The Nature Of Horses - Dressage

[Yann]

I know it's generally considered essential reading but Stephen Budiansky's book The Nature Of Horses had passed me by up until now. It's a fascinating book which looks clear eyed at a lot of our assumptions and accepted wisdom. The passage on dressage certainly caught my eye and made me think, as it's one area where plenty of conflict, misunderstanding and misery tends to be created for both horses and also riders. We all agree that a horse should work 'properly' to strengthen its back, but is this actually true? One of my horses hasn't schooled for 18 months now and her back is as good as ever it was.

Here are some extracts

The military necessity that created the ideal of the 'high school' of riding is another distorting lense that still affects our notions of what constitutes not only the natural behaviour but the natural movement of the horse...

...The 'prancing' horse pose - chin in, neck tightly arched, feet lifting high - became an idea admired not only for its military utility but for its supposed 'brilliance' as well...

... By the second half of the 19th century a romantic revival had brought back the haute ecole, along with all sorts of theories about the natural balance of the horse to justify it, the common notion being that a horse is naturally balanced when its weight is evenly distributed over all four feet...

... the truth of the matter is that these collected gaits are not one that a freely moving horse, or a green horse, or a wild horse will ever select on its own - unless it is highly emotionally aroused. A nervous horse may prance, but a freely moving, calm horse shifts its weight forward in a dynamically maintained balance.

Discuss?

[mandal]

Great thread Yann! Groans, I'm supposed to be busy doing other stuff.

I also have a 'feeling' that a 'naturally balanced' horse is the important thing and allowing/enabling him to find his own balance is crucial. I think we can try and force a horse before he is ready or even at the extreme when he isn't ready at all and is actually both trying to avoid and restricted physically in breathing etc.

I'm looking forward to seeing comments on this thread.

[Derek Clark]

Well, my first thoughts are that there are several misconceptions about the documented historical development of riding in what you quoted, but I guess I ought to go and read it properly before commenting really, it is sitting on my bookshelf unread after all! Which pages constitute the section on dressage Yann?

Derek

[mandal]

I have no real knowledge of the Historical progression of Dressage, for me the interesting part of the quotes Yann has chosen is the last paragraph. Reminds me very much of Jaime Jackson's writings and thoughts.

... the truth of the matter is that these collected gaits are not one that a freely moving horse, or a green horse, or a wild horse will ever select on its own - unless it is highly emotionally aroused. A nervous horse may prance, but a freely moving, calm horse shifts its weight forward in a dynamically maintained balance.

[Derek Clark]

Well, that's his (their?) opinion - and it's extremely one sided. A horse in nature that is excited (showing off) will 'prance' too. That's the basis of piaffe and passage...

Our horses, whom several people have described on here as extremely calm, also do a nice piaffe or passage from time to time while out in the paddocks depending on what's going on around them.

One of the aims of (good) dressage is to recreate exactly that freedom of expression, only on cue and with a rider on the horse's back.

Derek

[mandal]

My understanding is piaffe etc. is displayed by wild horses so is a natural gait for them but it is usually associated with high/fairly high emotional arousal. JJ isn't against Dressage per say to my knowledge.
I'd better go and do my 'stuff'. lol

[Deleted]

worms... tin... can of??

I think Derek's last sentence is my whole problem with local dressage... take an arab in the area who shows natural expression and they're marked down as not working correctly - actually very well demonstrated by the last thread we had on this!!

[Derek Clark]

worms... tin... can of??

Yup!

Once we've sorted this one out we can head over and fix up the Middle East peace process..., lol!

Derek

[mandal]

;D ;D It's only a can/tin/potty of worms if we allow it to be one though.
Now I'm definitely off to get busy!

[Derek Clark]

My understanding is piaffe etc. is displayed by wild horses so is a natural gait for them but it is usually associated with high/fairly high emotional arousal.

Exactly right, mandal. The frequent unspoken assumption is that "emotional arousal" is 'bad'. But piaffe and passage in nature often come form very high levels of what humans would call positive emotions too.

High School dressage is largely about developing the ability to control (raising or lowering on request) energy (emotion). The low school is about establishing the control of posture which is what determines the form that the expression of energy takes when it happens.

High School did not originate from military riding and has little if anything to do with it. It's a common statement that the airs above the ground were used in battle but according to the head of the 'sauters' at the French cavalry school that idea has to be nonsense - not least because of the time and precision required to actually set a horse up for a successful leap!

He believes that the high airs originated in the times of the carousel - a non-combative "you show me yours and I'll show you mine" sort of artistic competition organised by the king to keep his militia (the nobles) from having too much spare time on their hands and coming up with devious ideas like "let's overthrow the king!"

Best wishes,

Derek

[Kelly Marks]

"It's a common statement that the airs above the ground were used in battle but according to the head of the 'sauters' at the French cavalry school that idea has to be nonsense - not least because of the time and precision required to actually set a horse up for a successful leap!"

Isn't 'accepted wisdom' sometimes ridiculous when you really think things through?!

[jennyb]

Agree with everything Derek has said.... ;D

Horses do show collection naturally, they don't have to be that "aroused" either. Gazdag used to passage his way out to the field if there was another horse watching, particularly a strange one. He did a perfect levade coming in from the field one day when the trees frightened him (!), and regained his balance on the lunge as a very green horse by doing a lovely capriole. That sort of display is bred into some horses!

[Yann]

Derek, the bits I quoted from are on page 57 and 58 I do like it as a book, although I've not finished it yet, the bit on herds and hierarchies is very interesting too.

[Derek Clark]

Thanks Yann, some bedtime reading for me tonight then ;D

[Francis Burton]

Jan 3, 2011 19:56:21 GMT 1 Yann said:

the bit on herds and hierarchies is very interesting too.

As far as I recall, that bit is a fairly standard version of 'accepted wisdom'. I wonder who he approached when he was researching the section on herd dynamics. Mind you, I imagine most people thought that way in those days (mid 1990s).