Michel Henriquet used to say that Carl Hester is the competitive
counterpart of Nuno Oliveira. Though they have two different natural postures and equestrian backgrounds (Hester started in eventing and Oliveira worked in a tiny indoor arena on bullfighting type horses), the silhouette and balance of their two horses is exemplary and nei- ther of the riders is sitting in the conventional vertical position. The truth can only be found in the observation of the quality of
the horse’s balance (as a combination of impulsion, cadence, light- ness and brilliance), not in the diktats of writers repeating baseless models. It can be obviously assumed that the remarkable perfor- mance of these horses, working happily on a semi-loose rein, is the result of their riders’ dynamic positions and not achieved in spite of their deviation from the accepted rider position. “[As trainers], we must elevate our intelligence on the ruins of preconceived ideas,” rightly said by François Baucher.
Educational Principles Dressage, contrary to current popular belief, cannot be reduced to a specific competitive discipline that implies a certain type of horse, a particular dress code, arena shape and size and a specific set of not particularly imaginative movements. It is rather an educational pro- cess, similar to the one the rider received. The horse must notice, learn, trust and find his comfort zone, while obeying those actions, the aids, coming from above. The very basis of the equestrian language is found in the controlled movements of the rider’s body, naturally un- derstood and respected by the horse for whom balance is an absolute priority. This language must be clear, imperative, kind, subtle and ef- fective. The horse has limitless sensitivity and an infallible memory, which serve to teach him so many subtle signals from the rider’s seat, body weight distribution, hands, legs, whip, voice and thoughts. To teach these signals, the following basic principles are indispensable: Separate the aids used for introducing new concepts; Divide the questions asked of the horse into the simplest possible modules; Diminish the aids’ intensity progressively and rapidly in order to engage the horse’s mind as soon as possible in order to achieve self-carriage and determination;
Recombine the aids by adding only one new aid at a time, and only after each aid has been fully understood and obeyed;
Practice the yielding of the aids as soon as possible, even for a brief moment, so the horse can follow the rider’s intentions in self-carriage, self-impulsion and self-discipline;
Use the principle of controlled anticipation: the horse learns very quickly how to avoid the feelings he dislikes, if they are announced by a predictable pre-signal. If the cavesson has corrected the horse’s wrong decision about the direction he should follow and if this correc- tion has been preceded by a disapproving voice signal, for example, this voice signal will soon be sufficient to prevent the problem because the horse anticipates the physical correc- tion that follows.
Value of the Walk Recently, the German training tradition has insisted on avoiding the work at the walk, though others have seen it “as the mother of all gaits.” It is the gait most propitious to a secure balance (always
JP’s assistant trainer Cedar Potts and JP Zhivago dem- onstrate seat variations in walk exercises: Cedar leans back and rolls the hips while giving the hand to extend the stride. She loads inside stirrup (heel low- ered) with an opening rein to help the horse open his inside shoulder in the turn (by abduction of the leg). She loads the outside stirrup to help the horse bend by freeing the inside shoulder and tipping the with- ers outward for proper flexion of the back in roundness. Cedar is pushing passively to get the horse “in the bri- dle” (no hip movement) from the LS joint to the front of the pelvis onto the pommel, toward the mouth (pushing the belt buckle forward and down). The horse then pushes back with his withers and arches the base of his neck.
Warmbloods Today 47
Photos 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
