Friday, 30 July 2010
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September 2008 • VOLUME 37 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine
The continuing interview with Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling - see the first part in our August Edition! [HFL]: Do you find that you have more people coming to you from one field of horsemanship than another?
[KFH]: I think this is another thing that surprises me - that I have people from all fields, from everywhere. I did some individual training with Bruce Goodin who is a New Zealander living in Sweden. He’s participating in the Olympics in China. He’s a jumper. I [also] had a horse which is completely spoiled and impossible to do anything with in high school dressage which is running on the Danish mastership in normal classical dressage. I had the horse here for four weeks to make him possible to be handled. As it was, he was not to be handled any more and that was one of the most difficult cases in my life. And there are normal spare time riders. I have them coming from all types of riding.
Even just in this short time, I’m very surprised that people from jumping or classical dressage are, in a way, more sensitive to what I’m doing than those in the area where you would think people would be interested in what I’m doing, like natural horsemanship and spare time riders. So it’s a fun thing that people are coming from everywhere and I’m surprised how sensitive people are coming from jumping, coming from classical dressage, from fields that I think are more distant from what I’m doing. [HFL]: That’s very interesting. So you mentioned that you’re getting people coming from classical dressage and that you’re working with Olympic hopefuls as well. What about normally in competition dressage? Do you find openness there as well? [KFH]: I had a conversation several days ago with a German journalist. She sometimes writes stories about what we’re doing and what I’m doing and about horses, etc. She’s much more in the world of competition riding than I am. She’s much more an insider. She was saying that the competition is running so high. Like in swimming and running where they’re counting milliseconds, it is the same way with horses. The competition is so high with such highly qualified riders all over the world, that they are reaching a limit now. I think now they have to think about maybe qualifying in a different way, maybe remembering more the origin of the horse and the soul of the horse. For sure, my approach to the horses is a very simple thing. If the horse does not want me to jump on him and ride him, I will not do it. The horse has to come to me and say “please ride me because I like it. I’m more fresh after the ride than before. I’m healthier, stronger, and prouder when you have been riding me than before.” I would never do anything with the horse if the horse is suffering at all in any way and losing quality of life. So these are things I’m explaining to the jumpers and competition riders: as long as you’re running through hundreds of competitions and the horses are going after them, then I’m with you. If you’re pressuring the horse, if you’re doing something where the horse is not prepared, then we’re for sure running on different levels. To be sure, you can ask me things and I would like to give you answers and help you understand yourself and your horse or whatever, I’m not judging you. But please know that whatever I’m doing, my first intention and first approach is to be with the horse. We’re not sitting in a rubber boat, that when you have a hole, you go out and buy a new one. We’re dealing with living beings and whatever I’m doing is in the best interests of the individual horse. [HFL]: I like what you’re saying and I completely agree with you, that not many riders give their horses a chance to say “no, that’s not something I want to do” or “not right now” for whatever reason. Watching a lot of our equestrian training and culture, whatever field you look at, it is about what we can make the horses do and that they have to listen to us, instead of looking to the horses and saying, “ok, what answer do you have to give me?” I agree with everything you said. And I think you and I probably work with horses the same way. I’m curious. Do you think there are horses that are happy in competition? [KFH]: Yes. Absolutely. Without any question. For example, one of my clients is quite a successful breeder of racing horses. He trains the horses himself. I have one of his horses in my clinic and we have been discussing a lot of things. I have been giving him some tips on how to motivate the horse so the horse wants to do it. So he has been quite successful with this horse. I would not limit anything that you do with horses. I would not say, “the horse should not compete.” I would not say that horses are not for jumping or whatever. I try to say there are no limits. The only thing is, let’s find the right approach to the horse. I have classified 26 characters in my book where the horses reveal [themselves]. If you have a winner, for example, and you’re missing the opportunity for this horse to compete and make him win, then he will be sad. It’s like having a sheepdog in your house and the sheepdog is lying around with no job to do. I used to be with sheep and living in the country. And the sheepdog was happy to be working eight hours a day with the sheep. In the morning he woke up for his job and was happy to have his job. On the other hand, there are dogs which like to lie around on the sofa and be fed, and this is the pleasure and the meaning of this dog. So no limits, but the right approach, and always in the best interests of the animal because we have the responsibility for them and enough knowledge and enough feeling to distinguish between different types of animal and to channel them into the right jobs. [HFL]: I have a question for you. A lot of people talk about wanting the horse happy. I have a number of clinicians who say, “Look. Look how happy the horse is now.” And I’m not sure what they’re looking at because I’m not seeing what they’re seeing. I’m seeing an unhappy horse and they’re telling people that that is a happy horse. So how does the rider know if their horse is truly happy? What would you tell them to look for to see if their horse is truly happy? [Editor's Note: For
many years Klaus has lived privately, following the simple principles of
harmony with his family, rarely delivering seminars or doing demonstrations.
Only recently has he begun offering people the opportunity to share his wisdom
directly. He will be visiting the UK in October this year. On day one he will work with Borderline
horses – those which are damaged or dangerous – and on day two he will host an
interactive workshop called ‘Dancing with Horses’ where others can learn the
fundamentals of his approach to horses, some exercises for promoting subtlety
and suppleness both on the ground and in the saddle, and so others can begin to
understand their communication to their horses with their body language. Further information can be found here http://www.hempfling.co.uk/.]
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