"Establishing Equestrian Ideals"

A paper written by Erik F Herbermann, author of "Dressage Formula " and "A Horsemans Notes", and reproduced here by his kind permission.

A Weekend with Felicity Mann, BHSII and MSTAT and her Mechanical Horse and a visit to Lucinda MacAlpine

Thanks to Felicity we had a wonderful week end in Devon enjoying her beautiful new house and garden and benefiting from her Alexander and riding expertise plus extra hands on with Jenny Sampson, MSTAT. Felicity had also arranged a guided tour and demo with Lucinda McAlpine, the dressage rider who keeps all her horses out in herds as naturally as possible. With wonderful weather and excellent food at the local pub, the only blot was Felicity's mechanical horse which went lame after the first day! Luckily all but one of us managed to enjoy a session on it and everyone went for a repeat booking the next month when it behaved impeccably even cantering non stop for 40 minutes with some riders. Obviously Felicity has been working on its fitness levels...

The experience of Alexander "hands on" while the horse is moving is incredibly useful. Obviously the movement is not exactly like a real horse, but one is able to practice a variety of riding skills without ever having to worry about the horse. It will keep the same rhythm hour upon hour while you just focus on yourself. The added advantage of being surrounded by mirrors also enables both teacher and pupil to have a 360 degree view at all times. If you find yourself travelling down the M5 near Tiverton, make a short detour for a lesson. You will find it invaluable.

The afternoon with Lucinda was both entertaining and interesting and she was extremely generous with her time. Her horses all looked very sleek and well and she demonstrated canter and flying changes on the road to prove just how good horses could be without shoes. I was very pleased to hear that she had a properly qualified farrier to trim the feet but she said that generally little was done once the horses were worked properly in balance on a variety of surfaces. She demonstrated her loose schooling as well as her riding and entertained us with her stories of Boris, her advanced German warm blood who took a bit of convincing that "Natural" was better than what he was used to. It was obvious that she had a great rapport with all her horses and the only thing that surprised me was that she rode them surprisingly deep given that everything else was so "natural". However, she has pioneered a more natural way of keeping and caring for horses in a (dressage) world where they are often denied such simple pleasures as going out with other horses and grooming each other. Those who had a lunge lesson with her found it very enlightening and were amazed at how responsive her horses were.

You can book Alexander Technique lessons on Felicity's mechanical horse by contacting Felicity direct on 01823 681 176. You can contact Lucinda McAlpine on 01823 680321. Both live in Culmstock in Devon just 10 minutes off the M5.

Les Quatre Ecoles d'art Equestre, Paris

I am so glad I actually managed to see this as it was truly inspirational. With approx 40 horses, (and a couple of Selle Francais mares amongst the stallions) in a 20 x 60m arena, it just brought tears to my eyes. My mother and I went on the final display on Sunday afternoon and it is possible that everyone had relaxed more than they did at the earlier displays because to me it looked like both horses and riders were really enjoying the event. I have heard quite a bit of criticism from "the experts" - "x" being an unknown quantity and "spurt" being a drip under pressure...) but I did not see "bad riding" and "cruelty" even on the DVD of the Friday performance. If one was being picky, there were moments when things were not perfect and perhaps a horse or two was pushed a bit too far (mostly to huge applause from the audience, so who was most at fault?) but all in all it was a magical performance and a far cry from anything one might see at most Dressage competitions or demos.

Seeing the 4 schools "side by side" as it were made me aware of both the similarities in horsemanship and the differences in culture. The Spanish were typically flamboyant and occasionally OTT, with more emphasis on their own (male) ego than their horses. They performed for the audience and the audience loved them. In many respects they wer the most "fun" to watch and I particularly liked their pink bows around their necks which only a "real" man would be brave enough to wear. The French were extremely stylish (and included a woman - Hurrah!!) and every rider was tall, willowy and elegant with legs to die for. They also had a lot of gold on their jackets (Dior possibly?) Part of their display included horses jumping over a table where the other riders were enjoying a glass of wine. They then jumped a smaller stand and eventually jumped just the post on its own amid much clapping and raising of glasses. The French quadrille was also a pleasure to watch with some lovely floor patterns and beautiful music. The Portuguese included some very "comfortable" figures with ample girths and their gear seemed a little down at heel compared to the other countries who glittered and sparkled in the spotlights, but I still loved most of their work. ("All that glitters is not gold"). Their "Airs Above the Ground" were amongst the best and it was great to see some pretty good caprioles and levades interspersed with complete calm and relaxation. They are the only ones to perform piaffe and "terre a terre" on boards so one can hear the 2-time foot fall and a very dark bay horse kept perfect rhythm and produced some lovely steps. The Viennese (Spanish Riding School) were immaculate with not a hair out of place and very precise and solemn. While the others were making the most of the occasion with some obvious showmanship, the Viennese stuck to their normal routine and exited the arena at a very stately walk when the music and clapping screamed "passage". However, I believe they had the edge over the other schools in terms of excellence although all 4 schools had some magical moments. Actually, the biggest and most genuine smile I saw all evening was from an Austrian rider after his horse had performed a wonderfully deep levade. This smile was not for the audience, just for his horse. It was a lovely moment and I was lucky to be seated at just the right spot to catch that. At the other end of the scale, Raphael Soto Andrade performed his Olympic freestyle on Invasor and his smiles were all for the audience. What a showman! He brought the house down and I have never seen Invasor go so superbly. What a difference it makes to perform without the steely eye of a judge and the pressure of medals. His show would appeal to anyone as he had great choreography and lots of places where the audience could clap in time with the music. Raphael was beside himself with joy - had he been celebrating at lunch time? - and his riding became ever more flamboyant with body, arms and legs working to the music. He couldn't have been more different from the Vienna riders.

The Airs above the Ground were amazing with approx 16 horses in the arena. They all prepared (or rested) around the outside track and when there was a gap went across the short diagonal to perform. The Spanish enthusiasm frequently collided with the Viennese calm, head on in some cases. And at one point the Viennese rider nearly hit the deck as his horse jumped in several directions all at once to avoid a crash. I don't think the Lippizanners horses had ever worked in such mayhem - I am sure it was character building. It was interesting to see a couple of horses gearing up for caprioles with masses of impulsion but lacking straightness with almost disastrous results which makes me even more convinced that straightness comes before impulsion in the scales of training. I also enjoy the wonderful elasticity in the (better) horses when they land after their jumps. and not so well by our portly gentleman - the head of the school. Perhaps the horse was struggling under the weight. However, the rider is in his seventies and still rides better than most of us so lets not be too judgmental. He was also almost single-handedly responsible for resurrecting the School which had been disbanded during the Civil war. No mean achievement. His piaffe backwards (intentional I believe) was "interesting" as was the work in the pillars which looked quite scary. All I can say is that I am glad I was merely a spectator. Without knowing the full background it would be hard to say why the horse was so tense. Of course I am sure the "experts" have an opinion but perhaps we were witnessing a masterful display of horsemanship which kept the horse from completely losing the plot and galloping full tilt out of the arena. (That is what most of our horses would do if faced by several thousand people clapping and cheering amid flashing lights and loud music.) What do you do when your much practised party piece goes "tits up"? Hope the horse will get better with another show? Pull the plug and leave the arena with as much composure as you can manage? Hard to say unless you were in such a position yourself. (As if!!!).

There were other less-than-great parts of the show. A Spanish horse performed a couple of spectacular Courbettes then the trainer kept him going and going and going and then into a pirouette still on his back legs with his hocks buckling under the strain. Of course the audience went wild, or at least most of them did. And I wish the Viennese school would find some better music for their canter work. It is positively turgid! The Portuguese also had (in my opinion) an unfortunate choice of music which made their paces look choppier than they were. The French horses were a bit too competition like for me - good in front and not a lot behind with backs not as "carried" as the Iberians and a rather flashy passagey trot from one horse. Was it intentional or yet another display of great riding which prevented said horse from exploding? Who knows?

However, in general the show was fantastic. The Spanish gave a great display of Vaquera skills with 6 horses all twirling together at great speed and flying sideways across the arena. The Viennese quadrille had an incredibly steep angled half pass from the corner to the opposite side and back across to the HALF MARKER! That is difficult even in an ordinary single track trot. There were great pirouettes, passages which sprang off the ground, piaffes which were soft, elastic and rhythmical and some fantastic displays of directed energy in the airs above the ground. I loved it!

Christopher Bartle - "The Scales of Training"

This was a recent BHS Refresher course at Hartpury College so it seems fitting that I write about what we discussed during Arrow Week and what was said at Hartpury, especially as we seemed to be saying the same things.

Christopher talked about the pre requisites of the Scales - "stop, go and turn" while Erik talks about "calm, forward and straight" but both agree that there is a simple basic language without which rhythm, relaxation, contact, straightness, impulsion and collection cannot work. It was a joy to hear Christopher tell the riders to give their hands forward and not to worry about the horse's head! He said gravity works for them and if the horse is relaxed it will hang it's head on the vertical anyway. Unfortunately all the guinea pigs produced for CB were from Hartpury, some from the "Elite squad" whatever that means and some were tutors there, and all of them pulled the horse's heads in so none of them could really show what he wanted. It would have been very heartening for some of my pupils to see the mess they made of leg yield! By the end of the afternoon he seemed to have virtually given up "teaching" as clearly they were not going to change their riding. With each horse and rider he started with these basics and there were serious gaps here. Most of the horses were calm but lack of forwardness, straightness and steering caused many of the problems throughout the day. Some riders resorted to shoving and kicking, (quite an unpleasant display of rough riding at one point), one couldn't go from canter to trot, just got slower and slower and slower... Most had problems understanding what "small" meant when asked to do a small circle and I think sometimes it is a huge disadvantage to have an enormous school which encourages riders to just thunder around the outside track with no attempt at any school figure. "Be on line and in line" was a much repeated phrase. ("School figure pre empts everything" - Erik Herbermann). CB also talked about a 3-way partnership - which is the senior partner? The horse, the rider or the trainer. In Germany it is always the trainer which is great because the riders do exactly what they are told! However, in a competition, there is no trainer so the rider has to be the senior partner and if the senior partner gets it wrong there is no way that the junior partner (the horse) will get it right. He also talked about the rider making "a position statement" meaning that the body language must be clear. If you want canter right your position must indicate that and there were some clear examples where this was not the case and predictably, the horse "got it wrong"! CB is obviously a great teacher and his comments were generally clear and to the point without taking people to pieces.

With regard to the Scales of Training

The information below has been gleaned from a variety of sources including CB, Erik and others, and if you want further information there are plenty of website ( classical dressage.com), which have some good explanations.

Rhythm (and Balance)

The legs say "energy" the seat says "length of stride". The term "rhythm" refers to the regularity of the steps or strides in each gait: They should cover equal distances and also be of equal duration. It is the relaxed muscles which are able to operate to their full potential so that the limbs swing evenly and the whole horse's body is involved. Sometimes rhythm is sacrificed in an effort to get some forward momentum as without it the horse would not reach into the bridle. However, the rhythm must be maintained at all times especially before and after transitions. Trot to walk is just that not trot, go a bit slower, shuffle into an amble, then walk. If the rider has a good sense of rhythm obviously everything becomes easier for the horse. The aids should be within the horse's rhythm, in time with his steps and obviously this implies that both horse and rider also need to be balanced. Those of you who have tried the pom pom exercise will know that a loss of balance results in a loss of rhythm. CB also told his riders to go slightly forward in their balance to help the horses to go forward and slightly more upright to slow down always returning to neutral balance as soon as possible.

The walk rhythm can be counted as "121, 122, 121, 122" or "Is there a halt, is there a halt" if the horse is running or too quick or "is there a trot, is there a trot" if the horse is a bit lethargic.

The trot rhythm is "1,2,3,4,5,6,7" with the emphasis slightly drawn out on the 7 to make it match 8 steps. There is a nice lilt to this when you get it right.

The canter rhythm is invariably is the same rhythm as the walk except that the count is per stride, not per leg (left, right, left, right in the walk). The beat is slightly different as in musical 4/4 for walk and 6/8 for canter hence Highland jigs are usually a very good canter beat.

Relaxation and Contact

Relaxation or "Looseness" which is a sometimes used are very poor words for what is actually meant. (Losgelassenheit in German). For example, a calm but lazy horse may look "relaxed" but it will not demonstrate "relaxation" as it means in the Scales. Neither will a horse that is calm but stiff. Likewise, if you notice that a horse has very active hocks the chances are that they are being used at the expense of some other part of the horse, the hip or back for example. The horse should not look really "expressive" until later in the training when impulsion and collection are asked for. There should be suppleness throughout the body and the movement should be smooth, harmonious, a pleasure to watch. This "Relaxation" is a prerequisite for all further training and, along with rhythm, is an essential aim of the preliminary training phase. Even if the rhythm is maintained, the movement cannot be considered correct unless the horse is working through its back, and the muscles are free from tension. Only if the horse is physically and mentally free from tension or constraint can it work with relaxation and can it use itself to the full. The horse's joints should bend and straighten equally on each side of its body and with each step or stride, and the horse should convey the impression that it is putting its whole mind and body into it's work. Indications of relaxation are a swinging back and tail, regular breathing and snorting, and a light foam around the lips. It has been achieved when the horse will stretch its head and neck forwards and downwards in all three gaits. This has nothing to do with putting it's head down artificially or having it's nose behind the vertical. True relaxation means that the horse offers it willingly and I would say that it is one of the major problems in modern training. None of the horses at Hartpury were able to demonstrate true relaxation and therefore the work was not as good as it could have been and the training of the horses was "stuck" at this level.

The contact comes from the horse working smoothly and evenly through its body so that the rider "receives" the energy in the reins. It should be 50:50 between horse and rider and 50:50 between right and left. The horse should go rhythmically forward from the rider's driving aids and "seek" a contact with the rider's hand, thus "going onto" the contact. A correct, steady contact allows the horse to find its balance under the rider and find a rhythm in each of the gaits. The poll should always be the highest point of the neck, except when the horse is being ridden forwards and downwards, and the nose should always be on or just in front of the vertical, never behind. The contact should never be achieved through a backward action of the hands; it should result from the correctly delivered forward thrust of the hind legs. The horse should go forward confidently onto the contact in response to the rider's driving aids. Flexing the horse's head to the right or the left should require no greater movement than if you were holding a tiny "Dinky toy" wheel by the withers and the 50:50 should not be lost in the bend. If you take a little more on one rein the other rein must ease slightly. Too much emphasis on keeping the outside rein will restrict the outside shoulder but most trainers emphasise the outside rein simply to prevent riders pulling on the inside rein!

From an Alexander point of view the head always leads so if the horse is denied this his movement will suffer.

Somewhere in here should be the German word durchlassigkeit. It is a term used to describe how the aids of the rider go through the horse. The better the level of durchlassigkeit the more instant the response of the horse to riders aids. Other words used are "permeable", "through" and it gives the rider the sense of their rein aids going through the horse and effecting the hind quarters and the leg aids going through the horse to the hand. Unfortunately this can be forced (unlike "losgelassenheit" which must be given by the horse). Those who pull the horse's heads from side to side or tweak the reins to "get the head down" can achieve "durchlassigkeit" and it will look almost the same as one that is achieved through the willing participation of the horse. In fact most people are easily fooled and some even talk of only "through the neck" as they see that as the main point of "durchlassigkeit". Undoubtedly it makes the horse more pliable and easier to ride and many riders are just thrilled to have the extra control that it brings. Many show jumpers have excellent "throughness" and impulsion but are still croup high or crooked or unable to collect in the true sense.

Straightness and Impulsion

I always have a problem putting impulsion ahead of straightness as adding energy to a crooked horse will simply have the energy misdirected. I assume that the horse is already "forward" (see pre-requisites) but the argument for putting impulsion before straightness is that you must have forward energy to achieve straightness. What about walk where there is almost no energy I ask? The BHS put the two together and CB put a great emphasis on forward at the start of every ride. He was also very strict about school figures and accuracy. His words were "Be on line, in line" and again, the Hartpury riders were struggling with accurate small circles. He had a very good exercise using a box made out of 4 poles and I will definitely be copying this.

Straightness is more than just going from A to B in a straight line, although that is a good start. It is also about being evenly bent on circles and turns and the hind legs stepping evenly towards the forelegs. It is necessary in order for the weight to be evenly distributed over the two halves of the body and is developed through systematically training and suppling both sides of the body equally. Most horses are born slightly crooked (left handed and right handed). They usually have a preferred hind leg which is happy to push and carry weight and a less preferred leg which likes to avoid the extra work. Training should address this phenomenon so that the horse becomes dynamically straight and the energy passes equally from both hind legs evenly to the bridle. When you have achieved this the impulsion has a clear pathway through the horses body and the horse feels completely even under the seat bones and in the hand.

Impulsion (schwung in German) is the energetic push from the hindlegs that causes the horse to be expressive in its movement. A horse that can't lengthen does not have impulsion. A horse can be said to be working with impulsion when it works with energy, lift, expression and it swings it's feet well forward under the body. Impulsion is created by training although an excited horse may fool the judges into thinking they are seeing impulsion. True impulsion should not look forced or tense or hard. Think of the horse performing on the road - if you shudder at the thought of what may be happening to his joints, the horse is not showing true impulsion although the fault probably lies back in the lack of "relaxation". (Those of you who came to Devon and watched Lucinda and her horse performing flying changes and medium trot down the road will have a good idea of "good" impulsion and relaxation.)

Finally collection - the highest form of riding

It is impossible to obtain collection without a very solid base of rhythm, relaxation, contact, straightness and impulsion although there are many imitations. Collection requires the horse to be supple in the hind quarters - hip, stifle and hock - and able to bend his hind leg and place it nearer to the centre of gravity. The "airs above the ground" are the result of collection as the horse almost squats down before using the power of the hind quarters to leap into the air or to balance in a levade. These advanced exercises require balance and strength as well as suppleness. To attempt these movements on a stiff, tense horse which wasn?t going forward to the contact would harm the horse and be dangerous for the rider. Crookedness and lack of impulsion would also be a serious problem. These movements are usually developed through the piaffe and yet when one sees a competition piaffe it is often no more than a rhythmic shuffle, hardly the highest form of collection that it is meant to be and certainly not likely to produce airs above the ground.

I was interested to watch the recent National Dressage championships and note the fashion for "passage-like" collected trots and asked CB his opinion. Apparently I touched a nerve because he grinned and said "Don?t get me started on that one!" Apparently there is much discussion on this point at the top level and many trainers are very concerned about the lack of true collection in the Grand Prix tests and do not agree with the trend towards this "false collection". According to CB "they" (whoever they are) have taken out all the movements that require collection, or as CB put it, all the movements that they can?t do. For example the 6 metre volte has disappeared and when he asked the Hartpury rider on a very impressive "passagey" horse to execute a small circle from the shoulder in, it was very obvious that the horse was unable to do this. CB said that any advanced horse should be collected enough to be able to perform this simple exercise.

"Give Your Horse a Break - Lose Weight and Feel Great"

This is the message from Viv Ray who is promoting sensible weight loss programmes. (Contact her on 01981 580 577 for more information). Many of you will have read the heated debate in the Horse and Hound with riding school proprietors putting weight limits on their horses thus denying riding opportunities to large would-be riders. The argument from the heavyweights is that riding schools and colleges should provide bigger horses. The argument from riding schools is that

• A riding is a sport and you need to have a certain level of fitness,
• B overweight riders fall more heavily and are more likely to injure themselves,
• C horses should not be open to abuse so weight limits must be imposed.

While it is easy for a mere midget like me to keep under 10 stone, I have recently encountered a number of enthusiastic, well meaning, desperate-to-improve riders who would find their task a great deal easier if they lost a stone or two (or three or four in some cases!). Of course, some people carry their weight much better than others and if you ride well or practice Alexander Technique or Pilates you can often get away with it. Also, lets not forget the other end of the scale where a person is underweight and has not the physical strength to ride correctly. An underweight rider is less of a problem to the horse but surviving on a lettuce leaf and several glasses of water is just as debilitating as pigging out every day. Either way, you need to have a certain level of fitness to ride well and you can’t be fit and fat.

Source: US Diet Guidelines

The UK guidelines would put you in the “overweight” category if you were close to the upper limit of these weights. .If over 35 years old you can add approx 10lbs to the acceptable weight range If your weight is 13 stone, (182lbs) you need to be at least 6ft to be in the “acceptable” range but you would have to be 6ft 4ins and male to make this an ideal weight. (UK guidelines). If your girth (I won’t call it a waist) is more than 35ins (for a female) you are overweight, (37ins for a man) Every time an overweight rider gives my horse back ache I have to get a chiropractor in and/or give the horse a lay off for a few days/weeks. Your lesson fee does not cover these hidden costs. (Maybe I should charge per pound weight rather than per hour!)

Arrow Horses and Weight Limits

I am now imposing weight limits on all my horses - Pooh is the only horse allowed to carry more than 12 stone (plus riding kit). Icaro, Cantinero and Crisp (who has had a back problem recently) - 10 stone (plus kit) These limits can be increased if the rider is (in my opinion) sufficiently experienced and/or “body aware” .. (ie, do more Alexander work!)

Viv Ray - Craniosacral therapist (and “weight loss consultant”)

As stated above Viv is helping several people (including herself!) lose weight AND have plenty of energy. You can read more at www.joyfulhealth.co.uk or call her at home on 01981 580 577. Many of you will already have experienced Viv’s unique hands on Craniosacral treatment and recently she has been applying this to horses with great success. She has been treating Cantinero and Pooh with great results and she is planning to hold regular clinics here at Weston. If you are interested in this therapy, either for yourself or your horse, please get in touch with either me or Viv.

The "Big Debate" - Classical versus Competition and "rollkur"

The Horse and Hound and British Dressage magazines have recently opened a can of worms asking well known riders and trainers to define what is “ classical” and how is it different from any other form of dressage. My own view is that we should accept that just as gymnastics are similar but completely different from classical ballet , competition dressage and classical riding should be appreciated for what they are and not compared one against the other. Both require high levels of skill and dedication but as soon as you start giving points and making rules by which you judge one person/horse against another the whole game changes. Critics may comment and even argue about the merits of one dancer or ballet production against another but I don’ t think anyone would want them to compete against each other to prove who was the best. If you want to dance and win medals, you go a different route and so with riding: if you want to win prizes, you need to go a different route. And if you want to go to extremes , (to the top), where your strength and suppleness is judged on how many turns and twists you can do within a highly complicated and intricate pattern you choose gymnastics and Olympic dressage. And if you are really good it can also look quite artistic but it will not have any of the artistry associated with ballet or the Classical schools of riding. Likewise, a Classical performance may be less “exciting” or less demanding with fewer intricate twists and turns but any ordinary member of the public will appreciate its harmony and beauty.

And then there is the question of how to achieve these high levels of performance expected at the Olympics? Well, if you want to win medals, whether it is in gymnastics or dressage, you must emulate the current trends and fashions and if this includes somewhat questionable training methods used by the current champions all the better. You must also accept that only the best survive and early burn out is inevitable. If the current champion uses “ rollkur” (working the horses in extreme flexion so that their chin touches their chests or there heads are between their knees), then of course every aspiring Olympic hopeful will want to do the same to achieve the same results. Inevitably, a lot of horses will be made totally miserable, many will break down in some way, mentally, physically or emotionally , and some will object strongly and end up on the scrap heap - “ not the right attitude for dressage“ .

To quote Erik, “ It’ s like taking a razor blade to a Rembrant”

But it is not always sweetness and light in the classical world. Wasn’ t it Margot Fonteyn who said that after every performance, her shoes were filled with blood? Likewise, there are many dubious schools of so called “ Classical Dressage” which would not bear close scrutiny. And lets face it we can all produce many examples of our own bad riding on almost any given day and we are all trying to do the best we can, whether it is in a competition or just riding at home. Then there is the question of excellence, striving for better and better achievements and pushing the envelope, - surely this is a good thing ? We all admired the incredible skill of the fantastic Russian and Chinese gymnasts but do we know what was the human cost of those achievements and was it worth it? What about all the ones that didn’ t make the grade? Was it right for the USA gymnast to make the final medal winning vault knowing that her knee would not survive the landing and that she would probably suffer long term damage for the rest of her life? Would she have thanked the judges if they had stopped her and denied her the chance of lifetime to win at the Olympics? So many questions and no easy answers.

However, what we should remember is that the horse has none of our ambitions and does not chose to dedicate his life to winning medals “ at any cost” . Neither does he have a “ voice” as such unless we speak for him. Horses are generally so compliant that they will appear quite content even with very harsh handling as long as it is consistent and predictable. They very quickly learn to keep their “ heads down” in both senses and as long as there is no blood, everyone says it is OK. They even appear quite content . They perform all the movements with their ears forward and their head down and yet either they appear as startled rabbits caught in the headlights and are literally sh_tting themselves with nervous tension or they have the look of someone who has simply become resigned to doing funny stuff in a small rectangle. British Dressage has tried to define “ the happy athlete” and yes, most people will recognise if a horse is nervous and tense but not everyone recognises the difference between the willing cooperation of a calm and confident horse and the calm submission of a horse that has become brain-dead through subjugation. Horses are admired for their “ trainability” which can equate with almost a complete lack of “ horse character” . This look is obvious when it is seen on a horse that is also emaciated or covered in sores but it is none the less tragic when one sees it in a horse that is in peak condition and enjoys all the luxuries that his owner can afford.

Having immersed myself in the work of Erik Herbermann for many years, I find many aspects of modern riding and training quite depressing. Although judges, trainers and riders all pay lip service to the FEI guidelines of how a horse should perform, everyone knows that if you want to win, you absolutely must “ get its head down” at all costs. If you allow your horse to “voice” its opinion (ie put its head up, hollow or resist when the rider is less than perfect), everyone will see that things are not so good, whereas not many people can see when things are not so good if the rider manages to “keep the head down” Dressage is becoming more and more like showing where all the judges say that horses should be fit not fat and yet everyone knows that a fit-not-fat horse would be way down the line with the comment - “ Needs a bit more condition” . There have been a number of excellent articles by many learned experts explaining how a horse should move and carry itself with the poll the highest point and the nose on or in front of the vertical but the magazines are filled with many examples of horses winning at every level and showing all the signs of incorrect work. Even young horses are depicted over bent/behind the vertical/short necks, going in two halves/the front and back disconnected, hind legs out behind, diagonal pairs not matching etc… etc…. Let me repeat myself, everyone, including me can show many examples of bad work at any time but these pictures are supposed to be showing good work, our best horses and riders.

And then one has to say something about the riding. When I was growing up in Pony Club, the most enviable quality in a rider was “ quietness” .

“ She has lovely quiet hands” , “ He is a lovely quiet rider” , “ She has such a quiet seat”

Fiddling with the reins or hands that “ worked backwards” was the worst possible crime and instant failure at Pony Club C test let alone at a higher level. Sadly this is no longer the case and it seems that every rider who ever enters a dressage test or “ Cradle Stakes” class has been drilled into having expert efficiency in the complicated science of twiddling, pulling, sawing, tweaking, massaging, or whatever you want to call it. When the horse has been “ trained” to keep its head “ just there” (wherever just there is - between its legs for the warm-up and “ up” for the test), the rider fixes their hands in a similar “ just there” way and believes that they have achieved self carriage and lightness in the hand. It’ s as daft as saying that it is hot and sunny just because we have fiddled with the needle of a barometer.

I feel more and more like a “ Grumpy Old Woman” !

Ultimately it is up to ones own conscience as to what is acceptable and what is not. A smart smack with the whip can be entirely appropriate or entirely inappropriate depending on the circumstances and it is impossible to define rules on the subject. All I ask is you open your eyes to see and do your best to work towards your ideal and listen to your horse‘s opinion - it is far more important than mine or anyone else‘s!

The "Driving Seat"

No, not what you imagine but making use of time spent off the horse - for example, while driving your car! Most of us spend hours sitting badly at the wheel of a car and yet it is not that difficult to convert that time into something of use. OK, so I am a fanatic and can't even drive a car without thinking how it affects my riding, but if nothing else a good posture will help prevent back ache and tension. Following on from the above, some useful experimentation might be:
Is your pelvis and spine aligned correctly
Are you aware of your seat bones (some set adjustment may be necessary to keep upright)
Do you have equal weight on each seat bone, going straight and while turning
Notice what muscles you use to keep yourself upright
Can you keep your shoulders square against the back of the seat and be totally independent with the arms and hands
Can you push the steering wheel rather than pull it when you steer
Does each hand have the same weight going straight and while turning
Do you have an "open front line" or are you collapsed
Do your shoulders and elbows remain heavy and relaxed at all times
Does your torso remain relaxed when accelerating or braking
Next time you drive to your riding lesson, think of these things and see what a difference it makes to your riding. Instead of arriving tense and rattled, you will already be mentally and physically prepared to get the most from your riding. Your horse will certainly enjoy the difference!

More Driving Seat exercises

Since our FL&AT courses on Spirals and Diagonals, I have been playing with some new ideas.

First, consider 3 variables, turn your body right or left or straight, take your weight/energy right or left or centre, emphasise your right or your left seat bone or have both even and you can mix these in any combination. The difference between weight as in body bulk, (which sometimes makes more sense as energy) and your weight as in pressure on a seat bone is very important and often confused. For example, go into a shoulder in left you would be slightly turned to the left, you would emphasise your left seat bone, but you would send your energy(weight) to the right, down the track. To convert this to a circle to the left, you would send your energy to the left and even up the seat bones. No one watching would actually see any change in your body or your position but you and your horse would know the difference. Try turning your shoulders to the right and then to the left and notice which way your weight wants to fall. Does the same, (eg the right) seat bone, (or leg if you are standing) get loaded no matter which way you turn? Or does it change as you change your shoulders? Does the weight fall in the same direction as the turn of your shoulders or does it go in the opposite direction?

Secondly, can you connect your diagonals evenly - right seat bone to left hand and left seat bone to right hand? Try pushing the seat bone forward towards the opposite shoulder/hand. Is one easier than the other? Does your seat bone lift up or push down? Does your spine stay vertical? What happens to your knees and feet?

All these combinations can be practised standing in a queue in Morrisons, sitting at your desk pretending to work, or stuck in a traffic jam. Highly recommended to alleviate the symptoms of road rage. I found that I was very good at emphasising my accelerator leg and the opposite shoulder but not so good the other way! Let me know how your experiments work.