POINT OF VIEW
A defense is a step-up from a resistance in which the horse takes the initiative to control the rider by acting against his/her wishes, in anticipation of a demand that will go against his usual resistance: kicking, rearing, buck- ing, running away, spinning, ducking, ripping the reins away from the hand, etc. When they are not resolved, de- fenses become habits, and they are usually calculated by the horse and predictable by the rider. Repeated defenses can be very difficult to eliminate. Their correction requires a direct, imperative action directly opposed and as accu- rately timed with the defense, executed as humanely pos- sible. This takes experience, determination, physical power, timing, observation, analysis and planning.
PERFECT RIDING VERSUS SUCCESSFUL DRESSAGE Dressage books, even some of the classics, guarantee suc- cess if the progression presented is systematically followed. Apply the “correct aids” to a horse, who is endowed with a correct conformation and is willing to work, follow the pro- gram and they claim he will be trained. This is a nice idea but it is not realistic to believe a rider will be able to train the horse through the demands of the levels and miracu- lously reach the Grand Prix level just by using a fashionably correct form of equitation or exercises organized in a pre- set order. Coaches insist on the quality of their students’ riding because that is what they can hope to fix immediately. I am no exception and I do my best to help my riders’ equita- tion by providing feedback, hopefully to be applied in the next lesson or the next class. Back at home, the real issue is different: the purpose of dressage is to help the horse learn his work, become capable of it with increasing ease
and pleasure and perform it “as of his own accord.” Masters from Xenophon to Pluvinel to L’Hotte have all described their training goals in the same way. Nuno Oliveira defined the result of successful dres-
sage as “a horse without resistances” who responds softly, matching the positive energy of his response to the aids’ degree of exigence without under- or over-reacting. Dres- sage score sheets judge the “acceptance of his aids,” and riders complain often that the horse “blew through my half-halts.” But why should the horse, on principle, under- stand the aids and how can we teach him that fundamen- tal skill? The purpose of training is to develop goodwill, emo- tional stability, progressive symmetry of the movements and a collected posture that improves balance and agility. This is only achievable by developing an educated version of what I call the horse’s neurodynamique, the harmonious functioning of a fluid musculature driven by a relaxed and invigorated nervous system, without emotional baggage of his psyche, spasms of his muscles or chronic tightness of his fascia. A comfortable body makes for a collaborating mind. That is the perfect plan, aiming to eliminate the nat- ural resistances horses use to oppose our actions, naturally leaning/pushing passively—or actively, into pain or pres- sure. Resistances can annul the demand (a rider moving in the saddle to get piaffe on a horse who does not perform it at all), limit its amplitude (a push of the outside leg pro- ducing a short stumpy half-pass instead of a flowing one), or delay it (a late flying change or transition down from an extended gait requiring repeated, ineffective half-halts).
JP demonstrates how he applies pressure near the top of the neck in the areas of the third cervical on his three-year-old stallion Zen- si. Once released, his neck stays in its central axis and the horse flexes 90 degrees at the poll.
60 May/June 2019
JP applies pressure to the base of the neck on the right, moving C6/C7 to the left. The lifting of the base of the neck starts with its lateral displacement to the outside of the bend. It is particularly important on the side the horse tends to lean (lose his balance) because the base of the neck is usually displaced inward on that side. This picture shows the lightening of the load of the right front and loading of the left front.
All photos by Cedar Potts
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
