Dressage Horses

Article from Phryso International

Alex van Silfhout: "Even a difficult Friesian is an easy horse for an amateur"

By Claartje van Andel

Before you know it, you're engrossed in an animated conversation when you start talking to dressage rider and trainer Alex van Silfhout (43). For us, it was a conversation about training all kinds of horses, about Friesian horses and about dressage. He's been riding horses of all types and breeds and takes them all on. "Any horse that wants to co-operate can be trained to become a dressage horse. It's their character that determines at least 60 to 70% of their chances of success", he says emphatically. And this is definitely the case with the Friesian horse, because there's no other horse more willing to work than the Friesian. "Even a difficult Friesian is an easy horse for an amateur".

The most remarkable thing about Alex van Silfhout is that he feels comfortable with any kind of horse. Give him a horse and he'll make something of it, regardless of breed, colour or size. "Actually", he says, "that has a lot to do with my former employer, De Nieuwe Heuvel. They had all kinds of breeds there - all sizes and shapes. It really teaches you to consider what you're doing. After all, with horses, you can't always assume that one and one is going to equal two! "

By working with so many breeds and types, Alex van Silfhout learned to appreciate each kind. He starts with the Friesian. "I don't even have to think twice to describe them. What makes them so unique is their character. Friesians are reliable, friendly horses."

Van Silfhout successfully trained Amora (Theoloog x Hoogheid), originally bred as a harness horse, for the Grand Prix. With his new rider, Oded Shimoni, this horse took part in such events as the world championship dressage competition in Rome. According to Van Silfhout, 'Amora might be a bit less elegant than the average dressage horse, but that horse displayed such a will to work under the saddle. It was fantastic. He almost broke his neck in the pirouettes, but he kept on trying. Every time, he wanted to do more for you. That's what made me realise that what a horse ultimately learns may depend about 60 to 70% on his character and will to work, and much less on his physical abilities. The repeated acceptance of having to engage, as physically difficult as that might be for a horse, is what reveals his character. "

De Saint Urus d'Olympe, a Grand Prix stud stallion he bought last year was a hot blood - a touchy horse displaying fantastic light footedness and an absolutely gorgeous appearance. "That kind of horse has its appeal, too", he continues. "Thoroughbreds are very sensitive, and this characteristic can cause you problems. Nevertheless, once a sensitive horse is working for you, this offers a lot of advantages. It looks as if everything is just flowing along automatically, and that's exactly what dressage is all about."
In regard to temperament, the warm blood is between the Friesian and the thoroughbred. By warm blood, we are referring to a KWPN horse or German bred. "I can sum up my opinion about that in a few words", says Van Silfhout, "The modem sporting horse breeders are displaying a lot of talent in developing horses with good conformation and character. More and more horses are better suited to their use: sport. Their genius lies in developing both the horse's physical characteristics and his character"

No preference
What makes all horses alike is that a horse never forgets what has been well established during his training. Alex van Silfhout has sold several horses abroad, including the United States. He goes to visit a couple of times a year to help the new owners. That's when he notices that particular trait common to all horses: "It's so unique. Whatever those horses have learned, they don't forget. You get on, and it's just a few minutes of hesitation before they do everything just as before - as if you've just taught them the whole thing the day before. What they know, they know forever. Once established in his brain, the horse never forgets. "

Actually, Alex van Silfhout can't really express a personal preference for any type or breed. "Horses that do a good job will always have an advantage. That's just the way it is. When that happens, I don't care what breed or type it is. "

Van Silfhout returns to the Friesian horse again. He says it's becoming increasingly more of a riding horse. The modem Friesian horse is not as heavy which makes it look less old-fashioned. "It seems as if the Friesian is becoming a bit more hot-blooded? They're less heavy in the bones, have prettier heads, and all of them want to get going. The concept of the lazy Friesian is gone. Their movements are also more typical of a riding horse. These days, most Friesians are very good at the trot. Their walk has improved immensely. Only the canter still needs improvement. That's a sticking point for many critics. "

The psychology behind the flying change of lead
Now this last point about the canter is not a problem limited to Friesian horses.

This is a problem for every warm blood, and this is actually more of a problem for the rider who doesn't know how to start teaching the flying change. Actually, the problem associated with the flying change comes down to a difficulty in the psychology of switching leads.

Alex van Silfhout explains. "A rider mounted on a Dutch warm blood has it a bit easier here. Look, if you're a little handy about it and you're riding a Dutch warm blood in a line (a half-diagonal or a full diagonal), seven out of the ten horses will make the switch. You just have to be a bit careful in how you do it, with your forehand a little towards the outside and then assisted with your outside leg, and bingo. As a kind of a shock reaction from the rider's outside leg, they make the switch, away from the outside leg. OK they make the change of lead, you give them a big reward, you do it carefully another few times, and they have it."

But that's with a Dutch warm blood. With a Friesian, it doesn't work that way. Typically, it's almost always the same with Friesians, notes Van Silfhout. "To start with, you have a hard time in the canter anyway. It's a real trick to get a Friesian into the canter on the inside leg. With a Friesian, if you start by bringing your forehand out and assisting with your outside leg, what does the horse do? He shies at the outside leg and jumps not as a warm blood would do: away from the outside leg - but does the opposite and pushes against that outside leg (against instead of away from it). What happens then is that they jump forward and topple backward into the counter canter. It's very odd, but all the Friesians do the same thing! What happens then is a lot of tension, and it's then that the problem is born. Because at that point, it goes all wrong for most riders. After all, they think that the horse has to be repeatedly corrected. Time and again, they try to get the horse to do it right, until the poor Friesian has been scared to the point of running wild. When this happens, the tension only gets worse.

In other words, this isn't working. What you have to do instead is to be patient. You ride the fine again, direct the horse outward with your forehand, do nothing with your legs, direct him back again, and just keep cantering onward. Keep doing this until you don't feel any more tension during the change. And that's when you try to get the horse to do the flying change. By that time, nine times out of ten you'll be successful. Then, give the horse a big reward and don't do anything else for three days. That's because such a horse has just been scared silly from that flying change, and you should reassure him before trying it again. Then you just have to wait a while until you think you can ask him to try again. At one point, it will just happen."

Faster rear legs
Starting earlier in the training to teach the flying change is not the solution according to Van Silfhout. After all, with most Friesians, you have a lot of work to do before the canter is good enough that it makes sense to start trying the flying change of lead. "You want a canter start that too exuberant, but at the same time, you don't want a canter that's too slow once he gets back to the right tempo. What you see in so many Friesians is this: they start getting too high off the ground and this slows them down. This is getting you nowhere. It's an important difference between the average Friesian and the average warm blood. When you get a warm blood back to the canter again and you keep activating him properly, his hindlegs start going faster - shorter strides, but faster. And this is exactly what you need for the proper collection. But a Friesian doesn't usually react that way. A Friesian gets scared and his immediate reaction is to tense up. You can feel his tenseness under the saddle when this happens. He simply tenses up. When this happens, you can't do anything more as the rider. That's it. Fortunately, experience has shown that some Friesians can move their hindlegs faster. "The stallion Remmelt is ridden in ZZ-Light. He has no difficulty at all showing changes of lead involving series of three and four. With training, he's become much better. 1 think he has-the ability to be entered in the Prix St Georges - he's got that kind of promise."

The canter isn't the only problem experienced by Friesians. In his experience with giving lessons, Alex van Silfhout notes that many Friesians have trouble going backwards in a dressage test. And he has an explanation for this: "Most Friesians have enormous, heavy, long tails. What happens is this: when they start backing up, they step on their own tail. This doesn't happen right away during the first careful steps. It happens later when he really gets going, when with the lowering of the joints in his hindquarters his tail is also lowered. That's when it happens. And he won't want to do it again. The solution is to tie his tail up out of the way. That eliminates the problem!

Condition
Van Silfhout gives lessons every week to Friesians at De Nieuwe Heuvel, his brother-in-law's farm located just a stone's throw from his own stables. "The stallions Anne and Wychert are regulars. And Dunja Constant also comes every week from North Holland with her stallions Remmelt and Abel from the De Wijdewormer stables. Friesians today look more luxuriant than they used to. The only problem is that compared with a warm blood, it takes longer to build up their condition." Van Silfhout knows of no reason for this, however. "But 1 think that the Friesian is still saddled - unjustly - with the image of being lazy and in poor condition because in the weekends you always used to see those horses standing around puffing through their flaring nostrils. But the owner didn't tell you that he rode only in the weekend, and that his horse simply wasn't trained. As far as that's concerned, the Friesian was probably suffering from his own good-natured willingness to work. Another horse wouldn't stand for it, but a Friesian would. After all, let's be honest: even a difficult Friesian is easier for the average amateur to handle than the average warm blood. Comparing the two, a Friesian is less complicated. He's more accepting and not so quickly offended."

Lessons always needed
With De Saint Urus d'Olympe, Alex van Silfhout has learned a great deal from the dressage coach Jürgen Koschel. Koschel provided him with the key to getting more out of the stallion's unique character and to utilise the horse's spirit and hot blooded quality. Van Silfhout still enjoys his lessons from Koschel. "He's always straight to the point and very motivated. I'm a bit like that myself in my teaching, so it really clicked right away between us", says Van Silfhout. Before Koschel, Alex always rode with Piet Oothout. "Without lessons, you don't make any progress", he says from experience. "I went for a few years without, but you find yourself slipping backwards. A disadvantage to riding alone at home is that you start thinking everything's going just fine. Then, when you start taking lessons, you realise that 'just fine' isn't really good enough! Striving for perfection is part of the game."

Claartje van Andel is Dutch amateur sports horse journalist specialising in Dressage and having written various books such as "Anky" (about the aims, ambitions etc. of Anky van Grunsven). This and various other publications such as "Freestyle, rules and regulations" (which gives advise on choreography of Dressage to Music) is available through Media Bookservice, the Netherlands 0031 313655575).