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Quotes of Udo Bürger
"The dressage horse is allowed to stretch, chew the reins out of my hands, and abandon the flexion of the poll only when I give him permission with my seat and posture, and not when I give up the rein contact."
("Vollendete Reitkunst"; translation: T. Ritter)
"Correctly applied, the rein aid as a restraining aid should not limit the forward reach of the legs, but bring the thrust of the hind legs under the rider’s control. The rein aids, the half halts to be more precise, have to hit the flexion phase of the supporting hind leg in the rhythm of the gait and prolong it at the expense of the thrusting phase. In other words, always target just one leg and yield hesitatingly, when this leg enters its thrusting phase. During the thrusting phase, the horse is stronger and can defend himself against the half halt. When the flexion phase is prolonged at the expense of the thrusting phase, the thrust itself is curbed, and the horse steps into the half halt, as they say. The rider feels as if the horse were growing taller during the transition to the halt. The half halts must begin carefully out of a release and ebb away gradually in the rhythm of the gait, in order to avoid overfacing the muscles. For a good rider half halts that are synchronized with the gait while maintaining the rein contact are second nature. They come automatically out of a correct seat. All horses will defend themselves against mindless pulling on the reins in different ways, depending on their temperament. But all of them forego the flexion of the hind leg. Some horses increase their thrusting phase, lean onto the bit and speed up. Others rid themselves of the rein and stop somehow on the forehand, which makes the rider tip forward."
(translation: T. Ritter)
"The right moment for the calf or spur aid can be seen in the movement of the shoulders. It finds the right moment, when the shoulder on the same side is back, while the opposite shoulder is reaching forward."
(1959; translation: T. Ritter)
"The horse triggers the unilateral leg aid himself every stride, because the calf contact has to increase when the hind leg touches down on the same side, since the lateral swinging ceases and the chest now approaches the leg.
We feel the movements of the torso not only with the relaxed calves. With some practice, you can feel with your seat the movement of the hind legs as well as their position at the halt. When the right hind leg advances, when it rests at the halt, or when it does not carry weight, the right half of the croup and loin drops a little (three leg support). The rider sits therefore on a mound with the left half of his seat, while there is a depression underneath the right half of his seat.
If you concentrate in the walk, you can feel a thump in your seat on the average horse, when the hind leg touches down. During the ensuing support phase, you feel a pressure in your seat on the same side. During the increased pressure on the left side, the right side of the seat floats over the depression, and vice versa. The thump of the landing hind leg diminishes in gymnastically developed horses, so that only the alternating pressure indicates the loading of the hind leg on the same side."
(1959; translation: T. Ritter)
The so-called taking the edge off at the lunge line before each ride is a misinterpretation of what we want from the horse. It is a mechanization as opposed to training. It is a confusing liberation from human influence instead of meditation concentration on the ensuing lesson. It awakens the joy of rambunctiousness instead of leading into mental receptiveness. Taking the edge off at the lunge line is a mechanical tiring of the horse, Stensbeck's monument exercise, on the other hand, is physical and mental collection. Taking the edge off at the lunge line and lunging with an educational purpose, however, are different things."
(1959; translation: T. Ritter)
"Of course, the first lessons at the lunge line require an assistant. He leads the horse as quietly as possible, and talking to him calmly, with the rein or the cheek piece of the bridle to the envisioned circle line. Once the horse has settled in, the assistant follows him, carrying visibly a lunge whip, in order to maintain the forward motion as soon as he balks."
(1971c; translation: T. Ritter)
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