Free Virtual Event "Solving Contact Problems" on 18 May with Rien van der Schaft

On May the 18th, DressagePro will livestream a free Masterclass about solving contact problems with Rien van der Schaft. Contact problems continue to be one of the most common problems experienced by dressage riders. But according to Rien van der Schaft, it doesn't have to be that way.

Rien: "We see a lot of contact problems because I believe that a lot of riders don't have a good concept of what contact is and what a good connection feels and looks like. We tend to focus on creating a certain head-neck frame, but instead, we should be focusing on establishing the basic principles."

These basic principles are riding your horse from back to front, with a soft hand in a relaxed way. In most cases, contact-related problems will disappear when you ride your horse like that.

A lot of riders will agree on these basic principles, but in reality, most riders don’t apply it to their riding.

Rien: “Most riders think they ride their horse from back to front and that they don’t make a certain frame, but when the horse comes against the bit, 99% of all riders will give rein aids to lower the head. And you can do that in a friendly way or not, but either way you’re still making a frame.”

Rien believes you will get a much better result when you simply focus on following the mouth of your horse so he learns to trust your hand. It might feel contradictory at first but you’ll get a much better result. Often sooner than you would expect.

Free virtual event about ‘solving contact problems’

To demonstrate how contact problems can be solved, DressagePro is organizing an Online Masterclass with Rien which can be attended for free. For this event, four riders have been invited that find it difficult to establish a good connection with their horse.

A few weeks ago, DressagePro organized a similar event for all their Dutch followers. That Masterclass was a huge success and inspired many riders to solve their contact problems. After getting a lot of positive feedback, DressagePro decided to host a new Masterclass for all their English followers as well.

The selected riders that you’ll see on the 18^th of May all have different contact problems with their horses. The problems vary from horses coming against the bit to a horses moving behind the vertical.

If you want to know more about the event and join DressagePro’s Online Masterclass about ‘solving contact problems’ on the 18^th of May. Make sure you sign up for free through this link: https://dressagepro.com/join-the-online-masterclass