Inside the Manège

Inside the Manège Explore classical riding with me as I dive into classical dressage, culture, and the art of equitation.

Featuring people, places, & training for classical riding.

03/10/2026

So many riders mistake that the horse's neck position is something they need to "set" with their hands.
Ever wonder how the horse takes on a rounded head and neck position naturally?

Bent Branderup explains that the horse's head and neck position comes about naturally as a result of the action of the hindlegs, which shape the spine. As he mentions, "the neck is just a part of the spine," and so learning how to feel and infuence the action of each hind leg can help in shaping the horse's spine and overall head and neck position.

Curious to hear our full conversation on the Academic Art of Riding, dressage history, and more?

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

30/09/2026

Bent Branderup explains how the contact you have on the reins can reflect the action of the hindquarters, as well as the throughness of the horse.

He says, if you have a lot of weight in the hands with a horse that is heavy on the reins, this can be because the hindquarters are not active enough in carrying behind. When you don't have anything in the hands, this also isn't always necessarily good; it can sometimes mean that the energy created by the hindquarters doesn't reach the hands, because the horse isn't properly through.

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

27/09/2026

"It's not the method that educates the horse; it's your knowledge, and your eye."

Bent Branderup emphasizes how just applying a certain method may not be the best for every horse, if the horse doesn't need the specific result the method creates. For example, he explains how the education of a hypermobile horse will look different than the training of a stiff horse, so the rider needs to look at each horse individually to know how to adapt and choose methods for their needs.

I find classical riders often fall into sort of "camps" of which classical old masters they follow, yet these classical masters typically specialised in one type of horse, and achieveing one set of goals with them. While their work can be incredibly insightful, it's also very important to understand what types of horses their methods were tailored for, in order to know which methods are best suited to which horses.

What's your experience been, if you've tried multiple different classical schools?

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

22/09/2026

"A good educator must have the "red thread" in mind, but understand the horse he's working with."

Academic Art of Riding trainer Bent Branderup shares how horses can be very different, and how every exercise and training plan should be defined according to the horse's body. A training theory, he says, is more of a "red thread" to always keep in mind, while also adapting to the horse's individual characteristics.

Curious to hear our full conversation on the Academic Art of Riding, dressage history, and more?

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

20/09/2026

Does your horse collect in piaffe, or just step on the spot?

Bent Branderup explains how he sees piaffe sometimes performed without any collection, with the rider simply stopping the forward movement, rather than increasing the carrying action of the hind legs.
He also says that similarly for the halt, you have to look at how the horse is built and adjust the position, whether higher or lower, depending on the horse's conformation and tendencies.

If the horse's head and neck position is too high, it can cause the horse to drop the chest between the shoulder blades, while if it is too low or deep, the horse's loin can come up, which can also impair the horse's ability to collect.

Curious to hear our full conversation on the Academic Art of Riding, dressage history, and more?

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

15/09/2026

Weight in the rider’s hands?

Bent Branderup explains that lightness is related to a horse’s ability to carry itself, for example, when its hind legs swing sufficiently forward and carry more of the horse’s weight behind.

He says that one of the biggest mistakes in the history of riding has been allowing there to be weight in the rider’s hands. To improve this, riders must look at how the horse uses its legs and where it places its feet in relation to its body. This affects the horse’s entire body, including the spine, which in turn affects what riders feel through the reins.

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

15/09/2026

Weight in the rider's hands?

Bent Branderup explains that lightness is related to a horse’s ability to carry itself, for example, when its hind legs swing sufficiently forward and carry more of the horse's weight behind.
He says that one of the biggest mistakes in the history of riding has been allowing there to be weight in the rider’s hands. To improve this, riders must look at how the horse uses its legs and where it places its feet in relation to its body. This affects the horse’s entire body, including the spine, which in turn affects what riders feel through the reins.

Curious to hear our full conversation on the Academic Art of Riding, dressage history, and more?

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

12/09/2026

If you feel resistance in the reins, don't punish the horse's mouth for it.

Bent Branderup explains that each type of resistance felt by the rider through the reins is related to a disharmony in the horse's body, and that while there can be an issue in the mouth itself, it's up to the rider to learn what part of the body is causing the horse to resist, and to bring that into balance.

Bent has spent his career practicing and teaching what he calls the Academic Art of Riding, based on his experience as a rider and trainer, and research of classical riding masters through history.

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

08/09/2026

Bent Branderup points out that a horse is not a riding machine, and that we should get away from thinking about the horse just as a body.

He explains that it's a living being with its own spirit, and our goal is to seek a way to grow together mentally, in order to enjoy an understanding together.

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

04/09/2026

Bent Branderup describes how educating yourself first as a rider is key, because you can’t teach the horse something you don’t already know well yourself.

He says, some riders expect the horse to respond like a machine, and don’t want to educate themselves. However, riders need to understand how to reach the goal they wish to achieve through the horse’s education, by becoming competent themselves in the training process, in order to then teach the horse.

Watch the full conversation through the link in the comments! ⬇️

🎙️Watch or listen now to the full episode with Bent Branderup on INSIDE THE MANÈGE, streaming on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

If you‘d like to follow with subtitles in your preferred language, watch the video on YouTube, turn on closed captions, and select your language in settings. 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇵🇹🇮🇹🇪🇸 and more available.

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