While everyone seemed to have a lot to say about the latest dressage scandal involving the documented abuse at Helgstrand dressage, I rather felt somewhat empty.  So one of the “big fishes” has been caught doing what we all know is being done to horses, to many horses around the world, at this very moment. Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the journalists who had the guts to go through with this. But I also know that so many who are outraged now will still go and whip their horse when it doesn’t go forward. So many will applaud the winner of the race and buy the equestrian brands associated w ..read more

At the moment I’m getting private messages and also some comments on my Facebook page whenever I post about the riding-in process with my youngster Minor. Please please don’t understand this the wrong way, I absolutely LOVE that you think of us and that you offer your ideas. I really do! And please understand that I’m not writing this to complain or anything like that. I always value people sharing their thoughts, when it comes from a good place, and I can sense that all these messages do that! However, I would like to explain a bit why I will most likely stick with what I’m doing right now.&n ..read more

I’m back from Denmark and back to my normal work routine. This year’s summer academy was quite special for me: My student Meg Brauch from the US became a member of the knighthood (she passed her Squire test in spring), making her the first person to become a member from the Americas. Meg and I only met twice in real life when she invited me over to her place, the rest was done via online lessons! I also received my first golden ring after I had passed my bending of the haunches test with Minor in July. I had joined the knighthood five years ago and did not expect to be able to make this test a ..read more

Today I had one of the best days with the horses I ever had. Not because of some fancy exercises, but because of our normal, quiet daily routine and such a nice feeling between us.  I started by sorting my feeds for the horses in the “feed room” (one of the unused stalls in the stable). I brought some herb mixtures and a new mineral feed from my brief stop at a large equestrian store in Germany and wanted to check what I still had and make a new feeding plan. Somehow I always find this activity very satisfying. Then I went to the riding arena and sorted my equipment there, when Weto came ..read more

What is the school walk? Why is it useful? And how do we educate it? We distinguish between the natural walk and the schooled walk. The natural walk is a four beat. The sequence of the legs is inside hind, inside front, outside hind, outside front. You can remember “same side but not at the same time” (in German: “gleichseitig, aber nicht gleichzeitig”).  What we see in the modern sport dressage is not collected walk but amble. This means the walk gets lateralised, the lateral pairs of legs move relatively fast after each other. You can observe this very well in competitions. This means ..read more

Years ago, during breakfast, my husband said to me: why don’t you start a blog and tell people about your journey with Nazir? This was the start of this blog, Bee and the Horse, in which I formulated my ideas about horse training for the first time. Since then, a lot has happened and my life has changed in many amazing ways: I came across the Academic Art of Riding and did a lot of internships I started to teach individual lessons and give clinics I became a member of the Knighthood of the Academic Art of Riding I became a licensed Bent Branderup Trainer I joined the Online Horse Academy and ..read more

So winter is the time when I can struggle to keep up my daily training routine. The days are so short now and thick clouds darken the sky over Poland since what feels like forever. I must admit I’m not good with bad weather. I’m cold easily and I don’t like wind, although I own all kinds of warm clothes. When my student Carrie from Canada saw pictures of me during a clinic in winter, she said I totally look like a Canadian. I have learned to arrange with winter but I definitively don’t love it. Some people just don’t bother and they say there is no bad weather, only inadequate clothing. While ..read more

When teaching our horses, we have to consider their character. My horse Weto is a rather slow thinking horse and needs time to process. When I expect a too quick answer, he tends to shut down and get stressed. He also forgets things which I didn’t ask in a while. He does very well with longer sessions and repeating things often and at regular intervals. Other horses would get bored with this, but for him it’s how his stays confident and open. Minor, on the other hand, gets irritated when I repeat too often. When he already gave me the right answer, and I ask again, he first tries to offer a di ..read more

In order to feel good about ourselves or our decisions, we often justify things.  Like a choice we made to leave something or someone behind. Since I do academic art of riding, I have seen many people come and also seen quite a few go. I think that’s totally normal. I see life as a journey and sometimes we travel together and then we might go in different directions. What I noticed though is a tendency to talk badly about something or someone when people decided it’s not for them.  It’s actually the same with relationships. People split and suddenly the person whom we spent many year ..read more

In his book “The Power of Now”, Eckhart Tolle writes: “The need to be right is a form of violence.” I’m not someone who is big on sharing quotes. Just because something resonates with me doesn’t mean it resonates with you, and then it’s just some nice words which will be quickly forgotten. I felt different about this quote though. I stroke me as odd at first and I had to stop reading for a moment to think about it.  “The need to be right is a form of violence”. I had to think of my reality, of course, and of horse training and how equestrians often talk to and about each other on social m ..read more