Good Riding is About Good Communication, the Catherine Haddad Interview by Nan Meek

American Catherine Haddad is familiar to DressageTrainingOnline.com viewers as one of its most popular online instructors. Many remember seeing her for the first time riding Maximus JSS at the 2007 World Cup Finals in Las Vegas, finishing 7th in the Grand Prix Freestyle.

At that time, she was not as familiar to American audiences as other US competitors because since 1993, she has lived, trained, and competed in Europe, where dressage is as firmly entrenched in popular culture as football is in America, and where her passion and commitment to the sport have placed her currently at 36th in the FEI world dressage rankings with her horse Cadillac.

At a recent clinic in California, Catherine talked about the philosophy behind her success.

Catherine describes herself as using “old school methods with a new school teaching style,” to create effective results for the horses and riders at her stable and in her clinics.

Her background is rich with old school wisdom. Her early training in Michigan with Bodo Hangen, a student of Willi Schultheis, eventually led to her move to Germany, where she trained with Schultheis himself for two years before his untimely death in 1995. From 2003-2007, Catherine trained with his protégé, Rudolph Zeilinger and currently, Morten Thomsen supports her training at home with monthly clinics.

Even though Haddad learned to ride from “say little, expect much” old school German teachers, her contemporary teaching style enters the picture in every lesson she teaches, whether at her home base of Turnierstall Haddad in Vechta, Germany, or away at clinics.

“When a student first enters the arena,” she explains, “I try to keep my mouth shut for a few minutes. I ask myself, ‘What does this rider need to hear in this moment?’ Teaching is very psychological. As a clinician, I need to make a quick judgment of the rider’s ability and personality as well as that of the horse. And I have to quickly determine the one thing that I can change in order to help that rider on that day.”

Her main focus is on the way riders create forward motion without restricting throughness. “Schultheis taught us to train the horse using forward momentum in a direction always toward the bit--to work forward through the body. Throughness comes from behind, without resistance to the bit.”

Why, then, do we see so many horses ridden excessively with the bit? Catherine explains part of the problem: “We are front end people; we are visual. We can see what’s in front of us, but we must feel what is behind us. It is difficult to ride what we cannot see, the hind end of the horse. It takes a leap of faith to ride from behind. But in good riding, you have to give up control of the front end to gain control of the hind end. You will diminish the horse’s expression if you use too much hand.”

Another problem that many riders face has emerged due to advances in breeding. “Today we breed hotter horses, which require better, more feeling riders. Yet the average amateur has less time to learn how to ride well. Few are willing to commit, or even have access to, being on the longe line for six months or longer to develop a good, independent seat.”

Haddad regrets the alternatives that result from that issue: “The quick fix is to buy saddles with bigger knee rolls to help with posting instead of learning to sit. Another quick fix is to use the hands to work the horse’s head down instead of learning to ride correctly from behind. Unfortunately, this gives both the rider and trainer a sense of accomplishment for the day even though it isn’t correct. And let’s face it, trainers cannot be successful with unhappy clients.”

Discussing the important elements at the foundation of the training scale, rhythm and relaxation, Catherine used her own horses as illustrations. “Cadillac, my 13-year-old Danish gelding, is always a challenge to ride with rhythm and relaxation at full power. He is so sensitive that he is easily distracted by external factors. He is not mentally relaxed; he loses focus. When he loses relaxation, it disrupts the rhythm.”

To keep him relaxed, she says, “I need to create a space around us, a ‘bubble’ you might call it, in which he can stay focused and regular. When he is mentally relaxed, he stays in rhythm.”

She says her key to success at a show with Cadillac is, “I have to ride like no one is watching. This is easier said than done in front of those huge European crowds!”

Winyamaro, her 10-year-old Hanoverian, is just the opposite. “He is the epitome of rhythm and relaxation,” Catherine laughs. “He is so comfortable in his own skin, I can push him to maximum power and he will never come out of the rhythm. With Winyamaro, I only have to concentrate on my riding and he just shows off.”

It wasn’t always that way. “Three years ago, he was just explosive, but over time I’ve taught him to focus his explosive energy into forward energy.” His performance and his scores have improved, and so has his nickname. Catherine no longer calls him ‘Achmed the Terrorist’. “Now, the only dangerous place in the arena when Winaymaro is working is between him and the mirror! He likes to look at himself.”

Of the horse that took her to the 2007 Dressage World Cup, 16-year-old Danish gelding Maximus JSS, Catherine simply says, “This horse is my heart. If he was a man, I would marry him. I start to think and he has already responded.” Catherine intends to finish out the World Cup qualifications with Maximus this year. “Cadillac already did three big qualifiers and he needs a rest now. ‘The General’ and I will go to the last two qualifiers and see if we can bring home some more points with our Gladiator Freestyle.”

Catherine says the most important part of dressage training is to make the horses she trains happy. “You cannot be successful with an unhappy horse,” she points out. “And it really doesn’t matter how much sugar you give your horse or which method you choose to train him, good riding is about good communication. Learn to speak his language and he will be happy.”


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