The Lighter Way to Ride.
Written by Pip Easton (17th June, 2010).
Once upon a time I thought that riding horses to the top level was the most prestigious thing ~ sitting astride a magnificent beast with grace and poise, invisibly aiding and barely needing the reins at all because the horse would maintain everything himself in self-carriage and pride. Is this a fairytale image set in the story books of one's princess-like childhood fantasy, with castles, roses and dapple grey ponies? Where oh where is that image today and where, pray tell, is the lightness?
There seems to be a broad demographic of people coming out of their dreamlike state and standing with their eyes wide open at the warm up arenas of today's modern competitions with a shocked expression. Dressage is under scrutiny and there are lots of unhappy citizens becoming unafraid to point their fingers and shake their heads publicly in disgust. And the numbers of these confused bystanders are on the rise. What is it that is dividing the Equestrian world right down the middle?
The riders who drive the incredibly powerful machine-like steeds of today wear their dark-shaded glasses and defend their training methods with gusto and intimidation. They sit powerfully astride their million dollar muscle bound Warmblood and believe that what they are doing is right because they're winning!
And the judges in their boxes sit sweetly smiling at the centerline, happy to see another brilliant display of showmanship and style! They make comments to their penciller, mesmerised by the performance and dazzled by the flashy trots, but what about the vertical? What about the triangulated piaffes? What about the short necks and the tense stiff backs and grinding teeth? What about the noseband that is cranked unbelievably tight and the spurs constantly digging into his sides? What about the horse?
Do the riders and judges today see what the top level has become? Do they realise the tragedy at play within the training arenas across the world or are they so focused through their tunnel vision that the breeder can do no wrong, the prices at auction are not inflated, the young horse competitions are natural pressures for a baby and the meat market is alive and well!
Andrew McLean (AEBC), who we all love, is a gently spoken, sharp minded scientist who studies the nature of horses and starts a young horse in the basics. Stop, go, left and right. He works with the learning brain of the horse and conditions it based on how Equus thinks, pressure ~ release. He has been heard to say that, "The tragedy of modern dressage today is driving the horse into a restraining hand."
Another analytically minded genius in the world today, Philippe Karl says, "By kicking and pulling at the same time you are making the horse disobedient to the leg or the hand." Which means the horse will either lean on the hand and use it as a fifth leg or become deader to the leg which creates the over-active rider of today who sits on board kicking every stride.
This style of riding has become the norm. And because of the 'drive the horse from behind mentality', the horses are not light, they are not in self carriage and they are not correctly carrying the weight on the hind quarters at any level. The proof of this is also at the crux of the issue which is the defiance of most performances to completely ignore the cardinal rule of Dressage which is the poll must be the highest point and the nose must be on or in front of the vertical... Fairytales shot to pieces!
So Australian riders go to Germany and see how the winners train and bring the techniques home and apply them. Then tell everyone who'll listen that Rollkur is not as bad as the media hype of it and justify the broken, rearing, bucking and bolting horses as ill-bred and blame the stallion! They drill the horse for kilometers on end for circle after circle in hyperflexion and criticise anyone who feels sorry for the horse as amateur and non-competitive. Is it really okay to bandage the horses' legs with extra padding in case he bangs himself whilst pulling his head so far under himself, wrenching left and right on the mouth to 'supple' him? The cemeteries are full of past experts rolling in their graves!
The divide which is cutting a deep gash through the Dressage world today is getting wider and uglier. So what to do? It's crystal clear to the ground swell of disappointed and disheartened riders across the globe... Bring back the vertical! Bring back the self carriage of high collection. Bring back the softness and the lightness. Refine it back to reality!
The masters of centuries ago held their whips above the horse to take away the need of it and to prove that the horse was maintaining his own impulsion while they sat quietly in the movement. They dropped their reins into loops to show the horse was positioned correctly with a high arched neck and the poll set evenly at the top of it. They had such a connection with their seat and the mind of the horse that the vision of oneness held the eye of the beholder in admiration and appreciation of classical beauty. They trained the horse to sit behind and lift the forehand higher in Piaffe, keeping a vertical line with the front legs and to prove the horse was weight bearing and sitting on his hind quarters, and the canter pirouettes climbed uphill with ease.
Where has it all gone? The Piaffes of today look downhill and heavy and heaven forbid the horse ever opening his poll to balance himself and have his nose in the position it's supposed to be in. Most horses are ridden fifteen to twenty degrees behind the vertical, not even close to being on it, let alone in front of it! The restraining hand of today's riding style is strong, rough and shows no respect for the animal we all profess to love.
I'm all for Pony Clubs abolishing heavy handed kids and teaching them a soft relationship between their hands and their pony's mouths. It wouldn't go astray to have them flex their horse left and right in halt to create lightness for bend. Could it be tried that they're taught to stretch a horse over the back in a nice neck extension with his nose allowed to seek forwards, outwards and down, not pulled and jammed in and forced. If the new generation of riders were taught the basic fundamentals of balance and motion, they would have half a chance of learning lightness through the levels. And could it be motioned that real horsemanship skills are shown to kids so they can self load their ponies onto the floats and have polite, well mannered steeds to ride safely around on with less gear and steel in their mouths?
There is plenty of logic in Philippe Karl's Philosophy of Ease and right in the centre of his training is the four most important words us humans could really embrace, Respect to the Horse. He says, "To know what is a horse means to go with him, not against him." Every horse has a natural crookedness, they are stronger on one side than the other and to look deeply at balance is a crucial key.
The hand and mouth relationship for many Masters is paramount in submission and harmony. If you have the mouth, you have the horse. To work with the relaxation and thinking mind of horses, you need to have the jaw mobilised and softly tasting and swallowing with the bit. "The rider must have a good hand which is orientated to the mouth and a good brain to be clever in training horses."
Philippe Karl has an enormous following worldwide and is showing riders how to ride exercises to gymnasticise the horse. Shoulder in on a circle, travers, renvers on a circle with a high neck, his weight taken off his shoulders and the centre of gravity moved into correct balance. He shows you why to lift and flex the neck to build strength and suppleness which brings a horse to ultimate straightness. And he wakes up your conscience mind into the awareness that, "Any horse can perform correct flying changes, piaffe and passage. You don't need a Dressage horse to do these movements, it isn't true!"
Lightness in the hand with the horse taught self carriage and softness from the beginning is compulsory in his style of training, as is lightness to the leg so the rider can drape with length and elegance and "Let the horse do..." Correct neck extension with a horizontal neck and the nose out in front in training builds correct topline muscle with the horse allowed to swing naturally and move his back like a fish. Compare that picture to the tense backs, swishing tails and high stepping front legs of today (and while you're looking see if the hind legs in trot move parallel with the front legs and see if the horses can still walk in a four beat).
Only when dressage is taken back to the classical principals of lightness and softness can riders profess to be in tune with their horse. Only when the judges stop giving high marks to the flashy, leg moving performances and stand by the one rule all riders should be adhering to (on the vertical) and only when top level riders stop making big money at the expense of the horse will the respect return to the unimpressed public. No judge, rider or trainer who tells you, "More leg, more leg" has any kind of knowledge when it comes to teaching an animal, because if they did know, they'd simply teach the rider how to lighten the horse to the smallest of aids (remember the fairytale way to ride). The School of Légèreté (lightness) is teaching the right way. Are you? Or is kick, spur, pull and jam alive and well in your stable?
Next time you're on the arena passing the mirror, take a look and see if your horse's nose is in a straight line to the ground, meaning ON the vertical... and give yourself a pat on the back if it's actually in front of the vertical line. Then take a look and see if he maintains that in walk, trot, canter, shoulder in, travers, half pass, flying changes and piaffe. And check how much weight is in your hand when you're doing all of those things (is it the weight of the rein?). Then when you get off, see if you can fit two fingers in between his noseband and wonder at yourself why you'd even have the flash noseband on tying his lips together.
Then if you're a rider who uses draw reins while you're riding (and heaven forbid go to one of the world's most top instructors (apparently) who allows you to ride in his lessons with draw reins on) and ask yourself this question, "Do I actually know how to teach a horse how to do anything without forcing him?"
Good luck with that. Get back to me on it. And while you're thinking about all of that, go outside in the dark and see if you can hear the tears of the horses who are crying all night from the pain in their mouths, backs, sides and legs. See if you can justify the ribbon on your wall to the horse of your dreams who suffers silently while you sturdily go on aiming him blindly at the next competition for another ribbon to stroke your ego with.
Honestly, if a horse isn't travelling with the lightest of aids, then he's no longer a horse at all ~ he is your slave. Let's be honest. So to let Philippe Karl have the last word here, he says, "Riding on a high level should not only mean making medals, it should mean knowing a lot!"
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