Anja Beran: The Crisis of Modern Riding & Using Dressage as Physiotherapy | INSIDE THE MANÈGE
In episode 3 of the Inside the Manège podcast, I join classical rider and trainer Anja Beran at her farm in Germany, Gut Rosenhof. In this episode, our conversation explores where modern riding has lost its way – and the importance of returning to training based on classical principles.
With more than thirty years of experience, Anja Beran has authored multiple books on classical training, as well as taught internationally. Having worked with a wide range of horses – from Iberians to Akhal-Tekes and warmbloods – she applies classical principles to bring out the best in horses of a vast number of breeds, conformations, and backgrounds. Her success in rehabilitating modern sport horses using dressage as a form of physiotherapy has also set her apart as a skilled trainer, and she has also even worked together with organisations such as German state-owned stud farm Marbach. Through her dedication to the art and science of classical riding, to her horses and many beloved animals, as well as to her students around the world, she has become one of the most respected classical trainers today.
Some of the topics we explore in this episode include using the Spanish walk to develop a horse gymnastically, recognizing faults in piaffe and passage due to unnatural training methods, the origins of tempi-changes and François Baucher, and influential German riders in history such as Udo Bürger and Gustav Rau, and how they have influenced riding and her own work.
What I found makes this episode especially compelling is not only Anja’s explanations of how artificial training techniques can create dysfunction in a horse’s gait and posture, but also her examples of what’s possible to achieve when you use classical principles.
If you’ve been curious about her work – this episode is one to watch; she shares her insights into the current crisis of modern riding, and the importance of returning to classical training principles.
To watch this episode with subtitles, and in additional languages, turn on closed captions for the video on YouTube and select your preferred language in settings.
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