Four weeks after schedules have slowed down, after lots of children rides and some time to think, the decision to take a break seems to pay off. Horses are relaxed, more willing to release tensions and overcome stiffnesses/difficulties. A problem between my right ankle and shoulder/neck is working out. There is a new move: we have entrusted several horses to another ostheopate, who - with a fresh eye - adds insight to under saddle findings.
Fabian stresses at T18. He has wolves teeth, due to be removed next week. Pinochio is held back by an old blockage in the withers. Fallada is completely contracted along the left diagonal. Her right hind leg is in poor condition. The line-up of her jaw is not helped by missing an upper incissor. He left me with advice and in five weeks will see these horses again. A surprise: Lucky seems to have pinched the dura mater in the sacral joint. One day later he is visibly better. It'd be great to have this generous calm thoroughbred and his great canter available for novice riders.
Meanwhile rethinking and reviewing past weeks a suspicion has come up. "Suspected dermatome T5, right under the rider's calves impacts the T5 axis between the horse's shoulders." Involved are the use of the calves, the saddle, the withers, the horse's elevation, the coordination of forehand and hindquarters and the horse's mobilisation. I will test manipulations along T5/6 to T11/12, that is from the height of the withers to right before the lowest spot on the back. If the idea of dermatomes and their position in the horse are right I will thus be manipulating dermatomes T1 to T8. Along this line the cranial serrate dorsal connects neck and ribs, from under the shoulders to before the rider's seat. Like ususal, I will take the dermatomes and the structural points related to them into consideration. I am looking for a rounder horse, especially in transitions, an easier shift of posture, more freedom in the shoulders and a more generous release of the flow of movement.
A personal note. Dermatomes T1-8 have been a blind spot, both in the horse and in my own figure. In the human T4/5 indicates the center of a cross, formed by the upright human vertebra and out strechted arms. In the horse T5 indicates the horse's height. It is the highest point of the withers. Along vertebra, spinous process and ribs T5 an axis for action is found in the horse's forehand. With a possible correlation of the rider's calves and the horse's center of action for the first time I have hit upon some sort of special meaning of T1-8 in general and T5 in specific and their relevance in equitation. It equates and produces in the horse what I have described as the Rückenwind (tailwind). Reason for the blind spot may be the fact that dermatomes T1-8, for all kind of personal and cultural reasons, is a forbidden zone. It is the zone, which in the back is out of reach and consciousness in most adults. Likewise, in equitation, with the arrival of the faster horse they have fallen out of attention. Only now, with the renewed interest in elevation are they back in view.
How to train horses (especially older horses) for maximum flexibility, balance and reactivity finally has dawned on me. After some eighteen month of experimenting and incorporating new knowledge in previous experience I have decided to follow Beudant's advice. Going much slower, I accept - as in fact I have always done when horses were younger -, only completely correct movements, small as they may be. We'll see how this goal will do with the different horses and their individual situations. The decision to train more or less again strikes me as one of the most difficult in producing horses. And to be honest sometimes I wish there was just one horse I could stay and occupy myself with all day long.
I no longer work things through in forced forward German style. Instead making sure I have the horses' attention/agreement and they are well, save and sound. In the saddle I will begin to experiment with input from my calves on suspected dermatomes T1-8. This will be my first test of the role of the calves in equitation. In previous years I have not used legs, trusting the horse's inborn forward urge as my only source of propulsion, supported as little as possible by either a small stick on the right shoulder or a longer whip on the right hind leg. The clue for a connection of calves and a center of propulsion in the forehand came from Fiona, who (one) chews delightedly when my calves impact her sides and (two) activates rhomboid and trapezius, which makes things easier for her long and somewhat distorted frame. Fiona's clues are confirmed by Beudant's way of producing the horse's passage. In 2004 Lacor, who also is a long and somewhat distorted horse, provided a similar hint.
Yes, no more forced forward, even if in young and boisterous horses forward on the big eight remains one excellent option to stretch legs and get straightness. I do continue to check results in free forward transitions on the lunge and/or in free schooling. Particularly to see how and how far legs stretch. The stretching of legs is an obvious aid in preparing the haunches' suppleness and gaining lung volumn. Transitions activate the nervous response system and call on the horse's concentration. I hope to soon replace this work on the lunge in part with rides out. I am back on the soft saddle on a couple of horses, still working on how to optimize it. It puts pressure on the horse's back roughly like the girth of a carriage horse, i.e. well behind the withers. Not sure yet, if this is good or bad. I for sure enjoy the increased contact and feel of the horse and horses seem to improve their and my balance.
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