🌿 The Power of the Tiny Release

How Pauses — Large and Small — Shape Balance, Clarity, and Beautiful Movement

When we think of beautiful work — expressive lateral movements, soft transitions, elastic shaping, or early collection — we tend to imagine the movement itself.

But beauty in training does not come from doing more steps.

It comes from what happens between the steps.

✨ the small releases

✨ the soft breaths

✨ the pauses that allow body and mind to reorganise

✨ the micro-softenings that build responsibility and self-carriage

This principle lives everywhere:

• in lateral work

• in transitions

• in posture shaping

• in half steps

• in early collection

• in rebalancing moments

• even in basic groundwork yields

  
  

And we can understand it through three angles that all describe one deep truth.

1. Release supports learning

When the horse is learning something new — a shape, a line, a coordination pattern — the nervous system needs time.

In the early phase, the most important release is a full release:

✔ soften completely

✔ reward

✔ pause

✔ breathe

✔ let the body reorganise

✔ allow the mind to settle into the new idea

In this stage, the full release marks:

• understanding

• one correct thought

• one well-organised step

• a successful first coordination

• emotional safety

• trust in the process

  
  

Early releases are the foundation of a thoughtful, stress-free learning environment.

2. Small sequences melt balance and understanding together

Once the basic idea is understood, quality grows through micro-sequences:

1–2–3 steps → tiny release → 1–2–3 steps → tiny release.

This allows the horse to:

• maintain vertical balance

• organise the ribcage

• find a rhythm

• avoid overwhelm

• stay mentally and emotionally regulated

• feel successful

• build gymnastic strength

• stay soft in the dialogue

With this approach, the horse learns inside the movement.

Balance becomes teachable because it comes in small, digestible pieces.

This applies to:

• shoulder-in

• haunches-in

• pendulum work

• transitions

• shaping collection

• and any movement that requires coordination

  
  

Small sequences are where feel and balance melt together.

3. Release becomes essential for responsibility and self-carriage

As the horse becomes more experienced and coordinated, the meaning of “release” evolves.

Now, instead of decompressing after one step, the release becomes:

• a tiny softening

• a breath

• a pat

• a momentary letting-go

• but not a full break

In this phase, the horse learns:

✨ responsibility

✨ independence

✨ soft continuity of rhythm

✨ carrying themselves through your softness

✨ maintaining the movement even when you exhale

This is where refinement and true self-carriage begin.

The release becomes part of the flow —not the end of it.

🌱 A Key Nuance:

Full releases still have their place — but their purpose changes

As understanding develops, full releases remain essential. They simply shift in meaning.

Early phase — release for the idea:

• one correct thought

• one balanced step

• one moment of clarity

• one coordinated response

Developing phase — release for the coordination:

• several steps of balance

• a small, connected sequence

• the first moments of fluency

• better emotional regulation

Later phase — release for the quality:

• improved expression

• better spinal alignment

• a more harmonious shape

• several quality steps in a row

• a self-offered moment of responsibility

  
  

In other words:

Early: release to mark understanding.

Later: release to mark quality.

Full releases become a celebration, a reset, a moment to acknowledge and anchor the growth.

Micro-releases take over inside the movement itself, building elasticity, responsibility, and feel.

🌟 The Unified Essence

Whether the release is:

• a full pause in early learning,

• a small reset between sequences, or

• a micro-softening inside the movement…

…it creates the conditions for:

• balance

• coordination

• emotional calmness

• self-carriage

• clarity

• expression

• motivation

Releases are not interruptions.

They are the places where learning settles, where tension dissolves, and where movement becomes effortless.

Every release — big or small —creates space for the next beautiful step.

🌬️ Side Note 😉:

What Mini-Releases Do for Us

We often talk about what releases do for the horse —but they have an equally magical effect on the human.

Because every time we soften for the horse…we quietly soften ourselves, too.

Each mini-release invites us to:

• stop squeezing and gripping

• let go of that tiny bit of “trying too hard”

• uncurl the fingers that were getting a bit bossy

• release our shoulders

• stop micromanaging without noticing

• breathe again

• reconnect with feel

• return to a quiet, supportive posture

And — with a little Augenzwinkern —

👉 it prevents us from becoming the enthusiastic human who thinks,“Just one more step… okay, and maybe one more… and oh no, now I’m holding everything!” 😅

Mini-releases are gentle reminders:

✨ “Softness is a two-way street.”

✨ “Breathe. Let it get easy again.”

✨ “Reset together.”

They keep both bodies — horse and human — supple, honest, and calm.

And that’s why the quality of our movement is always connected to the quality of our pauses…for both partners in the dance. ✨💛