| Darrel's Dialog
I’m the lucky guy who gets to ride Ideal and his
offspring, bred and raised at the Ultimate Piaffe. Recently, Victor, my
father in-law, built a website for me that connects to the Ideal’s home
page. So, he said, “get your ass in gear and write something about your
take on training horse’s and rider’s.” Here goes, forgive me if I ramble a bit getting
started. A couple of years ago a client from out of state
dragged her husband along to come look at some of Ideal’s offspring at
our farm. Being the supportive husband, he tried to be interested but it
was pretty clear horses were not his passion. So, while Carol and Michelle
talked horses with her I hung back with him and soon learned he was a
professional musician. To which I said, I used to play some (several years
ago I sold most of my equipment but kept two of my guitars for sentimental
reasons). Well, go get them, he said. There in storage, I said, haven’t
seen them in years. So, we spent the afternoon talking guitar while his
wife bought a horse, it was a good day. Three days later, a package came
in the mail. Inside were a set of nylon strings for my classical and a set
of steel strings for my Ovation. It really meant a lot to me. That night I
dug them out. It was like seeing old friends and getting reacquainted. I
promise there’s a point coming that gets back to horses, just indulge me
a few more lines. For all the money my parents spent in classical
lessons and even after studying jazz my first year of college there were
still big holes in my understanding of the guitar’s fret board. Either I
was an idiot, or had the bad luck of going through one hell of a long line
of sh--ty instructors. In any case, one day I just quit. Twenty-five years later I discovered I wasn’t an
idiot. I learned, what’s idiotic is corrupting the guitar by using the
piano as the system by which to understand it. The notes on a piano are
laid out in a straight line while the guitar’s fret board is a matrix.
Once I learned the proper system for getting inside the matrix, the pieces
began falling into place. The point being, learning the “art”
of dressage can easily seem very much like looking at an elephant through
a microscope. Years and thousands of dollars later to many students are
still at the lower levels, missing the very basic fundamentals. It’s
sad, not just for the riders, but to often more so for the horses. It
doesn’t help watching talented, “natural riders” make it look so
easy and even worse, all to often someone naturally gifted is the absolute
worst when it comes to explanation. I was much more fortunate from the beginning with
horses then with the guitar. You might say I married very well, Michelle,
my wife and trainer studied under Major Anders Lindgren. Add two extremely
supportive in-laws, one of the best breeding programs around by
international standards and some “natural” ability of my own, and I
really am one of the most fortunate people. Though, I still work my arse
off for every bit of it. Anyway. The good news is there’s really a very simple
system for learning dressage. Which, as far as I’ve been able to tell is
the best and only fair way to train a horse. What can be confusing is,
it’s been bastardized, twisted and bent a thousand different ways,
packaged and sold as if it were a new discovery for a hell of a lot longer
then I’ve been around. Though the levels are carefully laid out and
choreographed with the training system in mind the system itself is to
often discussed or taught in pieces, out of order or context. So, here it
is, “The six principals of dressage.”
The trick is, knowing how to physically define them
and understanding their order. The principals, managed in their correct
order, are the passage to truly enjoying the process of training a horse.
Dressage tests stop being stressful patterns to memorize and start
becoming part of the process and really making sense. Inside the process,
reaching new levels of understanding take on new meaning. Instead of
getting to second or third or the upper levels, seeing each level through
the process, the desire becomes ever increasing your understanding of the
six elements and riding each level ever more clearly. Major Anders
Lindgren would say, “every horse has something new to teach you.” He
wasn’t just blowing air. One more thought. Defining and understanding the
order of the principal’s gains you not only confidence but perspective.
There will always be set backs in horses and life and in the end I don’t
believe we’ll be judged on how well we could ride a horse or a dressage
test. One of the best things to happen to my riding career was an accident
that nearly ended it. Physically, I had to start all over again, even how
to post. I was more of “natural rider” before and it was frightening
at first to be sure, it took two years for me to really even begin coming
back. However, I am technically a far better rider now then I was before
the accident and so much more consistent. The accident turned out to be a
blessing. Besides riding, I learned some things about myself and the
people that love me that I might otherwise would have missed. There were
some funny pretty parts as well (then again I still get grief from the
family for laughing a couple of times during “Shindler’s List”), but
I’ll save that stuff for the book. The point I’m trying to make here
is in keeping to the principals the process was not so much starting all
over as it was gaining new insight, deeper understanding and recognition
of what I’d skipped or taken out of order the first time around. So,
even given the circumstances at the time I was still able to tell myself I
was moving ahead, rather then just struggling to get something back. Most
important was that I gained some very useful visual tools from the
rider’s perspective that helped me get even better balanced and
symmetrical then before. A far less traumatic example happened last year. I
spent thousands of dollars on a new saddle. The first that ever really fit
me so I wasn’t fighting my tack by trying to hold my position and could
put all my focus on the horse underneath me. However, the damn thing
wouldn’t stop slipping up on the horse’s shoulders. My horse was
unhappy and I was falling back on my thighs five minutes into a ride. We
tried every non-slip pad on the market. All season the rep was readjusting
it. Not until after we had to scratch the championships was it discovered
the problem was a faulty gullet plate. In the end, I learned more then I
ever thought I’d want to know about saddles and now I have a saddle that
not only works for myself and the specific horse it was fitted for but the
rest of the horses I ride (there are ten of them at this time) are all
happy with it as well. So, am I hung up on last year or happy with where I
am? Briefly, here is my take on the six principals: Rhythm comes first because all the rest happens
within the rhythm of the horse’s back. I physically define “rhythm”
in two parts; they are the tempo and compression of the saddle, or horses
back. In order to access both the tempo and compression the rider’s
position in the saddle must be such that he/she rides from the front of
the thigh and not the back of the thigh. Suppleness is second because without the proper
balance (the horse’s weight on the inside hind leg) the horse simply
cannot physically go forward from the hind end to the contact. For me the
bend, or shortening of the muscles on the inside begins at the horse’s
inside hind leg. I get their from a slightly forward position of my inside
hip or what Chell originally taught me to be the inside pocket of the
saddle. Contact happens as a result of the rhythm (tempo and
compression) and Suppleness (balance of the horse’s weight on the inside
hind leg). The rider has to physically understand how to create and
maintain contact in the reins by managing the rhythm and balance from the
horse’s hind - quarters and over their top line. Anything else is riding
from the front end backward. It’s not supple, it’s the horse leaning
on the inside aids. It won’t work, not really, at best you’ll create
what we call a silhouette (that is the horse’s head vertical to the
ground but backed off and not moving over the back aka. Swinging over the
top line, going round, thru, etc.). I guarantee it will come back to bite
you on the ass later on. Suppleness does not start in the bit, the pole or
the neck. In my experience those techniques are important and work
harmoniously only when the horse is first properly balanced on the hind
end, working over the back and reaching to the contact. These first three elements open the door to
“impulsion.” Think of impulsion a little bit like hopping across a
stream from stone to stone. Part of maintaining your balance and not
getting wet is the forward momentum. On a horse you cannot direct the
swing of the horse’s outside leg (which comes next) if you don’t have
the weight on the inside hind and enough forward impulsion. That impulsion
comes from the rhythm (tempo and compression) and proper balance. Then if
needed the leg can quietly come on to say, get up there. The fifth element is straightness. Once you have the
rhythm (tempo and compression); the suppleness (horse’s weight back on
the inside hind leg); the horse going or reaching to the contact, then you
can begin actually directing the swing of the outside hind leg. I can’t
emphasize enough the importance of maintaining the inside pocket and
weight on the horse’s inside hind leg. If the rider leans back sitting
on the back of their thighs; rotates their hips to the inside (especially
in circles or corners); allows their weight to fall to the outside of the
saddle or they pinch with the inside thigh and twist to the outside, the
horse’s weight will shift to the outside hind leg. When this happens the
hindquarters fall in and the outside shoulder slips out. In other words
the horse is not on one track and the swing of the outside hind leg is
going away from the track. On a circle the rider feels as though they are
pointed away from the circle or after a corner the horse’s outside
shoulder falls toward the outside of the track and the hind – quarters
swings to the inside. This loss of balance is what causes the horse to
hollow his back and lift his head up. It’s really no different from the
way we walk. If we’re going to turn left our weight goes to the left
foot so our right leg can swing, stride, whatever in the direction we want
to go. It’s no different for a horse. Collection is when the compression is greater then
the length of stride or ground cover. The rhythm does not change because
although the compression becomes deeper or longer at the low end the
stride covers less ground. It is the same contact and lift over the back
as when stretching the horse in a long and low frame, just the other end
of the spectrum. That’s enough of horses for today. I’m going to
the studio now to spend some time with my guitar. Good Riding, D. PS: If you have any comments, I'd be glad to
hear them. Let me know if it's OK to share your input with others on this
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