Antoine Nowakowski – brief encounter

Antoine Nowakowski – brief encounter

Leading dressage rider and trainer, Frenchman Antoine Nowakowski, shares with us his lockdown experience, which includes some very brave training practices!

A less structured approach

Like many peers, Antoine found his equestrian activities curtailed during the COVID-19 lockdown period, with public gatherings in his home-country of Belgium shutdown mid-March, and non-essential international travel banned later that month. The livery and training yard that Antoine runs with his partner Yanna Denis, Ecuries du Moulin, was forced to adapt to the new guidelines, and training of the horses became a lot more relaxed and less structured.

“It’s true that management of the horses during the lockdown was very different than normal,” Antoine explains. “As all the competitions were cancelled, Yanna and I wondered whether we should give horses a break, or keep them fit in case of a re-start of competitions.”

Trying out new things

With Governments advising against riding outside of one’s property, many riders were forced to focus on arena-based training, or riding within the curtails of their facility. But with no set idea of how long the restrictions would last, this indeterminable time could have proved unstimulating for horses used to the thrill of top level competition. “We didn’t want the dressage horses to be too bored with the constant training of exercises in the manege - but giving them a rest was also a bit challenging,” Antoine remembers. “If we did rest the horses, and then if dressage competitions restarted sooner than expected, we wouldn’t have been prepared for the ‘D Day’,” he continues, “ so we decided to try a few new things.”

Bridleless riding

Antoine’s top rider Quatergirl was subsequently enlisted into a new regime of bridleless riding! Pioneered by natural horsemanship trainers, bridleless riding is said to be one of the clearest illustrations of the connection between a horse and rider. “It’s a beautiful example of horsemanship. It employs the use of relief and release, and is a true test of not only your relationship, bit also your seat and body aids, and accuracy. It takes some practice!” Antoine explains. “Not having the bridle, just using a neckstrap for balance and an element of control, really allows the horse the freedom to go forward; it shows you that you can control your horse’s direction using your seat, bodyweight and leg aids.”

Not content with trying out this new training method, Antoine also tried his hand at jumping (“Very small!”) – and then, feeling very adventurous, and with immense trust in the mare, bridleless jumping! “It was really fun!”

This ingenious way of keeping training varied has meant that the seven year old Quatergirl kept her fitness and muscle-tone without her usual training regime, and was also kept mentally stimulated. “The mare was perfectly fit and happy when competitions restarted,” Antoine says.

A PB for Quatergirl

When restrictions eased, the Ecuries du Moulin team started planning their training and competing schedule, welcoming 5* dressage judge Isabelle Judet for a clinic, and venturing out to shows again. With a couple of events under his belt once lockdown was relaxed, and very pleasing mid-70s percentage scores, the team’s hard work was clearly paying off. Then Antoine and Quatergirl gained a personal best of 78.7 % in the seven year class at Saint-Trond National, winning the class in style.

The bridleless training has certainly been working well for this exciting pairing - Antoine’s is now aiming for the selection for the FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in December, in Germany, and we wish him all the best.

Comfort and performance

Antoine is a big fan of Derriere riding underwear. “Remember that when the rider is comfortable within the saddle, they can move more easily with the horse’s gait. Comfortable underwear and breeches are a must and the Derriere Equestrian range is designed for both men and women; it’s hard to find great riding underwear for men, but I find these products excel at their job, offering exceptional comfort and performance,” he concludes.

 

Antoine and Yanna advise that you should only try bridleless riding only on a horse you know very well, have adequate control over, that’s highly trained to accept leg and seat aids. “Ride in a manege, and start carefully in walk, with a helper to ensure your safety,” Antoine suggests.

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