Sielja Dantved - A Classical Path

Home
Sielja Dantved - A Classical Path

✨ Trainee Trainer - Ecole de Légèreté
🤍 My life, journey & training

09/08/2026

The issue is...you think you have the time.

Do you arrive at the stable with a time set for when you'll need to be finished? 🕰

We often arrive already knowing what we want to do, how much we want to accomplish & when we need to be finished.

But that can create issues between us & our horses...

Why?
Because horses don't live within a schedule!

When we make time & planning a fixed part of their lives, it can create a wall in our conversation...

The horse begins to say no before we've even put the lead rope on, they start to refuse to move forward, they stop letting us in, they stop showing us their personality...Their willingness simply disappears, bit by bit...

Because they can feel that we're in a hurry!
That they aren't an important part of our lives, but rather a chore we need to get done before we move on to the next thing.

So what if we stopped giving our horses an ending time?

What if we instead accepted that being with our horses sometimes takes 10 minutes...& other times take 2 hours.

So if something needs more time...Then you have the time. ✨️

Because the goal isn't to be finished by 5 o'clock, the goal is to meet my horse where he is, do what we decide is right for this day, together, & end when the conversation is complete.

Then I get a horse that feels heard, a horse that knows that if he needs more time...I have it & will give it!

That I'm not going to leave before our conversation is mutually complete.

Sometimes I have no idea how long it will take when I walk into the stable & that's okay! 🤍

Why should the clock be more important than what's happening between us?

I chose to spend time with my horse...
So I want to be free to give him as much of it as he needs! 🫶

Photo by Simone Buchholtz Nedergaard

04/08/2026

Young horses have a remarkable way
of exposing our ego 🤍

Alois & I just finished our second instructor course with École de Légèreté Danmark & Master Teacher Melanie Bulmahn.

If I'm honest...

Starting this instructor education with a 4 year old isn't always the easiest choice. Sometimes I watch the more experienced horses & think how much simpler everything would be if I had brought Korpus instead.

But then I remind myself...

I'm not here to impress anyone.
I'm here to educate my young horse, to learn, & to become a better trainer & rider! 🌟

After our first lesson, I let my ego take over.
I felt disappointed...

I'd hoped Alois would show more of the work we've been doing at home.
Instead, he looked exactly like what he is...A 4 year old horse with very little experience. Curious & easily distracted..

Trying his best, while other horses called to him, disappeared from sight, & made the whole world seem far more interesting than listening to me..

Thankfully, some wonderful conversations with my fellow students reminded me of something important...Progress isn't measured by how impressive your horse looks in a lesson! ✨️

It's measured by whether your horse leaves understanding a little more than he did yesterday...& that's exactly what happened!

By our lesson at day 3, I could suddenly recognize moments of the horse I know from home.
The contact, the relaxation, the quiet conversation we've been building together 🙏

Only for moments...But young horses are built on moments! ✨️

Moments become minutes.
Minutes become habits.
& one day... They become the horse you've dreamed of!

One of my favourite parts of this course was our in-hand work. We explored small details that made a surprisingly big difference, & I can't wait to continue developing them over the coming months.

And then there was one sentence from Melanie that I'll carry with me for a long time 🤍

"You can really sit."

I've spent years working on my seat, so hearing those words meant more than she probably realized.

Now we are home again, back to the quiet work that no one sees. Because that's where these moments are build. 💞

31/07/2026

This weekend, the journey continues...

Today Alois & I arrived for our second instructor course with École de Légèreté Danmark, with our Master Teacher Melanie Bulmahn ✨️

Tomorrow the course begins, but today was already a good day!

Alois walked straight into the trailer, travelled beautifully & arrived with the calm confidence that makes me so incredibly proud of him!
Watching my young boy grow, not just in his training but in his personality, is one of the greatest privileges I know! 🌟

One of the best parts of these courses is also meeting my fellow trainee trainers again. I already had the chance to catch up with some of them today, & it reminded me how special it is to learn alongside people who share the same curiosity & passion.

I'm really looking forward to four days filled with wonderful horses, inspiring conversations, plenty of learning...& probably more notes than I'll ever be able to read again. 🤍

Photos by Simone Buchholtz Nedergaard
Saddle & bridle by Hidalgo Sattel
Outfit by The Bohemian Horse

27/07/2026

Notes from a classical path ✨️

Change doesn't happen over night, & it doesn't happen without someone leading the way ⚜️

Suggestions for next topic for this series are welcome, let me know! 🤍

24/07/2026

Old wine in new bottles...a thought that pops into my mind often! 🤔

The horse world is changing, more riders are questioning old habits, talking about welfare, & more trainers are teaching concepts that look very different from what we've become used to seeing in competitive riding.

I genuinely think that's a good thing, but there's something that bothers me...

Many of the ideas & methods that are being presented aren't actually new, or something that particular trainer even invented 🫣

Teaching from the ground before asking under saddle, prioritising balance before movement, softness before force, communication before obedience...None of these ideas are as new as we're sometimes led to believe!

These principles have existed for centuries, they're written in old books, they've been refined by generations of horsemen & horsewomen, & they're still being taught today by people who have studied the methods, ideas & philosophies with the masters.

Yet somewhere along the way...Some trainers started rebranding old wisdom as revolutionary discoveries.

As if history never happened...

I don't mind people teaching these ideas, quite the opposite..I hope more people do & will!

But I do wish we became better at acknowledging where they came from, because when we disconnect knowledge from its roots...We risk losing the philosophy that gave it meaning in the first place! ✨️

Very few people in horsemanship invent something entirely new..
Most of us are standing on someone else's shoulders!

If you're going to build on centuries of knowledge...acknowledge the shoulders you're standing on!

I know I am!
Honestly, I think there's something beautiful about saying that out loud 🤍

Video by
Black beauty yogings by
Saddle & bridle by

21/07/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions in young horse training...
..is believing that riding is where learning begins!

I recently read a caption saying that turning is difficult for a young horse, I couldn't agree more! 👌

But it also made me wonder...Why do we so often expect the young horse to learn things with us sitting on their backs?

A rider changes everything for the horse!
Balance, weight distribution, coordination, confidence...

So, why do we so often introduce the hardest version first, instead of teaching the horse where learning is easiest? 🤔

Before I ask a young horse to understand something under saddle, I want him to understand it from the ground. Straightness, turning, yielding, stopping...

Not because I don't want to ride, honestly, I prefer to ride...but I want riding to become easy, & I don't make it easy by doing it all the time!

The saddle shouldn't be where we teach the lesson..

It should be where the horse realises he's already learned the answer! 🌟

Perhaps that's why groundwork has remained part of classical education for centuries, not because it's tradition or old...

But because it makes sense for the horse! 🤍

Photos by Simone Buchholtz Nedergaard
Outfit by The Bohemian Horse
Saddle by Hidalgo Sattel

Address

Højgårdsvej 2

4733

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Sielja Dantved - A Classical Path posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Sielja Dantved - A Classical Path:

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college?

Country:

City: