Natural Dressage Forum Trainer Questions

Discuss in General Chat here:
http://www.createforum.com/naturaldressage/viewtopic.php?p=5828

**check out this discussion for Ginger’s responses to forum members questions**

Question from Betty:

… You indicated that you might wish to answer some questions on our forum from time to time, and we would certainly like you to participate in answering questions as you have time! Since a lot of folks on our forum haven’t seen the DVD yet, I guess I’d like to start by asking you a question about “contact” since that’s what we’ve really been discussing lately. Here are a some quotes from your DVD:

“The way I was taught is to only have moments of contact with the rein. A slow steady squeeze on the rein, followed by release with the fingers allows the horse to feel free and released enough to complete the rider’s request.”

“As like all of the previous exercises, travers should be ridden with a long and light contact, taking care to give often with your inside rein”.

Can you elaborate on only having “moments of contact with the rein” , and your admonition to ride all exercises on a “long and light rein contact” . I know this is probably one of the most differentiating traits of the French system as opposed to the more Germanic systems of dressage training which recommend anywhere from a half pound to 1-2 pounds of consistent weight in the reins. The main reason cited for this is to be sure that the “connection” goes all the way back to the hind legs and that the “circle of aids” is complete. Can you explain how you achieve the “connection” to the HQ everyone desires and still maintain a light contact with the reins? Also, does your idea of contact change as the horse progresses toward greater development and collection?

Answer:

First I would like to thank you for inviting me to your forum and also thank Betty for her thoughtful questions. I could tell from her emails that she was a kind and serious student of the horse as well as someone who really wants to understand the complexity of this art.

I am sending along some photographs with this response which I hope will help some of you visualize these written descriptions.

First off I am assuming that the rider is sitting balanced on her (and all the he’s out there) horse. Her hands are down and still, right in front of the saddle. Her elbows are soft and by her side. She can feel her hip bones lightly tough the inside of her elbow and she is breathing deep and easily. Secondly I will assume that this rider is looking up and into the direction she is going. She has her horse forward mentally, something she developed from her ground work and has transferred this into the saddle. The forward impulsion has a regular cadence and her horse is at ease in this rhythm, not speeding up and slowing down on her own. Her horse is calm and forward, you could say she is in “self carriage” holding her own rhythm, there is no driving leg and no driving seat.

All of the above is critical to understanding my answer to this question about “contact”. Perhaps if people are interested we can use the above description as our next discussion!

This level of self carriage is actually the place I start my horses. They achieve this through a series of liberty exercises as well as work on the line. One of the most important aspects of the French Classical process is the degree of relaxation we strive for throughout all levels of training. So therefore calm first and then calm and forward. Why do we want our horses calm? Because calmness brings mental balance. It is very important to encourage mental balance because this allows the body to follow the mind and limits the physical restrictions which can develop when a horse gets stressed or confused. This kind of calm and forward riding is the undercoat of the painting, in order to ride from back to front…with the hind quarters loose, swinging and beginning to engage I critically need this calm forward motion. In other words I need free movement with rhythm. And I need this without holding my horse back with the reins. People always ask me how fast or how slow a rhythm. That always depends on a few factors. First how relaxed is my horse and secondly what rhythm helps her use her back best. More nervous horses will need to move a little slower to stay calm in order to use their body well. Horses that are not so nervous and tend to not move out on their own will need more energy coming from behind to help them come through their back more.

Let’s go back to the question. Now my horse is calm and forward, in self carriage with her rhythm. In order to help my horse “unite”, come together in her whole body, I must try to help her position her spine to receive the energy coming from the hindquarters up over her lumbar, thoracic and cervical spine all of which flows out through the top of her poll if there is no restriction in her jaw. This is also a defining French concept. Each horse has a unique spinal alignment and each horse has more or less restriction in her jaw. From the ground I work on exercises which release the top line though gentle requests of my reins. It is on the ground that you help your horse find these releases; here you work on finesse, feel and timing for release. You learn specifically how each side of your horse feels and you store that knowledge for when you are astride. Please take a moment and look at the first photograph. First I am checking to see if my horse will willing release to my inside rein. This is lateral flexion, and it comes from the second cervical vertebra. With this lateral flexion I prefer to be very subtle, I just want to see my horses’ inside eye and not flex the whole neck around. A subtle rotation of the second cervical vertebra will release the first cervical vertebra, this is where each horse can find a longitudinal release of her neck and back, allowing the whole top line to stretch longitudinally. Longitudinal means the length of the spine. It is a very similar feeling to “touching your toes” when you bend over and stretch your back. The TMJ will often release once you ask for lateral and longitudinal flexion, creating chewing, yawning and sometimes even an emotional release of a deep breath. . I am going into detail here because it is very important as regards my answer to this question about contact. I want my horses jaw supple! If energy is coming from the back to the front and it hits my horses’ jaw (which articulates between the first and second cervical vertebra) and there is resistance in her jaw, my “unity” is lost. This would send resistance spiraling back into the body and into my horses’ spine and now the connection I was hoping to unify through my horses’ topline is lost. The ability of my horse to move from the back to the front is lost.

I also use these same exercises from the ground when I am first introducing the bridle to a young horse. Once my young horse has carried the snaffle around and has eaten some meals with it in her mouth without any influence from me, I will start to initiate these exercises to teach my horses how to release to pressure and what this pressure means. Here I am just trying to educate my young horse before I use any pressure on the reins while under saddle. The first 10-15 rides are in a halter, the second 10-15 rides are with my halter and I also have my horse carry the snaffle without any influence from me. During this time I spend time at each riding session getting off and working on my “flexions” from the ground. This really prepares the young horse to my first requests with the snaffle under saddle. These first few rides are very, very short. The flexions from the ground take 5 minutes at the most.

Now I have my flexions and they are very light, my horse feels me pick up the weight of the rein and how it lifts the snaffle slightly into her curb groove. The curb groove is that area in the corner of each horses’ mouth where the snaffle rests. Some horses have a much more sensitive curb groove then others. But here again the relationship you have set up with your horse can definitely create equine curiosity towards any of your requests. I truly believe our relationship with our horse is the most influential training tool we have.

This is the feel I want my horses to have. “The weight of the rein” is my ideal pressure. As I progress my horse into further work, more collected work, this ideal pressure is still my goal.

My horse is calmly trotting forward with rhythm and relaxation. She understands the meaning of my reins when I pick them up, meaning when I take the weight of the rein and lift the snaffle. When she responds to my request of slight lateral flexion off my inside rein and my inside leg at the girth I then pick up the weight of my outside rein and ask her simply to stretch into this contact through her neck. Here I want her to reach for it but not pull on it. She will vertically flex through her poll slightly and also release her TMJ and will comfortably mobilize her jaw and slowly chew on the bit. This is the feel of contact we want in the French Classical ideal. The energy coming from behind is received by your hands and now you have “connection”. Ideally once this energy is received you slowly and slightly open your fingers around the reins and ask your horse to hold this balance on her own. You can feel this trot has some spring, some suspension. It is comfortable to sit because she is finding her balance and using her back.

One very important detail is the length of your reins. These must be the length of your horses’ neck. If your reins are too short you will receive the energy from the HQ and shorten the neck, breaking the neck in the wrong cervical area and stopping the flow of energy from fully flowing from back to front. What I mean by “receiving” this energy is what people often call “throughness”. Here comes the energy, take your time. Hands down, hands still. Close your fingers slowly around your reins to take up their weight. Don’t pull back. Have your reins at the right length so that this subtle contact can be felt by your horse. Now close your fingers and then open them slowly. It is like squeezing a sponge, but slowly. Your conversation with your horse goes like this; Closing your fingers around the inside rein = “Please release laterally to the inside slightly”. Opening your fingers on the inside rein = “thank you.” And this goes back and forth quietly and not rushed until your horse says, “wow, o.k., that is it, good”. And over time they just stay there in the position you have asked for not just because they are kind but MOST IMPORTANTLY because they feel good there.

The only reason you will ever use your inside rein is to ask your horse to flex slightly to the inside. Pulling on your inside rein to turn your horse, to ride shoulder-in, etc… is not helpful from a biomechanical standpoint and throws your horse off balance very quickly. Your outside rein should be the rein receiving the energy from behind. The same slow closing of the fingers and releasing the fingers receives this energy. This is not a static feeling. The horse is moving and at each stride she sends energy through her body. Over time less and less contact with your hand creates a steady flow of energy and your horse begins to fall into a dream of rhythm and balance. You feel their minds are completely with you in this dream and this begins the oneness that everyone talks about.

In dressage competition judges like to see the connection more firm then the one I am speaking of. I believe that you can also compete well and have a classical “frame” with these methods I just described. I think competition is great, as long as the horse is not sacrificed in the pursuit. Personally I like a loose rein with my horse holding their own balance because it feels good to them and I love to give them that option.

In the photographs of some of my students and myself you will see that most of these horses need to have the height of their poll about the same height of their wither in order for the flow of energy to flow through the horses back. Arabs, Saddlebreds, and many other breeds hold a lot of tension in their backs. To force them into a higher, more artificial frame early on in their training is damaging to the health of their backs. Once these horses release their backs, bring their hind legs underneath without having to race off forward, they will begin to strengthen their backs in relaxation, meaning without tension. This kind of muscle development is what dancers strive for. Elastic and strong, not just strong. This new strength and engagement will raise the back, lift the neck and head and rebalance the horse off the forehand naturally and without force.

I hope any or some of this helps a few of you understand the French style of riding a little bit better. It is a system based on feel and so sometimes very hard to write about. If there are questions in regards to this discussion perhaps they can be sent to me and I will try to reply as soon as I can. Thank you all again.

With happiness, balance and delight,

Ginger

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