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Here are a few of Kristin's published articles...and some other pieces...

CoventryEquestrianCenter.com

Click on the underlined title to go the page of the article you would like to read:

Developing a feel for riding is a process of experience that one cannot be taught. It is acquired through riding many horses.
(This was Kristin's first published piece!)
 
 
Developing in the horse's back and neck muscles the ability to stretch down and out will help to establish this acquired natural carriage with a rider.
 
 
Yoga has begun to back up dressage riders by encouraging them to supple, strengthen, and balance their own bodies, to become better riders. But, hatha yoga and its relationship to dressage come together in many other ways.
 
 
Nature's medicines are sprouting into the horse product market: healing salves, vitamin supplements, and even natural sedatives for an uptight horse...
 
 
A rider and or trainer desires straightness for many physiological reasons, but mainly to ensure the bilateral balance in the horse. We want the horse to travel equally in both directions. Only when the horse is balanced as a result of straightness is the rider able to harness its optimum power.
 
 
Understanding basic position and realizing how the rider's body functions to influence the horse will enhance the rider's ability to learn. Originally published in 1992 in the USDF Bulletin XIX, now called The USDF Connection
 
 
Learning the flying change determines whether or not a horse advances into the collected work beyond second level.
 
 
Presence is what dressage is all about, believes Roanne Froh, and Froh's presence doing dressage is certainly worth observing. Talent for dressage encompasses this equestrian.
 
 
Dressage is good, if the goals of dressage - a harmonious calm performance - are in sync with your own. "Most horses benefit by good dressage, but not all horses will be suitable for competition..."
 
The rider's aids (the seat, legs, and hands as FEI judge Hubert Rohrer would phrase it) are what creates communication between equine and human.
 
 
Riding dressage test patterns are the determining factor as to how we progress with the horse's training....
 
 
Progressing from Training Level to First Level is a minor jump in the scale of levels to Grand Prix, although it is a major transition as Training Level prepares the horse for all dressage. First Level follows suit by setting the ground work for collection.
 
 

"At the Dressage Show"
by Kristin Hermann
 
Entering at A
Wind whispering as it swishes past your eyes
Oblivious to the ringside eyes
Piercing your being
Alas, one with your horse.
 
Saluting dressage at Saxonburg
As the day's light brightly
Caresses the equine's active limbs and
The passing breeze of forward movement
Washes your face in delight
Rhythmic and bound
Merging with the animal's striding pulse
 
The rider's still and
focused
Body is relaxed
In awe of the power his aids contain
The movement his seat absorbs
The harmony his thoughts flow with
 
Human and equine whispering
Communicative technique of body language
Back and forth
Forth and back
 
On symmetrical geographical figures
within the perimeters of
Contentedness and fulfillment
on show day we adorn ourselves
Filled with bliss
Every performance grand.
 

...However, a good lungeing horse does not have to come out of the Spanish Riding School. Often we have them already in the stable but never recognize that particular horse's special qualities. Originally published in the USDF Bulletin XIX in 1992, now called  The USDF Connection.

 

 

To operate your own small riding stable, one must be dedicated not only to horses, but to sharing the skills of horsemanship with others.
 
 
The ideal in dressage is to feel the horse carrying itself and the rider with the natural grace and fluid stride that the horse has on its own.
 
 
Extraordinary perception with our equines may not seem abnormal to the average horse owner, since we all share distinct, memorable moments with our mounts, but to claim these special relations as "extrasensory" may cause many equestrians to reconsider..
 
 

T'ai Chi Ch'uan: "groundwork" for the Equestrian

- by Kristin Hermann for the Western Pennsylvania Dressage Association Feb. 2006

Patty Swartz (formerly Wissel), was one of the founding members of our WPDA club. In 1988 she discovered Tai Chi and since 1999 has been teaching this body awareness “exercise.” Patty’s strong passion for horses with over 20 years riding and teaching has returned her to the barn with a combination of skills: Tai Chi Ch’uan: “groundwork” for the Equestrian. Recently she did a workshop at Coventry...

Living Your Riding Position - a lecture given by

Dr. George Felder on April 1st, 2004 at the WPDA General Meeting 

www.Sonador.net

George began the lecture with his history of how he started exploring ways to relax. "Being a type A person, led me to explore. It was that or go crazy. I had to learn to slow down and riding was an outlet for my intense personality. But I discovered that dressage is very humbling. Click on the title to find out what he has discovered....
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