POINT OF VIEW L
ightness has, sadly, become rare on the modern dressage scene. We see huge trots (euphemisti- cally called “collected”) and wonder why piaffe is so
difficult to perform classically. The Dutch have removed the halt from their national tests “because it unbalances the horse” (a quote from
Eurodressage.com). This regret- table new rule in one of the leading dressage countries has become necessary because too many confuse exces- sive speed with impulsion, so the engagement created by all that energy does not survive at low speeds, in halt and reinback. The balance of modern horses is compromised by too
much leg, too much hand and too much noseband, all of which simply prohibit lightness. So a lack of lightness is the proof of lack of balance—and self-carriage. François Baucher’s last disciple, General Faverot de Kerbrech wrote, “Lightness well understood increases impulsion” because lightness comes from the absence of resistance that al- lows the energy to travel through the (relaxed) horse. The French ‘permeability’ and the German ‘durchlassigkeit’ are only possible with a horse that is supple, balanced, ener- getic and light. In fact, we may occasionally see more lightness in
show jumping and eventing than in dressage. The top rid- ers in those disciplines certainly believe that giving the
By JP Giacomini
Mastering Lightness: Then and Now Part 1 of 2
Learn from the masters – of today and yesteryear – to truly understand what lightness means.
horse freedom of head and neck before and over a fence is the best way to jump cleanly and safely. Showjumper Eric Navet, an Olympic medalist and Eu-
ropean and world champion who has earned six World Equestrian Games medals, is at 57 still a top grand prix rider and considered by many to have the best hands on the circuit. When I asked him his opinion on lightness, he insisted “it is not enough to just have a light horse. To pro- duce a horse that is light is not so difficult in itself. What is more subtle is to get a horse that is engaged, pushes himself forward with a back in positive tension, with a lo- comotion that creates the sufficient propulsion to jump well. All of that must happen while he stays light on the hand. In a word: light but always seeking the contact.” This description implies a lengthened, relaxed topline with a strong muscular tonus. Lucinda Green from Great Britain is a both a world
and European champion, with three European team gold medals and an Olympic team silver medal to her credit. She won her first of six Badminton Horse trials in 1973. Forty years later, her impeccable cross-country style is both safe and elegant, and still amazingly efficient. Her riding is characterized by the balance she fosters in her horses while allowing them the freedom to use their initiative. “While teaching, I am always trying to
Eric Navet competing the horse The Flying Ham, a Belgian Warmblood by Boudeaux VDL.
Lucinda Green five years ago riding Cry Freedom at the Barbury 2-star event.
Warmbloods Today 55
Fiona Scott-Maxwell
ESI Photography
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