"If
there is one thing I am always trying to convey to my students, in
all of my years of education, is to give the horse a chance to
develop over time. We must take time, have patience and great
discipline, to use the training scale which is rhythm, looseness,
contact, impulsion, straightness, and collection. Often, the
training steps are rushed or even missed, which will disturb the
progress of the training. Always ride the horse to the best of it's
ability, without breaking it in either mind or body. Give each horse
a chance to develop at its pace. For me , it is important to enjoy
the daily rides and the small improvements that you make. In the end
you'll be surprised how rewarding it can be."
Susanne's dressage training philosophy is deeply rooted in the classical
German dressage riding
scale. Each horse is different and every individual
training schedule must be developed
in order to bring the horse to
their fullest potential It is important to maintain the basics everyday and to build the
better dressage
horse from them. Through experience and having a good 'horse
feeling' , she recognizes the strengths and weakness of the horse
and their rider. Susanne tries to improve the weak points on a daily
basis, with consistent and disciplined work, that is performed in a
stimulating and positive fashion. Susanne always strives to push the
riders to achieve new heights, and motivates her students in a
friendly atmosphere, to achieve harmony between horse and rider. The basics of a complete supple and gymnastic horse
must be trained, by the classical dressage training, before the horse can move to
collected work such as piaffe and passage. Susanne likes to develop
a program for each horse and rider by building a relationship with
the horse and the rider. It is important to recognize what the
problem is, whether it rider or training error, and address it with
correct riding and instruction.
With the
program that Susanne develops for each training horse she feels it
is not only important to address the issues of the horse but also
the rider. By doing this, she first builds a relationship with the
horse as a trainer and then incorporates the rider. It is important
to recognize what the problem is whether it be rider or training
error and address it with correct riding.
Read Susanne's
amazing story of her Grand Prix horse Roger
Rabbit... click
Susanne's Bennes Biography
Susanne grew up
on the family farm near the small town of Mayen. She was the fifth
generation in the families business with horses and agriculture. As
her family owns and operates a breeding and training facility in
Germany, competition and training were an important part of her
life. Susanne's father was a Grand Prix jumping champion, advanced
event rider, who later in life became a champion in carriage
driving.
Continuing with family tradition, Susanne began competing in
dressage and jumping, as a young and junior rider, and became a
champion like father before her. She won numerous regional and
county championships as a young rider and Susanne qualified for and
rode in three German championships. The crowning moment of her young
riding career was wining the state championship in dressage at the
age of eighteen.
One year
later, she choose the demanding career path of becoming a
professional dressage rider and trainer, by beginning her apprenticeship
as a Pferdewirt (specializing in dressage and jumping) under
international FEI dressage trainer Bertin Putter. The "Pferdewirtshaftsmeister"
is Germany's dressage master certification and normally takes a
minimum of five years to complete. Susanne, already an accomplished
rider, was able to finish this course in four years. The culmination
of this outstanding education is a series of riding and written
exams, in both dressage and jumping, that lasts for ten weeks. Four
of the ten weeks are tests in theory, horse business practices,
anatomy of the horse, diseases, and much more. At the age of
twenty-three, Susanne graduated and became the youngest master rider
in Germany by earning her masters degree in Equine Education and
Management, known as the "Pferdewirtshaftmeister FN". She was
awarded the "Stensbeck" silver medal for finishing her course with
the highest scores for the year.
"
Susanne, as an
international FEI instrucutor, practiced her profession at two
prestigious dressage and jumping stables over the next eight years.
First for Gestuet Gut Haidehof in Hamburg and
then Reit und Fahrverein in Braunschweig where she head dressage
trainer and managed up to seventy dressage horses with multiple
apprentices. Here, Susanne trained one of her apprentices to achieve
the "Pferdewirtshaftmeister" and this apprentice also won the "Stensbeck"
silver medal as well. In Germany, Susanne trained with Willi
Schultheiss, Maria Gunter, Dr. Joachim Boesche, Rolf Henn, Harry
Boldt, Herbert Rehbein, Heinz Schuette, Mr. Peilicke, Mr. Festerling
and others.
After
a ten year career as a Pferdewirtshaftsmeister, Susanne and her husband Richard, a Florida native,
moved
their family and horses to Florida. Susanne quickly joined the
central Florida dressage scene with her FEI mount Second Waltz
and her upcoming 5 year old Hannoverian Roger Rabbit. Susanne
continued to have success here in Florida and started teaching as
well as riding. Demand to
train with Susanne grew at such a rate that in the summer of 2004 Susanne and Richard
Benne established Half Halt Stables in Cocoa, Central Florida.
The once small venture has grown from an eleven stalls with 6 acres
to a
35 stall fourteen acre full training dressage facility
and continued to grow in 2010 with the addition of third training
barn.
Recognizing her fortunate background of training dressage and
jumping with the professionals she studied under in Germany; Susanne
Benne is always looking to further opportunities for young, talented
riders towards making their goals a reality by offering a full time
dressage working student program. If you are interested in training
dressage in Florida or want to inquire about the working student
program, please e-mail Susanne Benne for additional information.
E-Mail
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