Isabell Werth






	DEU


	Master-Class with Isabell Werth - Pradar Moscow January 2006

On one of the coldest mornings recorded in Russian history, hundreds of people were hurrying to get to the Central Moscow Race Course, home of the Grand International Equestrian Club Pradar!

The opulent facility, Moscow Pradar, was founded in 2000 on the Central Moscow Race Course as a Premium Olympic Dressage school. It brought together the best Russian riders such as Elena Sidneva, Elena Kalinina, Oleg Vasil’ev, young and prospective riders with the best Russian and European trainers! It is a veritable "think tank" for serious students of dressage.


	Last year was the second year in the history of club, Pradar has organized a President's Cup Dressage Competition in Moscow. Invited to this competition were well known riders such as Anky van Grunsven, Arjen Teeuwissen, Lone Jorgensen, Kyra Krklund, Alexandra Simons and many others!

Pradar Stables




		Pradar main building (photo from www.pradar.ru)

Pradar created the opportunity for thousands of Russian horse people to see a top FEI competition, The President's Cup, and to see the Masters themselves compete! One highlight of the Pradar event is the Master-Class with Dressage stars! Last year, we had Guenter Steidel. This year we had the priviledge to see a master-class with Isabell Werth! More than one thousand people packed the indoor arena! We watched the Russian Olympic Champion, Elena Petushkova, standing together with young riders and carefully watching the training process!

The Master-Class has two parts: the first part was for those riders working at L – level dressage and the second part was for young Grand Prix riders! I can’t tell you that Isabell Werth was happy with the common level of riders and horses! She has found most of their movement very stifled! The riders kept their horses in a fixed position and did not allow them to relax and stretch. At the beginning of the sessions, all of the horses did not show all their natural abilities and did not want to move forward.

Isabell suggested starting the training session with the walk exercises! All riders first goal was to walk and relax the horses. The horses needed to walk with the long, relaxed stride to show all the best to calm down and feel the rider!

The second step was a trot practice! Isabell has advised to work with horses on lengthening and shortening - calling this exercise a spring! She was using such a simple things and showing well-known basic methods that everyone should know It turns out that not one of riders was using them! And you know, the simple basic methods work! The horses relaxed in their neck and had selected a perfect and comfortable head position and showed amazing working and extended trot!!!

All the Master-class with Isabell Werth was very easygoing. There was nothing special - no, Olympic secrets or mysticism, but a young girl within hour developed several nice tempi changes that neither she nor her horse ever done before!

Someone asked Isabell how she makes her horses ready for the show! She said that she is practicing only “spring” work like she taught in the Master-Class! And she works for the elements only before the show! At this time she also shared with us her usual way of training! Most of the time, she spends in lengthening and shortening, shoulder-in and shoulder-out and a lot of walk! She only works on particular elements for a short time! With this type of schooling dressage, the horse and rider perform all the elements correctly and new elements become very easy to introduce!


	I hope that in our next Master-Class that our young riders will show a better level of training and will remember such a simple truth that everything starts from understanding between horse and rider!