Lucky lucky lucky
Did I forget to tell you that I was going to Addington Manor to watch the British National Dressage Young Horse championships yesterday? I had a really interesting day with Linda who sometimes posts on here. We saw four, five and six year olds doing prelim, novice and elementary tests respectively. And seven/eight year olds doing Prix St George, which is everything that Grand Prix has except piaffe and passage and one-time and two-time changes. The final for that competition was a freestyle PSG to music.
In between, there was a demonstration of five German National Stud stallions and a tutorial of each of them by ??? Hess (can't remember his first name). There was a three, four, five, six and eleven year old stallion, in their various stages of training. It was so interesting to see the progression.
I learnt so much just from watching the German Stud riders - they are so STILL. They look like they are doing absolutely nothing and the horses "just move like that". But it wasn't true, as the progress of the tutorial showed in the changes in the way the horses moved. I think the one thing I learnt was the difference between holding a horse together and giving the horse a contact to work to in self-carriage. I never understood that before and I'd struggle to describe it now, but it made me determined to try to do it for my horses.
Zippy and Jazz, properly trained, could both hold their own in the level of competition yesterday. They are both physically capable of producing those "punching" and elastic paces that the judges want to see. It will take some time, but I'm going to try and get them working towards it, and I went outside today prepared to start.
First I rode Zip, who often gives one or two strides of "that trot" and simply needs to be allowed to build the strength to do more of it, without me stifling it before he gets there. I concentrated on keeping him moving forward, even if he lost his balance a little. I think in the past I have erred too far on keeping my horses in balance instead of letting them learn how to produce that big movement and balance at the same time. And I've been so concerned that they were in self-carriage that I hadn't understood properly that seeking a contact on the bit does not mean that you are "holding them up".
Zip was fantastic on the left rein but on the right there was one corner where he would not maintain the bend. I did it with outside bend a number of times until he got the message. He got tense and a little irritated but he never tried to be stupid. I finished on a trot on a long rein and it was wonderful. All the potential is there with him, I must just be careful not to rush him into more than he is physically ready for.
Talking of working too much too young, I did wonder if that's what we were going to see yesterday. But there was only one horse who looked too immature for his class, and he was placed accordingly. The rest just looked like what they practically all were - warmbloods from continental bloodlines, mostly bred overseas, and born with huge, fluid, elastic paces and natural balance. So it wasn't too much to ask a four year old to do spectacular prelim. In fact most of them looked like they were hardly making any effort as they bounced around the arena. The judge gave a public address summary at the end of each test, which was really intersting too.
I rode Jazz after Zip, and to be honest it was a bit of an eye-opener. As I said above, I have always kept my horses in balance so that they stayed in self carriage, and with him being particularly strong I was sure to do it with him too. Today, I put my hands where they should be and sat firm and made him work within the rein I allowed him. When he had settled to the walk we did some trot, and ker-ikey what power he produces when you keep the contact steady. He can't always balance on the corners and is like a big floppy puppy, but I understand now that he needs to feel like that for short bursts, otherwise he will never learn to produce that power in balance if he's never allowed to try.
The upshot of the whole session with Jazz was that he was actually very happy to work that way, and he didn't once try to leave the arena. He did try to raise his head, but that is a good progression on what we had a few months ago when he was throwing it around wildly. We did a couple of canter transitions and some equally "forward" canter, and then some totally fabulous trot on a long rein to finish.
It was a great session on both horses. How lucky can I be to own this pair?
C
ps there was one horse who was obviously constantly schooled either in draw reins or in rollkur, and the rider was having real trouble in the test to get her to keep her head off her chest. Serves him right!
posted by cptrayes @ 3:04 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Ineresting. All along, my horses have worked in contact, with some of it being pretty strong at times.
When I read various articles, etc. I will be told the horse should be "light" in contact and in self-carriage. But how can a horse become like an elastic band if there is no resistance in front? If there is nothing for him to push against, then what creates the "spring" in his body?
My horses vary in the amount of contact they want or need. Right now, Tucker goes much better with good solid contact that I can push him into. Toby is a bit lighter, and PJ was moderate. Chance, as a baby is just learning to accept the bit, but so far, I think he too will be lighter--but it's hard to tell.
The more the hind end engages, the lighter the contact will become, but I can't really believe that it will ever be as "looped rein" light as some people seem to advocate.
If you take a dressage whip and flex it, it develops more spring only with more bend and that only comes by being held in in front and back. If we look at the horse in the same way, the leg holds the hind end, flexing it under more, and the hand holds the front to make that flex powerful. The horse's head and mouth are the skinny end of the whip, so they should not require as much hold, but as soon as you let go, the whip springs open and all the energy is gone.
I think that is why, all too often, you see horses with apparently properly placed heads, but hind ends not actually engaged. It happens all too often when the rider is focused on "light to the hand."
Rant over. I always love the judges comments when they finish judging a young horse.
Contact!
This could open up a can of worms!
It is really inspiring to go to something like this, and see the progression, sounds like it was a really good day out.
Judith
////But how can a horse become like an elastic band if there is no resistance in front?////
Jean, that one sentence increased my understanding of what I am trying to achieve by a whole notch. Thankyou.
I was tired today though Judith - we left at 8 and got home at 1 in the morning! Still, well worth it.
Jean - reading your post I was bobbing my head up and down saying yes Yes YES! At least somebody who says it ALL. People ( especially on EE) are obsessed by lightness, but you need YEARS to get it. At the begining with some horse you need a strong solid contact. Some horses ... BIG horses will always be kind of heavy, even if they are lightening up their front.
It is what my trainer is teaching me with Linda. It is so new for me. Then I am learning the difference between pulling and contact.
I keep contact with my horse with my upper body, in fact since tuesday I have aching abs.
But my trainer makes me "work/play" with my mare's mouth ALL THE TIME, she chews, swallows salives. My reins are never FIX, but I still have a strong contact.
I am vey excited about it, b/c it is something so new for me. I am getting it :-D !!!
I am adding more on it in my blog :-)
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sorry, I deleted the last post due to a very serious typo!!!
Interesting all.
Yesterday at my clinic with Patrice Edwards, she commmented on how many of the horses at the upper levels in international competition are incorrect. (My trainer made a similar comment.)
When the horse is worked from the front and even put into a double bridle too soon in order to create the correct outline for upper level, the "appearance" is correct, but if you look closely, the horse is not truly correctly engaged front to back. You do not get the feeling that its back is lifting under the rider.
Horses with natural movement and naturally big gaits still look OK, but they just aren't really working off the hind end.
You can get all the "tricks," piaffe, passage, etc. but....
In a sense, that's why the rolkur does work to some degree. By overflexing, the rider forces the horse to bend its body. When the neck is over-extended and simply cannot bend any more, the horse has not choice but to bend its back to relieve the pressure. It forces some amount of correctness without all the gymnastics and training that should accomplish it instead.
But, as Caroline pointed out, once the horse learns to overflex and can manage to evade bringing its hind end under as that youngster did, unless the rider can really force the hind end forward, all you get is overbent. Race horses are really noted for this. It creates a "false" on the bit appearance and the horse is never really "through" to the bit.
I had a Saddlebred trained that way and it was very difficult to get him working through his body. When I did finally get it, he was a 10 times better mover and an absolutely wonderful ride.
The same occurs when the horse is put into a more severe bit before it is physically strong enough behind to carry itself. The bridle gives the horse no choice. (Please note: this is not the same thing as using a stronger bit to simply control or manage a difficult or strong horse...and entirely different situation.)
Second lecture complete. Just my opinion on what I believe.
Jean I think you have just answered for me why I preferred the way many of the four year olds were going than the six year olds, and the eight year olds weren't a lot more "thrilling" to watch than the fours. Thinking about it, you could see that at four, the riders were doing a simple test well within the horses' innate capabilities. But with the fives and the sixes (and the eights doing PSG), you could see some horses which had been coached to go to a higher level of test, where the work was not as loose and elastic as the four year olds' work was.
I guess that's the penalty of competing, that if you are competitive and have a five or six year old that you want to win on, then you will train the horse to "do" the test you have to be doing. The temptation to progress more quickly than the horse is truly capable of, using the big paces to hide the flaws, is understandable, but one I hope to avoid. So many of the riders were pros being paid to ride for other people, or riding to get value on the horse to sell it. That can't help either.
Muriel the German riders were absolutely still but they were still moving their fingers, just not their hands. Personally I do feel that on a young horse which completely sets against you it is fair enough to move your hands to "unlock it", though I hope to do it less and less as mine grow up. I'd be very interested to know how much Gigi suggests you should move your hands. By the way, no-one should interpret this as "sawing on the mouth" - the bit is not hoicked from side to side, the head is flexed inwards and outwards, that's all.
C
Oh Caroline, I can see you have NOT seen Gigi's video riding Linda ^-^ . *he* lifts his hand ON A VERTICAL LINE ( never back< =>I stared at him when he rides) and he stays there until the horse yields. it can be pretty high. He is quite severe with his rein aids, that was what set Heather wild LOL.
But his release, feels and timing are impeccable.
For * me* well not as gifted as Gigi for timing, I would lift a bit a few centimers on a vertical line. How do I know it is vertical? B/C I hold my dressage whip vertical so my hand can only go up ;-) neat trick isn't it?
But Gigi would insist to use my weight by opening my shoulders w/o then to go pass my hips.
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