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 May 2023: Strengthening the Hind Legs

Such an exciting month we have ahead! To build on last month’s theme of Starting the Half Pass, we wanted to talk this month about Strengthening the Hind Legs. It’s a question we often get and there isn’t just one specific WAY to strengthen the hind legs. You can approach it from various angles based on biomechanics and training methodology. We are going to go deep into it this month. If you have been wanting to explore this more, you are in for a REAL treat this month!!

Noor Tanger from the Netherlands will be joining us this month for a very special Interview, Chat, and Q&A “Wine with Friends”-style. Noor and her partner Pat work with many rehabilitation horses in the Netherlands. In her work, Noor combines correct dressage schooling with a variety of bodywork modalities to help support the horses they work with. She is sharing this month with you all a bonus training on Physiotherapy for the Hunter’s Bump. If you have a horse who struggles with this often painful affliction, you will love the tips Noor shares this month.

Catherine has prepared a special Feldenkrais Mini Lesson for you this month on the “Tripod in Standing.” With this month’s theme of Strengthening the horse this month, it only seems fitting that we explore the requirements we, as riders, need to build functional strength. This lesson will help you find a good sense of balance and stability on each of your legs. If you’re not balanced and stable, you cannot build effective strength because all of your external muscles will be too busy trying to prevent you from falling over that they cannot be available to build the strength we need for power.

Then, as always, we close up the month with a Hot Seats Meeting where we review a selection of the rider-submitted videos of this month’s featured exercise: “Mad Max”.  Whether you submit your own video or not, it is well worth attending for the insights you will gain by watching others’ videos and hearing the feedback, tips, and anecdotes provided.

We will see you there!

May 2023 Schedule:

🐴 EOTM: “Mad Max“ - released May 1, 2023

🐴 Bonus Physiotherapy Lesson - The Hunter’s Bump by Noor Tanger

🐴 Feldenkrais Lesson - “Tripod in Standing”  - released May 1, 2023

 🐴 Masterclass: “How do I strengthen the Hind Legs?” - Wednesday, May 24, 2023  at 8:00pm GMT+1

 🐴 Wine With Friends: Guest interview and Q&A with Noor Tanger - Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 6:00pm GMT+1

 🐴 Hot Seats Meeting (“Mad Max“) Wednesday, May 31 at 9:00pm GMT+1