Riding Refinery
Re-Define The Way You Ride
As fire refines precious metals by removing impurities, so too does the time tested gymnastic training process of the Old School supples, strengthens, and improves the horse by removing stiffness from the joints and muscles. The trainer tests and refines the horse daily in arena.
“The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.” Proverbs 17:3
The Mikolka Method
Classical Horsemanship One Exercise At A Time
Karl Mikolka (1935-2019) was a renowned Austrian-born dressage trainer and former Chief Rider at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. In 1955, Karl Mikolka entered the Spanish Riding School as an eleve under the leadership of the famous Colonel Alois Podhajsky. He spent fourteen years at the school ultimately rising to the level of Chief Rider. After leaving the school, Karl spent over 40 years in the US refining and honing the techniques of the Weyrother method of the Spanish Riding School taught to him by his mentor Alfred Cerha. The horses trained by Cerha were considered masterpieces of equestrian education. In Cerha’s system, the horse was trained to look and feel effortless to ride and to be light on the aids. His legacy and training lineage (going back to famous Chief Rider Max Ritter von Weyrother) continued through the riders he trained such as Colonel Alois Podhajsky and Karl Mikolka. Mikolka was Cerha's last student.
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart. Proverbs 17:3
As fire refines precious metals by removing impurities, so too does the trainer refine the horse by daily gymnastic work in the arena.
The time tested gymnastic training process of the Old School improves the horse by imparting mobility to joints, strength to muscles, and refinement to the intellect.
