Fresh from having won the Grand Prix and FEI Freestyle classes at both Oregon Dressage Society Championships and the NW/ABIG Championships, Jeremy Steinberg is feeling good about his hard work having paid off. While Jeremy obviously has natural talent, he attributes his success to daily attention to detail, a terrific support team, and his hard-working partner, Olson’s Parocco.

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	About Jeremy Steinberg

While Jeremy loves competing, he brings the same enthusiasm to his teaching. “I still remember not being able to sit the trot,” he says, “being hunched over. It gives me empathy because there are still things I struggle with daily.” One of Jeremy’s goals is to make riding a positive struggle. He encourages riders to challenge their horses to bring out their best work. Likewise, “I have an obligation to leave each person with something that fits their style. I don’t ever want to discourage a rider.”
Is working with so many adult amateurs a challenge? “Certainly,” Jeremy agrees “Learning the basics can be frustrating for amateurs. But when they get it—it’s great.” Watching Jeremy teach, it’s apparent that he reads his students and tries to adapt his teaching accordingly. “Just like horses, there are only so many ‘types’ of people. You get a feel and adjust your style as needed.”

Jeremy’s approach to riding is just as straightforward “It’s artistic,” he notes, “yet also breaks down into math. If you get the formula right (having your horse know his basics), then you just plug the numbers in. The challenge is to get the formula right—the biomechanics of movement, conformation, and temperament.”

Getting the basics right is something Jeremy learned from Dietrich von Hopfgarten. “Deitrich insisted on it,” Jeremy recalls. “I used to fight with him a lot but kept coming back. He keeps producing Grand Prix horses.” For Jeremy, it’s not necessarily about reaching Grand Prix, but showing that the horses know the formula.

“I teach students to get on the aids first, before trying to do more. It’s my way of setting them up for success,” Jeremy explains. He compares much of his training to gymnastics. “You are your horse’s personal trainer, if his body is prepared, the ‘tricks’ (upper level movements) aren’t so hard.”

Jeremy emphasizes the importance of preparing the horse’s body. “Run your horse through all of the gears in all of the gaits,” he advises. “Shifting gears lubes up his joints and supples his transmission (hind legs).” Continuing with the driving analogy, Jeremy asks riders to shift from extended to collected and working gaits frequently, to test the horse’s response and give him a work out. “Treat the body like an accordion—have it stretch in and out. Get the length of the horse’s body ‘breathing.’ Lengthen/shorten/increase/decrease.”

While many riders focus on specific movements, Jeremy’s emphasis is on the quality of gaits. “Any idiot can ride a shoulder in,” he says good naturedly, “not everyone can improve movement.” In all work, Jeremy insists that the horse maintain good form. This is especially important as the work gets harder. “You need to increase the difficulty of the work to build up your horse’s body. The hardest work will be the most beneficial to him. As the weights get heavier, he needs to use his best form.”

Jeremy compares the horse’s body to a giant rubber band, “You need to stretch him within a round shape.” As for throughness, Jeremy insists on not giving his horses an inch. “Once the horse knows his job,” Jeremy says, “it’s his job to maintain. Try letting the aids off. If he takes advantage, ask sharply. Then try to soften again. Get him past the point where he’s talking back and does the work.”

“Find a baseline,” Jeremy explains, “a cruising spot with more cadence and positive tension than you expected a year ago. You have to get him there but he has to maintain. Log in the hours in cruise (at this level). Then, when you go to do more difficult moves, you don’t have to work so hard. For example, you can just sit the trot, without worrying about maintaining it.”

To keep horses sound, Jeremy is a firm believer in alternating the work. For example, he likes to begin the week with trot/canter transitions—which he believes are an excellent way to find “holes” in a horse’s training. He may follow with two days of gymnastic work, two days of collection work, and two days of walk work. “If you spend too long at gymnastics, your horse won’t collect,” he says. “Likewise, if you spend too long at collection, they’ll be sore and won’t have enough stretch.” As in gymnastics, Jeremy recommends spending most of your time doing low-intensity moves so the horse’s body learn what it needs to do.

What’s next for Jeremy Steinberg? “My biggest goal with Olson’s Parocco would be to make the top 12 in the country,” he says. “I’d like to compete him at the National Championships and Selection Trials for the World Championships this next summer.” He admits it’s a “grueling, labor intensive, and financially straining process.” Fortunately, he has a wonderful support group. “My own teacher, Dietrich, is the realist,” he says, “my friends are the optimists, my clients are the cheering squad, my family are the cautious believers, Olson’s Parocco is the worker, and I’m the one who gets to steer the ship. Together we make the decisions with everyone’s opinion counting.”

Before he begins competing in California, Jeremy has been invited to spend a few weeks training with Debbie McDonald. “Debbie is very supportive,” he says.

The difficult part is balancing his own training and competition schedule with maintaining his business. Fortunately, his primary focus is more on teaching and doing clinics than training horses. Even so, he works seven days a week to juggle getting help with his own horses and competing with teaching clinics and lessons. Jeremy is fueled by his aspirations. “Without the dream there is nothing,” he says.

With solid goals and daily discipline, Jeremy Steinberg has had remarkable success without having been gifted with any “truly amazing” horses. Attention to detail and a long-term, hands-on approach to his horses has developed their talents and willingness to work for him. Jeremy’s positive struggle has improved horses, their riders, and his own riding. We wish him success.