Visiting the Haras National Du Pin in France

 

While I was on holiday in France last week (yes I know, I was shocked by that too!), I was determined to do something “Horsey”!

Having searched for something suitable, I stumbled across the Haras National Du Pin, or the French National Stud. The website looked amazing and mentioned that on Thursday afternoons they held a show, so my week was planned, all I had to do was survive horseless until Thursday!

Thursday arrived – eventually!- and off my husband and I went on an hours journey to see this infamous stud…

On arrival I was rendered speechless (yes I know, yet another surprise!) at how big the place was, this was by no means an “everyday” stud, this was simply spectacular.

 

There was a large welcoming sign, some of which was in English- thankfully! *Should have paid more attention in French at school* the entrance took you into a large shopping area which had the usual touristy type items for sale, t-shirts, bags, pens etc, but there was also a library to wonder around which offered reading materials ranging from the early horses to present, classical riding to everyday riding, quit fascinating really, along with some more expensive items such as bronze casts of horses and luxury bags. I think there was something for everyone really, but mainly tourists wanting memorabilia. I was very good, yes that’s right, I looked but didn’t purchase. (Mainly due to the husband being present!)

                

 

In the centre of the vast room was the information desk, where once again they spoke English, informing us that there was a guided tour that pm followed by the show, all-inclusive for 36euros for both of us, so it just had to be done! The tour was in French but we were provided with an English “script” which they followed and allowed us to keep up with what they were talking about.

   

 

The tour started at the main entrance with a brief overview of the great driveway, moving on to the chateau where the tour guide spoke about the great and wealthy who had visited there over the years, followed by a view over the outdoor arena, and WOW what a place to ride…

Then we had a tour around their “tack room”, well, I know I have an obsession with tidy, but this is a whole new level!

                    

Following this we saw the many carriages and heard about their role in history, fascinating moment of the tour.

Then the bit I was waiting for, the stables…

WOW, I genuinely can’t think of another term to describe them, tidy, beds neat, tack all in the correct place, it was picture perfect.

The different yards hosted different breeds, from the tiny Shetlands, to the giant Percherons, who were all stallions and perfect gentlemen.

Each yard was as clean and tidy as the others, all the horses were as happy as Larry and happily munching their hay or haylage as appropriate.

The tour ended here in the stables, when we were left to have a wander around on our own, when I found the horses again (sorry – not sorry!) and imagined how it must feel to work with these awesome horses in such an awesome place…..

Once I returned from dreamland it was 3.30pm and time for the “show”, not knowing what to expect, we joined the queue of people, who seemed to have grown by the hundreds!!

Once we were directed to our seats in the auditorium, and the last of what felt like millions of others found their seats, the lights went down and a loud bang (knock?) not sure which, but two people appeared from the basement and the show began…

I genuinely had no idea what to expect, as it was all in French *damn not listening in school!* and it took me a few moments to get the idea that it was based around Halloween (doh, didn’t I think about Halloween?!) the “actors” played various roles from ghosts to policemen and women, with an easy to follow “story” even if I couldn’t understand what they were saying!!

The “actors” were clearly the staff and showed tremendous horsemanship varying from groundwork with the tiny Shetland ponies we saw in the stables earlier who all came into the arena with skeletons strapped to them, much to everyone’s amusement, and one of the “ghosts” controlled them in a display of magical horsemanship.

 

The show went on for an hour and half, varying from the Shetlands as mentioned, to this: an astounding show of horsemanship, I had a tear in my eye when this finished, the relationship the man and horse had was simply amazing.

We were treated to an ending varying from the “ghosts” standing on the Percherons backs, showing superb balance, to the Shetlands coming back in to take their bow. 

The “Ghost Rider” from the Halloween show at the Haras Du Pin, October 2017 from Sharon Johnson on Vimeo.

After a fairly mundane, boring horseless week, this afternoon made the French holiday worth every boring minute!! Would I recommend a visit… OMG YES YES YES!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The square pole exercise.

 An exercise to increase rider awareness of the horses shoulders.

 As you can see from the picture, there are 4 jumping poles placed end to end on a square.

 

The rider begins by simply walking around the square noting which rein/leg aid they use to get round the square as closely as possible without touching a pole. More often than not the rider will pull the horse around the corners with the inside rein, perhaps using a little outside leg, but mostly the rein. This encourages the horse to simply place his head and neck around the corner while the outside shoulder drifts the opposite direction, what we term “falling out through the shoulder”. Although to the rider the horse has gone where they want as the head and neck are in the desired direction. 

 

This picture gives you a birds eye view of what happens when the horse “falls out through the shoulder”, note the body is straight, yet the neck has gone in the riders rein direction, however if you take away the horses neck and focus just on the body, you can see how the horse will be going the opposite way to his neck. 

 

To ride a correct turn the rider needs to use the outside aids to “push” the horse around the corner, by placing the outside rein against the Horses neck and applying gentle pressure, along with the riders outside leg behind the girth, the horse should move away from these two pressure points, while the riders inside leg at the girth and a guiding (not pulling) inside rein aid helps create a “uniform bend” around the turn, similar to riding a pirouette. 

Once the horse understands this question, and is happy to step around the pole ends in walk, I ask the rider to grow the square and develop the trot work using exactly the same method, and once the trot is established we look at canter, but not until the walk and trot are established. 

 

The size of square will vary for the ability of horse and rider, for an advanced horse and rider they should be able to work around the poles on a small scale, whereas lower level riders will be working on a larger scale under close supervision.

 

Rider very often forget the importance of controlling the shoulders, especially on circles, so once control has been established using the square, the circles should be much easier to maintain by riding the outside of the Horses body, rather than just the inside. 

 

The video below shows one of my riders beginning canter work around the square, note she has made a clear “turn” around a corner and how she applies her outside aids on each turn, she has developed the canter to be able to keep his shoulders exactly where she wants them, to the naked eye she looks like she is riding a circle, but you can see the square is there just on a larger scale, and at the level he is currently working at, a definitive “turn”isn’t quite within reach just yet as he hasn’t the muscle to “sit” enough to push around the turn,  but with more training he will be able to soon enough. 

Riding a square to develop shoulder control. from Sharon Johnson on Vimeo.

 

There are lots of exercises to develop shoulder control, this one is one of many I use, but the poles make a useful aid as the rider has something to focus on to manoeuvre around. 

 

Feel free to comment and ask questions if you want more clarification or on line help via email or messenger. 

 

Sharon x