The diagonal front leg, on the other hand, pushes back-
ward well under the body and reaches less forward than the other front, creating the usual loss of balance we see when lunging to the right. This leaves the main braking job to the other diagonal: the left front goes well forward and helps the horse stop, while the right hind comes clearly under the body and helps balancing it. The right hind hoof is usually very symmetrical. A low heel/long toe in front corresponds to the braking leg, and a high heel/short toe corresponds to the side that loses balance and is hard to flex in the neck (because of contracted shoulder muscles).
Restoring Symmetry (as much as possible) Before we can hope to be able to move the feet from the hand actions, we must make sure the horse can move the head (release the pressure from the reins/lead line and point himself where we want him to go) by moving his feet in that very direction. By tapping each leg from every possible angle in every possible direction with my “Endostick” (see an explanation of this in the final section, “Desensitation to Saddle and Rider”) and associating the tap with an action of the hand, the horse soon learns to move his legs from the slightest movement of the hand and the tapping of the legs becomes obsolete. For instance, a “leading rein” (pulling forward) is associ-
ated with a tap on either the side or the back of the front leg closest to me. A “rein back” is associated with a tap on the front of the front leg most likely to pick up first and initiate the rearward movement. A “sidestep” will be demanded by a tap on the outside of the front leg (or the hind leg), in asso- ciation with a rein action in the same direction. I am mentioning the work on the front legs for several
reasons. Dressage authors are obsessed with the hind legs because “the engine is in the back,” but a car is not maneu- vered by its engine but by its front wheels. A horse initiates his walk from the front foot as follow: LF – RH – RF- LH. The horse’s balance (the ability to decelerate and transform the forward push of the hind end into vertical action) is mostly achieved by the front legs. The resistances to forward move- ment (and the occasional loss of balance) are also in the front legs: if the hind legs are the engine, the front legs are
the corresponding “brakes.” Their decelerating power must equal the thrusting power of the hind legs or the horse could never be able to stop his own momentum. To obtain impulsion, we must therefore make sure that the front legs are not preventing the power of the hind legs from pushing the horse forward (i.e. unlocking the hand brake before turn- ing the key).
“Aplomb”(vertical balance) versus Straightness Asymmetry is not just a side to side horizontal problem for the trainer (the horse moves crooked), but mostly a side to side vertical problem (the horse leans to one side). After all, a horse can be completely straight longitudinally but not vertically aligned. Alternately, he can walk sideways (in a half pass for instance) and be vertically balanced. This affects balance (the undesirable contractions that prevent the lean- ing horse from falling), impulsion (the uneven weight distri- bution on the legs that makes them push unevenly) and cadence (a horse cannot have a regular tempo and a correct rhythm in his gaits if each of his diagonal pairs move with different stride lengths, power and duration). As an aside, I will say that working a horse in a tempo
as regular as it is practical to seek is a good idea, but this only comes after we achieve balance (from side to side) and impulsion (equal forwardness in both directions on the lunge). The guidelines presented by the currently fashionable
“scale of training” present this order of priorities: rhythm, relaxation, impulsion, connection, straightness, collection. All of them are valuable goals to pursue. It is obviously a good idea for the rider to make a concerted effort to work the horse (on the lunge and in the saddle) in regular gaits from the start, but “completely equal actions in length and duration of both diagonals” (as recommended by the German manual) can only be achieved after a lengthy train- ing that implies complete symmetry (of which straightness is a part, along with uprightness). Calm is a good place to start a lesson but true relaxation comes from alignment with gravity (uprightness), so the order of those priorities is inverted. Impulsion has a different sense in German than in other languages: for the French (and the English) it means
4
Rider and trainer in red vest is Cedar Potts, assistant trainer at Baroque Farms USA. Handler is Kim Taylor, farm manager at Baroque Farms USA.
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➍ Mounting (and dismounting) work begins, initially leaning and hanging across the saddle, so that Toti accepts the weight and location of the rider. ➎ Once Toti is quiet for multiple mounts and dismounts, walk work on the lunge with an experienced handler begins. Cedar carries the endostick to encourage relaxation when needed. ➏ Then trot work on the lunge is performed, changing directions often.
Warmbloods Today 31
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