50 minutes

Warmbloods of Rebecca – Online lessons via Pivo

Johanna, you are SO worth it, you’re a most talented trainer!! L. is as thrilled as I am with our progress already with the horses. I’ve had 3 short but excellent sessions with G. since our last lesson, he seems a lot happier being more straight and I’m very chuffed! I am kicking myself I didn’t start having training with you sooner, can’t wait to get back from holiday to continue…. I may add that our osteopathic vet came on Sunday to see H. for a follow up check and he was very impressed with his progress.  

By the way your lessons are the best I’ve ever had in 56 years of having help with my riding and I’ve always tried to be progressive. There is nothing you say that doesn’t make sense and I’ve felt significant improvement after each session. It feels like such a relief, you have no frustration in your voice and you keep it simple despite it often not feeling simple. I’ve always been open to learning but I’ve never come across anyone who could see all the relevant issues so clearly and been able to get the message across to the rider’s brain so well. I hope very much that this is a long and happy association for all of us 🙏🏻. L. joins me in agreeing that you are brilliant! Thank you!

Gaited horse mare Z. & S. – Online lessons via Pivo

Yesterday my vet specialized in chiropractic and physiotherapy with Z. She has been treating Z. since I got her, almost 3 years now.
In all treatments Before I started training with you, she had always found an incredible number of blockages.
Today only two ! And what I’ve just realized with my other mare M. as well: She no longer constantly takes the weight off her right hind leg! We’ve already had the vet come twice this year because of her knee pain and, in the best case scenario, she’s only reached a state where she’s lame but is constantly taking the weight off her leg. I haven’t seen that since training with you. So a huge thank you from us for your training input!

Mare Felina & Karina – Online lessons via smartphone

Inquiry before starting training
Hello Johanna,
My mare, who will soon be 6 years old, has not been able to be ridden as usual for about six months. Tense, stiff, pulling on the reins, partially unruly, hollowing her back, muscle atrophy in the shoulder and saddle area, heavy on the forehand, she trots on the lunge only hopping and even while trotting she keeps hopping. At first I thought it might be the riding lessons because last summer I let her be used for beginner lessons 1-2 times a week. Then I took her out. No improvement. Then, on the advice of my trainer, I no longer rode her with a riding pad but only with a saddle and then it was completely over. Under the rider she didn’t even want to trot any more, just hobble, although the saddle should fit according to the saddle advice. Her back also got worse. So I took the saddle off, then the pad off, physiotherapy – she said the whole horse was crooked, ground work, I sent the saddle to the saddle fitter. Long story short, she still walks in a stiff manner, only trots hopping and I don’t really know where to start. The mare is blind in her right eye, which I think also plays a part. Can you help me? I would also be happy to send you photos and videos. Lg Karina

Feedback after 6 online Equisensomotoric® training sessions
Dear Johanna, Felina is doing very well, I now understand what you meant by fluffy, soft lunging.
She does it very well, it looks springy and light, carries itself from the base of the neck.
The whole riding has also become more harmonious and softer, the canter is also completely different. She now trots fluently without hobbles and keeping time is no longer a problem. The result of our training just feels great! THANK YOU!!!
Lg, Karina and Felina

Warmblood Massimo & Kerstin

Dear Johanna,
To describe my thanks to you, I have to think back a few years.
I bought Massimo when he was 8 years old.
Since then he has always been a “Monday horse”, from repeated tendon damage to ring ligament problems, there were always health problems , and when he was “rideable” for a while, he was always considered “unwilling” or “lazy”.
After endless ups and downs, I almost gave up.
I no longer enjoyed riding because I felt I was doing more harm to his health than good.
About 2 years ago, I decided to take a new path by training with you and I haven’t regretted it for a second since. After just a few weeks to months, I noticed a clear muscle build-up and a reduction in the swelling in his legs. My osteopath also noticed immediately that he was changing for the better. Today, Massimo is almost 20 years old and healthier and more motivated than ever. He enjoys his work and I enjoy it because I know I’m doing something good for him with the training. At almost 20 years old, he is running better than ever before, even though 3 years ago I thought I might not be able to ride him at that age. I (and even more so Massimo) thank you from the bottom of my heart for your work and look forward to many more years of fun together.

Arabian gelding P. & J.

Thank you again for the last hour.
I don’t know, I’ve probably told you that a hundred times anyway but you’re really extremely good at it.
I’m always fascinated by how well you see everything and how well you can explain it.
This is really a quality of teaching that I am not used to, and I have been riding for well over 30 years and I have already had lessons with some well-known baroque masters.
So thank you very much, I am super happy and impressed by your ability to see and grasp these things and also how my horse has developed as a result.
♥️

Icelandic mare Isrun & Teresa

Warmblood Viva & Evelyn

Dear Johanna,
A few years ago I discovered a flyer from you in a store that somehow appealed to me so much that I took it with me and then put it away with my horse things – out of sight out of mind. About a year later, I came across this flyer again – how fitting: because at that very moment, my 16-year-old mare and I were faced with a major problem: lameness in her right hind leg – Viva hardly put any weight on her right hind leg when cantering to the left, she was practically limping along. After x-rays and examinations, the diagnosis from a recognized orthopaedist was: probably a tendon/ligament/muscle problem in the right knee joint. Apart from that, I became more and more aware of how many problems she actually had: Viva often showed unwilling behavior, was tight in her mouth, very crooked, dragged her toes, had a hollow back and often stood in compensatory postures….
Since I wasn’t getting anywhere with “normal” dressage work, the lameness wasn’t getting any better and I was feeling more and more uncomfortable when riding, I was ready to try a new approach and contacted you – what a blessing 🙂 . Today, almost a year later, I am convinced that this was/is the only right way: apart from the fact that after almost 20 years of riding I have gained a completely different understanding and feeling of “riding” through you, your approaches and teaching methods, and I realize how fine and wonderful this way of riding can feel, I can also see clear changes in Viva: She can now do her first sound canter jumps again – what a huge joy for me :). In addition to this great success, she is now standing closed again, with the same weight on all 4 legs, her toe dragging has improved significantly and she seems much more relaxed and joyful.
I often think about how grateful I am that I was able to learn so many new, horse-friendly, respectful and harmonious approaches through you, dear Johanna, and that I was able to rediscover riding and working with horses for myself. I wish I had started on this path, your path, and now my path, years before.
I experience you and your way of teaching as incredibly appreciative of people and horses and I’m really looking forward to seeing you again in the riding arena after my baby break 🙂 THANK YOU!

Quarter gelding Brownie & Isabella

Last fall I bought a young, western-ridden gelding who practically chose me.
Although my attention was actually focused on another horse, he nudged me from behind and then never left my side in a herd of about 15 geldings.

Unsere ersten Wochen verliefen zwar relativ ruhig, aber mir fiel schon in dieser Zeit auf, dass er “aus dem Nichts heraus” panische Fluchtreaktionen zeigte. Dann beim ersten Mal Aufsteigen stand er zwar zuerst still, als ich ihn dabei jedoch Abklopfte, ging er Fullspeed panisch durch, warf mich ab und war von dem Zeitpunkt an nicht mehr zu beruhigen. Auch am Putzplatz und im Handling tänzelte er nervös und zuckte ständig zusammen. Ich war danach ziemlich verunsichert und wir haben viel Bodenarbeit und Desensibilisierungstraining mit Horsemanship-Trainern gemacht. Allerdings ohne Erfolg, denn er war weiterhin unberechenbar und ich hatte immer im Hinterkopf: „Wovor fürchtet er sich als Nächstes?“. Dazu kamen die Unkenrufe und gut gemeinten Tipps aus dem Stall.

Completely unsure as to whether he wasn’t a size too big for me, I contacted Johanna. As soon as Johanna dropped the lunge line into the meadow as a test, he made a huge leap backwards. We then started with Johanna’s trauma resolution exercises and even though comments like: “What’s the point?” were made, we both enjoyed the calm exercises. We practiced diligently and things gradually improved. In the second lesson, I really hoped that I would be allowed to ride. As he was much rarer, but still flinched from time to time, Johanna thought that the time had not yet come and gave us more exercises. In the third lesson, the time had come – I was allowed to practise mounting and dismounting and Johanna led me on the lunge – he was deeply relaxed and I was overjoyed!

I continued practicing dutifully, but then he somehow started to regress and I didn’t know why.
In the 4th lesson that followed, Johanna explained to me that he had now come to terms with his traumatic experiences and had built up enough self-confidence to put me to the test a little.
She showed me how I could set my boundaries gently but clearly and what it means to be really consistent, even with very subtle body language.
Both things that were not my strengths before.
With her support, I managed it and it quickly became clear that this subtlety and clarity on my part did him a lot of good.
From then on, he worked with motivation and was calm again.

In the 5th lesson I was rewarded for my efforts and I rode completely free for the first time :-)! He no longer showed any stress reactions at all on the ground or under saddle – even when the fly hood fell on the floor in front of him 🙂 In fact, he had become so calm that I sometimes wondered whether he was doing well anyway, because he was now so calm and balanced.

An unpredictable, skittish, traumatized horse had become a reliable riding partner in just 5 sessions with Johanna. With my little daughter he now goes through every course without any problems, lets himself be groomed and also likes everything else she can think of.

Thank you so much Johanna for your patience, your encouraging words and your support at all times – also with regard to equipment, choice of bit etc. It’s rare to find a riding instructor who is so attentive to horse and rider and who notices every little thing.