Classical riding Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Lessons from Nelipot Cottage

Just do the homework

It’s been a long hard winter. I’m sure some of you have been really organised and managed to do lots of riding and training?!

I decided this winter that we would be kind to ourselves: I gave the horses January off to concentrate on eating and keeping warm out in their field. Rocky, our 5 year old Hanoverian, did some extra growing, which wasn’t quite in the plan. Then the rain came.

What I did do this winter was lots of studying. Just do the homework.

Riding is a physical activity. Training your horse correctly for longevity requires theoretical knowledge as well as physical skills.

I read and re-read a few of the Classical Dressage texts: Charles de Kunffy is a perennial favourite: his concise prose is so clear and the illustrations chosen are always completely inspirational.

https://g.co/kgs/qUETn4

His little but perfect book “The Ethics and Passion of Dressage” should be in every equestrian’s library, in my humble opinion. I feel very fortunate to have audited several of Charles’ clinics, at Dovecote Stables and at the now defunct TTT, as well as riding with him for a couple of lessons.

I did quite a lot of Facebook discussing- on sites such as Classical Horsemanship. Contrary to the modern defensive dressage divas, I find these sites incredibly informative. Once one starts to learn who to listen to, who really knows their theory, and how to spot others who just spout catchphrases without really understanding the nuts and bolts of correct training. And those who do know their stuff will always answer questions, really helpful and unfailingly polite, while those just spouting politically correct jargon but not actually doing the do cannot explain themselves and get defensive or offensive when questioned.

Just do the homework.

Facebook and online discussion are a fascinating exercise in communication too- do I understand my problem or the horse’s dilemma well enough to phrase a question that will lead to a useful answer?

Thomas Ritter has done a fabulous series of “Facebook lives” over the winter- these are still available online as a really generous free resource, and some of the mini challenges have been great, even if I didn’t manage to do the physical manege work yet to make the most of the exercises shared. I will be doing more of that homework now we have some light nights to enjoy.

I’ve found a yoga teacher I like, and that teaches just around the corner, which is great. I will have functional, unlocked hip flexors one day before I die…

But the main thing I did was to just do the homework, to make sure every ride counted. We don’t have an arena, so a lot of the winter riding we did was hacking in the forest, between snow and rain and hail.

I didn’t slop around on a loose rein, enjoying life. I didn’t ride my horse around in an artificial outline, stifling his urge to go forward. I made sure every step was taken with the longest possible forward and out neck that he could balance, with a relaxed jaw and poll, and I thought about my equitation absolutely every step that I could. Are my buttocks soft, have I got one on each side of the horse, are my knees level, are my legs rotated so I have thigh bones not fat in contact with the saddle, are my elbows pointy, are my upper arms a vertical part of my back, is my back flat not hollow, are my thumbs holding the reins, not fingers, are my fingers folded not grabbing….and most of all, can I stretch my lower leg back so it feels like my heels are collecting the hocks of the horse, I get a slight kneeling in church feeling and the angle behind my knee opens up?? None of these are positions to be held- the magic happens in the movement of change, the transition, so it is replace, replace replace, on a loop like a computer programme, round and round my body.

I made sure Cal was straight from tail to poll, no funky kinky stuff, and I tried to think about him stepping with even weight through both forelegs, and I did a little bit of shoulder in, haunches in, half pass as we walked and trotted around, but mostly I just worked on me.

And a big change occurred, suddenly over a long winter.

A soft, inflated lifted top-line developed. His neck and lumbar back look amazing. The contact became incredibly consistent, although he still head shakes on windy days. His stride has got longer, he has cadence and suspension developing.

And he is absolutely just a pleasure to ride. Keen, alert, fun, sensitive, self motivated, jumping all sorts of awkward crazy logs off a one stride turn, just for fun.

Just do your homework folks- it’s worth it.

But do the right homework- practise only makes perfect if the practise is correct.

You are either improving your horse or breaking him down.

and there is no try, only do or don’t.

Your horse will tell you when you are doing enough.

Enough is always much more than you think- if it ain’t changing, you ain’t doing it.

And don’t bullshit yourself, you are doing yourself and your horse a massive disservice if you do anything less than your best.

Just do the homework, with a big massive smile 🙂

If wishes were horses

“If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride”.

As a child, all my wishes were for horses. All my dreams and all my games involved horses, and all my wishes were horses and all my prayers were for a horse of my own (just in case there was a kind deity out there who could dish out real life miracle horses).

If wishes were horses, then I would have ridden every single day of my childhood.

I did OK. I had some riding lessons aged 7, which stopped pretty quickly once my mum realised that this inconvenient obsession would not be cured by increased exposure. The bus to secondary school passed an equestrian centre, as well as Mill Hill Boys School. While all my friends were getting off the bus to flirt with real boys, I was racing down to the stables, mucking out in return for the privilege of a fleeting bareback ride, bringing the horses in from the field.

If wishes were horses…I wrote poems about horses, practised drawing horses, covered every exercise book with doodles of horses’ heads.

If wishes were horses, I would have had a full stable!

I wonder how the books we chose shaped our equestrian dreams?

I read/devoured/memorised the Colt from Snowy River series, the Black Stallion series, the Thunderhead trilogy, the Shantih series. My horsey idols all lived out, in fields on the moors, or on the range, were often ridden bareback, had their natural instincts and characters kept intact, and seemed to have a mystical connection with their human hero/ine.

I dreamed of jumping, and galloping, mane and hair flowing in the wind, communicating by mind meld, not of fighting, or struggling, or arguing with my horse to achieve results.

I didn’t dream of rosettes, or winning. Just of being out with my horses, day after day, enjoying freedom and fun.

My mum took me to see the Spanish Riding School in London in the 80s. In those days, they were still the bastion of correct classical training. The advanced work looked effortless, the horses appeared magical, the synergy between horse and rider invisible. Years later, when I started competing, and having ‘proper’ lessons, the difference between what I had seen that evening and what I was being told to do seemed completely incongruous.

I didn’t dream of pulling my horse’s head in, of making him rounder, of making him submissive. I had dreamed of a willing partner, of being able to ride with my seat, without force, without pain.

I didn’t dream of whipping my horse to make him do something. The theory that your horse needs to be more scared of you than of the fence is just nonsense. I want my horses to trust me, so when they see a scary fence they check in, ask is it OK, and then go for it because I say we can. And after good training, I want my horses to be so confident that when they see a scary fence, it isn’t scary because they have seen similar stuff before, been allowed to work it out, and learned that they can. In the long run, I want my horse to be saying “it’s OK mum, I’ve got this, let’s go”. We don’t get to that point by force, but by education.

Anna Blake wrote a fabulous blog about that process

https://annablakeblog.com/2018/03/09/the-middle-path-peaceful-persistence/

Anna writes with a lot of wisdom: her blogs contain life lessons as well as horse lessons. Most of us need life lessons first 😉

And most horse lessons are life lessons, in the end.

I do ride with a schooling whip, as did the masters, for communication to say “this hip”, “this shoulder”, “lift your belly”, or to see “hey, I’m talking to you”. A whip is never to be used for punishment, never against the horse. It’s a communication device, for very specific aiding moments.

‘Aider’- verb, French- to help, assist, support, to help to do

That’s what the aids should be…

I also do lots of exercises where the whips are used as flags in my hands to show floppy wrists, or held down behind a straight back. My horses tolerate all sorts of waving whips around, because they know the whip won’t hurt them, and also because they know intent. They know when the whip is something to do with them: pointing at a particular body part during in hand work for example, or when the whip is absolutely nothing to do with them.

I do also wear spurs, but again they are for refinement. I have done years of work on my legs, with many more years to go, so that I can give an aid for energy with the inside of my foot, not my heel or calf. That means I can use my spurs for specific aids- currently “Cal, lift your belly!” I am nowhere perfect- our work as a rider is never done, but I can choose, leg or spur?

I do jump in spurs, but was surprised to find that cross country times became much more achievable once I loosened my legs and learned to balance on my legs not grip with my calves. Cal’s hindleg could then come forward into the space allowed, his stride got longer and smoother, and hey presto, the magnificent half draught learned to gallop.

When I recall my early reading choices, It’s no surprise our horses live out, unrugged, in a herd, with their key needs catered for #friendsforagefreedom.

And a dog. Every horse should have a pet dog😂.

Our horses have 6 acres, so cannot be described as free range, but they have as much freedom and movement and equine free time as we can allow them. As well as ample forage, a field with an increasing number of plants, grasses and herbs to choose from, and plenty of life to watch.

Our summer Paddock Paradise style track along the bottom edge of the field

l’m not trying to tell anyone how to do things- we all find our own path and our own compromises. And we should all continue learning and examining our “truths” every day.

But what I would ask is that you look back to your childhood dreams of horses and just reflect on how close you are to those ideals? Did your wishes turn into the horses you dreamed of? Did the horses turn into happy, healthy, willing partners?

And did you turn into the owner your horse would dream of?

Would your horse pick you?

Cal and Lilly, our neighbour. Every horse deserves to be loved by a little girl- looks like Lilly is going to be Cal’s little girl…when she’s a bit bigger

Lilly is about to start riding lessons, at a local riding school where children aren’t given whips. I look forward to hearing about the ethical riding lessons as she learns the basics, properly.

Another ethical establishment – East Devon Riding Academy- blog regularly about their approach to teaching children the joys of horsemanhip.

http://www.ridingacademy.co.uk

Because who remembers falling in love with horses and then somehow, along the way, we are taught that it is OK to hit them, OK to tie their mouths tight shut, OK to force their heads down, rather than allow them to express their opinion about our riding?

When I dreamed of horses, my childhood dreams were full of sound, happy horses.

Now that I have learned to listen to the horses I have, to allow them a voice, an opinion and a good equine life of their own, now all my dreams are coming true.

And I hope Lilly’s will too.

Working on a perfect seat

January and February have been challenging from a riding point of view here in the UK; I have been making the best of the worst conditions by working on my leg position and tone, part of the lifelong task of working on a perfect seat.

There is often a theme to our learning. This winter, I have been doing a lot of background reading, and whilst perusing the photos, I have found myself fascinated by the photos of jumping and dressage heroes of old, all with a perfect seat balanced to the ground, and a really good strong leg position.

Eddie Boylan on Durlas Elile from Einar’s personal collection- world champion 3 Day Eventer and also successful at GP dressage

Leg positions with good angles between ankle, knee and hips.

For me the key feelages have been that the it is the outside muscles of the legs that are engaged, not the inside. A rotated thigh allows the thigh bone to lie flat against the saddle; there should be no muscle in the way. For me this is legs off saddle, an inch up, an inch out and away, and then thigh rotation and heels out and back as if they are connected to the hocks of the horse. Piriformis, a pesky little muscle in our hip-joint, screams at me when I have done enough.

There are other key feels for me: I have to stretch my weight down and over the top but along the outside of my thigh- like kneeling in church.

And I have to push my legs back and my toes up- I found a great way to access this feeling on the ground the other day- I stand in riding stance, and then, without changing anything else above, I move my feet back several inches so they are well underneath me. Imagine kneeling in church to get the feeling of down the thighs. Or the feeling that your knees are pressed up against a bar or a wall. That last feel finally got my kneecaps rolled down a fraction not opening forwards . When I do this ‘enough’ in the saddle, Cal stretches his topline and reaches forward to carry me beautifully on a softly lifted back. And that fabulous lifted stretching topline has nothing to do with the reins!

This work has involved a lot of stretching my hip flexors, through yoga, Pilates and with regular attention from a really good physio who does Myofascial Release.

For those of you who haven’t yet discovered the magic that is MFR, this video gives a good overview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdRqLrCF_Ys

Draped legs, gently framing the horse’s sides.

Shana Ritter – from “The Biomechanical Basis of Classical Riding “

The degree of tone in the lower legs, required to support a horse in collection.

Thomas Ritter – from “The Biomechanical Basis of Classical Riding”

Jumping position with the back flat, the shoulders up, the bum pushed back, the legs still grounded, and above all the hands giving towards the horse’s mouth, not balanced on the crest for support.

Above are some of the photos from my winter reading that have inspired me to work harder.

Sources-

“Creative Horsemanship” Charles de Kunffy

“The Biomechanical Basis of Classical Riding” Dr Thomas Ritter

“Kottas on Dressage” Athur Kottas- Heldenberg

for more reading suggestions https://www.nelipotcottage.com/books-i-am-glad-i-found/

Hoping my seat is up to inspection 😉

Homework for my long-suffering readers:

Someone asked a really simple question the other day

“what motivates you?”

and the flip side is “what limits you?”

Be really honest with yourselves: if you don’t know what limits you, you can’t move past the limit.

For me Cal made it really obvious I had to learn to ride him better to get the best out of him.

I wanted a novice eventer, and inadvertently bought a seat horse. Who would insist on me working really hard, every ride, towards a perfect seat.

The Unbeatable Lightness of Being- Seeking Lightness in Riding

The unbeatable lightness of being that we can achieve with our horses, for me, is the absolute goal of classical riding and training. One you have felt the unbeatable lightness of being, it becomes addictive, and nothing less will do.

I hold cherished memories of a lesson a couple of months ago. The gait was canter, the exercise was 3 strides shoulder fore, straighten to the diagonal for 3 strides, then plié back to the track for 3 strides and repeat. The difficulty, high, the execution imperfect but the effects were the unbeatable lightness of being.

I can still remember the feeling –

Cal under but mostly in front of me, shoulder apparatus maximum width, withers lifting me up, huge neck up and out in front of me, the bit felt light yet firm in my hands, he felt completely balanced between hand and seat. In that moment, I could have put him anywhere in the arena, speared my enemy, jumped an enormous hedge, asked for a flying change, or halted him into a levade, if I had those skills. He was completely engaged, completely available, completely “on it” and completely with me. That is my current definition of lightness in riding, the unbeatable lightness of being.

It was a surprise, because it wasn’t soft.

Having had a previous horse that had been extensively ridden behind the vertical, I had come to associate that evasion with softness, an empty hand felt soft, but actually was an empty hand, a horse curling behind the vertical to avoid bit pressure. This time it was a more tangible contact, like holding hands on a summer’s day, not restrictive but there was a definite sensation of holding something precious, something that must not be dropped. And it was about much more than the hand; my seat was filled with my horse’s back, wide and firm but comfortable and malleable. My back was straight, my legs stable. I guess it was an adhesive seat on an inflated back; it felt like sitting on firm memory foam, totally comformable, comfortable, but active as well.

It only lasted a few strides of course; in training at our level these moments are fleeting. But it was enough to know that I would seek that feeling, every day in every ride, until that is our normal way of going. Had we been in a double bridle, we would have been on a loose curb, because in that moment, he filled the rein, it wasn’t me seeking him.

I have felt it a few times since. Last time it occurred we got our first clean canter to walk transition. I’m still amazed at how much horse it requires to achieve lightness. Cal the grey is quite soporific to ride; his mind is hugely powerful and he’s quite happy working on low revs. I call him the hypnotist; I get on determined to access the whole amazing war-horse body and get off having had a lovely ‘nice’ ride!! For him to be fully light, he needs to be fully engaged, brain, body and soul. He doesn’t yield (or step up?) to that easily. Therein lies our biggest homework. When he does turn up he is huge, in body and in personality. He and I aren’t quite comfortable with that… just yet.

Lightness in riding is the ultimate goal. The pinnacle of classical training at the old school SRS was the solo display, birch upright in one hand, the snaffle rein loose and the curb reins held lightly in the other hand. The display would typically include all the Grand Prix movements and finally Piaffe to Levade, without a single aid being visible, horse and rider as one, effortless centaurs, mind meld and body meld, in the unbeatable lightness of being.

How do we get there?

First we need an independent balanced seat – we need to look to our own riding. A good seat, the sort developed on the lunge in days of old, an adhesive seat with a supple back and allowing joints, with each leg and each arm able to act independently, in several parts, to aid each footfall if required. The upper arms are part of the back, the hands and the bit belong to the horse; we receive what he offers, never taking or restricting. The neck is allowed the length the horse requires for balance: when the balance is good, the hindlegs will flex, the croup will lower and the topline will reflect that. Two to four years on the lunge, as an apprentice in a good riding academy in days gone by. My sister, growing up in Germany, spent four years on the lunge, as a learner amateur rider. Klimke was lunged once a week all the way through his career. A good seat takes work. Why do we think we can do away with these basics these days?

gymnasticise your horse

Next gymnasticise your horse. The two sides have to be equalised; the overbent side decontracted to the same length as the long stiff side, the weight in the footfalls equalised, front to front first then front to back, then eventually the back will take more weight than front (not there often yet). The back has to be both strong and supple, the front and back of the horse connected, the neck coming UP out of the withers strong and long before it can help lift the back into collection. That alone could be years of work, for the part-time amateur rider with no arena and limited riding time.

The school exercises are designed to strengthen and supple your horse, to teach him better balance, to empower him to control his body better and become magnificent. We have forgotten their purpose, these strange exercises that appear in our dressage tests. Learning their purpose and their criteria takes study, i.e. reading, practise, analysis, and educated application. It’s not about how they look, it’s about how they make the horse feel, how they develop his body, which muscles and joints they target. Putting the head and neck over a specific hind leg is like power lifting for a horse, developing the strength in his haunches. Half pass is like the ultimate cross trainer, the Carlsberg of exercises, it reaches parts other exercises cannot, the reach of the outside hind leg, diagonal power, open shoulders, squats on the inside hind leg, WHEN DONE CORRECTLY.

the horse needs to trust your body

And most importantly you need your horse’s mind. He needs to trust your seat to be stable, to trust the hand, to reach forward willingly into an allowing contact that offers him a point of reference without restricting his balance. The aids are aids that offer the horse space to move into, a point of balance to move across to, not a shoving or a pulling or a pushing that contorts him into a certain shape. It becomes a dance, between partners.

A really useful note on the hand position from the greatly missed Sandy Dunlop – this is regarding the line from elbow to bit:

“The key of that line, a line which most people do incorrectly, is that the line is along the underside of the lower arm, NOT the upper side. Most people have their third finger pressing down on the rein when they think they are straight line from elbow to bit. A correctly bent elbow with the correct line can look to many modern riders as if it is a high hand when in fact the line from horse hip to rider hip through elbow to bit is unbroken.

During the learning process all riders find and lose that connection angle. In general there need to be phases of temporary exaggeration of the articulated elbow in order to prevent the erroneous muscle memory which keeps ‘relaxing’ the hand down onto the old line which causes pressure on the bars and tongue of the horse. This becomes an elastic thing where the temporarily high hand is no longer needed. Sadly, people often mistake the temporary for the permanent.

This single, simple error of line is the common cause of the mild to medium btv posture we see in most horses i.e. that btv posture which prevents throughness and correct biomechanics of postural usage.”

I love internet discussions on training. I have learned loads from international virtual friends who are incredibly generous with their experience and expertise and are well practised in the black art of explaining training principles in writing. The Masters are all but gone, but those who trained with them are still with us and working really hard to keep the Art of Dressage alive, despite modern competition aberrations.

The truth is often uncomfortable, but it’s still the truth.

And the two bodies together become more powerful and more beautiful, and the human should become invisible because the horse should dazzle and shine.

Just a small ambition for life then!!

I hope you too all find moments of the unbeatable lightness of being.

I have a new favourite video- feast your eyes and then go and emulate this and you won’t go too far wrong searching for the unbeatable lightness of being.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpyO3B5dHmQ

An exemplary line from elbow to bit — Huge horse, light on his feet, light in the hand Pollay at the 1936 Olympics – youngest rider competing and Gold medalist

Change is inevitable

Change is inevitable in life- we are never static. With horses, we are either building them up or breaking them down (Charles de Kunffy).

Photos are an important tool to chart our progress, in either direction.

I found this old photo of Cal in my memories today- what struck me immediately was how weedy his chest looked then compared to nowadays.

Change is inevitable.

This photo was taken on the Whitegate Way when he would have been 7. I bought him at 6, he fractured his carpal bone that winter. This photo was taken the winter after, when he was just back into work but we hadn’t yet met Patrice and started our Classical training journey.

I think this was the snow that disrupted the first Patrice clinic I was due to attend. I’m pretty sure this was the day we were meant to be at Stafford Horse Trials- funnily enough it was cancelled that year!!

Change is inevitable, and its lovely when it’s good. The photo below was taken late summer this year. Look at the chest on it now! He is every inch the magnificent draught in this photo.

So for those who don’t believe that horses grow both taller and broader with correct training- here is some evidence 🙂

Change is inevitable, but you can choose which change to pursue.

I’m hoping the TB half will be more obvious when he is eventing fit…but then again… I quite like the magnificent charger.

We get the horse we need for the next stage of our learning, not necessarily the horse we think we want.

Bring on 2018 🙂

First do no harm…

First do no harm… You may not know, but I am a surgeon in my other life, so “first do no harm…” is the mantra that I live by, day to day, and try to apply in every interaction in life, human to human and human to horse. Above is another doctor, who I am sure shared the same mantra.

Now I know we all love our horses and we work really hard for them and with them, and nobody that got into horses ever did so with the intention of causing harm. But here is an awkward truth:

“The intention to harm need not be present for a horse in fact to be harmed”

So how might we harm our horses?

The first most obvious example is blood. Now we all may have different standards but one of my basic principles is that nothing I do to my horse should make him bleed.

I’m not saying I have never caused a horse to bleed- when Paddy was in work, I rubbed his side raw in a jumping lesson, not with a spur but with a spur rest. Yes, he does have incredibly thin skin. But that wasn’t an excuse. I rubbed his side raw because my leg position wasn’t good enough in those days and I was gripping with my calves, in that “knees out, heels in” stable, secure and incorrect position that jumping trainers encourage because it decreases the number of ground slaps that might occur in any one lesson.

It wouldn’t happen now. Four years and hundreds of pounds of seat focussed lessons later my leg position has changed entirely, my seat is now secure and I aid with the inside of my foot not the back of my calf.

When Cal was young I rubbed his mouth raw with the bit. The well meaning livery yard owner gave me some crystals to mix with water to harden up his mouth. I was an idiot and uneducated and I used the solution and carried on schooling. No one suggested I should learn to use the bit better or learn to keep my hands still (independent seat again); it was the young horse’s soft mouth that was the problem and there was a caustic solution for that.

First do no harm…

Rocky has not had a sore mouth. Now we have learned that the bit should only act up or out, never down on the bars, that the length of rein is dictated by the horse, that the frame dictates the length of rein and the horse’s level of balance and schooling dictates the frame. And I have a more secure seat that allows me to think forwards with my hands without losing balance.

So obviously I’m still not perfect, but I’m learning and trying to be better all the time. And if I caused one of my horses to bleed in a competition I would eliminate myself and kick myself and run for home to train and improve myself so it could never happen again.

First do no harm…

There are other more insidious ways of causing harm to a horse. The modern fashion of riding Low Deep and Round, also known as deep stretching, well behind the vertical, has been shown by more than 50 scientific studies to be physically and mentally damaging for the horse. Modern science is proving what the Old Dead Guys knew by keen observation- closed postures and curling the front of the horse rather than riding from the haunches leads to problems with kissing spines, suspensory ligament pathology, SI joint damage, hock arthritis, and also to stress and gastric ulcers first from having their vision limited and then from learned helplessness.

First do no harm…

This horse is behind the vertical- red vertical line included for reference.

Please don’t take my word for it: read the research for yourselves

http://equitationscience.com/equitation/position-statement-on-alterations-of-the-horses-head-and-neck-posture-in-equitation

And then make your own minds up. But please remember

“To know and not to do is not to know”

So we are naturally too quick to criticise others, and all of us are just doing our best. How will we know if the work we are doing is correct?

Luckily horses are very clear once we have learned to look and listen.

I’ve altered the quote below (from Maya Angelou)

“I have learned that horses will forget what you said, horses will forget what you do, but horses will never forget how you made them feel”

So how do we know that our work is good? In a world where so much teaching is against the horse rather than for the good of the horse, how do we tell the difference? How do we know whether the work made his body feel better? Which after all is the whole point of Dressage- from the French verb ‘dresser’ which actually means to train, to sculpt our horse into a thing of beauty that is empowered rather than diminished by our interventions.

Did it make the horse feel good?

What signs do we look for to know it made them feel good?

My favourite sign is helicopter ears- they go soft and floppy and assume all sorts of funny angles. Rocky has huge ears, as do all his family, so this one is pretty obvious, as well as being visible from on top!

Another sign is soft liquid eyes, with relaxed ‘eyebrows” and slow blinking. When the work is good, the horse is calm, because horses are kinaesthetic and they find it frightening to be out of balance. When their balance is aided to improve, they relax and chill out. They almost look stoned after good work. Stoned, not exhausted.

Breathing slows and calms: soft hurrumphs or gentle chuntering are signs of a relaxed mouth , tongue and larynx as well as relaxed brain. Harsh sharp breathing, breath holding, or sharp snorting, teeth grinding or calling out are all sure signs of a horse either stressed or on full alert.

Every moment matters

Every moment matters; with your horse, every moment is training, something.

Every moment matters was loosely the subject of a brisk discussion in the pub last night. I didn’t manage to explain myself very successfully in the pub (red wine effects possibly) so I thought I’d have another go at clarifying my thoughts.

Every moment matters: The quote that started the discussion:

“There is no neutrality in riding: you are either actively improving your horse or actively breaking him down”

Charles de Kunffy, Ethics and Passion of Dressage

It is our responsibility as riders is to make sure the horse is physically able to carry us comfortably at no long term detriment to his body.

“The first basic commitment for riders, borne of our love and respect for the horse, is to rebalance the horse under the added weight of the rider and his equipment. This is a never ending process that lies at the heart of the young horse’s training….However the perfecting of the composite balance of horse and rider is a never-ending task.”

Charles De Kunffy -The Ethics and Passion Of Dressage

Horses in the wild have a natural balance that equips them perfectly for a life spent mostly grazing. The majority of their weight is on their forelegs, as they spend 60% of their life with their head down inspecting blades of grass. Their long spine hangs between hips and withers supported only by long back muscles. The hind legs act to push or thrust the horse along but do not naturally fold and create lift.

Horses are also naturally crooked, just like us, the majority are right handed or right convex banana shapes. Anyone who rides knows that one circle tends to get larger, the other smaller, that turning in one direction can feel like falling and the other like turning a ship around. In the wild, this doesn’t really matter, although the horse on the outside of the herd is the one that gets eaten so the very unbalanced tend to be the most neurotic. Once ridden regularly however, if the one sidedness is not corrected, in a right convex horse the left forelimb and the right hind are most prone to injury as they do the majority of the weight bearing work.

Horses are also somatic beings- their body state determines their mood and their overall health. An unbalanced horse is an anxious horse, an anxious horse is prone to ulcers and injury.

Every moment matters when we choose to sit on a horse. We have to improve on their natural balance, otherwise the additional load of a rider and the increased work required when being ridden will place undue stress on the fragile forelegs. For this reason we work to transfer the balance gradually back so the hindlegs take more load. To achieve this the back needs to learn to lift the rider and also to connect the flow of energy from hind to fore. This takes training.

The premise of classical training for me is that the training is absolutely correct in achieving improved biomechanical function and that improved function then leads to a happier calmer horse.

What became apparent in the pub is that people make assumptions based on language.

Classical

Training

“Classical” – it occurred to me in hindsight that to some people Classical means “Haute Ecole” or Airs or Piaffe and Passage. When I say Classical I mean training, right from the beginning with Classical principles. I do agree that not every horse needs to be trained to Haute Ecole to make a good riding horse but every horse does deserve to be trained correctly from day one and that correct training will lay a foundation that enables the horse to do any job safely and to the best of its’ ability.

“Ride your horse forward and straight” Gustav Stenbrecht

Such a simple instruction- but getting there requires us to restore the horse to his natural balance under the weight of the rider, and improve his crooked tendencies, so we can then teach him to lift his back to carry the rider on a well supported spine in order that riding does not harm him. For me that is where Classical riding starts.

And where many horses are failed by their riders who take shortcuts or simply do not understand basic training principles.

“Training”- one person in the discussion doesn’t like the word training, because it sounds too regimented.

Again, a language dilemma. I don’t mean schooling or drilling, training does not have to take place in an arena. In fact,training is occurring every minute that you spend with your horse. Every moment matters because your horse is watching you, learning what responses you expect, and repeating behaviours that seem to meet with praise. With this truth comes another; if your horse always does something “annoying” like walking away from the mounting block, that is what you have taught him, albeit inadvertently. Better then to be mindful every minute and ensure that you are training desired actions. Which is why every moment matters.

“The horse knows no right from wrong and learns everything indiscriminately. Therefore, in schooling him there is no neutrality”

CDK again-it’s so important he said it twice!

For in hand and ridden work, we have 3 sets of kit in our training toolbox, our seat and aids, the exercises, and the arena patterns. Two of these can be used hacking out, but the geometry of the arena contains magic and to never make the effort to school in the defined marked out arena and use the patterns to work their magic for you is to limit yourself to 2/3 of your training possibilities.

And there is no excuse for drilling. By combining the patterns and exercises there are literally thousands of things we can do in an arena. I can think of about 50 variations of a 20m circle without pausing for breath, inside bend, outside bend, shoulder in, straight, haunches in, changes of pace, changes of topline, innies and outies etc etc.

I don’t school often enough. We are fortunate to live in the middle of some of the best off road hacking in the U.K. and we don’t have an arena. However I do my best to ride mindfully every minute- if I am always training, at least I am doing it deliberately, although often not perfectly. If I receive an unexpected result, I don’t blame the horse, I analyse my seat and aids and check where the confusion might have arisen.

“..all [training exercises] follow one another in such a way that the preceding exercise always constitutes a secure basis for the next one. Violations of this rule will always exert payment later on; not only by a triple loss of time but very frequently by resistances, which for a long time if not forever interfere with the relationship between horse and rider.”

Steinbrecht again.

Are my horses robots? No way!!! The other Classical principle is that the aids and exercises are used in a way to set the horse up for success, so that he offers the desired response and can be rewarded. The horse is never punished- what you receive is what you asked for. That’s a hard one to get used to.

A completely correct and balanced seat is essential to damp down white noise and allow clear aiding- this is always a work in progress but my photos do show definite improvement over the last few years.

“The horse knows how to be a horse…we have to learn to be a rider.”

CDK again- my favourite.

A Classically trained horse is enabled and empowered to use his body efficiently, willingly, correctly with two equal hind legs and therfore no blockages to the transfer of power from tail to poll. So we ride at full revs, the whole horse, but with absolute calm.

So there we have it. A quick reflection on my point in the journey.

Some people may say they just want to have fun, and ride their horse. And that’s fine, as long as we remember that fun is a human word. And ask ourselves regularly and truthfully if we are having fun with the horse or at the expense of the horse.

“The improvement of understanding is for two ends; first our own increase in knowledge, and secondly to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others”
Please do comment- for good or bad ?

Top Ten Lessons from 2016

Top ten lessons from 2016- some hard learned, some not so tricky 🙂

Number 1 of the top ten lessons from 2106- Always have more feed stations than horses. For us this meant apertures on the monster hay feeder. We had 4 horses and 4 apertures…but one was always getting chased off. To get more apertures we had to buy another feeder. Which led to
Number 2 of the top ten lessons from 2016- Don’t have the feed stations too far apart. In our experience, the horse at the bottom of the pecking order will starve rather than eat separately too far away from the others. So the extra feed station has to be near enough to feel inclusive but not so near that the bottom horse gets chased off all the time.
Number 3 of the top ten lessons from 2016- Don’t overstuff your feeders with haylage. Labour saving we thought, 2 giant feeders, 2 bales in each, chore down to once a week 🙂 Except that the weight of the haylage in the nets led to compression and fermentation and they didn’t eat it. 2 bales wasted 🙁
Number 4 of the top ten lessons from 2016- (I’m sorry if the repetition is annoying but I think the SEO programme is happy now LOL) – Objective evidence is good. If you think your horse has ulcers- scope it. If you think your horse has RAO/ heaves/ breathing trouble- scope it. If you think your horse’s feet aren’t as good as they might be- X-ray them. If you think your horse might have Kissing Spines- do the scan. 3 out of 4 apply to us. And be there for the investigation, asking questions and getting it all straight in your head. I didn’t learn anything new on the investigations but SEEING the results allowed me to believe and quantify the problem and ACT on it rather than dithering / supplementing / tickling the surface of the problem. Answers we chose- Ulcers= generic PPI, RAO= steroid inhalers and herbs, thin soles= boots and pads. You don’t have to do exactly what the vet recommends but you do need to know exactly what you are dealing with to make informed decisions. And if you don’t feel you know enough to make informed decisions then either get informed or trust your vet. (I’m not sure our vets like having a colorectal surgeon with an MD in Biomolecular Medicine and barefoot, holistic, classical leanings as a client but there we go)
Number 5 of the top ten lessons from 2016- you can never do enough groundwork with a young horse. Rocky is walking trotting and cantering under saddle and hacking on his own but I wish we had done more in hand work. It’s the basis of everything and it doesn’t need to be much: a few minutes sometimes was enough for the lesson to go through. I will do more when he comes back in to work after his growing (dark nights) break, as well as cracking on with his general education.
TWO EQUAL REINS. Such a simple thing, so difficult to achieve. MORE RIGHT LESS LEFT. This rule applies to 99% of riders and horses.
Just do the ff=ing homework. I thought I worked hard until I saw the difference one of the “Patricelings” achieved in a short month. One week she had straight arms, low fixed hands and an unhappy horse although in a “pretty” (false) outline, the next month she had elbows that were part of her back, steady yet allowing hands and a very happy horse. She hadn’t fully understood the why, she had just gone away and done the work and the why appeared; the contact she was offered was soft and reaching and the horse’s topline looked terrific as a result.
But do get decent tuition so you get good homework. Bad training is damaging to horse and rider. Classical principles work, they have been developed and proven over centuries. There are no short cuts that do not compromise soundness, equine well-being or worst of all progression to the next stage of training. Unless you want to do BE90 for ever and just keep switching horses every time you break one. Why learn to do something quickly and badly? It will impact negatively on everything else you do from that day onwards. Like turning with the inside rein- it’s a great tip for beginners who need” whoa, turn and go” but in the long run all it does is unbalance and constrict your horse.
Don’t limit your expectations or your dreams. Your horse doesn’t know that you “only” want to do prelim and BE80; why not do that as well as you can, classically, correctly, happily? I only wanted to event up to BE90, possibly 100 on a brave pants day- suddenly with good luck, great advice and fabulous training we have a youngster potentially capable of much more, an Irish Sport horse a smidgeon off changes and baby piaffe, and an ex racer that will jump the moon once it can trot in a circle.
and number 10 of the top ten lessons from 2016- Never under-estimate the importance of species specific diet and lifestyle. I cannot emphasise enough times how happy our horses are, living out in a herd, woolly and muddy, grooming, rolling, grazing and playing as part of a natural equine lifestyle. Their bodies look fab, their coats are amazing (when we knock the mud off), their feet are fabulous and their brains are superb, alert, inquisitive, willing but with no anxiety. We do have challenges, the ex racer thinks he’s still racing when in company, the baby has a sense of humour, but overall they are a very cool bunch of horses to be around.

So there we have my top ten lessons from 2016. Funny how two people can be in the same life and have completely different viewpoints, so I asked Gary too.

Gary’s top three (in his own words)

Good advice is what we all crave. Reliability: we’d all like to delegate the real responsible decisions we have to make to others, those seemingly far more qualified. There are so many well meaning people but often I’ve found theirs isn’t the best advice. Take all information on board – all information is good information but the trick is sifting though the information to work out what will work for your horse. Cal has been the perfect example, or more precisely, his feet issues that Fran has documented in her blog for all; warts an’all. Many people I highly respect have offered their comment. We took it all on board and sifted it through our present knowledge. We were fortunate enough to find the right direction; a culmination of that valued advice, but ultimately our own decision. The decisions were ours, and on that day, we’ll stand by them. Delegating your responsibilities is not an option.
A situation occured earlier last year which led to my biggest set back. It culminated in an inappropriate confrontation, bitter comments and almost divorce! Without further detail, I believe the root cause was a lack of attention to my horse’s tack, in particular his saddle. I rue this day. I deeply regret the consequences because I was fully responsible for that moment. My deepest regret is to the horse I placed into the middle of this. My lesson is so simple, but so often neglected – ensure your horse is correctly prepared!
My experience, and those who know me will concur, is not vast. One signficant lesson though has shone through. All horses are magnificent, but not every horse is right for you. I loaned an incredible horse last year, a truly talented being that could have taught me far more than I allowed. But like love; like a passion, if the spark is not there, you are not soul mates. I eventually found mine, an ex-racer, and my passion for our horses was ignited again. For me, this has been fundamental. The relationship is hugely important. This feeds desire, inspiration, imagination, and most importantly hunger for more learning. P.S. And 3a! Knowing that these ideas and thoughts will develop and change……
Because she asked me to give 3. Surround yourself with those who believe in what you believe. You will become the average of those closest to you, for good or for bad. Fran’s blog has genuinely inspired me; giving most what she most desires.

My motto for 2017

My motto for 2017, thanks to a Facebook friend I have not yet met: it is to “Shout Louder in my Own Space”.

My motto for 2017 is a reaction to recent online experiences. We have all been subject to the effects of the Echo Chamber recently. Modern media allows us to connect with people with similar interests all over the world. I have barefoot and Classical Dressage friends all over the planet now with whom to discuss issues and ask for advice.

A peculiar phenomenon has occurred. Humans like to belong, so we naturally select friends with views and interests similar to our own, and although we feel very connected, we may actually be isolating ourselves in a virtual bunker where everyone agrees. This is not good for learning, or for discussion. To expand our consciousness and knowledge we need challenge, not reassurance.

It was a great surprise to me when Hilary Clinton won the Democrat nomination my US friends all supported Bernie Sanders. It was a terrible shock when Trump won; from my Facebook feed that seemed inconceivable, as did Brexit prevailing in the UK referendum.

Facebook groups are a funny beast. There can be such great discussions, and also such emotive howling between people who disagree. I have been personally attacked, belittled, stalked and ridiculed for disagreeing with eminent media commentators who frankly should have better things to do with their time. I regretfully left one Classical Dressage Facebook site when it became apparent that the “owner” of the page had views diametrically opposed to my own experience and learning. It seemed rude to be on their page constantly questioning their ‘expert’ opinion. Unfortunately the person in question only intreacts on their own site so there is no way to have a rational discussion in a neutral space where questioning their views in a friendly and enquiring and educating way would seem less disrespectful.

And therein lies the rub- how do we discuss without dissing, how do we discuss training and husbandry in a non combative way when people insist on taking different viewpoints as personal attacks and seeing criticism when questioned?

Maybe I need to learn to ask better questions?

Or maybe I need to save my energy for furthering my own knowledge, concentrate on my own learning, and listen most intently to those that never lie; the horses themselves.

Classical training as a journey is about so much more than just dancing horses. The mindset required is one we might recognise more as a martial art: absolute humility, self-control, responsibility for oneself and an understanding that every action has consequences. We cannot choose how others react to us, we can only control how we react to others. Each challenge is an opportunity, from every difficulty comes the chance to change.

Hence my motto for 2017- Shout Louder in my Own Space.

The purpose of this blog is not to preach, or to bang about how great barefoot is for horses and how Classical Training is the only way. The purpose of this blog is to share my journey, and that of our horses, abscesses, warts and challenges and all.

When we arrived at out what was our last livery yard before we got our own space, we were the odd ones out. Our horses were barefoot, on a funny diet, and we were training with a strange foreign lady no one had heard of, who didn’t compete anymore, and who had us doing strange self lunging exercises at the slowest trot imaginable. We were learning about biomechanics, and the correct seat, and had inadvertently enrolled on a 4 year programme that I now liken to a Master’s degree in Classical Equitation and Dressage Training.

We didn’t preach, or gush, or bore, we just quietly did the do. The old black horse should have been crippled with arthritis, but looked better and better as each month passed and his crooked body blossomed with the application therapeutic gymnastic training. The grey horse went from nearly having kissing spines to eventing up to BE100 and filling his draft frame with the appropriate muscle. And the baby bay horse got the best start as a riding horse that one could wish for.

It hasn’t all been easy.

Cal the grey has continued to be plagued by difficult feet syndrome. He has X-rays due tomorrow I hope to report on vast improvements in his sole thickness with targeted consistent boot use. He is sounder on tough surfaces but the pictures will tell the unadulterated truth.

The baby bay had me on the floor a couple of times and went through a mild napping stage. A week treating his hindgut and a saddle fitting seemed to sort that out. He hacked out beautifully on his own on walk and trot on our last jolly a week ago. He’s now on a growing break and I can’t wait to get him into work again once the nights get a bit lighter.

However Gary’s new horse Beat the ex -racer responded quickly to a short lesson on rein aids and working on the connection forward to the bit. The relaxations and improvements in his walk achieved in two short lessons illustrated yet again how quickly correct training works, and how beneficial it is to the horse’s body and mind.

So this blog will be my effort to live out my motto for 2017. I will shout loudly in my own space, about our problems, challenges and solutions, doing my best for my horses in the best way I can do now, on every new day, with what I have learned to date. I will continue to learn and to study and to seek and to question, and if the answers I find can help any single one of you to solve a conundrum on your journey with your horses, or your life outside of horses, then that will be worth it.

Whatever else happens, let’s have some fun doing it too, because horses are meant to be fun. They are such noble and sentient beings that they should bring out the best in us, if we could just stop to listen and learn, and not allow ourselves to get caught up in competition and ego and ambition.

So thanks to Max for my motto for 2017.

Not the best photo at the end but look at the changes in his balance…

Tag: Classical riding

Just do the homework

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If wishes were horses

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Working on a perfect seat

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