Champ meets Clemens Dierks… Story Chris Hector Photos Roz Neave
A lesson with Clemens Dierks is a little like life, what you put in, you get out of it. Like any instructor, Clemens will only repeat himself so many times. After a dozen commands, ‘you must release when you take’ with absolutely no response from the rider save that she gets tighter, and the rein gets shorter, and the horse’s front more contracted, he tends to roll his eyes and let them do a few party tricks ("that Clemens Dierks he sent my horse mad he did, it was so upset at the end of the lesson…") With good students it is a totally different matter, the instruction becomes very subtle, multi layered, nuanced. So it was when our favourite three year old, Champ, made his way down to Julia Battams’ splendid indoor arena for a lesson with our national coach…

Samantha Bartlett is an old pal of Mr Dierks and has had many lessons with him in the past, but this is the first time with her baby.
"Let him go very loose and leave him alone, or make him go lower so he stretches and comes over the back. Try to make him look for the bit – at the moment he looks as if he is holding himself in the back. He has got a huge walk, but with such a big walk it can easily go lateral if you lose the rhythm. Don’t train the walk at this stage, see when he stretches now, the walk is absolutely correct. He makes a V with every stride, the hooves almost hit before the front one comes off the ground."
What is the sequence of the walk Sam?
"Outside…"
"No, inside front, outside hind, outside fore, inside hind. It always starts with the front leg because they push forward from the hindlegs. In all English books on horses this is wrong, in the German books it is right. I have been having this argument in Australia for 30 years now."
"The most important thing to remember is that the walk is not a training pace. Make the horse active in front of you in the walk, but do not train it. The trot is where you set the frame and get them steady."
And so it is time for Champ to trot, and now he must accept the rider’s influence:
"Generally with a young horse like this, you have to set the frame. You can set the horse into a little frame and you must not go on or out of that. From the beginning still hands, steady hands, half halt sure but no hand movement. Now make a transition to walk…"
That is right, with the transitions, eventually he will come less on the forehand. Make your transitions with a bit more push and a bit more contact, then trot on again, don't walk too much with the horse, walk is not a working pace!"
"Sometimes later in his training, you have to really concentrate on the walk, but in between transitions it is not the walk I am after, it is only the transition. Make the transition into an allowing, giving hand. Don’t make a transition while you are still arguing about where his head should be. You see riders having an argument with their horse and still they make the transition – so they make two arguments out of one."
"He is sucking back a little, give him a kick. Young horses must always step well under behind. We want rhythm, relaxation, looseness but also some contact, very steady with your hands. Teach the responses you want, don’t kick every stride, make him move by himself."
"When you see horses that go out behind, it is mostly because the rider has not developed the correct movement in the early days and the horse develops that as a habit. You do see stallions that are wide behind, out behind, but well ridden stallions are the same as a normal horse."
"Bring him back to a walk with a nice half halt. First get his attention, and then soft the transition into a giving rein. You slowed him down, then forward with your hands, slow down from behind and lift him off his forehand. If you slow down with the reins, your horse will always be on his forehand. When you slow down use a little restraining hand to bring him off his forehand, but more behind – two thirds behind to one third in front."

"Each transition means a half halt and that is what they have to learn – and the transition must come from behind. Close him up from behind, don’t pull him back in front, work on getting him engaged always. Give him a little touch up, keep him round, and transition to halt. Push him into halt and halt instantly. Trot on, but there you have to be soft, even let him walk one step, otherwise he will hop, he has to learn to go through there. Now keep him a bit shorter in the frame – it doesn’t matter if he argues when you ask him to shorten, he has to learn to go through. That’s my fault because I asked too much but it also indicates that there is a little bit of something there which you have been hiding. Analyse it and work through it, basically always keep him in front of you."
"Get him through first, a little bit deeper, through and forward – it’s called Durchalten in German, to hold and through. Ignore the little hop that is only a submission thing. If he spooks push him on, don’t worry about his head, just make him go forward, he is a baby and that is the most important lesson to learn."
"Now he looks better when you start to have him shorter. I know that is exactly what he doesn’t like, but that is what you have to improve on every day."
"The transitions, which are half halts, will get him off your hands and shift his weight to the hindquarters more. Horses are born on the forehand, that is all that dressage is about – moving them off their front end and onto their hind end."
"Nose in a bit, shorter rein, then you push him a bit uphill. I know it will be tough sometimes, but see that he gives in, not you.
Slow down, slow down, hindleg under. The earlier you work through the problems the better it will be. A little each day, not too much, just enough discipline that you are in charge. In front of your seat, strengthen the aids, then soft soft. Not too quick the aids, let him fall into trot when he gives, you give, then trot, don’t trot while you have too much in the hand. Just let him look down, then soft, and now trot. He is not ready yet to jump through the connection of the rein into a trot step, the submission is not there yet. Fiddle him through the transition, super walk. Give him a pat when he does it nice so that he knows…"
"Slow the trot down, sitting, a little slower but from behind. Hands down, push the hind legs under, then soft again, soft and forward, not faster just nicely forward. It’s timing, doing the right things at the right time. That’s a half halt. It’s not the fiddling of the hands that is a half halt - that is one there, now he comes under. You don't have to push much, just enough to keep him always in front of you. You must always go that little bit more than he offers, otherwise he sucks back."
"Every day when you work on the half halts he will come uphill. Always from inside leg to outside rein so he learns that too. Always when you come back, more activity behind, don't slow him down too much in the hind legs, bring him more together and he will get stronger."
Right now he is getting stronger in a way Clemens does not want, he has decided to spook and suck back.
"Big one! A big boot forward, the most important thing is that he stays in front. That is normal, that is not even stallion behaviour that is normal for a young horse. Just keep your hands down and get him through, he doesn't want to be nasty this horse, he just doesn't know what to do."
So we’ve got him going forward, and guess what he does?
"He’s pulling, HALT, sharp, good now on again. If he tries to pull really put him deep and halt sharp, it is just he is being forehandy and too long and out of control. If you keep his head down nothing can ever happen. There must be a mare out there or something…"
Distractions or no distractions, it is time to see his canter.
"This time, canter on and push him through, head down, keep going, now sit him back a bit. When you canter if you feel he is getting long, just walk him immediately very sharp. He needs shorter distance canter with transitions to learn. Don't let him come up, shorten the reins. Back into canter - right flexion, soft right rein then allow the canter. Outside rein has to be controlling it but he still has to be flexed right first so you can give the right rein. Let him strike off a little bit shoulder fore. Inside leg activates the canter and the inside rein allows the canter. Walk and canter from walk. He can trot one stride but it is still canter from walk that is easier for him. When I want you to trot, you canter, and when I want you to canter, you trot! Go on, go on, push him through it, there are a few little rough spots we have to go through."
"Canter, just allow him to canter, not so much with the outside leg or he will go against it and go on the wrong lead. Good, give him a pat.
Sharper when you come back so you cut out all the leaning steps. Give him a German half halt."
What’s a German half halt?
"Effective."
"In the transition to canter, don't pull on the reins. A horse never canters on the wrong lead if it is left alone. When the horse offers you have to pick up immediately, but the first step, don’t force it. Shoulder fore, soft, keep going, push, soft left rein, and walk because he is getting too long again. The German half halt is not as effective as I hoped, you need to be a bit tough here, he needs to respect the half halt. Now he comes back to halt, and sharp, immediately, and give. Now allow the canter, no need to push, just allow."
"Eventually he will not need reins, he will just come back from your seat but he must learn that he can't grab the bit and shoot off. It is just a bit of discipline."
"Shoulder fore, deeper, wait until he goes through the neck, wait until you can give, then allow. He can't canter correctly if he argues in front. Soft inside rein, outside leg goes behind but it doesn’t do so much, the inside leg activates the canter. Basically you allow it, good keep him nice and round, you are already getting control. He is a little bit weak and you have to build up strength to hold it for longer.
You have to learn to come back before he falls out of canter, or keep cantering, one or the other."
"This is just the normal learning procedure."

But Champ is still having difficulty with that canter strike off.
"Let him look down a bit, now don't use outside leg at all, and let him canter. He was correct and then he changed his mind. Don't touch him with your outside leg, the more you touch him with it the more he goes against it. Just let him find the canter, no outside leg. Any force creates a force against it. You can give him a little tap on the outside leg, that’s different but you can’t keep your leg on. You have to get him submissive enough to move off the outside leg, that is another part of schooling, but at the moment it doesn’t work like that.
Go into trot, just a nice big trot on the circle, let him look down, then don't pull, let him find his canter on his own. Their own way of cantering is basically always correct. Trot soft, it was a better transition."
"He will learn quickly, he is quite smart. Do some trot canter trot, come back to trot but more from behind, rounder, softer, pat. The mistakes don’t matter, he is learning. Soft, soft, give so he can’t hang, good. Give and take, give and take, but don’t pull. For a little baby he is going well, it is just time."
"Now a loose rein and give him a little walk, he is working hard. You have no idea how big he will grow, and he will come up in front , they grow until they are six, but with the schooling, they also develop. He could end up seventeen hands, a big stallion. A big canter like he has is good, but you have to be able to control it, to lengthen it and shorten it, and the bigger the canter, the more work it is for some horses. His canter is not the problem, it is that he makes himself longer in it and starts to pull. That’s just little baby stuff because he is not strong enough to hold it. When you pick up the reins he thinks it is a hand brake because he doesn’t go through enough yet, it will just take time."

Time for one final lesson – a little rein back.
"With rein back – take the time, never pull him back – he has to push himself back. Head stays down, hands down, take your two legs back – don’t pull, you just push against a restraining hand, so he pushes himself back off the bit. Good give him a pat. This is a very important exercise because it shows submissiveness, acceptance of the bridle and the aids. Don’t do it too much, once a day maybe, but not more because it is also a punishment."

Sam is not using spurs - would you use spurs?
"So long as they are used correctly but I prefer a whip over spurs with young horses."
"With this young horse, it doesn’t matter where his head is, that will always come down, so long as he is in front of your leg, that is the most important thing, that they really are in front of you. There is not much more we can do with a baby, just working him to get him stronger and onto the hindquarters. The horse is basically very good in all three paces, now it is just training, and I can’t speed it up. If you train well it appears to be quicker. What he needs is just basic work – rhythm – the categories that are considered in a dressage test. That is what you aim for, when it is perfect, you have a Grand Prix horse without training one. A horse like this, you can train five days a week without any problems, an athlete building muscles. For a stallion, he is very well behaved, but the next year is the most important year, you either lose him as a riding horse or you win him. You can lose him if he is not in front of your leg, or if he gets the feeling that he can get above you, so remember this one thing: the most important thing is to keep him in front of you. Remember that now and we should have many good lessons in the future…"