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HJN Riding – A Genuine Partnership Between Human and Horse

With Hans-Jürgen Neuhauser.

 

The art of refined communication, mutual trust and physiologically sound horse training.

HJN Riding is based on a form of actively articulated body language that horses, in my decades of practical experience, understand without first having to learn its meaning.

Our aim is to help humans and horses develop a genuine partnership through loving clarity, mutual trust, voluntary cooperation and continuous two-way communication.

At HJN Riding, we work with the horse – but we work on ourselves. We learn to recognise and correct our own movements rather than hold the horse responsible for our communication errors.

Communication and physical development belong together. We help horses develop balance, coordination, muscular endurance, a stronger and more capable back, and free self-carriage through physiologically appropriate movement.

Consideration, attentiveness and respect are ours to give – never something we demand from the horse.

What Makes HJN Body Language Different?

We do not have to teach horses the meaning of HJN Body Language. Instead, we learn to articulate our bodily statements clearly, while helping the horse develop the physical ability to perform the intended movements.

If I correct the horse for a mistake caused by my own unclear movements, genuine communication breaks down. I must first examine and correct my own bodily statement.

The Rediscovery of HJN Body Language

My journey began with Casey, my first horse. I wanted to build a relationship with her based on trust, security and voluntary cooperation, without depending on halters, ropes, reins or pressure.

My background in strength and partner acrobatics, particularly slow-motion Adagio acrobatics, gave me an exceptionally refined awareness of my own body. I learned to perceive and consciously coordinate even the smallest components of movement.

This enabled me to recognise how horses responded to individual changes in my movements. By deliberately varying those movements and observing the horses’ responses, I gradually came to understand the underlying logic.

I therefore describe this process as the rediscovery of an existing form of body language, rather than the invention of an artificial system of trained signals.

Over decades of practical work with people and horses, including unfamiliar horses and those considered difficult, I have refined this understanding into a clearly defined form of actively articulated body language.

Today, I can identify individual movement components and deliberately combine them into meaningful whole-body statements.

In my practical experience, both humans and horses can understand these bodily statements without first being taught their meanings.

Communication is a two-way movement dialogue. The horse’s response helps me recognise and, when necessary, correct my own movements.

The Four Pillars of HJN Riding

HJN Riding combines four equally important pillars:

  1. HJN Back School for Horses – developing healthy movement, balance, thoracic support, weight-bearing capacity and free self-carriage.
  2. Equileading – Gymnastic Leading Exercises – guiding horses through variable movement courses using clearly articulated body language.
  3. Work on the Circle – communicating gait, tempo and direction through consciously coordinated bodily statements.
  4. Riding with the Finest Aids – communicating with the horse through exceptionally subtle, precise and coordinated movements.

All four pillars are connected through actively articulated HJN Body Language, body awareness, mutual trust and equine exercise physiology.

A Practical Example of HJN Body Language

During Equileading, I simultaneously communicate two distinct types of information: direction and tempo. The human and the horse may follow different tracks through a variable course.

In Work on the Circle, I can simultaneously communicate three independently variable statements: gait, tempo and direction.

Human-to-human exercises are another essential part of the method. They help people develop their own body awareness and learn to articulate bodily statements consciously and precisely.

These examples demonstrate why HJN Body Language is more than simply observing or reacting to general body-language signals.

The method applies equally to all riding styles. Whether riding English, Spanish, Western or another style, riding is based on balance, communication and trust.


Watch the Video (04:43 min) "Theme: Riding with an Independent Seat: "Weight cues - aid or disturbance"
The Exercise: Riding a corner (= actually a quarter of a volte) in correct flexion and bending without using the inner rein:

 


Watch the Video
(10:00 min) "My most beautiful moments with my four-legged friends in the open countryside, forest, desert and prairie...
"
Riding without imposed dominance – based on mutual trust, the highest respect, loving clarity and sound principles of equine exercise physiology.

 


Watch the Trailer
(17:50 min) from the DVD "HJN meets Lipica" Communication in its purest form
- Experience horse education and body language on the highest level - communication in its finest form:

 


 

HJN meets Lipica

The fine art of communication between horse and human – an extraordinary educational demonstration at the world-famous Lipizzaner Stud Farm in Slovenia.

What happens when a person can communicate clearly to a horse, without reins, a lunge line or any other mechanical connection, where to go, how to move, and at what gait and tempo?

And what does it take for a horse to willingly participate in this partnership?

HJN meets Lipica brings HJN Body Language to life. At the historic Lipica Stud Farm in Slovenia, Hans-Jürgen Neuhauser works with three Lipizzaner horses he had never met before: a mare, a gelding and a stallion.

After only a few short training sessions, he presents his work to a live audience. Rather than performing a rehearsed show, he demonstrates and explains the actual training process, revealing how his body language works and why even the smallest changes in human movement can convey an entirely different message to the horse.

Understanding body language – down to the smallest movement

At the heart of HJN Body Language lies the conscious coordination of the human body.

Hans-Jürgen demonstrates how the feet, knees, shoulders, gaze, body orientation and rhythm of movement work together. Through practical examples, he explains how the horse perceives these movements and responds to them.

You will see how, through his own body movements alone, he can:

  • guide a horse at walk and trot and communicate transitions between gaits;
  • influence tempo and stride length;
  • initiate changes of direction and circles;
  • invite the horse to turn towards him;
  • encourage voluntary bending and stretching through free movement;
  • bring the horse to a precise halt.

This is not about memorising individual signals. HJN Body Language is consciously articulated through the coordinated interaction of individual movements within the human body.

The importance of this becomes particularly clear when Hans-Jürgen deliberately demonstrates small mistakes – or makes a genuine mistake during the training.

An incorrectly positioned foot can block the horse's intended path. A shoulder movement made too quickly can disturb its rhythm. An imprecisely coordinated movement can produce a completely different response from the one intended.

Hans-Jürgen explains these situations as they happen. Instead of correcting the horse, he corrects his own movement.

This reveals why conscious awareness of one's own body is such an essential foundation of HJN Body Language.

Three horses – three different personalities

Each of the three Lipizzaners brings its own personality and individual needs to the demonstration.

With the mare, Hans-Jürgen introduces the foundations of free communication, precise transitions and the importance of human body orientation.

The initially uncertain gelding shows why it is essential to recognise the horse's responses and provide the security it needs. Shoulder positioning, circles, voluntary bending and changes of gait and tempo become particularly clear during this part of the demonstration.

With the stallion, the focus also turns to mutual respect, proximity and clear communication about personal space. Hans-Jürgen shows how he responds to the stallion's behaviour, adjusts his own body language and consciously reduces the intensity of a more pronounced bodily statement as soon as it is no longer needed.

Not every horse needs the same approach. What matters is recognising what the individual horse is communicating and what it needs at that moment.

Training the horse also means training ourselves

One central idea runs throughout the entire demonstration:

We must learn to perform our own movements consciously and precisely so that the horse can understand us.

This also means recognising our mistakes and taking responsibility for them.

The horse's response is not a secondary consideration. It tells us how our message has actually been received.

This creates an ongoing, two-way movement dialogue between horse and human.

Hans-Jürgen also explains why rhythm, relaxation, balance, free self-carriage and physiologically appropriate physical development are so important to him.

Body language is not simply a way of moving a horse from one place to another. It enables us to communicate specific movement paths and physical demands with clarity and precision.

HJN meets Lipica reveals not only what fine body language can achieve, but above all how it works – and what we need to pay attention to in order to learn it ourselves.

HJN meets Lipica – English film cover

Watch HJN meets Lipica Online – Video on Demand

HJN meets Lipica – English-language film
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See more through slow motion and selected repetitions

Selected slow-motion sequences help viewers recognise subtle changes in human movement and the horses' immediate responses.

While Hans-Jürgen's explanations are being interpreted into Slovenian, certain relevant sequences are shown again. Some previously recorded scenes are replayed, while in other moments Hans-Jürgen repeats individual movements or demonstrations live with the horses.

These carefully selected repetitions give viewers another opportunity to observe important details and understand how individual movements work together to form a clear bodily statement.

A change in foot position, shoulder orientation or the timing of coordinated movements can alter what the horse understands. Being able to observe such moments again, sometimes in slow motion, makes the underlying communication easier to recognise.

The film therefore offers more than a record of a live demonstration. It provides opportunities to examine significant moments more closely and understand the precision of HJN Body Language.

About the film

This recording combines an introduction to the foundations of HJN Riding with an extensive, live-commentated demonstration at the Lipica Stud Farm.

Watch the horses at work, listen to the explanations and discover how human movement and the horses' responses are connected.