BALANCE IN MOVEMENT
To my mother,
who guided my eyes
in the right direction.
How to achieve the perfect seat
SUSANNE VON DIETZE
Translated by Carol Hogg
J.A. Allen
The time spent reading this book has been worth every moment. It contains so much material that has never been written about before and in areas that will help many people to ride, train and teach very much better.
The depth of detail means that to read Balance in Movement may take more concentration and time than horse people are normally willing to give up away from stables, fences and arenas. If they do, however, it is likely that they will find that many of the obstacles that lay in the way of them or their pupils acquiring a balanced secure seat can be removed.
One has wondered what lay behind the switch towards so much more sympathetic and harmonic riding in Germany in recent years. Knowledge as to how to achieve this way of riding, as contained in this book, must be one of them. Jane Kidd
First edition published in Germany by FNverlag Reiterlichen Vereinigung GmbH, 1993
First edition published in Great Britain by J. A. Allen, 1999
Second edition © 2003 FNverlag der Deutschen Reiterlichen Vereinigung GmbH, Warendorf
(ISBN 3-88542-387-1)
by: Susanne von Dietze
Containing illustrations by: Jeanne Kloepfer; photos: Thoms Lehmann
English translation ©J. A. Allen, 2005
Published in Great Britain in 2005 by
J. A. Allen
Clerkenwell House
Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
J. A. Allen is an imprint of Robert Hale Limited
Reprinted 2010
The right of Susanne von Dietze to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Translated by Carol Hogg Edited by Jane Lake
'Anyone who would like to ride better has to get to know and understand their own body before they can control it. Here lies the hidden key to the secret of a rider's feel.'
These words of the author convey the intent of this book.
The secret of the good seat is to be found in the combination of seat and influence. The aim is the harmonious exterior form in conjunction with sensitive, barely visible communication between rider and horse. The skilful, finely tuned and – as far as possible – effortless communication between rider and horse are summarized under the term 'the feel of the rider'. It is the climax of all equestrian skills.
The term 'feel' incorrectly refers to an area which seems inaccessible to us. Over recent years, however, science has proven that the connection between sensory perception and feeling can indeed be learned and developed. In riding the body perception, the total sum of all the body's receptors for joint positions and movements, muscle tension and balance, is obviously particularly significant. In this way the rider receives direct information about the movements of his own body – and via these, also about those of his horse. The feel of the rider, therefore, is not a gift which a rider possesses naturally, rather it is developed gradually through fine perceptions and correspondingly sensitive reactions. Trainers who are able to judge the required degree of sensitivity for rider and horse with fine accuracy will be particularly successful with their two-legged as well as fourlegged students.
In this book Susanne von Dietze explores the 'classical seat' of the rider and the whole system of application of the aids with the trained eye of a physiotherapist, dressage rider and trainer.
The process she imparts to the reader is a surprising, perhaps even astonishing insight of how ingeniously tailored the prescribed requirements of the traditional riding system are with regard to the seat of the rider and the influence on the human body.
The author never yields to the temptation of assuming a static and externally idealistic form. She understands the interplay of the horse's back and the rider's weight at any given moment as balanced movement. And she accepts every human body in its own specific individuality. She appeals strongly, however, for improved knowledge of the body, its perception and control. Sensitivity must be developed in order for the rider's feel to be able to manifest itself, quite independent of the respective level of equestrian skill.
Since its first appearance as a supplement to the Richtlinien fur Reiten und Fahren (Guidelines for Riding and Driving), volumes 1 and 2, as well as of Sportlehre: Lernen, Lehren und Trainieren im Pferdesport (Sports Instruction: Learning, Teaching and Training in Equestrian Sport), Balance in Movement has become firmly established as a classic. This completely revised new edition presents the further expanded wealth of knowledge of the author who, in addition to the anatomical analysis of the rider's seat, also has a vast number of practical tips and exercises for the improvement of everyone's riding at any level and with different aims. Balance in Movement should become obligatory reading for instructors as well as advanced riders.
Christoph Hess
Head of Training
Sports Division – Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung e.V.
Contents
And anyone who wants to learn to ride better can only benefit by reading, understanding, getting to know and experience their own body, making full use of their strengths and working on their weaknesses.
Of course, there are already many books about riding – and it is most certainly not my intention to 're-invent' the subject. On the contrary – in some old, dusty books there is much wisdom to be found which has lost nothing whatsoever of its truth and relevance today. The fundamental problem here is, however, that the high ideals of good riding seem to have very little in common with one's own practical experiences in the saddle.
Thus one of the principal aims of this book is to instil life into strict, grey theory and to present it in as practically-orientated a way as possible. At the same time I am fully aware that a book alone is perhaps the most difficult medium through which to approach the concept of riding: a book is rigid theory whereas riding is all about movement and dynamics.
Naturally everything has to be practised in real terms on a horse. Despite the fact that when listening to comments being made amongst spectators around the arena, you could easily get the feeling that there is the place where all riding expertise is concentrated, it is nevertheless clearly evident that no wisdom acquired through reading can replace your own practical riding experience. Learning to ride is a life-long task.
Nowadays performance is often measured in terms of time, the principal aim being maximum achievement within a short period of time. When learning to ride, however, shortcuts do not exist. Anyone who misses out any of the modules will find themselves regretting it sooner or later. This is why very good riders are always prepared to go back to the groundwork and make further improvements there.
The more intensely you concern yourself with a subject, the more you begin to cast doubt on what you already know. 'To believe you know something which you do not really know is a fatal mistake towards which we all tend. We riders even more than other people!'
This self-critical statement by Udo Bürger hits the nail on the head. Anyone who is not always prepared to go back to the beginning and learn something new here will become lost in a shroud of pseudo-knowledge and not make any progress at all.
The balance that is required to sit on a horse is unthinkable without movement. Just imagine a cyclist trying to maintain his balance in slow motion in front of a red traffic light. As soon as he comes to a stop he must put a foot down to save his equilibrium. Balance is possible only when in motion.
Movement, especially the harmony of movement, and indeed also the beauty of it, began to fascinate me at a very early stage in my life. I recognized people from afar by their typical body movements, not by their faces. In my own riding practice, the harmonious movement of horse and rider was a more important goal than success at competitions. Subsequently, my profession taught me to analyse and understand movement because a physiotherapist is also a kinetotherapist.
Soon I realized how difficult ordinary daily movements are to execute when one muscle or one joint does not work properly. It is the task of a physiotherapist to teach a patient efficient movements appropriate to the particular individual. Many of these movements happen instinctively and subconsciously. It is a difficult challenge to learn such behavioural movement. Physiotherapy always orientates itself according to the healthy movement. This is natural, functional and easy on the body. During my training and professional experience my eye was continually trained for all kinds of movement. Thus I learned to understand riding as a movement as well, and I became interested as to how this movement works and how it can be learned.
I learned to ride under very favourable circumstances. I grew up in a family of riders with a small private breeding programme. I sat on a horse even before I learned how to walk. I was in an advantageous position with regard to problems which often occur in the development of a young rider: I learned how to ride early enough, had good and diversified horse material, and was in exceptionally good hands, technically as well as pedagogically. Indeed, I could have become a very successful Young Rider. However, at the onset of puberty, I grew extremely tall and soon reached my considerable adult height of 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in). This caused a major setback in my riding. Horses that went on the bit for me as a matter of course, suddenly turned into giraffes; I lost my natural feel on horseback, became frightened quickly and therefore often landed in the dirt. I owe it to the patience of my parents and some very special horses and ponies that I stuck to riding in spite of all this.
My mother always stressed the importance of the correct seat in my equestrian training. So, little by little – and in spite of my long, dangling arms and lanky legs, I began to regain my previous calmness on the back of a horse. Nevertheless fine coordination and the consequent effective influence on the horse remained a problem for a long time.
In the course of my training as a physiotherapist my riding made astonishing progress. Parallel to my improved understanding of human anatomy, I learned to understand my own body better. This enabled me to work on the weaknesses of my movements and body position, to control them and thus ride better. With great fascination, I realized that the basics of physiotherapy are transferable to the seat of the rider. I completed an additional course in hippotherapy, the treatment of patients on horseback. In this therapy the movement of the horse is utilized to develop natural and healthy movement.
After finishing my training as an amateur riding instructor, my riding career took me to a dressage yard and subsequently to a jumping yard as a trainer. The active exchange of ideas amongst professional and amateur trainers, as well as my own development, made it clear how little is being taught about the problem of learning how to ride – and simply for the reason that so little is known about it.
Quite generally, a huge discrepancy exists between the training of a horse and that of a rider. As far as the horse is concerned, there is widespread agreement. The basic training steps are stipulated in the training scale. Plenty of concepts exist about how to build up the muscular system of a horse or how to correct wrong sequences of movement.
As far as the rider is concerned, however, we tend to orientate ourselves solely according to the rigid ideal of the absolute expert. When we take this as a standard by which to measure ourselves, any deviations are registered automatically as mistakes. A generally binding, step-by-step guideline does not exist. Even the 'experts' argue whether to teach riding starting off with or without stirrups, rising trot or sitting trot, 'head up' or 'heels down'.
Since it was extremely difficult for me to make the choice between my two professions, I eventually found a way of practising them both: half the day I worked in a physiotherapy clinic with emphasis on the 'spine' and the remainder I spent working in a riding club. There I taught beginners, both children and adults, treated hippotherapy patients and devoted myself increasingly to the development of the seat for advanced riders.
In this way I managed to create a link between my two apparently disconnected professional fields and can now happily declare: it is a link that holds!
On the basis of such practical experience, the idea emerged to present this knowledge in a book. Time and time again, other riders and trainers confirm to me that my knowledge relating to the analysis of movement is of fundamental importance for the rider and his seat.
To understand why and how something feels; why something is easy for one person and practically impossible for another; to recognize the next learning steps to be undertaken and to feel success from the horse, these are all aspects I wanted to present in black and white terms on paper.
After a good two years' work, the first edition of Balance in Movement was ready. At that time I had absolutely no idea what an effect the book was going to have on my life. Lectures, clinics and seminars followed. The manuscript was translated into English and a supplementary video with practical exercises was produced. International clinics followed, and meanwhile I live in Israel and work on a self-employed basis in physiotherapy as well as equestrian sport.
Riders with very different levels of training have written letters to me since reading the book. For all of them it presented the basis from which they have been able to acquire new knowledge for their riding.
Riding students at very different levels of training came to lessons with their individual questions and problems, and over the last few years I have acquired so much new knowledge about the seat of the rider that I considered it very worthwhile to completely revise this book, to preserve everything which has proved to be valuable and to add new information.
Balance in Movement has become established as standard reading for riders: a fundamentally important publication which can be understood and used by riders of every discipline and every level of training.
For this new edition I therefore decided to work with riders who were at different levels of training as well as horses schooled to different levels.
Susanne von Dietze and Isabelle von Neumann-Cosel during photo sessions
International Academy for Equestrian Studies in Warendorf, from left to right: Marcel Neukirch, Stephan Kiesewetter, Tanya Boyd, Judy PeelStephan Kiesewetter, Tanya Boyd, Judy Peel
I should like to express my very special thanks to these riders who agreed to be photographed knowing that not only their abilities but also their faults would be demonstrated, which is not something everyone is automatically prepared to do.
I am very grateful to the International Academy for Equestrian Studies in Warendorf for their support with qualified knowledge, ability and, of course, the necessary humour.
A photo is always a single excerpt from an entire unit of movement. Perfect moments are rare; nevertheless a photo can show where there are weaknesses or strengths in the movement. A main criterion in the selection of the pictures was to indicate how a rider uses his strengths individually in order to work better at his weaker points.
Absolutely astounding how the world can look if you put it ‘on its head’
The reliable, critical and competent involvement of my cousin Isabelle von Neumann-Cosel was an indispensable help.
Jeanne Kloepfer has illustrated this book with her special drawings, and she has managed to reproduce my text in pictures. May all readers now succeed in converting our words and pictures into deeds!
Looking at well-known facts from a different perspective often helps us to acquire a new kind of understanding. I once brought a very special world map back from an extensive horse-related trip to Australia. From our point of view, it is upside down, with Australia located right in the middle. It is astounding how completely different the whole world can look when viewed from a different angle, although the geography in itself has not been distorted in any way.
It is equally astounding how some centres of gravity will shift, when one has the courage to put things upside down. I found an abundance of old as well as new 'aha' experiences when I looked at the classical way of riding, which I had learned from a very early age, through the eyes of a physiotherapist. It was only as a result of this that some facts started to become really clear to me.
Riding is a holistic and complex sport, which remains natural in all necessary movements. No unnatural contortions are required. A healthy, normal way of moving is the best prerequisite for learning how to ride well. Conversely it also applies that good riding helps to train healthy and natural movement. This is important knowledge in today's world where people have become much more sedentary and deficiencies in the way we move are a common occurrence.
I do not want to write about a new system of riding in this book. On the contrary – the established system of riding is examined from a different view-point. Therefore digressions into the development of movement and human anatomy are to follow. Anyone who wants to become a better rider needs to know and understand their own body before being able to control it. Here lies the hidden key to the secret of a rider's 'feel'.
No book can replace good training by a good instructor. Good training does not free riders of the obligation to self-train their own physical sensitivity and to try for better control over their own body. On the contrary: this is where the intentions of modern equestrianism merge with the aim of this book. ▄
Welcome to riding from other angles!
‘Life is movement!’ In today’s rather sedentary society, it is very important to keep reminding ourselves of this wise remark made by a well-known therapist, and then to understand how we define movement, how it is created, how it is learned and applied.
The way we move is totally individual. Every human being moves differently, has his or her very own typical movements which depend on build and constitution as well as the entire personality of the individual in question. Movement is controlled by the human brain. Patterns of movement – such as walking, standing, sitting and jumping – can be stored in the brain and then be made automatically available whenever required. Whilst a baby is still in its mother’s womb, cells mature in its brain, which continue to divide and multiply until the moment of birth. At this point the cell division terminates and the process of learning begins. Single cells are connected by means of synapsis and an impressive network of pathways and conduits ensues.
Such networks contain the individual reserve of movement patterns. When a child enters puberty a hormone is released which makes it impossible for the interlinking of individual cells to continue. In other words, it is no longer possible to construct new pathways. This is why childhood is of such enormous significance for all areas of our life. In order to convey a clearer idea of this process, I like to compare the brain with a street map.
A town plan in the head
At the moment of birth, many single houses exist in the brain, and road construction is about to begin. A whole network of communications develops. When going from A to B, for example, one immediately builds a direct road in the process, which is then always used for this particular connection. This is how children spontaneously learn complex movement patterns. The adult, by contrast, first of all has to search in the town in his head to see if a direct road from A to B exists and if not, perhaps he can get to B via C.
Consequently an adult compiles a new movement from components which are already available and resorts to movements with which he is already familiar. He is no longer able to build new roads in his town. Therefore he is dependent on how well developed his mental traffic network is and also his degree of familiarity with the individual area because, if the direct route is not recognizable, an unnecessary detour becomes the logical consequence. This image also explains why an adult has perhaps already carried out some movement in the past, but is seemingly incapable of repeating it a second time. A route which has been discovered by means of deviations has to be carefully cut and paved in order to be able to react automatically at the junctions on a later occasion. This is why an adult has to practise new movement patterns and repeat them frequently.
Transmissions between the brain’s different nerve connections are incredibly fast. Thus even a deviation hardly needs to involve any loss in time. Nevertheless it is an established fact that the majority of participants in top-level sport learned their discipline in early childhood, and the few top-ranking athletes who started later in life had been able to enjoy a lot of different movement experiences during their childhood.
Roads in the brain that are not made use of become defective, buried and in need of repair. The less use an adult makes of his manifold movement possibilities, the more will be lost, covered up, forgotten. The consequence of this is bad posture and a lack of balance in the entire movement system – a serious problem of our civilized society. Clearing these debris-ridden pathways and reviving our knowledge of them is a time and energy consuming process.
Please, do not close the book now and regard yourself as a hopeless case if you did not start riding in early childhood. Riding, in particular, is a sport based on a multitude of familiar movement patterns. Thus in therapeutic riding the walk of the horse is so valuable because the horse’s back transfers the normal walking pattern directly to the rider’s body. Riding has much in common with walking. The movements and required reactions in the trunk are often nearly identical. This is one of the reasons for the significant health benefits of riding. And even latecomers to the sport have a pretty good chance of becoming good riders!
Movement is the expression of the entire personality of an individual. The ‘inner’ person has a very decisive influence on the quality of the movement. When feeling good, everyone’s posture and movement are very different from those when they are feeling mentally low; erect posture, a straight and free walk is always a sign of inner security and mental balance. A person who has lost interest not only slumps physically with their head between the shoulders but hides their entire personality from the world around.
Fear, stress, monotony, chaos, excess demands on strength and coordination are all enemies of the ability to learn a movement. Fear blocks the movement processes. Anyone who is afraid switches to protective reflexes like clamming, raising their hands, bending the trunk (in extreme cases even going into the foetal crouch position). Stress, on the other hand, creates a state whereby a person can only react automatically. The ability to assess the situation on hand with accuracy and sensitivity is no longer possible.
Thus anyone riding under stress can no longer react to the specific demands of the moment and is most certainly not in a position to experiment with new movement experiences. A stressed rider, for example, will always execute a halt according to a firmly established pattern, instead of being able to apply the aids sensitively with the strength and timing required by the specific situation.
Monotony, rigid routine, stubborn repetition, sheer boredom ultimately makes progress impossible, because it is intricately linked to our desire for new experiences. The glaring contrast to this – which is equally unproductive – is chaos which ensues as a result of the accumulation of a wide variety of quite different demands, creating a situation in which it becomes impossible to distinguish between newness and familiarity.
| Maxim |
|
When new elements are added, it is essential for the remaining fundamental preconditions to remain constant. When starting to ride a new horse, you execute lessons with which you are familiar first of all.
A new movement, however, is learned in small steps with a gradually increasing degree of difficulty: for example, the halt is executed initially within a particular section on the long side, then at a clearly defined point on the track, and finally, without contact between the rider’s hands and horse’s mouth, at X.
Excess demands on strength and coordination usually result from incorrectly set goals. And indeed very often such goals are not set by the instructor, but by the student himself. Based on the model of how movement develops during childhood, it is possible to identify three clear principles for learning movement.
| Maxim |
|
The trunk develops before the extremities because it is the trunk which needs to provide stability for the extremities. At first the infant learns to support himself on the shoulder, then on the elbows, then on the hands and, once he is confident with these movements, he begins to grasp with his fingers. Specific movements of the extremities only become possible once the trunk is stable. The command of one’s own body develops from the trunk to the extremities or, expressed more generally: from the inside to the outside.
Initially movements are larger and are executed with more effort than necessary. Gradually they are then optimized and subsequently applied economically with the least possible effort: from the raw form to the fine form.
It is possible to move in a new position before having developed the necessary coordination to hold this position in a still stance. An infant will at first stagger and waver on all fours before being able to balance properly in this position; he also learns to walk before being able to stand still: through movement to posture.
Anyone who would like to learn to ride is also subjected to these principles. At first the trunk has to become stable before control of the extremities can be considered at all. To ask for quiet hands and heels down in the first lesson would be utter nonsense: from the inside to the outside! A person wishing to start work on the fine form immediately will fail to achieve their goal because it is much too far away. At first one has to be content with the raw form and then start working on the individual details and improving the finer points: from the raw form to the fine form. The fine balance, the seemingly quiet seat, is achieved initially through increased movement. The typical unstable seat of the beginner is by no means incorrect – rather it is the first step towards finding balance in movement: through movement to posture.
The precise mental conception of a movement can be helpful in this context. Watching good riders is an excellent way of training one’s own inner image of a movement. A child can spontaneously copy a new movement just by watching it done. After watching another child doing the rising trot, many children can then do it themselves without needing any individual steps to be shown or additionally explained. An adult, by contrast, requires an image of the movement as well as an explanation. Adults learn much more consciously and have to think about things a lot more carefully. They require many more details, explanations and learning steps; each new movement has to be structured and compiled carefully. This is why the image of the final and correct movement is so important in order to be able to sort and compose the pieces of the puzzle properly.
A typical example is a beginner who is allowed off the lunge for the first time in order to cool down the horse. An adult will immediately ask: ‘How do I get the horse to move, what do I have to do, how do I guide the horse…?’ When then given a technical description, this is bound to fail because it cannot possibly be adapted appropriately to the horse – frustration, therefore, is inevitable. The student’s best chance of success would be to try to accept the unfamiliar situation, to apply all his senses in feeling his way into it and try to have confidence in the horse’s movement. This, though, is the domain of children; they regard the school horse as a friend and trust it accordingly – which means they are also much more open to learn from the horse. So my wish for many riders is that they may maintain certain elements of childhood, and eliminate too much technical thinking so that they may be more spontaneously open to new experiences.
Learning a movement, therefore, is not an exclusively practical experience; the head also plays a significant role. In sport this process is defined and also used as mental training. Mental training consists of a systematic, repeated and conscious imagining of the execution of a movement procedure with optimum inner feedback of the sequences and the result. There is an enormous amount of information concealed within this definition. A movement is thought through in intricately precise terms and then visualized repeatedly in the mind. During this process the movement is optimized and a positive attitude towards it is developed. The sequence and the success of the movement and with it the significance and purpose become clear. Once a rider has understood the necessity of sitting upright, he will make more of an effort to adopt and maintain this position. Mental preparation is extremely important, particularly in high-level competitive sport, because we are well aware of how quickly a rider can completely block as a result of stress, fear or pressure to perform – imposed either by himself or by others – and is thus not able to do justice to his true ability! In this context mental training provides invaluable assistance.
There are few areas which involve so much uncertainty, so many different opinions, as that in connection with the question of what consecutive steps are required in order to learn to ride. What should be learned first, what second? To what points should we pay attention? Should a beginner start out with or without stirrups, first in the forward seat or the dressage seat? There are surely many different answers to questions like these. Different individual opinions quite regularly become evident in the placings given by judges of leading-rein competitions and other young-rider tests.
Nevertheless, quite regardless of the degree of importance accorded to problems of detail, in order to do justice to a student it is absolutely vital not to regard him as a composition of faults (head wobbles, legs incorrectly positioned, hands turned incorrectly, etc.), but rather as a person in the process of learning who can already do some things but still has to master others.
In order for a lesson to be successful, the instructor has to recognize what the student has to learn next. In most other forms of sport the learning scheme is theoretically classified into precise and systematically arranged steps. Riding, as a very complex sport, involves special difficulties with regard to learning. Success depends not only on the rider but also on the general environment and, most particularly, on the horse. The process of learning to ride cannot be forced into a general pattern. Questions, frequently asked by parents or adult beginners, such as: ‘How many hours will be necessary on the lunge before being able to ride independently?’ or ‘How many lessons are required in order to be able to ride?’ are impossible to answer on a general basis.
A riding school is not like a (car) driving school, where a minimum number of lessons is mandatory for the rider’s licence, and where students try to outdo each other as to who requires the fewest lessons. Circumstances and the horse play an important role here. Riding off the lunge at an early stage is not necessarily an advantage. Often students who have spent more time on the lunge working on their seat make greater progress later on because they are not confronted by so many different demands at once. After all, an institution like the celebrated Spanish Riding School, whose riders are famous for the perfection of their seat, must have its reasons for demanding months of basic training exclusively on the lunge.
Seat training on the lunge
On the other hand, riding off the lunge is of considerable psychological value because of the motivation involved. Weighing one up against the other is the demanding task of the instructor. Riding cannot be learned according to a rigid pattern. Nevertheless, certain criteria exist which indicate what should be learned first and what can be added to this foundation subsequently. These criteria are modules of learning to ride and, along this seemingly endless journey, a rider will be in frequent contact with these modules and have to work on them incessantly.
For example, with improved balance, a rider will have a more secure seat and be able to apply the aids with greater sensitivity. This improves the ‘feel’, the effect is more exact and takes place more precisely at the right moment in the movement. In order to be able to capture this ‘right moment’ a confident sense of rhythm is necessary which, in turn, improves the balance.
An advanced rider will also continue to work on the same modules of riding ability as a beginner. Riding theory divides these modules into seat, application of the aids, feeling and influence. This is the course of training I would like to outline in the following pages, but in addition I have subdivided the various subjects. This course of training is comparable with the training scale of a horse in classical equestrianism.
Contact
Contact with the horse is the most important fundamental requirement for the learning process to be able to take place. A good relationship with the horse diminishes fear and creates a firm foundation of mutual trust. Such a good relationship can often be more significant than technical skill. It is indeed a common observation that horses known to jump suddenly to the side, or present other unpleasant surprises, would never do this under a child. The really great achievements in equestrian sport are based on this inner contact, this mutual familiarity and trust between rider and horse.
Rhythm
Just as, at the beginning of the training scale, the horse has to learn and consolidate the specific rhythm in each of the gaits, it is equally necessary for the rider to feel his way into the regularity of the movement at the walk, trot, canter and gallop. Harmony in musical interplay can also only occur when all musicians observe the same beat. Rider and horse have to work out a mutual movement rhythm. Only when the beat exists as a basis for the rhythm can work be done to achieve harmonious finer points. When learning the rising trot, it quickly becomes clear how much easier the exercise is for horses and riders when the beat is right! This same principle is also repeated in all other lessons. The basic requirement for rhythmic movement is why rhythm faults in dressage are punished so severely – and most of these faults are caused by the rider, not by the horse.
Balance
The first goal demanded from the student when on the horse is balance. Balance is required simply to avoid falling off the horse. The only other alternative would be to hold on with sheer strength. Balance training, especially for the upper body, is a prerequisite for any further equestrian training. It is a good idea also to try riding without a saddle in order to feel the horse’s movements directly and to be forced to react accordingly. To be able to balance on the hors’s back in each gait vertically and horizontally, always ‘in motion’, in other words to remain with your own point of gravity over that of your horse, is the foremost aim of a novice rider.
Suppleness
Anyone who has established their fundamental sense of balance in the movement no longer requires any superfluous strength for a specific situation. No muscle is permanently in a state of tension when riding, a rhythmical tensing and relaxing of the muscular system takes place parallel to the horse’s movement. Suppleness is not to be confused with a relaxed state or flabbiness of the muscles. In the correct state of suppleness the muscle system works economically, in an optimum way for the body, and the basic tension of the muscular system is adapted to the requirements of the particular situation; at a collected trot the degree of tension is greater than at a walk on a long rein. Only a supple seat makes it possible to control the extremities and move them independently, which forms the basis for the application of finely tuned aids.
A deep and secure seat is the prerequisite for effective influence. All muscles responsible for the erectness of the seat must be in a good basic state of tension without sacrificing any suppleness in the process. Being able to control the horse with the seat in this way is part of the secret of riding. As a consequence, the rider sits ‘in’ the horse rather than on the horse; horse and rider become one.
Learning the application of the aids takes place parallel to the training of the seat.
Dexterity
Initially the application of the aids is learned in a purely technical context: this is where the leg should be, the hands are turned like this, etc. Certainly the aids will be applied more coarsely at the beginning, until the student is in a position to apply them with increasing sensitivity. A beginner will negotiate turns with a great deal more effort than a more advanced rider. The possibility of practising individual aids in isolation is very limited because, applied out of context, horses usually either ignore or misunderstand them. For the necessary combined effect of the aids, the rider is immediately confronted by a highly complex task and is sometimes even completely overtaxed. For this reason it is vital for the instructor to adapt the various situations of application to suit the abilities of the novice rider.
Feel
The rider’s ‘feel’, the optimum communication between rider and horse, is to be regarded as the ultimate achievement in the context of equestrian abilities. This feel is not the innate privilege of a few highly blessed and talented riders but a major learning goal for any novice rider. Sensitive communication with the horse must be taught and learned from the very first lesson onwards; and the horse is the most important teacher here. Only a well-trained school horse will enable the student to acquire the skill of applying aids as required by the task set as well as adapting them to suit the reaction of the horse. ￭
Tools for movement:
A joint is the moveable connection between two bones. Joints make movement possible and their specific structure determines the direction and dimension of this movement.
This joint consists of a ball and a socket. The two facing joint surfaces are covered with a layer of articular cartilage which helps reduce the friction of movement and thus protects the bones like a buffer. On the outside, the joint is encased by the capsule. The cavity of the joint is filled with a liquid which acts as a lubricant. This liquid also contains nutrients for the cartilage as there is no blood circulation here and nutrition therefore has to take place through diffusion. The joint capsule is surrounded by fine nerve tissue where receptors are located which report even the minute changes in the joint regarding its position and tension in the capsule. The musculature, as a moving element, covers the joint and, through the ligament, connects up to the periosteum. Sometimes a muscle connects directly with the joint capsule (as with the shoulder), and this capsule is consequently even more sensitive to the most minimal changes; cramped shoulders, for example, block the entire shoulder joint.
Structure of a joint
Joint ball, Cartilage Capsule, Synovial fluid, Joint socket
Joints move in different ways, depending on their type. A hinged joint, as in a finger for example, can be bent and stretched. Only one dimension of movement is possible. The wrist, however, is a different matter. Two dimensions of movement exist here, the joint can be stretched and bent, and it can also be turned, either in the direction of the thumb or of the little finger. It is possible to make a circular movement with the wrist which is indeed a mixture of these two principal directions of movement. The system becomes even more complicated with a ball and socket joint like the shoulder or the hip. Three different dimensions of movement can be combined here: bending and stretching, pushing out and pulling in as well as turning towards the inside and towards the outside.
If we only moved in these imaginary dimensions, however, our movements would appear jerky like those of a robot. A movement which is attractive as well as economical always combines all three dimensions and is fluid and round. It therefore has to take place in three-dimensional terms – luckily no concept for the fourth dimension has been developed as yet!
The form of the joint determines the direction of movement
The significance of the middle position
From the middle position the joint can move in every possible direction. If the joint is in an end position, only one possible direction is free. If you are standing on your toes and want to jump upwards, that is only possible if you lower your feet onto the ground first of all in order to jump from this position.
Letting your body move in rhythm with the horse’s movement is only possible if our joints are not blocked in end positions. This applies particularly with regard to the lumbar spine and the hip joints, but of course also for all other joints.
The correct seat allows joints leeway in all possible directions, thus also avoiding permanent strain and excess stress on the joints!
But what happens in the joint itself during movement? As you can see from the drawing, the one joint partner glides around the other. In this combination, a pulling force is exerted on one side of the joint and a pushing force on the other.
| Maxim |
|
The joint capsule is most relaxed in the middle position, and the joint experiences the least inner pressure here. The nerves record this as the standard value. This position is also most favourable for diffusion. If pressure within the joint is too high, it becomes impossible for nutrients to diffuse and, in the long run, this will damage the cartilage and thus the joint.
This is why the receptors of the joint capsule immediately signal deviations from the middle position, in order that the muscles will react automatically and restore the norm. This is also why the musculature is the most relaxed in the middle position of the joints.
