Tactical Training for 2011 With Yogi Breisner

The team at Hooked on Horses were delighted to be invited to the Yogi Breisner’s lecture and demonstration, hosted by Brook Farm Training Centre and organised by Jill Penn, which took place last Wednesday. Here is a taster of the evening with the top tips from the top man himself, including his number one pointers for training both younger and more experienced horses. Remember to pick up the December issue of Hooked on Horses for the full report.

It was a cold evening – but luckily spectators weren’t affected as they were kept warm throughout the performance by heated lamps and surplus cups of steaming hot chocolate!

Sarah Bullimore and her advanced ride,Valentino, warming up under the guidance of Yogi

The excellent facilities at Brook Farm, based in Stapleford Abbotts, Essex, provided the perfect arena for Yogi and the demo was held in their indoor school, which on the evening was decorated with trees to mark the special occasion.

Following an introduction, Yogi delved into the lecture demo, by explaining his methods of training, sharing his wealth of knowledge with the captivated spectaors. “Horses don’t often like working too much – a bit like us humans I guess! But they are very accommodating when we do ride them, and they like to work for us.”

“Riding horses to me, is pretty straight forward, it’s only us human beings that make it more complicated than it really is,” began Yogi, going on to explain that the rationale behind training is to make the horse more ‘rideable’.

“There is the norm, the rulebook if you like, which means the same horse can be ridden by different riders yet respond correctly to the same aids. For example, you wouldn’t want to get into someone else’s car, turn the lights on and the car accelerates? Or put the indicators on and the car brakes? Or put the clutch down and the windscreen wipers come on? It’s the same with horses. Us humans wrote the rulebook, because the aids we used were what horses seemed to respond to best, it’s up to us to teach the horse the rules and this process will make the horse rideable. Remember the horse is not born with the rulebook we must teach them it,” said Yogi.

“When a partnership is built up over time – when there are more smooth passages than not- it’s something wonderful.”

To find our more about Yogi’s lecture demonstration at Brook Farm, and to see more photos and get more top advice from the man himself, please pick up a copy of the December issue of Hooked on Horses magazine.

If you were at the evening, remember to leave your comments on the evening, in the comment box below, and you never know – your comment may be included in the magazine article!