Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel is a top international Grand Prix trainer, rider and coach who has trained out of First Choice Farm in Maryland for the last 36 years. Winning many championships on all levels, she is mostly known for her beautiful position and ability to train horses in classical self-carriage.

This testimonial first appeared in the January 2018 issue of Dressage Today:
(Scroll down for the Before/After videos!)

"For many years, I had searched for a solution to my chronic back pain that threatened the end of my riding career. Almost three years ago I found Hanna Somatics (HS). This approach to gentle body movements has not only made an amazing difference in my ability to manage my back pain, it has made an enormous difference in my riding position.

After my first few sessions, I learned that there was HS for horses—Equine Hanna Somatics (EHS). At the time I was riding Tonico do Top, a very successful 15-year-old Lusitano stallion, in his last season at Grand Prix. He was not a big mover by nature, therefore it took years to develop him in an athletic way so he was able to flow with cadence and jump. He always had to work hard to stretch his physical limitations and I was always looking for ways I could help him.

As much as HS was helpful for me, I was very doubtful how it could work with a horse. But curiosity and intrigue won over doubt, so I ordered the DVD for EHS. Watching it, I was still very skeptical, but since I had taken it that far I thought I might as well give it a try. I started with the leg lifts for Tonico. It took me exactly one round of lifting his legs and I could not believe how much it reflected everything I felt when I rode him. For example, in the right-lead canter he would come down too fast on his right front leg, which took away some of the flow and was obvious to me in the flying change to the right. When I tried to work with his leg lift in the right front he was not able to put it down slowly and softly. Once Tonico relearned to let that front leg down smoothly, his canter and the flying change to the right improved greatly. There were many other things I found working with his hind legs, back, neck and ribs. It was an enormous time commitment, but I could feel an improvement in Tonico under saddle right away. I also found that EHS exercises became an invaluable tool at horse shows, when Tonico would be very tight after shipping.

The more I worked with Tonico, the more I realized that I did not know enough about the approach and, unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone in my area teaching it. I decided to reach out to the founder, Eleanor Criswell Hanna, thinking all she could do was not answer if she thought I was too forward. It turned out that she was most gracious and lovely, immediately willing to answer my questions. Later that fall she actually traveled to the East Coast to spend a couple of days working with the horses and me.

EHS is a wonderful tool that really is available to anyone. In my case, I know it was a huge contributing factor for Tonico to be able to go on and finish his last show season, becoming BLM Grand Prix Champion for a fourth year in a row, BLM Grand Prix Freestyle Champion for the third time and a repeat winner of the GAIG Grand Prix Freestyle Championship."

-Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel

BEFORE Hanna Somatics & Equine Hanna Somatics (2014)

AFTER Hanna Somatics & Equine Hanna Somatics (2015)