Inside the Manège

Hélène Arianoff, a Belgian classical rider with over 60 years experience and longtime student of Nuno Oliveira, shares how to use the classical riding aids, and how she thinks modern dressage could return to classical riding principles. Having taught all over the world, Hélène Arianoff is dedicated to passing on the principles she learned with Nuno Oliveira, and helping riders achieve the same mom...

Sonja Weber, a classical rider and trainer with over 25 years of experience, shares how to keep the horse healthy long-term with classical dressage, through developing its carrying capacity. Passionate about sharing how training can be used to develop the horse’s body to support its health, she  has written two books, and produced several films on how to use collection to build the horse’s thoraci...

Pureza Oliveira, daughter of the now legendary classical rider Nuno Oliveira, shares stories of her father as a rider, an artist, and how her own story and artistic journey developed, told through her experiences with her father. Having translated both the collected early and later writings of Nuno Oliveira for the first time into English, she continues to be an important representative of her fat...

Anja Beran, a highly respected classical rider and trainer based in the south of Germany, shares where modern riding has lost its way – and why we should return to training dressage based on classical principles.  With over 30 years of experience, Anja Beran has taught internationally and written several books on classical training. From Iberian horses to Akhal-Tekes and warmbloods, she applies cl...

Philippe Karl, renowned rider and teacher of French classical riding, shares his passionate critiques of modern dressage riding, and discusses how we can train according to the nature of the horse, and what differentiates the French classical tradition. Philippe Karl has been riding and teaching for over 50 years, and was a rider of the famous Cadre Noir in Saumur, France for 13 years. Having star...

Classical dressage master Luís Valença shares about equestrian art, stories of his work with horses and Nuno Oliveira, and what makes a classical rider.  Luís Valença is a renowned Portuguese classical master with over 60 years of experience. He studied directly with masters such as Nuno Oliveira, worked with the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, and has been driving spectacular equestrian show...