The Dressage Seat: Achieving a Beautiful, Effective Position in Every Gait and Movement

Anja Beran spent a major part of her childhood at her grandfather's hunting lodge in Bavaria, surrounded by hunting dogs and horses. There she decided she would one day be either a forester or a professional rider. Beran ultimately chose riding as her life's work. Horses brought her to Portugal in 1985, where she initially rode with Luis Valenca, and later met and worked intensively with Manuel Jorge de Oliveira, who remains her mentor. At home in Germany, she spent 16 years under the tutelage of Marc de Broissia, training horses of all breeds, before eventually managing and running Gut Rosenhof, an astoundingly beautiful mountain farm and training facility in Bidingen, Germany. Horses are now sent from all over the world to work with her and her outstanding staff at Gut Rosenhof, every horse is allowed to develop at his own individual speed, gently, with great care for the classical ideal of true harmony between horse and rider.

Beran provides a unique perspective on the use of breath when riding, citing the recommendations of a classically-trained opera singer who regularly works with Beran and her riding students to develop their deep breathing skills. "A relaxed seat," Beran says, "is never possible with restricted breathing."