An Introduction to Carolyn Resnick
by Mona Patton

Before Carolyn begins to train a horse in the art form of dressage, she first works with a horse on issues of trust, submission and permission. Carolyn feels that she can not ask a horse to perform any task until she has bonded with him. He must accept her in the leadership role by his free choice.

The horse must trust her in order to gain self-confidence and become relaxed under pressure. He must be submissive to her wishes and instructions. She has to gain his permission in order to school him to a maximum performance.

This is all done without the use of tack, round pens or abuse. At all times in this period of training the horse is free to choose his own response, and there is no negative reinforcement. Between horse and trainer there has to be a compatible work ethic. From this foundation, dressage can begin.

Having accomplished all of this with little effort and not a long time, Carolyn then goes on to her Uberstreichen exercises. These eight exercises are done first in a halter and later on in a bridle. The purpose of these exercises is to prepare the horse to respond correctly to leg and rein aids through his clear understanding of the half halt.

Next comes single line work. This is interesting to watch as it is like ground driving and the horse learns to perform all dressage movements with just a single line, no bit in his mouth--only a halter. He learns to carry the line and himself, be forward and not fall in. This work causes him to start coming up in the back and collecting of his own free will.

Once the horse has a clean understanding of single line work and is performing well, Carolyn then goes on to double line work when the horse can step into the contact willingly without having to shorten the rein. She puts advance movements on the horse in the double line work such as piaffe and passage.

Once all the above steps are put on the horse riding begins, usually on a 20 meter circle long and low if appropriate for that horse and then onto working on lots of transitions, walk and trot and then onto a full court.

This is how we have been working with my eight horses over the past year. My horses range in age from 3 to 13 years old. All have come to Carolyn in different stages. Some with intense anger from prior training in other hands and some in innocence due to age. They all look forward to each training session and each one soars with the freedom of choice allowed them and they all end each session with pride in themselves.

My eight-year-old mare (ex-trail horse) has been accused of being a “Made School Master” in a recent clinic. That’s quite an accomplishment for a klutzy paint with only a few months of dressage training. One of Nuno Olivera’s long time students wanted to purchase this horse at his clinic and take her home to Australia with him.

Carolyn, Splash (D.B.A. Tosca) and I are tickled with the attention and are hoping that the dressage judges find us interesting in the future. Here’s to a new career for my new schoolmaster and myself, a beginning dressage rider.

All joking aside, I am having the time of my life schooling with Carolyn and my horses are in love with her and the program. I can hardly wait for the next session and I school my horses in between our three days a week with Carolyn. She has empowered me to have the confidence to work and train my horses on my own and has given me the knowledge to do so with extremely light aids and finesse.

I have never known anyone with Carolyn’s knowledge and understanding of the equine mind and spirit. I feel that her experience is invaluable to the horse community and especially the dressage community. As I see it, dressage is an art form that requires a horse that yields completely to the request of the rider. He must be in a state of high spirit and performance at the top of his game and do so in total submission to his rider without reservation. No other discipline requires the horse to surrender each and every step to his rider.

I am looking forward to sharing Carolyn in this upcoming dressage clinic with any of you riders who crave empowerment and improved horsemanship skills. Those of you who seek a full performance from your horse, a performance that is based on free choice and the desire to perform, will find this clinic a must.