My Uberstreichen Excercises
Apr 21st, 2009 by Carolyn
Hi again. A week or so ago I mentioned my uberstreichen excercises and many of you wrote in asking more about them. Well, the good news is that I have just given the green light to produce a series of DVDs on how I use them. These will be coming out later in the year and in the meantime, here is a piece I wrote about how the excercises can help with dressage.
Uberstreichen or more correctly, überstreichen, comes from German although there doesn’t seem to be a literal translation you can use (unless you can tell us otherwise!). What I like about the exercises are that they can be used on all horses no matter what level of training they have received. The purpose of the exercise are to enhance the forward expression of the horse’s gaits. They improve collected and extended gaits by giving the horse the ability to perform with ease. They support the horse’s way of going by removing locked muscles while simultaneously schooling the horse to respond correctly to rein and leg aids.
The eight uberstreichen exercises are exaggerated requests of the half-halt. There are eight because they cover the different ways we want the horse to respond to the half-halt request. Half-halts to create upward and downward transitions, to increase the engagement in the same gait and/or to re-establish self-carriage or a collected frame, are just a few uses of the half-halt. The secret to a well performed half halt is how well the gas pedal and brake work in relationship to the suppling and directional aids. A good thing for a rider to remember is that a half-halt is not completed until you release the contact of the half-halt to an unlocked performance that you were wishing to establish. This is what creates elastic gaits.
I use the uberstreichen exercises on all horses, from beginner to finished schoolmaster. They have three uses. First I use them for schooling. After the horse can perform them easily I use them as warm-up exercises before riding. I can also use them as a test to find the horse’s response to the rider’s aids.
As schooling exercises on green horses they prepare him to respond lightly to turning, suppling and halting aids. In a step-by-step way, they teach him the meaning of rein aids in relation to the leg aids used in various forms of half halts. By separating each case scenario for how the horse should respond to the many forms of half halts, the horse acquires a better understanding of the rein and leg aids. Once the horse has learned the uberstreichen exercises, my first ride is light and forward and the horse is much more in balance than one started without this technique.
Once the horse has learned these exercises I continue to use them as daily warm ups. I also use them to evaluate horses for clients. How a horse responds lets me know the skill level and how he will perform under saddle and what needs to be developed in his training for a better performance. With an untrained horse, they give me an understanding of the horse’s athletic ability, personality and trainability. If I am going to ride a strange horse, I use them to evaluate the direction of my warm-up exercises under saddle.
As a daily warm-up, I first test the horse’s response to each exercise. Then I work from the ground on getting the perfect response by continuing to ask him to perform each exercise until he does so with ease. When he is soft and willing from the ground they regulate the inconsistencies in the response to the aids a horse develops during day-to-day riding. When at ease with the ground exercises, the horse is nicely to the aids before he is ridden. It cuts down time and wear and tear issues compared to under saddle warm-ups. It’s amazing how well the groundwork translates to the saddle.
I will tell you more about how I use them on Thursday.
Till then, best wishes
Carolyn
Related posts:
Haha, another Dutchy, didn’t see that coming!
Your explanation makes a lot of sense, Marja. I guess it’s one of those words that is put into another context and then gets a whole new meaning. We are seeing the evolution of language happening, right now. 
Well, it’s only semantics after all, I’m also really looking forward to some more information about the exercises. And Stina, that video is really beautiful.
Stina, What a lovely herd and home you have there. I really enjoyed your video clip.
Hi Carolyn, thanks for already giving some background information on the überstreichen exercises, I’m looking forward to more on this subject on thursday
!
Stina, your video is absolutely amazing! I’ve put the principles of Paddock Paradise in practice myself, but the area I have to my disposal is peanuts compared to yours… That is truely heavenly PARADISE, and not just for horses…
(BTW, I contacted you by e-mail with a question).
Hi Brenda, I’m Dutch too
and had given the word ‘überstreichen’ some thought too. I know the equestrian meaning of the German exercise ‘Zügel (= rein) überstreichen’. As far as I’m informed it refers to a single riding exercise to test the horse’s willingness to follow your hand down when slowly releasing the reins. Doing this, your hand strokes over (= überstreichen) the horse’s mane in a forward direction.
Maybe Carolyn chose this expression because it is indeed a test for the horse’s softness and willingness, and she added a few more exercises with the same purpose. Am I close Carolyn?
I like language, and how it affects the way we perceive things so I looked it up. Uberstreichen, as far as I understand, can mean quite a few things. Uber means ‘over’ or ‘on top’ and streichen can mean things like ‘to stroke’ or ‘to draw’. So it means as much as ‘stroking over’. The noun Uberstreichen acutally means coat topping. I guess, in horseworld it may refer to the idea that you use them to refine responses in your horse, rather than create a new response. Well, that’s as far as my school German goes (I’m Dutch, not German). I just liked to share this because the way a word is build up, sometimes says a lot about what people mean by it. Thanks for the great blog, Carolyn
Dear all and dear Carolyn
I look forward to advance to the uberstreichen exercises once we have worked on our next level of energy and responsiveness.
I have been so fortunate to learn from Carolyn this weekend directly
in person and I appreciate it so much.
It is now 16 months since we started our cooperation and online coaching and yesterday was the first time I could experience lessons at Carolyns Ranch.
I don’t think you saw this small video, Carolyn, but you have taught me to bring so much love to my horse training and meditation as well.
Here is a video clip on sharing territory, I have spent hours, days and weeks in my chair to find the connection I read about in Carolyns book and what Carolyn told me was possible.
I still enjoy very much sharing territory and spending time with my horses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mg436WNu4g
Thank you and lets continue our hearty and inspirational journey together.
Love Stina
Thank you, Carolyn. I’ll look forward to your Thursday post, as I know it will benefit my horses. I received “Panadero’s Journey” today. Beautiful work!
Hi everyone, I really love the vision of the half halt as a tango dance. To be honest I dont know what a half halt really is, I can only imagine and so I wont taint anything and will wait for your version and excercises Carrolyn. I am very excited because I know I will be learning a lot!!!
Thankyou, thankyou!!!
Valezka
Carolyn – I am new to your blog and like everyone else, so happy to be reading it! I don’t own a horse. I offer Reiki to them. I learned about you and all the other amazing teachers when I went to Epona Ridge in Ashville, N.C. to a workshop offered by Barbara Alexander. She took us through The Way of The Horse, which really transformed my life.
I have been lucky enough to be part of telecalls with you through Horse Conscious.
I want to tell you of my response to the music and dancing I first saw on Stormy’s video. I teach something called Authentic Movement and that is exactly what I saw happening with you and the horse. Movement that was authentic and in the moment, belonging just to the two of you, unique and impossible to repeat. The sense of Authentic Movement is the experience of being moved not making movement happen. This is what I witnessed.
Thank you! Mary
Thanks, Carolyn! I look forward to the continuation on thurs. and can’t wait to get the DVDs!
Helen
That is a very good visual, Stephani! I like it.
I think of the half halt as a dance pause same as in the tango dance. i am looking forward to your exercises.
stephani
I am looking forward to reading your description of how to use the uberstreichen exercises on Thursday! This is a fascinating concept for me, especially given how misunderstood the half half seems to be. Perhaps some of the misunderstanding is due to its multiple uses and forms, as you explain. I especially liked how you said the uberstreichen/half half should “release the [horse] to an unlocked performance”; it seems that the concept one often has of half halts (perhaps coming from its name, “half HALT”) is restraining and controlling, when perhaps we should be calling it a “half release”!
Thanks for another great post,
Hannah
Hooray! I am so excited we will have the DVDs! I am looking forward to learning more!