Straightness training has opened up a whole new world for Brenda Routledge
Straightness Training encompasses everything from the physical issues of a horse, to spiritual and emotional balance
HAENERTSBURG – Brenda Routledge from Haenertsburg started riding horses at the age of seven. She stopped as a teenager and then took up the sport again in her 20s when she moved to her present home outside the village. She did dressage and there were many things with which she was uncomfortable. Her horse was uncomfortable going in one direction, so she was uncomfortable. Brenda says, “The communication I was getting from her was that she wasn’t enjoying it. She was a naturally talented horse but I could not get past the initial problems. I stopped riding for a while”.
Brenda then looked into more natural approaches for her two horses, Eryn and Harvest Moon. She found Zaneta Georgiades in Pretoria who introduced her to Straightness Training. Straightness Training was developed by Marijke de Jong from Holland. Marijke had problems with one of her horses and that led her into delving into horse issues. Most problems stem from a physical imbalance.
Marijke also realised that it is often an emotional or spiritual imbalance. She went back to the old master horsemen to study their works.
She’s now developed a holistic approach based on information accumulated and has put together an online course. This encompasses everything from the physical issues of a horse, to spiritual and emotional balance. Brenda signed up for the home study course. She found it so amazing that she’s signed up for the master course. From there on both Eryn and Harvest Moon improved.
Harvest Moon has a problem with her back legs called stifle lock. Now with Straightness Training she’s moving forward and her strides are much better. Straightness Training consists of five pillars: The first is groundwork, the second is longeing (a Dutch expression), the third is work in hand, the fourth is riding and the fifth is liberty.
Within those five pillars are five grades. Brenda had to submit a touchstone and be evaluated at each level. One has to pass the touchstone to go to the next level. It’s a huge challenge. The finesse required for the simplest exercises is incredible. If one qualifies for Straightness Training one knows that one deserves it. One has to film a sequence of movements without interruptions. That’s how the assessment works. Evaluators are worldwide but Zaneta is the only one in South Africa. She’s a qualified instructor and now involved in evaluation worldwide.
Brenda says that she struggled along aimlessly until she found this. It opened up a whole new world. It’s not just about learning how to gymnasticise your horse.
One has to master oneself and have balance in one’s own self in order to achieve with one’s horse, as horses are mirrored by us. It’s like going into a psychological programme. All Brenda’s gremlins appeared while on the course but it’s helped her become a better person. One can pull the wool over people’s eyes but one can’t do that with a horse.
The traditional way to train a horse is by domination. In Straightness Training horses aren’t trained as robots. Straightness looks for leadership but in a cooperative way with the horse. Straightness requires dialogue and the horse’s opinion counts. At the end of the day the horse wants to work with its rider.
On a physical level riders train the horses without any form of aids like straps that force their heads into positions. In straightness, riders teach the horse to take responsibility when it’s ready and riders don’t force the horses. Lots of horses suffer immensely as when they resist riders get a whip or a spur or a stronger bit.
Brenda says, “In Straightness Training we take it step by step and teach them through reinforcement but never with force. That way we avoid resistance. I make sure that it’s always comfortable. Then I don’t get the bad behaviour. It takes time. Most riders simply want the rosettes and be done with it. In Straightness Training we want to give the horses a good and happy life.”
She added, “I’m still at grade one level. It’s taken a year and I have two more touchstones to work on. It’s at your own pace and also a horse is an individual. Some horses have problems that take longer to sort out. Often one peels off the layers that one thought were physical problems but turn out to be emotional issues.”
Brenda is co-coordinating the Limpopo Straightness Clinics and is passionate about Straightness Training as she’s seen the positive changes in her horses and herself.
