Engaging a Program of Training For "The Greatest Harmony"
"The rider, who is the horse's partner, must submit both himself and the horse in his charge to a program of training. The aim of this training is the greatest harmony between man and horse".
"The Horseman's Duties to his Horse", German National Equestrian Federation
With this inspiration in mind I trained horses and instructed amature and professionals riders for about twenty years now. I broke and trained over three hundred horses of different breeds, age, and specialization (eventers, jumpers, dressage), competing regionally and nationally up to GP, which equipped me with a large scope of experience. Still, I keep learning from every new horse, rider or trainer who share with me a challenging opportunity. So, I figured it is an almost infinite journey. Just look how equestrianizm has evolved over the last only twenty years. USDF Instructor Certification Program established the equitation standards higher than the mount Rainier in Washington state. The way we trained riders and horses in 1970s and 1980s is very different than what we do now based on enormous information available to the equestrian community. Still, despite all these video tapes, books, seminars and clinics, the majority of the equestrian market remains highly fragmented, with local stable cultures dominating the general principles of equitation.
I trained and instructed in many stables and the State Studs in Belarus, Russia and here in US, and my observation is consistent across all stables in US. It is an overwehlming lack of accountability (is it cultural?) of a horse's rider/owner, with trainers putting all their minds and hearts to do their work and compensate for their student's lack of accountability and depth of understanding. The proof to that is how little time horsemen spent in their offices with video tapes and notebooks before or after training sesson. They in general do not bother accumulating, sorting, and processing the knowledge, they rather preffer "renting" it from their trainers for a length of the lesson time.
Antanovich Dressage offers Training Program phases design for riders of all levels from Training level through Grand Prix in dressage, show jumping and eventing.