Posts and Articles of topics related to the artistic aspect of horsemanship including Classical Dressage.
When training the horse relaxation must come first. Anything we gain in ‘training’ without the horse being relaxed is compromised. Any measure of tension prevents him from fully committing to your request.
Now, the rub is that most training methods are built upon manipulating and maintaining some measure of tension in the horse.
We might experience the same problem with different horses. Or when traveling to new places experience new problems that arise because we’re out of our element and that impacts the way we behave and interact with the horse.
The Half Halt… is it really as confusing as it seems? Endless articles describing it in vague, half-terms and hidden meanings. I don’t believe so, but for how simple it is it can be a challenge to understand and apply. Practice does make perfect…
I’ll leave these wise men to explain the overall importance of simplicity and hopefully you may glean how it relates to the aids we use in riding.
Heard of François de la Gueriniére? Okay, that’s good.
For those in the know, Philippe Karl is one of the modern Masters of Classical Dressage. For those who do not know, he will just seem a foreign concept. Perhaps it is time you learned more about this modern Master of the Equestrian Arts… Now you can read his article “Taking Over Equestrian Culture” online.
Perhaps fitting, yesterday was my birthday, and I was born in the year 1984… the same year that Reiner Klimke scored the Olympic Gold Medal aboard his Westfalian gelding, Ahlerich. Here is a tempting video, highlighting their victory lap at the Olympic Games.
And, in case you weren’t privy to the show live or watched it previously, or maybe you just want to watch it again… here is the winning video of Reiner Klimke riding Ahlerich to Gold at the 1984 Olympic Equestrian Games.
Ever have the curiosity about someone who not only pursues academically, but artistically, that of Classical Dressage? The haute ecole, equestrian art, etc? Bettina Drummond, an American, student of Nuno Oliveira… Here it is for you, hope you can understand French. Cest la vie!
We find fears with the horse. He moves too fast or too slowly. He turns the wrong way or doesn’t turn at all. We want him to be caught easily, when he runs away rampantly. He bucks when we want an easy ride, or pulls back in the cross-ties. Perhaps we want to be successful in competition, while our horse refuses to polish just the way we want?
Circular, that is time. We live in a world dominated by linear functions, our calendar reads left to right, start to finish. There is little left of the cycles we once relied upon as a species to guide our functions from day to day, week to week, month to month, season to season, year to year. Instead we rely upon days, minutes, hours… seconds, to remind us of the time we have lost or wasted, or perhaps the time we have saved.
When we are in the pursuit of knowledge, attempting to glean it from every viable source, it helps always to know whose definition of equitation we are gleaning that knowledge from. For many they answer number one to different reasons – money, ego, curiosity. What is the *best* definition of equitation?
Lightness comes in part with the advent of relaxation. Lightness relies on movement, constant movement. Lightness is the result of the mental, emotional and physical aspects between horse and rider reaching harmony.
How our interactions come across to the horse can vary considerably. Some horses will go through the motions with us, others will be intimidated and work for us out of fear – producing erratic but somewhat reliable results. And still others will become “difficult”, “stubborn”, “stupid”, etc in response to ego based training.
In the first part of this article, we covered the Rules of the Aids, along with introducing and describing the Half Halt and Reverse Half Halt. We now continue on, in a very logical way, to discuss the Direct and Indirect Rein. These two aids are the means of directing, guiding and helping to shape the horse.
Perhaps the first point to make on the definition of aid, is that in no way does the meaning ever describe it as a means of control. The aids that the rider uses, are meant not as a way to force, coerce or otherwise take away the will, freedom or direction of the horse, the aids are there to help support the horse in his own natural abilities, if you will.