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The Spanish Riding School of Vienna

Spanish
Riding School

Books About
Training at the
Spanish Riding School

The Complete
Training of Horse
and Rider
by
Alois Podhajsky

The Spanish Riding School
Four Centuries
of Classic Horsemanship
by Hans Handler

The Rider Forms
The Horse
Udo Bürger
New Paperback
Edition Published
2003

Workbooks
from the Spanish School
by Charles Harris

Morning Training and the Stages of Training
by John D'Addamio

In this article, I will describe a Morning Training session and the stages of training that a horse goes through at the Spanish Riding School. Morning Training is open to the public 10 AM – noon on most Tuesdays – Saturdays. The School is closed most of January and July as well as for certain holidays. See the Programme tab at the Spanish Riding School website for dates before you plan a trip. There's a tab for English in the upper right hand corner if you don't read German.

The two hours of Morning Training is divided into four sections. Each section of Morning Training lasts 30 minutes and usually a group of 6 horses and riders work during the section. However, I have seen as many as 11 horses in a section. This may seem incredible especially when I tell you that the arena of the Winter Riding School is about 18 M by 55 M; slightly smaller than a standard 20 M x 60 M competition arena!

Each rider enters at a walk from the corner where M would be in a competition arena. He rides out a few meters from the corner to leave room for other horses already in the arena. The rider crosses the arena parallel to the short end and salutes the portrait of Karl VI which is in the balcony above what would be C in a competition arena. Then, the rider walks his horse for about 5 minutes to give him a chance to loosen up before the real work begins. Typically, they start the walk on a long rein and after 2 or 3 minutes, pick up the reins and do a few exercises at the walk. They work for about 20 minutes and then do a long striding walk on a long rein for the last 5 minutes to cool out and stretch the horse. At the end of the session, they line up in order of rank and seniority of the riders before dismounting. The rider gives his horse a sugar cube (or 5!) and waits for the groom. The grooms come in and put a lunge cavesson (with a lead rein) on each horse. Then, the grooms lead the horses back to the stables where they are unsaddled and groomed.

The work they do in the approximately 20 minutes depends on the horse's stage of training. There are 3 stages in a horse's training at the SRS.

The first stage is often called calm, forward, straight riding and the horse is expected to do just that! He should go freely forward in all three gaits with natural carriage whether on the bit or on a long rein. The horse is ridden forward and the corners are quite rounded. Turns and large circles are introduced during this stage. The rising trot is used and, when they introduce canter work, the horse is pushed forward in the trot until he breaks into the canter more or less on his own.

This stage may last up to two years at the Spanish Riding School including the three months of lunge work before the horse is ridden. Riders may emphasize calmness or forward movement depending on the nature of the horse. Hot natured horses are likely to go forward easily but may become nervous. A quieter natured horse may be calm but slightly lazy. So, the rider must adjust the emphasis to the horse's temperament. When the rider has the horse both calm and forward in a regular tempo, the emphasis on straightness begins. Straightness is defined as moving the shoulders slightly off the wall so that the tracks of the hind legs fall in the tracks of the forelegs.

I must say that the degree of forward motion and the freedom of the young horses' movement are impressive! The horses are far more forward than most American riders would attempt due to the mistaken belief that the horse is not ready for it. If you want to understand the physiological importance of this stage of training, I recommend the recent reprint of Udo Bürger's "The Rider Forms the Horse" which is a translation of the original 1939 German text. This stage is the foundation of the horse's future work. They do not rush it at the Spanish Riding School!

The second stage is called the Campaign School because it is what the cavalry used to require of soldiers. In this stage, the horse begins collection and lateral work. At the end of the "calm, forward, straight" stage or the beginning of the Campaign School, the sitting trot is introduced. Clear transitions are required of the horse, and corners become deeper. Then, collection and lateral work are introduced at the trot and walk. Correct halts from trot and canter are also required in this stage. In his book, Podhajsky wrote that a cavalry soldier would normally complete this stage in 2 years and that, at the School, they can complete it in less time with greater accuracy.

The third stage is the High School. Here, the emphasis is on canter work and advanced collection. The horse learns flying changes, canter lateral work, canter pirouettes, tempi changes of canter lead, and advanced collection in all three basic gaits as well as learning piaffe and passage. The double bridle is also introduced during this stage of training. This stage typically takes about 3 years at the School. Since the horses start training when they are between 3 and a half and 4 years old, a horse will usually be 8 or 9 when he is advanced enough to perform in the Quadrille, where no piaffe or tempi changes are shown, and about 10 when he is trained to the FEI's Grand Prix level and may appear in All Steps and Movements of the Classical School.

The tradition of the School is oral so there is little written about the School's training methods. The primary book on their methods is "The Complete Training of Horse and Rider" written by the late Director Col. Alois Podhajsky. Although first published in 1965, it is still in print. Secondary references would be "The Spanish Riding School: Four Centuries of Classic Horsemanship" ISBN 0070259844 - a book written by Podhajsky's successor Col. Hans Handler and Workbooks From the Spanish School ISBN 0851318452 by Charles Harris. Harris, as far as I know, is the only outside student to have completed the three year training program that the School's eleves go through. Unfortunately for us, the School has not taken outside students for 20 years or more.

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