-leg, be flexible enough to bend, keep your line of focus, have self-carriage, energy and relaxation. Make sure you can talk to your horse about these ingredients in general, to a high degree of quality. If they are difficult to do by themselves under easy circumstances, it makes sense that it is not fair to expect your horse to do them well under the challenge of a more difficult movement!

Build the Movement:

Now that you know you have the in-gredients at your finger tips, you can begin to combine them to build the

movement. Staying with the shoulder-in example, you can practice transi-tioning into standing still in the shoulder-in position, taking as much time as you need to find the position, then move briskly forward out of it, and repeat, until you and your horse have gained the coordination to find it.

For lateral movements like this, I love to begin with these transitions into the position at the halt, it really gives me and my horse time to feel comfortable in it, like a shoulder-in friendly game! What I am looking for, though is that we get so good at it that we are able to establish it in a split second... that we just land in that position, and there is no delay when I ask to move out of it. I am looking for: First Step - Best Step. Since I am not asking the horse to sustain it, I don’t have to feel too guilty about being so particular. I will work hard searching with great curios-ity to figure out what i need to do to not have to work so hard to fine it!

Practice the Movement:

Now that the horse and I feel confi-dent to give the shoulder-in a try... and we know we can find it immedi-ately, then the horse is giving me permission to sustain it. (I love the general idea of only sustaining some-thing my horse already says is easy and he understands).

While I am building our stamina, I am also staying curious and making little adjustments to try to find the best sweet spot for this movement. At this stage we are increasing the number of strides we can sustain the move-ment with quality..

Gain the Benefit:

After we have spent more and more time taking quality steps of the movement, we will begin to reap the rewards! Every gymnastic exercise has a benefit and a reason for doing it. Every challenge will also develop your horse.

The benefits often must be waited for... Like making small investments in the bank; it will take a period of time before you get the big pay-off.

At this stage it is important to not only have the picture, but to understand the reason and the benefits of the ex-ercise, so you will know when you are heading in the right direction.

For example, the shoulder-in has a few benefits:

• To increase engagement

• To lighten the forehand

• To increase bend-ability

• To supple the shoulders

If you have this in mind, you can ride the shoulder-in in a way that looks for these qualities. You can go sideways on three tracks for years and only get a fraction of the benefit if you are not doing it in the way that you are searching for these qualities!

So in conclusion, take the time when you are not riding, to really think about the movements you are practic-ing. Find good examples to watch, read about the theory and reasoning behind the exercise. Then you can practice with intention.

I hope this helps! ~ Karen

6 copyright 2009 tmeneos fields, inc August

Shelby practicing her shoulder-in at a clinic at Temenos Fields.

Instructional Book / DVDs

BOOK:

Dressage Naturally... Results in Harmony: A Guide to the Basics of Dressage from a Natural Horsemanship Perspective.

A result of Karen Rohlf's combined experience as a dressage professional and her immersion in natural horsemanship, this book/DVD bridges the gap between these two worlds. The material will take every horseman on a practical and philosophical journey to create healthy biomechanics and stronger partnerships through combining principles of natu-ral horsemanship with the art of dressage.

Spiral Bound / Hard cover

184 pages

59 Exercises

Forewords by Anne Gribbons and Linda Parelli

53 Illustrations by the author

Almost 3 hours of DVD

DVDs:

Results in Harmony Series 4 DVDs so far! Subjects include: Riding in Connec-tion with the reins, Developing Mobility. & Playing with Posture I & II.

Reins

DN Reins: The best of both worlds!

These reins have the elegant look and quiet connection to the bit of a leather dressage rein, but the 'live feel' of a rope. They are hand made from qual-ity yachting line and leather.Available in 10 and 12 foot lengths

T-Shirts & Riding Pants

Organic Cotton T Shirts Available in Women’s style in Chocolate and Black

Unisex style in Black

Sonnenreiter Riding PantsON SALE! A limited number are left... Buy now before we stop carrying them!

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Visit the Web shop www.dressagenaturally.net