About Ekipage-1

About Ekipage-1 | My philosophy | "My horses, my teachers" | Once upon a time...

About Ekipage-1
Ekipage-1 was founded in 2005 and is run by me, Lena Danius. The word "ekipage" means in Swedish both horse and rider, and I chose that name since I work with both horse and rider, specalising in seat traning and classical riding. The base of operations is Vallentuna, about 25 km north of Stockholm (the capital of Sweden). I have studied and trained with Craig Stevens from Seattle, USA, since 1999. And I have spent a total of 15 months at his barn the National School of Academic Equitation. In 2008 I was applied to and was accepted in to Philippes Karl's training program for instructors: "School of Légèreté". If everything goes as planed I will graduate in 2011. I give lessons on a regular basis in Vallentuna, Stockholm area as well as Piteå. I'm happy to travel to your location for lessons and clinics.

Currently I'm also studying pedagogy at the University of Gävle. My subject is the pedagogy of riding including not just how to teach but also what to teach. In 2010 I participated in the 6th International Equitation Science Conference. Here I made an oral presentation of my abstract titled "Learning to ride a horse - a study of concepts and thought styles in three textbooks from three centuries". You'll find the abstract here (page 36) »

My philosophy
It is an old truth that a good seat is a necessary foundation to be a good rider. A good seat is a seat that is balanced, based on relaxation and coordination. The best way to accomplish this is according to my belief is to practice seat exercises on horseback. These are not random exercises but well established exercises developed long ago and exercises still used at the Spanish Riding School and at Samur in France. It is not enough to intellectually know how to do something, but to really understand how to ride, you have to feel it with your body. Seat exercises is a vital part to give riders this feel.

It is my firm belief that horses always do as best they can, and that they never, ever lie. Horses always solve a problem in a way that makes sense to them, which of course doesn't mean it has to make sense to us humans. Horses are stronger, faster and outweigh humans, so we can not with any long lasting success hope to compete with horses in these areas. You can ride horses using muscular strength, but it is not the best way to do it. It is better to aim for a control o f the horse on a mental level. Humans are more intelligent than horses, which mean we can learn to think and behave like a horse and also become good leaders to the horses we deal with. A prerequisite for this to work is calm and emotional control. Calm is also needed in the horse so that he or she remember his or hers lessons.

"My horses, my teachers"
"My horses, my teachers" is not something I came up with. It is a title for a book written by the former head of of the Spanish Riding School, Alois Podhajsky. Different horses will teach you different things, but only when you are able to listen to what they have to teach you. Horses are seldom complicated, it is we humans that makes things complicated. Without the help of knowledgeable horse masters like Craig Stevens I would never have begun to penetrate all the layers of myths and stories surrounding horses and riding. It is simple but not easy!

Once upon a time...
Once upon a time there was a 2 year old child that was put on the back of a horse by her mother. Maybe it was in this instant that her love for horse was born? What ever started it, I couldn't wait for my 8 birthday when I was allowed to start taking lessons at the local riding school. Since then I have always been riding, first at the riding school, on other peoples horses and of course on the family's horses.

My sister and mother are also riders. When I was 16 we bought our first horse. His name was Rebus XX, he was 4 years old and was barely broken to saddle. He wasn't my dream horse since I wanted a horse that I could learn on and also compete with. My mother wanted a thoroughbred and since Rebus was laying down in his stall the first time we saw him, my mother thought he was calm and therefore she bought him. This is not the basis for buying a horse that I would recommend to anyone today!

In retrospect we were very fortunate with Rebus XX. He stayed with the family until he passed away 21 years old. Rebus XX turned out to be a very patient teacher as I strived to learn how to "talk" with horses. For me, riding and handling horses doesn't come naturally. Every small step of progress I make is a result of much effort to understand what it is I'm suppose to do, and equally large effort to learn to control my own body. My sister is a borne natural rider, she just do and it works perfectly for her. Growing up, constantly comparing my own clumsy efforts to hers was very frustrating. But that was then, now we are equally good. Surely we have our own personal strengths and weaknesses, but we are both good riders today.

The frustration that I felt in these early years did not only come from my failures compared to my sisters success. It was also fueled by many of the various instructors I rode for. Countless were the times I heard that my horse has lied to me again, he was cheating and holding out on me, I needed to show him who was in charge and so on. The only answer to any problem was more force. The more I pulled on the reins to force Rebus XX into a certain "dressage" outline, the more he responded by opening his mouth, so I was advised to close the nose band one or two more holes and Rebus in turn responded by becoming hard in his mouth and dead for my legs aids. I can only speculate on how Rebus XX felt, I mostly felt like crying and I was close to stop riding all together.

What I did instead was taking up long distance riding. Out there on the trails I could let him carry his head any way he wanted, and I could just enjoy riding him instead of trying to force him into a "ideal" outline. Together Rebus XX and I completed 13 long distance rides (16 started) and a total of 780 km. Not bad for this "impossible" horse.

At this time my sister got interested in western riding and natural horsemanship. I also participated in clinics for various western trainers, and even though it was more fun than to ride for a dressage trainer that told me to use both legs and hands at the same time (which only confused both me and my horse), Rebus XX and I didn't really make any progress. Flying changes of lead was one thing we never mastered. No trainer has been able to explain or show me how to teach my horse and me to do this movement.

When Rebus XX was 17 years old and retired from long distance competitions, I came in contact with Craig Stevens. In the beginning I was skeptical as to how much he really knew about horses, but the more I rode with him, the more I came to realise the depth of his knowledge. I had never before met anyone that knew so much about the history of riding, different ways to solve one problem and above all could explain in a way so that I could actually do it. Before Rebus XX past away he had mastered both flying changes and piaff. Not bad for an old horse! But honestly, Rebus XX knew these movement long before, it was me that had to learn how to stay out of his way. And as I developed my skill of sitting in balance on Rebus XX, I also developed the skill to ride other horses just as equally well. It is very seldom the horse that is the limiting factor, all horses in freedom can if they want to, do flying changes and piaff, it is us humans on their backs that makes things complicated.

In 2003 I spent the whole year at Craig Stevens' barn in Seattle i USA as a working student. Craig is the director of the National School of Academic Equitation (NSAE) in Seattle. During the year I spent there I had the opportunity to develop my own riding and train as an instructor. I could also satisfy my interest in literature since I had access to the schools library with more than 450 titles about horses! In the fall of 2006 I spent an additional 3 months at NSAE and further developed my skills as an instructor, horse trainer and rider. During this stay I also got the opportunity to met Ed Dabney. Ed is a real American cowboy and also a student of Classical Equitation.

Rebus XX very sadly left us in the summer of 2004. Like a gift from above Pargon OX joined my family the same year. Pargon OX was born in 1996, and he was broken to saddle at the age of 9 by my sister. The previous owner hadn't been able to ride him due to his highly developed flight instinct. Today my mother rides him on long trial rides and he is also assisting me with seat traning. He is of course also my teacher although I like to think I'm the one training him. In 2008 I bought Hagens Yeats. He is an connerma geliding (born 1997) and the horse I participate with when riding for Craig Stevens and Philippe Karl. He also assisting me with seat training lessons, and regular riding lessons.

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