by Mary Anne Campbell | Dec 13, 2014 | Mary Anne Campbell's Blog, On the subject of Classical Riding, Training Ideas
We had a discussion of “classical” riding with some people writing in, and I thought the interchange was worth repeating. The photo is a composite. On the right is Monsieur Nestier, who was roughly contemporaneous with La Guérinière. Famous for his seat, apparently he rode so beautifully that women swooned when he rode past. On the left is Commandant Xavier Lesage astride “Taine”, a thoroughbred, having taken double Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 1932. A reader says… “I prefer the horse on the right, the Iberian type is more classical.” Classical riding can be about re-enactment, a replication of the etchings and lithographs left behind showing baroque era men on baroque era horses. The tradition is beautiful and re-enactment is fun. However, the way we use the term is to mean a way of training that transcends the era in which it was first recorded. For instance, if one is limited to the appearance of the familiar old masters, I would not be considered classical, as women at that time were not trained to ride at this level. But this doesn’t mean I’m not classical in my training and outlook. The choice not to include women was a cultural loss for the time, it wasn’t “right.” It is just “what was.” In our barn, we have very “classical” Iberian horses – andalusians, lusitanos, lipizanners: very “typey” horses– we also do the same high level work with appaloosas, thoroughbreds, Akhal Tekes and dyed in the wool back yard bred what-si-whose-its. We are engaged in the puzzle of working with just about any horse that comes in the door, given that it...
by Craig Stevens | Dec 12, 2014 | Craig Stevens' Blog, On the subject of Classical Riding, Training Ideas
When working with the horse and a difficulty in arises in a movement or a figure, it is not a time to attack. It is a time where gentleness needs to be applied. Slow down and break the exercise into smaller parts. Reward effort and do not concern yourself with correctness or results. Correctness is a matter of mind long before it is a matter of body. Understand that any resistance which arises is the result of physical difficulty or fear. Aggression in such situations is not useful. It only justifies the resistance in the horse’s mind. It is far better to start by assuming that the problem is in your aids than to blame the horse. Simplify; all the basic movements can be achieved on one aid For movements at the highest levels (beyond Olympic level) two or three single aids may be cadenced and joined is a simple way. If you cannot get that to work then the fault is in the simple movements. Everything is in basic work. The primary aid (single aid) in classical riding is always the hand (according ot de La Guéinère, who wrote the Bible of classical dressage) all the other aids are secondary. There are 4 primary directions and 4 secondary actions of the hand and two auxiliary actions. There is a bit more too for each has 3 qualities and can express 4 elements. Most of the real fine points are not spoken of as much as they are assumed and intuited by the rider. To keep it simple one only needs to assume 4 primary and allow the 4...
by Craig Stevens | Dec 12, 2014 | Craig Stevens' Blog, On the subject of Classical Riding, Training Ideas
To consider the development of your skills in dressage involves renunciation. Of course, the way that term is commonly used is in a negative sense. Renunciation is usually used in reference to pleasure but here the meaning is very different. What needs to be renounced are those things which block us from coming closer to the horse. A lot of what is practiced in modern dressage must be renounced if one is to become a partner to the horse. In fact, while competition itself does not need to be given up, we must radically change our attitude toward it. One must seriously determine and reflect on the value of competition. This usually means, that as your experience deepens competition’s value decreases. We cultivate what is caring and the ability to discriminate so as to know what we need to do to form a healthy relationship with the horse. So it is that we surrender what does not bring us closer to the horse. We change our way of thinking and how we use our bodies and cultivate the reflexes of a horse person. We open ourselves up fully to the feeling of our experience with the horse. This is part of the price we pay to become the horse person the horse wants to know. Good dressage is not a determination we make but the one the horse makes about who and what we...
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