(I printed out this article from an old internet site (http://members.ozmail.com.au/) on 7/12/02. It does not display the name of the author. The site’s name may have had something to do with Inner Riding. I put out a call for help on Facebook to see if anyone is familiar with the author, his/her esoteric writing or the old site, but so far have had no luck. If I could be in contact of course I would seek permission to reprint! I have kept the original UK spellings of the wording.)
Reasons for Riding: On the Freedom, Lightness and Enjoyment of the Horse
Watching riders work their horses, and handling them on the ground, makes me wonder sometimes why we own horses. I see riders who seem to have lost all sight of why they first were attracted to horses and riding, or what they are trying to achieve with their horses.
They shout at their horses and hit them every time they do something wrong (‘wrong’ in their owners’ eyes, anyway). I wonder if they realise that all they’re doing is displaying their lack of knowledge and understanding of horses.
Sometimes I think there should be a Horse-Owner’s Licence, so that a person has to demonstrate a suitable level of understanding of horse care and psychology before they’re allowed to own a horse. It often seems to be the ‘knowledgeable’ owners and riders who most often have the more aggressive attitudes which, ultimately, are destructive in terms of their own progress, and the freedom, lightness and enjoyment of the horse.
Such riders give the impression that every moment of their riding is a struggle against the horse, that there is some ultimate ‘battle of wills’ that must be won to prove their dominance, in which the weapons are bit, spurs and auxiliary reins. Such riders are clearly not enjoying their time and nor are their horses (though the riders seldom seem to realise this). Wouldn’t everyone (human and horse) be better off if these people gave up riding altogether?
I’d like to see how these riders would cope with a riding lesson where the instructor knew exactly what movement was required, at what pace, and where, but did not tell the rider. Instead, the rider gets shouted at (preferably with suitable amounts of bad language!) every time she doesn’t get it right. The rider would soon be thoroughly confused, probably upset and stressed, and determined never to go to that instructor again. Yet this is what such riders regularly do to their horses.
Unfortunately, the horse doesn’t usually have a choice of going to a more understanding rider. What a more pleasing picture it would be if the rider would let the horse know every time he understands what is required (even if only partially – let him know he’s on the right track). There are countless ways of getting it wrong, and the horse may well try them all, but if we let him know by praise and lightening the aids he will understand something far more profound: what we actually want.
The horse, as a herd animal, does not seek conflict as a primary source of resolving disputes. If you spend some time watching a group of horses interact in the paddock (and if you haven’t ever done this, you should go out immediately and do so – how can you hope to train and ride the horse if you don’t understand them?) you will very rarely see any overt aggression. Most of the dominance and submission behaviours occur quite subtly: folded ears, a show of teeth, showing the whites of the eyes. Overt aggression most often occurs in artificial situations, such as fighting over a single pile of hay, for example.
If you don’t know how subtle a horse can be in expressing himself, you will never watch for the signs when riding and training him, and you will always struggle to achieve anything.
Horses don’t deliberately seek to be difficult. Regardless of what some people believe (and I’ve seen one legal disclaimer for people taking riding lessons which asserts that horses display cunning!) horses only reflect what is happening to them and their true state of mind. If the horse is not carrying out your desired movement or exercise, or is stiff or resistant, or rushing and trying to get away from you (how telling is that!) it is because he is trying to tell you something: he doesn’t understand, or you have pushed him beyond his capabilities.
Rather than berate him for being stupid, or worse, riders should be asking themselves some pertinent questions: are my aids clear enough? Do I really understand what I am asking my horse to do? Do I really have a secure, independent seat? Does my horse’s tack fit? When were his teeth last checked? Is he being fed suitably? Is he supple and relaxed? Is he warmed up? Am I blocking him from doing what I want? None of these questions relate directly to the horse’s attitude, and most of them should have you thinking about yourself as the rider. It is so easy to ask for something inappropriately, or to ask so that the horse cannot carry out our request. What the body does and what the brain tells us it is doing are often very different things. If you ask for canter and pull back on the reins just as the horse springs into canter, it is no good shouting at him and whipping him – it is your own lack of balance and feeling that is causing the difficulty.
As an example, I have seen a horse worked so that it was forced into an outline. The horse was worked for long periods in draw reins (as an aside, it was interesting, in a demoralising way, to watch the ‘trickle down’ effect of this, as a number of other riders at the same stables started using draw reins – and were often actively encouraged to do this so that even riders with poor seats and unsteady hands were soon inflicting these on their trusting horses). The draw reins achieved the rider’s desired effect (but not for some months): the horse worked with his head held flexed, and a dull switched-off look in his eyes. His hocks did not flex, and his whole movement was mechanical. Whenever the horse tried to express his pain and displeasure he was usually shouted out (including liberal doses of abuse) and severe rein aids were applied (jerking the hand back a full 30cm [KM: 30 cm = 11.8″ for reference], for instance).
“Should one endeavour to use the running-rein to force a horse into a certain position or condition of flexion, one is acting in a manner that is totally contradictory to true dressage principles. Resistance will be the inevitable consequence. When one does make use of running-reins, success should be achieved in a very few minutes. If it is not, the conclusion is that the rider does not understand their use and would be advised to discard them, as he will only compound his problems.”1
The horse started exhibiting back pain, which the rider attributed to a poorly fitting saddle, but I wonder just how much of the change in his muscle shape was due to tack, and how much was due to the forced outline and pain inflicted on him.
I happened to also be around when a number of new saddles were tried out on this horse. The first resulted in a horse actively going forward, working from behind and pushing off his hocks. This saddle was rejected since the rider decided he had never felt like this (indeed, he hadn’t!) and therefore there had to be something wrong with it. The next saddle resulted in a shuffling gait again, with lack of engagement. It was this saddle which was chosen.
This is not the method or view of world-class riders:
“Horses are living beings, and I’m not the sort to say, ‘You have to do it now.’ Perhaps I don’t always take the straight route to training. There’s no sense in punishing the horses. Their ‘thank you’ is that they go for me in competition. A lot of the time, I work in the fields. I do changes and extensions in the open, so they don’t have to feel there is a wall coming up. They can let go. If you just want obedience, you break the horse or at least subdue the character.”2
“Gymnastic training should make our horses stronger, healthier and more beautiful. The schooling in obedience to the rider’s aids should be carried out with such sensitivity that the horse’s happiness in his work is evident. This joy should carry over to the spectators; they should experience how an independently moving horse is presented by a rider using almost invisible aids.”3
As riders, I think we need to constantly ask ourselves some important questions, for the sake of the welfare of our horses. What do we want from our horse? How important is this to us? To what lengths are we prepared to go to achieve these goals? What are our true priorities?
Most importantly, I think we need to regularly remind ourselves of the answer to an important question: What made you want to ride?
NOTES:
1: W Müseler: Riding Logic p 187
2: Ulla Salzgeber, quoted in Bernadette Faurie: Number One in the World (Dressage Today, Aug 2001, p40)
3: Reiner Klimke: Klimke on Dressage (Half Halt Press, Inc, 1992 p9)
