The Education of Toti
conclusion because he rode blood horses (Thorough- breds and Anglo-Arabians) rather than the Iberians of the princely stables. Every time a new type of horse appears, training methodology evolves. “Collection without concentration of forces” has been
described as “the ability of the horse to start at any time, in any direction, at any gait.” This is the basic collection of the jumping horse, the cutting horse, the bullfight- ing horse, the polo pony, etc. This horse is primarily very obedient to the aids, light to the bridle and to the legs and engaged enough to achieve great mobility and quick transitions. The more natural activity they have, the easier it is for them to achieve this form of collection. It makes them safe and pleasant to ride. Practicing all those changes of directions, angles and
bends, mixed with gait variations all done in a consis- tent cadence and self-carriage will lead the horse very progressively to the higher form of collection, “collection with concentration of forces.” It really means a superior level of engagement of the hind end and the core toward the horse’s center, the marked flexion of the hind joints (hips, stifles, hocks), the raising of the withers and the arching of the neck. This form of collection is nowadays only seen in piaffe and canter pirouettes.
Is Piaffe Natural? I must admit that, in all the hundreds of horses I have taught piaffe to with varying degrees of ability, I have only ever seen two that started with a natural classical piaffe from the first moment. They were both five-year- olds at the time. Just holding them in hand lightly along the wall and pointing a stick toward their quarters with a couple of accompanying clucks was all it took. They both started to bounce in perfect diagonal pairs, sitting
behind and lifting in front, seemingly with no effort or worry. Every other horse’s piaffe had to be constructed,
prepared, organized, polished, sometimes even invented. Trainers who think that tapping a horse in some manner on the croup or the hocks is the only action needed to produce a Totilas kind of piaffe are setting themselves up for some disappointment. The classical cannons of this difficult movement have to be well understood and a strategy has to be devised in accordance to each horse’s unique characteristics. Patience will be needed, or rather a lack of impatience.
Pre-Conditions Piaffe is both the proof of collection and the means to develop it. The pre-condition to start on piaffe is that the horse must already be very obedient to the aids in lateral work, otherwise he might collect when asked to go side- ways and use it as a pretext to refuse forwardness. Good manners and forwardness are now well estab-
lished with Toti. He knows shoulder-in and half-passes in walk and trot on the long lines and walk half-pass under saddle. He is now ready to learn the idea of collection.
Why Start So Soon? The piaffe is not a great physical effort, more a question of mental acceptance of the limits placed on the horse, who is framed between the aids in front, in the back and on both sides. Because the biomechanics of it are quite complex, a correct piaffe takes a long time to be devel- oped and that fact alone is a good reason to start the process early. But in order to avoid creating a stressful level of pressure for the horse, we must maintain low
1
2
3
Toti executes a turn in shoulder-in to the left, with the tapping timed as to create steps in the walk (left diagonal up). His left ear is turned toward his trainer, his back is bent throughout and his tail is arched. Cedar (JP’s assistant trainer) is walking into him to keep his feet moving. Here is Toti’s early piaffe in hand in place. Toti is starting to move diagonally at the wall in rhythm with the tapping. Because he leans a little on Cedar’s hand, his left front leg is too far under him. The correct balance must be sought out as soon as piaffe work is started (no croup high piaffe ever allowed), but the degree of lift can be minimal. Toti’s topline is perfectly rounded here and he is completely calm (see ears and tail). Some qualities of the final movement can remain low for a while (expressiveness), but balance and respect of the aids cannot be compromised. Reinback and ‘seesaw’ (back and forth) is used to increase mobility, impulsion, balance and diagonalization. Cedar is lightly tapping each front leg to mark the rhythm and help him pick up his knees. She makes him feel the hand at the same time to relate the work in hand with the reinback from the saddle.
32 May/June 2016 Above photos, 1–6, by Kim Taylor
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76