Learning lightness with the horse.
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The horse cannot be light in his carriage,and only then, movement; unless he and his rider have a harmonious and responsive balance. While natural aptitude may be evident, it only develops with practice, as musical skill develops with playing scales and exercises and a variety of well-chosen themes. There can be no good movement or responsiveness without good balance and coordination; first physical, then mental.
As an illustration, much of my working life was in a clinic for disturbed children, and/or those with learning difficulties. Almost all chidren had poor balance with resultant poor coordination. As their balance improved (with specially programmed activities and exercises (based on my knowledge of balancing and training horses, as well as more theoretical constructs); so did their learning and social skills! Carefully graded and individualised programs of both familiar and unfamiliar movements were the key-stone that underlay improvements in skills and behaviour in these children. In a significant number of children their behaviour and learning skills improved markedly.
As with young children, playing with other young horses, "hooning" around paddocks, being taken for walks over all sorts of terrain in a head collar, as well as encounters with cars and tractors, or even buses and trucks was part of their education. Results are slow, but when properly managed , they remain permanently. The children I worked with were never going to have high -ranking jobs for a host of reasons, but many got jobs. Likewise the horse who is easily frightened and/or has poor balancing skills probably won't make the Olympics, but at least he functions to the best of his ability, and doesn't get beaten for "not trying!"
The basic change is that the horse has learned the basic living skills, is less easily frightened, and can become a well-mannered and pleasant horse to ride!
My grey mare "Gossip" is a living, happy and healthy testament to this approach.
Hello Gillian,
You bring up a very interesting topic.When you wrote " there can be no good movements or responsiveness without good balance and co-ordination:first physical,then mental "...I wonder if balance is not first the result of mental preparation rather than physical.When lightness flows from a formal relaxation of the horse's jaw with a mobilization of it's tongue asked on a high neck then the horse becomes balanced,and with that it can have some collection.From there,with this balance in lightness, all movement flows from activity in the quarters.
Then you wrote " he functions to the best of his ability,and can become a well mannered and pleasant horse to ride ".For me that is the essence of dressage.To take, perhaps,a less than talented horse and by offering it an intelligent type of academic equitation bring forth from it all the brilliance that it can muster.As you say the Olympic Games may not be in it's future,but then again,judging by what one sometimes sees in the Olympics Games perhaps that is a pity?
Thanks,
Sandy.
Allège Ideal
this is a very good example of the thinking that needs to be at the start of every horse training. to train a horse is to help him be more balanced, be more supple - to help him reach confort and strenght. if you are really bringing the horse something positive, then he'll be happy to work. he'll know he'll learn something from you that will help him, bring confort, security, ease and later, fun.
i also think that helping less gifted horses (or rebelious horses) to be connected to their body (like these children you're describing) is maybe the only preliminary possible to get them to focus and have them to start working with us. with these kinds of students, it's all about finding something to teach that is easy to grab and immediately easy to apply and that brings satisfaction (physical and mental).
don't you think that to get the horse focus on us, is the mental equivalent of having him find the right balance, under our seat ? to keep is brain off running in every direction. having both brain and body connected with us, ready to answer to the most subtle indication.
yes indeed, that is lightness !