In my quest to learn more about the art of dressage. I have found many inconsistencies that I did not anticipate because of wealth of refinement that has gone in to this discipline. Unfortunately, I have not associated with knowledgeable dressage masters that can enlighten me on some of the inconsistencies that I have came across. I was hopping that Reisa has came across these same questions and may know the answers to.
The three questions I have are:
1) In every corner of dressage, dressage masters talk about straightness, but I have never seen an absolute straight dressage horse! The definition of straightness that has been explained to me was that a horse needs to tracking straight from withers to croup with a straight spine (not travel crooked), but how can you have straightness if the ribcage is bent around the inside leg and using the outside rein? A good example of this is in lateral movements like Half-pass. If straightness is important, why is the frame of the horse bent in the direction of travel? At this level of training, they have full control of shoulders and haunches, would it not be more of a challenge to keep absolute straightness?
If they only bend the neck and not the ribcage, then the outside shoulder leaks out to the outside (now they need outside rein to fix it) and then horse is not tracking straight. I have heard two definitions of straightness: cylindrical and absolute. Even in the upper levels I have not seen absolute straightness because in a turn they turn the nose in the corner, they pull the horse through the turn with the inside rein. I just don’t understand how dressage defines straightness, it seems elusive to me. Can you clarify straightness? with regards to lateral movements?
2) The training scale is the foundation of how we train a horse, and rhythm is the foundation of that foundation. When we hear music, it has rhythm and tempo because the instruments are playing. Once the instruments are playing we can now adjust the tempo.
With regards to training a horse, if we need to adjust the rhythm, we need to use contact to balance the tempo. It seems odd to have rhythm first on the training scale when it requires two other elements to teach true tempo. You can not have true rhythm without movement (impulsion) to work on trueness of rhythm. It has been said that rhythm can only be achieved when the horse is straight and in balance, but we need to teach a horse to be straight through implosion, contact, and collection. In order to teach collection we need the horse to except contact with aids. It seems to me that impulsion should be first followed by contact, collection, straightness, rhythm, suppleness. It seems to me that rhythm and suppleness is a result of a well balanced, forward, collected horse.
Suppleness is second on the scale, but you can not teach suppleness without contact and impulsion. A horse can not be supple until he is balanced, straight and has impulsion. So how can you get these two components (rhythm/suppleness) when we need first impulsion and contact to achieve them?
3) It is a standard concept to move the outside leg back to the number 3 position to move the haunches for a tranvers movement, but they also instruct to sit on the outside seat bone. Balance is top of the list of good equitation, by moving the leg back puts the rider out of balance. I see no reason to sit on the outside seat bone and move the leg back, just do one or the other. I know this is a personal preference, but it is widely taught. Should the leg stay in a more natural neutral position and just shift weight to the outside seat bone to move haunches in?
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.
Randy Byers
Question 1 straightness
a horse is perfectly straight when the hind feet are exactly tracking in line with the front feed on ALL bending lines, or diagonal lines and In ALL lateral movements when asked to perform them. The definition focuses strictly on the tracking NOT on the top line of the horse. So that means if your horse doesn’t track correct your bend is only happening in the neck and that would be called flexion or riding in flexion which happens on a lower stage of the training scale.So in half pass the shoulder and haunches have to be adjusted (travelling in bend) to allow the straight tracking of all four legs in sideways (lateral) motion.You might realize more straight horses or even more crooked ones by looking at the tracking.True straightness happens by perfecting all lateral and bending movements which these days hardly anyone knows how to do – unfortunately. Most horses are onesided and only proper observation and accurate evaluation will lead to applying the correct exercises.Cylindrical and absolute straightness are terminologies that seem more lesson sales expressions to keep things interesting
Question 2 rhythm
The proof of rhythm and relaxation in the daily work has to happen through a clear release of rein in which the horse has to not change in his rhythm in ALL three gaits by stretching the neck further out to use it as a balance tool INSTEAD OF THE BIT OR HAND.On the bit the horse should perform in SELF CARRIAGE and the neck now balances more uphill with more engaged hindquarters. Every horse in the wilderness or pasture or turn out or free longing is – if not physically or mentally battled – perfectly rhythmical without a rider on the back in all three gaits.Dressage is the art to perform under saddle as close to natural ability as possible.The “adjustment” of tempo through half halts should increase the self carriage part, on a basic level the hand and bit should be more a just in case tool to start the horse properly.One has to refrain from forming green horses over the rein!!! Suppleness is not second on the scale in the original german wording since in english it is describing a more advanced stage of training.Plain relaxation should be used here as wording only, to not get carried away.Impulsion comes after contact and requires the ability to lengthen and develop more powerful strides based on the existing BASIC rhythm,relaxation and contact already confirmed.Basic is the important part to understand the first three steps of the scale and work with it correctly. One can achieve basic rhythm and relaxation in all three gaits on a very simple level unfortunately nobody seems to have the time or patience to do so.
Question 3 seat and leg position
Travers differs from haunches in since it requires bend where the haunches in is more a straight yielding the hindquarters in.So for travers you sit on the inside or centered following the horses bend with your weight, where in haunches in you sit centered or on the outside yielding on a more basic level.In the advanced version with bend you have your outside leg a little back to support the bend however your seat is centered more to the inside,in the basic yield your seat dominates a little more from the outside however your outside leg is straight down remaining a forward driving aid,not a lateral one.
hope that helps
regards
alex gerding
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