Here is what you can look forward to each month…

One New Riding Exercise each month.

Each of our exercises are biomechanically designed to help your horse develop his balance, straightness, suppleness, engagement, and throughness. But it can get boring if you find yourself getting stuck in a rut of only doing the same, old exercises over and over. At some point, you feel the need for some variety and inspiration, so each month we bring you a new exercise to add to your repertoire. We will explain not only what to do and what the exercise accomplishes in the training, but how you can ride it in a way that will be best suited for your horse right now. We teach you how to modify the exercise to make it easier or harder, depending upon what your horse needs, and we teach you how to embellish the exercise to bring other elements in. We also teach you how to trouble-shoot the various problems that you may encounter with the exercise. With these in mind, you set yourself and your horse up for the best possible results. These exercises are sure to become some of your favourite go-to’s! Each exercise comes with instructional video and downloadable PDF with full instructions.

One Group Coaching Hot seat each month.

Feedback is VITAL to making progress. We have seen this time and time again in our courses. The riders who regularly ask questions and get feedback on their riding videos are the ones that excel in their training. So we are now adding this element into EOTM. A Hot Seat session enables us to watch videos that the community has submitted, and we give feedback, tips, and help troubleshoot any problems that came up. This all happens on a Live Zoom webinar, they are always recorded so you can watch later, and you can learn through watching others EVEN if you do not submit your own videos (but we encourage you to, if you can!).

"Wine with Friends"  Meetings each month.

Wine with Friends is like hanging out with your riding buddies in the afternoon with a glass of wine and chatting together about the stuff that is all on our minds. Sometimes we discuss Current events or hot topics. And sometimes we discuss Mindset matters: What gets in your way in making progress in your riding?  Whatever we are discussing, you have a voice here! These are held as meetings so that we can have a conversation together- all of us. Participation is optional, of course - you can attend and just listen. Whatever you feel most comfortable with!

Additional Bonus Trainings added periodically.

These can vary from masterclasses on topics like timing of the aids, shoulder-in, piaffe training, and long-reining. Interspersed throughout these are occasional commentary videos where we watch a recording of a famous rider or trainer and break down what is happening, what we see, and what you can learn by watching them! Variety stimulates learning and ideas! All trainings are always recorded, so you can watch as many times as you need and return to them whenever helpful. All previous trainings are always available in the archives!

Feldenkrais Mini-Lessons.

Each month you get a mini Feldenkrais lesson taught by Professional Feldenkrais Practitioner, Catherine McCrum. These lessons are designed to help you improve your coordination, balance, body awareness, and suppleness OFF of the horse (some are even done ON the horse) so that you can enjoy your riding more.  With these lessons you will develop independent use of your individual body parts so they all work more comprehensively together as a whole! This helps you to sit better, straighter and more relaxed, ride with more suppleness in your joints, and give your aids with better differentiation and finesse. These lessons are very soothing and relaxing to do, as well! Great for doing right before you ride if your busy life sometime impedes your ability to "arrive" mentally with your horse. You will find that not only your riding improves, but also your relationship with your horse.

The Ritterize Community.

The serious pursuit of riding Dressage can sometimes get lonely, particularly if you live in a non-Dressage area or feel like you’re the only rider at your barn who wants to train in a way aligned with Ritter values. But having the support of like-minded people who “get it” makes a world of difference. You may have already experienced (and fallen in love with) our generous and exuberant community in our other courses or challenges. They are a group of riders all over the world, committed to their and their horse’s progress, soundness, and happiness. Now you will be able to keep that awesomeness year-round, regardless of which course is in session, by tapping into our amazing Ritterize community. In this private, members-only community, you’ll have an amazing ecosystem of peers, trainers, assistant trainers, team members, and of course Thomas and Shana to help you make your riding goals a reality.

The Archive.

Every single exercise and training since the membership started in 2017 is stored in the Vault and you will have access to ALL of it. Coming in 2023: We are re-categorizing all of the trainings so that you can find whatever you need based on what you are wanting to do TODAY! There is so much in here - you will never, ever be at a loss of something new and interesting to implement into your training!

Your Ritterize Membership includes:

One Exercise Live Training with Q&A each month

One Group Coaching Hot seat each month

One Mindset Meeting each month

Additional Trainings

The Ritterize Community

The Extensive Archive of Exercises, Mindset Trainings, and Masterclasses

Total Value: €4685

Ritterize February 2025: Straightness 

This month in Ritterize we are going to deep-dive into an exploration of an incredibly important topic in Dressage: Straightness.

Regardless of where you are in the training of your horse, Straightness is something that you would be prudent not to ignore. It affects every aspect of everything you do. It is THAT important! But so few riders actually have a thorough understanding of Straightness, so this month we are going to focus on this one ultra-important aspect for the entire month.

Let’s dive in. We start the month with a very special 2-Day Workshop taught by Dr. Thomas Ritter. On Day 1, Thomas will deliver a complete Masterclass on the topic of Straightness. Bring a notebook because you will most likely be taking a lot of notes.

On Day 2, we will open it up for questions and discussion because we know that it can sometimes be hard to wrap your head around all the concepts: hollow side, stiff side, convex, concave, etc. And not all horses “follow the textbook rules”. Bring your notes, questions, and a mug of your favorite beverage because this should be really in-depth and lively!

To accompany this month’s workshop, Catherine has selected a Feldenkrais lesson called “Oscillating from the Feet and Ankles”. As riders, the more clearly you can maintain length without tension in any part of yourself, the more you're able to go with, absorb and utilise the force generated by the different gaits of your horse. When your vertebrae are balanced one on top of the other like a stack of old-fashioned teacups your spine is at its full length and it becomes easy to absorb or direct the forces generated from the ground. In this session we will use oscillatory movements of the feet and ankles to transmit force clearly from the ground to the hip joints and pelvis, on up through the spine to the head. The beauty of oscillations lies in their power to undo long held tensions that chain your spine into its customary asymmetry. The result: a sense of length, width and availability to move in any direction you like with equal ease.

The featured riding exercise for February is designed to complement the Workshop and theme It is called “Straightening Exercise on the Circle”. This exercise improves the horse’s body awareness and lateral balance, as the weight is shifted back and forth between both hind legs. Therefore, it has a very nice straightening effect. This exercise is also a great preparation for the canter depart.

As always, we will wrap up the month with a Members-only Hot Seat session for the Exercise of the Month. This is a live session where Thomas will choose several member-submitted videos to to provide feedback, tips, and suggestions for improvement. Even if your video is not selected to be featured or you choose not to submit footage, you are sure to come away with tips and pointers from this session which you can put to use in your own riding right away.

Join us and let’s explore the concept of Straightness this month together.

February 2025 Schedule:

🐴 EOTM: “Straightening Exercise on the Circle“ - released February 1, 2025

🐴 Feldenkrais Lesson - “Oscillating from the Feet and Ankles” - released February 1, 2025

🐴 2-Day Straightness Workshop: February 3-4, 2025
Day 1: Straightness Masterclass - Monday, February 3, 2025 at 6:00pm GMT
Day 2: Straightness Q&A and Discussion - Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at 6:00pm GMT

🐴 Hot Seats Meeting “Straightening Exercise on the Circle” - Monday, February 24, 2025 at 6:00pm GMT