What is my horse philosophy about?

The way of Jaan is about

• friendship,

• mind, body and soul,

• harmony, balance and rhythm,
• leadership and shaping,
• movement and gymnastisation,
• communication,
• insight, self-experience and self-awareness

and through this searching and finding for you as well as for the horse quality on each day of your life - enrichening your life.

What can the way of Jaan give you?

The way of Jaan can

• teach you the basic exercises, like relative straightening, shoulder-in and traverse, to gymnastise the horse in an optimal way,
• give you a basic understanding of the horse’s locomotory system,
• teach you the language of horses,
• give you an improved body awareness and through this to achieve balance, harmony and rhythm with the horse,
• create the conditions to evolve further.

What is understood by the terms balance, harmony and rhythm?

Balance, harmony and rhythm are the source for a successful interaction between horse and rider. The way of Jaan understands by successful interaction to keep the horse in the long AND in the short term physical AND mental healthy.

Balance is the condition where the horse with the rider in every motion, in every gait and in every direction can carry itself so that its locomotory system, in other words, the muscles, tendons and the skeleton, doesn’t overstrain itself. The prerequisite for balance is the shaping of the upper and the longitudinal line of the horse.

Harmony is given when the two individuals, the horse and the rider, in mutual understanding and respect, work together.

Rhythm is the third essential component in this three-sided relation of balance, harmony and rhythm. Rhythm is the regular movement of the horse’s gait. But beside that, is the need for balance of two forces, the untapped energy of the horse channelized by the rider.  And if this channelizing of energy happens in balance and in a harmonious integration then both the horse and the rider have found rhythm. The energy can flow without blockades between them.

To onlookers it seems that the horse and the rider are one - synchronous, graceful and in unison in each move …

What to understand by the way of Jaan?

The way of Jaan is open to everyone, there are no exceptions. No matter what breed or age. The way of Jaan means to go by the individual conditions of both the horse and the rider. An Icelandic horse with its five gaits cannot be compared to or trained like a Warmblood, while a Haflinger has in turn other conditions and needs.

We humans ALSO have different needs and pre-conditions.

The ‘only’ conditions are to be curious, to be open, to regard the horse as a friend and to be willing to learn and to evolve.

Jaan is Urdu and means ‘life’ respectively ‘heart’. The way of Jaan shall inspire you to look beyond borders, to venture into new areas of horse education and science. And the way of Jaan shall be seen as an invitation to follow your heart, to trust yourself.

Which teachings have influenced the way of Jaan?

My horse philosophy is founded on Bent Branderup’s The Academic Art of Riding, on Ilke Spilker’s Empowered horses, on Bill Dorrance’s Horsemanship through Feel, on Gustav Steinbrecht’s The gymnasium of the horse, Gene Ovniceks’s Natural Balance Shoeing, on McGreevy’s Equine Behaviour and on other important horse people. For further information please let me refer you to the page called Links where you will find the links to the homepages of these people.

But the way of Jaan began 16 years ago with Sir Simple. Please look at the page called Sir Simple and me.  

A big Thank you to all of you – human as well as equine master teachers! 

If you are interested to learn more about The way of Jaan, please use the contact formular. I will contact you ASAP.