POINT OF VIEW Mastering Lightness Part 2: Understanding the Biomechanics
In part one of this series, we dis- cussed the importance of light- ness in all disciplines, as well as what history has taught us about lightness. In this article, we will explore the biomechanics of achieving lightness both in and out of the saddle.
The New Dressage Fad? From a report in
Eurodressage.com, we read that at the CDIO Rotterdam on June 25, 2017, “Laura Graves was in a league of her own, presenting her horse Verdades in the greatest of light- ness.” This is a pleasant development. Today, most horses have great gaits and most riders ride accurate tests, so the deciding factor is apparently now lightness. How refresh- ing! I predict that, if this trend continues, we are going to see much-improved piaffe because it is the movement in which its quality is most dependent on lightness.
Laura Graves performs in passage on her KWPN gelding Verdades at the FEI World Cup held in Omaha March 29 to April 2, 2017, where the pair earned their personal best score of 85.307 in the Freestyle.
will advance toward collection, which is the best way for the horse to carry his rider. The German concept adapted the classical model of La Guérinière to their own culture of the “Campagne School” (outdoor riding for military purposes). It produces a collected horse that is shortened in his frame, moderately elevated in front and flexed in his haunches, yet ridden in very forward gaits. The thrust of the hind legs is the key to everything. The French since Baucher consider a dif- ferent form of collection that implies lightness: the ability of the horse to move in all directions, at all times, in any gait. This is collection “without concentration of forces” that can be applied to all equestrian disciplines.
Where French and German Schools Meet The father of the modern German school, Gustav Stein- brecht, considered lightness part and parcel of collec- tion. He saw the two as inseparable. François Baucher, the originator of the modern French school, on the other hand, considered lightness as an issue separate from col- lection and sought it in all situations. He saw it as a means to an end, as well as a final result of training in its highest form. They both have a point: on one hand, the more col-
lected the horse, the more energy and mobility he has (lightness to the legs and seat) and the more easily he becomes balanced (lightness to the hand). On the other, the more the horse is trained to be light from the begin- ning by “the School of the Aids” (the development of re- sponses to the aids that can be obtained automatically with a diminishing effort from the rider), the easier it will be to train him through the gymnastic process. The fewer resistances will be encountered and the quicker the horse
Modern dressage horses no longer “sit” (lower their haunches), as they did at the time of La Guérinière, ex- cept, hopefully, in the piaffe and canter pirouettes. They now move in the horizontal balance advocated by Lud- wig Hünersdorf (1748–1813) in Germany and François Baucher (1796-1873) in France. It is this particular equi- librium that allows them to perform the many transitions from shortened to extended gaits required by the cur- rent FEI tests. Today, we have, in effect, a mixture of the French and German systems, as wished for by the found- ers of modern dressage, General Decarpentry and Gen- eral Von Holzing. What is still missing too much of the time, though, is lightness to the impulsive aids (the horse responding to discreet actions of the seat and legs) com- bined with an honest connection to the hand (the horse follows the bit softly without leaning on it). A greater at- tention to developing the lateral mobility in the short- ened gaits would go a long way toward teaching the horse how to reduce his thrust. This, in turn, would allow for a much easier apprenticeship of the piaffe.
Biomechanics of Lightness and Balance While lightness is too often touted as a unique com- ponent of French equestrian culture, it is a necessity
Warmbloods Today 51
By JP Giacomini
Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
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