Silva recalls, “In school we learned about training horses and also business management, which is important to running a barn. That’s really the main thing that I thought was best about the experience. We also studied math, religion, all kinds of things, and then we had classes about how to train a horse. We had the three books: The Principles of Riding, The Principles of Driving and The Principles of Longeing, and they’re kind of like the bible. There were more than three books, of course, but those were the main ones.” The course also includes components such as horse care,
anatomy and physiology, knowledge of breeding and raising young horses, safety, environment, economics, organizing competitions, feeding and teaching, in addition to riding and training. During the three-year program, knowledge is continually building: in the vocational school, through the
apprentice again for approximately two more years to become a fully qualified instructor, as Bereiters aren’t really considered qualified to teach more than the basics of dressage/jumping as a general rule, individual experience and talent notwithstanding. After spending several years in the business, those
who aspire to manage an equestrian operation and have the opportunity to train their own apprentices can take more exams to acquire the imposing title of Pferdewirtschaftsmeister. This requires another written and oral examination, a riding test and a teaching exam in which you are required to teach both private and group dressage and jumping lessons. This requires riding a Grand Prix dressage test and a Grand Prix jumping course on horses that you have trained, in front of a panel of judges. You also must have competed at the highest national level with a certain level of success. As a Pferde-
wirtschafts- meister you are allowed to specialize in dressage or jumping. As a basic Bereiter the focus is a little more general and as a master
The Landgestüt in Warendorf, Germany.
apprenticeship, and additionally through outside activities. After the apprenticeship and studies at the vocational school,
and before the final exams, students spend about three weeks in preparing at the Landgestüt, or State Stud, where the exams are held. “When I went to Warendorf, there was a group of about 30–40 people every year, spring and fall,” says Silva. “You stay in a hotel called ‘Emshof’ which is very famous for housing riders, and from there you can walk to the Landgestüt which is where you are most of the day riding the stallions. Every apprentice receives two horses, one for dressage and one for jumping. You have a trainer helping you, and in the afternoon you practice for the other exams like longeing, grooming and teaching.” Glenn says, “It was very useful that they teach you some
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business skills and something about the law; even though it’s German law, the more you know the better prepared you are to work in the business. I find that completely mis-sing in the American industry: people become a working student and then a trainer and there’s not a lot of theory.”
CONTINUING EDUCATION As a Bereiter you can hang out your sign as a trainer, or you can
40 July/August 2010 Photos this page by Amber Heintzberger
you are allowed to take apprentices, a practice which keeps the program going. That structure is something that Glenn feels the North
Americans are lacking. “It’s all part of a larger system,” he says. “It actually begins before you ever go to your first horse show: everyone has to join a riding club and pass a test to get a license to compete. It keeps people knowledgeable when even kids going to their first show have to take a test and know how to clean their horse and put on the bridle. It’s all basics but it sets the groundwork. It’s a system that the Germans apply to almost every profession and it works.” Felicitas says that she did not find her Bereiter license that
valuable to increasing her business in the United States. She says, however, “I ended up working for Gene Freeze at First Choice Farm where he encouraged me and paid for me to do the Masters (Pferdewirtshaftsmeister), and that helped because my scores were the highest ever achieved at that time. I also felt it was beneficial to take the Masters exam which included six weeks of the business school.” The esteemed title of Reitmeister (Riding Master) is only
bequeathed by the consensus of your peers, usually only after achieving great accomplishments over a long period of time. There is no exam for achieving this title and it is a
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