06/08/2021
Training horses and their riders is not without difficulty.
Many riders do not do as the trainer has asked; to send the horse forward.
Fear is often the driving factor and once the horse understands, he would learn to “go” from the leg, and any underlying contractions would finally disappear.
But riding not only takes knowledge, it also takes a little courage.
Instead of learning the lesson after numerous teachers trying to teach this lesson, the rider instead of having a little courage, goes to yet another teacher hoping for some miracle.
They never learn to think for themselves and what actions they are continually doing or not doing perpetuating further failures.
"Millions of people never analyze themselves. Mentally they are products of the factory of their environment. They don’t know what or why they are seeking, nor why they never realise lasting satisfaction.
By evading self analysis, people go on like robots, conditioned by their environment.
True self analysis is the greatest art of progress."
(Paramahansa Yogananda)
It is difficult to really look at oneself and it is easier just to blame 'another'.
The idea of forward is a classical teaching as taught by what I regard as the basis of classical horsemanship; the great French Masters de la Gueriniere, Baucher, Beudant and of course the late Portuguese Master Nuno Oliveira, who at the end of his life gave his heart and soul back to the teachings of the famous Baucher.
Francois Baucher, a Frenchman who was not part of the elite (even in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries elitism was a driving factor to those who felt image was above substance)
Despite this Baucher would again and again demonstrate his training in horses no one else could train, for that he was either revered, or maligned. Sad for such a dedicated horseman who tried to demonstrate that his method of training could work on “any" horse.
Training forward should be the feeling as Alexis Hotte described once as the shooting of the pip of an orange seed pressed between two fingers. It should be immediate.
This eventually becomes “psychological” for the horse, as each time he feels the slightest pressure from the leg of the rider he immediately goes forward. No question.
It is of course initially ‘trained’ with the lesson of the leg by the language of the aids, which is how we speak to our horse. It is not by using more leg, as many teachers seem to attest, but educating the horse as to the understanding of the rider's leg. (There is no point other than to make the horse numb to the continuing application of the leg which the horse has never been taught to understand!)
But we do not keep him going forward initially, so as to tire the horse, but come back to a slower pace and reify the lesson of the leg. So as to cement the understanding. And we give plenty of praise. Balance is the fundamental key.
As Nuno said if the horse is already on the shoulders, we do not ask him to keep going forward as now he not only is on his shoulders but all his propelling weight is too.
(It is no wonder so many horses have pain due to overloaded joints - they are never balanced on all four legs)
We introduce all lessons incrementally, from the simplest to the more difficult so that it is clear.
We always have recourse to the simpler teachings if there are contractions as we progress. We work on the weaknesses.
(That is not to say we do not send the horse forward immediately if he becomes 'stuck', but that we develop the feel and confidence to do that when it is required)
As in any good training the lessons must be of short duration and the slightest giving of the horse needs to be rewarded.
One must understand however that before we can have the horse go forward, he must learn balance and forward added incrementally. Then the rider can be assured he has a horse who is light to the hand and light to the leg. That he is in balance.
Too many riders think the French traditional school is all about flexions at the halt and there is no real forward.
That is of course totally incorrect, but the horse needs to understand balance first. Therein is the major difference between the German and French teachings. Riding in the French Tradition is simply “balance before movement”, not the other way round.
This takes a great deal of time and dedication. One must believe as well as it is this also, during the sometimes difficult road in training horses that keeps one true to the path. Equestrian tact does not come without a rider who can give deep thought to his training and his horses responses.
This is of course difficult to understand as it is rarely taught to the majority of riders ingrained in the competition arena.
Lightness does not come from laziness, it comes from activity, but the horse is trained in parts so that there is no confusion.
It takes longer, but it is a superior level of understanding for both the horse and the horseman.
