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A Dressage Masterclass with Tor Van Den Berge

Tor Van Den Berge is not just a talented dressage rider and trainer, he is a true horseman and passionate about everything horse, from Welsh Cobs to competitive carriage driving. He is a thinking horseman who combines the innate feeling gained from growing up with horses with a desire to constantly keep learning. Tor, his wife, Mel and the rest of the crew at Team Van Den Berge have a well deserved reputation for producing dressage horses with Tor producing a number of horses to Grand Prix including the Remi Stud’s imported stallions, Fisherman’s Friend (dec) and Laurie’s As.

Tor has been a serious contender down under ever since he competed at the 2004 World Young Horse Championships in Germany, riding John and Bev Edward’s, Jaybee Alabaster. He is in demand to train horses and coach riders and was invited to give the dressage masterclass at the Australian International 3 Day Event in Adelaide in November.

It could have been a daunting task for some; an atmospheric arena in front of a large crowd, but the charming Queenslander, took it all in his stride and gave both the riders and the spectators plenty to think about and/or take home and try.

There were five combinations in the clinic starting from two youngsters, going through two Medium/Advanced horses and one Prix St George horse.

Young Horses:
Ria Grivell with her six year old Furstenball gelding, Jazdan Fireball.

Lorraine Wohling with five year old, HV Duke (De Niro/His Highness).

Medium/Advanced:
Ruth Schneeberger with seven year old, Roxleigh Fidelio by Furst Nymphenburg.

Phoebe Foulkes with seven year old, Fire and Magic by the Thoroughbred eventing stallion, Kirby Park Namtamboo.

Prix St George:
Fiona Guthrie’s imported Don Frederico stallion, Don Duchovny.

There were two words that came up time and time again from Tor, rebalance and soft. Before we go and look at the photos, I asked Tor to talk a little about his training philosophy and coaching advice.

“Rebalance,” said Tor, “is a really good term to ask for a soft half halt. By rebalance, I am asking for a slight squeeze on the outside rein. When the horse understands the outside rein, you can feel that squeeze on the rein bring the inside hind leg under more and when you soften, you release the horse to do it on its own. There are degrees of half halt and here I am just asking to get a reaction. Horses don’t like being out of balance and with Ria’s Furstenball horse, a lovely big young horse, she would rebalance him before a corner and then let him make the corner himself and he got better and better and softer and happier. By and large, the modern dressage horse is pretty well shaped and balanced and it is the rider’s job to keep them there.

“We had such a short amount of time for the masterclass and I spent a lot of time thinking of a theme for it. The common problem most riders have is not having enough time in the competition arena and when they do get there it is difficult to be patient. Riding the test is so much about getting your horse to make every corner in the ring. If you watch the top riders, they have time to make each corner and time to prepare for each movement. So from a four year old the principle of rebalancing and then letting it go around the corner is something that should not change as they go up the grades; all that changes is that they should get better at it. Training horses is about showing them the right path and then letting them go down it.”

“They were five very different horses and I was very pleased with them and their riders who were keen to be helped. I was pleased too at how well they settled in that atmospheric arena.”

Ria Grivell and Jazdan Fireball
“Rising trot, get him swinging. Don’t push him, it is his job to keep going forward.”

“Rising trot, get him swinging. Don’t push him, it is his job to keep going forward.”

“Make his neck deep again. A horse will give you permission to pick up the reins.”

“The centre line entrance is very important, because it is the first thing the judges see of your horse. The horse gets nervous on the centre line because of that halt, so work on that with transitions. Come back to a walk, then trot forward again, or come back to a walk and walk forward. Don’t always halt or halt in the same place; don’t let him anticipate.”

Lorraine & HV Duke
“Now that his neck is deeper, he can use his back more and feels he has somewhere to go. But don’t yield until he gives a response and every time he gives it to you, say thank you.”

“Now that his neck is deeper, he can use his back more and feels he has somewhere to go. But don’t yield until he gives a response and every time he gives it to you, say thank you.”

“He needs somewhere to go. Wait for him, release and push, release and push.”

“Slow him down on the outside rein, then go forward. Let him search for the bit. Rebalance, forward, rebalance forward. Take that inside hind leg to that outside rein. If he feels good, go sitting trot before each corner and soft through the corner and forward. This is where you build the platform for this horse’s future career.”

“Ride the canter with a little more jump using your seat and a little more inside leg and keep it soft.”

“Keep him soft and push more and work him to release the top of his neck.”

“Rebalance, wait for him to step rounder and then ask for more.”

“Now he is starting to accept the bridle and work a bit harder.”

Ruth & Roxleigh Fidelio
“We want him to do more work at the canter, Ruth, and travers is very good for improving the canter, as is the counter canter and it is important in counter canter to bring his front legs around the circle.”

“We want him to do more work at the canter, Ruth, and travers is very good for improving the canter, as is the counter canter and it is important in counter canter to bring his front legs around the circle.”

“Good Ruth. Again a little lift and squeeze. Rebalance and go. We are aiming to get more under behind and more accurate steps.”

Phoebe & Fire and Magic
“The shoulder in is my favourite exercise along with renvers and travers. Rebalance before the corner. Lift your inside hand and soft through the corner.”

“The shoulder in is my favourite exercise along with renvers and travers. Rebalance before the corner. Lift your inside hand and soft through the corner.”

“Rebalance and go. First we make the power and then we release. Just by waiting one more second, we have a more powerful medium trot.”

“Almost shoulder in, pause then half pass from quarter line to quarter line. Slow down on outside rein and wait, wait, then half pass in opposite direction. That’s a good half pass with all four legs.”

Fiona & Don Duchovny
“He is already more up, but slow down and build the power.”

“He is already more up, but slow down and build the power.”

“He wants to rush and elongate the half pass. He has to learn to go slower. Rebalance, slow down and go again; better.”

“Let’s have a little play with the piaffe. The piaffe is really tough on them to learn. Walk, make him electric and just walk. All we want to teach him is that it is OK to trot and we don’t want him to go backwards. Trot/walk transition then trot getting a couple of steps of piaffe and then trot out. If you do this every day, he will understand what you are asking. Just give him a little touch with the whip, nothing more.”

H"e does good, safe changes, but we need them a little bigger, think really up.”

“To get bigger marks for the changes, the horse has to step more through his changes. When you start the one time changes, it is a whole new sport. It is all about being patient and waiting for the horse to become comfortable with it.”

Don Duchovny is happy to stretch after his short but intensive lesson.

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A Dressage Masterclass with Tor Van Den Berge

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