May 24 – 26, 2024
Shut your eyes for a moment. Imagine this; yourself on a beautiful horse in a beautiful forest, the horse dancing beneath you in perfect rhythmic piaffe. Light filters through the branches. The sound of birdsong makes a descant over the horse’s soft but energized two-beat footfalls. Light in the hand, light in the heart…you ride on, the horse finding a passage underneath you that brings a gasp of joy with every upward rush of energy. You never knew riding could be like this – the apogee of classical riding, outside in nature. It’s like something from a fairy tale, a dream. Yet it’s real – as real as the photographs being taken as you and the horse dance together under the spreading branches.
You will explore dressage outside in nature, on forest trails and bridleways between the fields, where the horse has a natural desire to go forward, where one’s body is naturally relaxed, where enjoyment is simply built in to the whole picture. A perfect place to discover the mysteries of the upper level movements – piaffe, passage, pirouettes, even airs above the ground – whether on foot with work in hand and in long reins, or in the saddle.
Come experience this on trained, kind schoolmaster horses in the forests, orchards and fields of Hessen, Germany. Stay in an old historic mill, where the horse is brought into the courtyard after breakfast for you to mount, as if you were a nobleman or woman of old. Explore nature in between moments of pure equestrian ecstasy as the horses dance beneath you as deer dart across the path, and birds of prey wheel overhead. Enjoy lunch in an old Gasthof.
Experience dressage as it was meant to be experienced – as something purely joyful. And bring those experiences home in images to treasure forever, proof that it wasn’t just a dream.
And there is more… While the horses are resting in the pasture, nibbling softly on their hay and being with their ancestors, you take a dive into the shamanic world. Let the spring breeze blow some fresh air into your dreams, dusting off that what’s forgotten, while the ancestors whisper your dreams through the night sky to places to let them sprout. Ignite by the fire.
Come and enjoy this magical experience where the ancient dressage meets the shamanic world…
Program:
Day 1:
We will welcome you at around 5 pm with the gathering, where you meet the other participants, have a drink and a snack before we slide into the evening program.
We will meet the schoolmaster horses. Rupert will talk about the history of dressage and how the old masters training system actually works. And when it’s getting dark we will make the transition to the Little Besa experience.
Day 2:
After breakfast we will go out into nature with the horses, make stops to experience the dressage movements and trail ride gently in between through forests and orchards. After lunch we will experience the high school movement and photographs will be made.
In the evening we will dive into the shamanic part of the experience.
Day 3: :
After breakfast we talk about the more spiritual side of the horse and experiencing joy this way. Make prayers for our joy for the coming year. Meet the horses again for one last time. Playing them both in hand and ridden in the riverside pastures by the old mill until it’s time to say goodbye.
About Rupert Isaacson:
A lifelong horseman who grew up foxhunting and eventing in the UK, Rupert came to dressage through observing that his autistic son Rowan began to communicate in the saddle in front of him when they rode horses together in collection. This led Rupert to the therapeutic technique now known Horse Boy Method, but he also realized that to really understand collection in order to serve an autistic kid well, he had to learn about dressage. So he went on a quest – to Portugal, France and the UK, riding with different mentors. Started to study the old masters writing, spent hundreds of hours going through online instructional videos and also kept riding with good mentors. Little by little he put together the beginnings of the Stress Free Dressage course and system. When he then discovered the extraordinary Valenca family in Portugal and Christian Bachinger in Austria the whole picture at last fell into place.
Rupert is your man for really learning the in hand work and how to establish everything you are going to do under saddle in hand first – at walk, trot and even canter – so that the riding becomes fluid and easy. He is also your dude for learning the pillars, the airs and establishing the piaffe. But for him, because of the background with autism and being a journalist, the main thing is to make everything clear, empathetic and fun so that the learning comes in a way that is stress free – the only way the human or equine brain can really take in information.
Besides horseman, Rupert is also the successful writer of The Healing Land, The Horse Boy and The Long Ride Home and carries the name Little Besa which The Kalahari San Bushman shaman Besa gave to him during the years that they worked together. . Besa is also the middle name of Rowan – the Horse Boy – Rupert’s autistic son who was healed by old Besa in Namibia back in 2008. Old Besa taught Little Besa (Rupert) many things – things that help shape shift everyday life towards healing, towards joy. During this experience Rupert will share some key points of what he was taught by his Kalahari mentor to help create joy, healing and every day miracles with this every day shaman’s eye.
Practical:
The experience is from Friday May 24 till Sunday May 26, 2024
Timeframe: Friday at 5pm we will start with the gathering, where we welcome you and meet the other participants. On Sunday we wrap up at around 2pm.
Location: Wiesbaden area, Germany
Price is € 750,-
This includes working with the horses and instruction given by Rupert in piaffe, passage and levade. The Little Besa experience.
Stay at a beautiful historic bed & breakfast, based on shared rooms with maximum one other person for two nights.
The sleepover is part of the experience we offer. Although we wholeheartedly recommend to stay onsite, you are welcome to stay offsite.
Additional (optional) costs:
Lunch at a beautiful Gasthof.
For dinner we go to a restaurant or cook at the bed & breakfast.
Of course, you are welcome to bring your own favourite snacks and drinks with you.
If you have any food intolerances or allergies? Please let us know.
Payments are non-refundable. Cancellations will receive a credit for future experiences/retreats.
The experience is limited to 6 riders.
Whether you are a seasoned rider or it’s your first experience with horses, the kind schoolmaster horses will guide you with their ecstatic movements through this unforgettable experience.
Any questions about the experience?
Or would you like to have the information in Dutch language?
You can contact our host Ellen Schuringa (Dutch & English).
e-mail: ellen.schuringa@telenet.be