This is the report of a test ride for research participation in 2007.
The test rider has the good fortune to know a riding style, which resembles that of the American Indians in the 1700s and 1800s. Rai-Riding, so named after its founder Fred Rai, stands for peaceful, pain-free, non-violent treatment of the horse. It is characterized by a Verzicht of 'tools', such as bits and nosebands. Several weeks before this rider's test ride at the Study-Horsemanship facilities in La Boulaye, my husband and I met her in Berlin after her visit at the Andrea Kutsch Akademie.
In La Boulaye we began by looking together at next season's research horses, while lunging them on a circle of straw (the method to keep on going during periods of frost and/or snow). We spoke about symptoms such as the shoulder-in versus shoulder-out, the inner hind leg's function in equitation and the mounted horse's typical postures. We noticed such things as blowing off, releasing the tail, movements of the poll, the jaw and tongue. The each horse was fittet with a volting belt to simulate the effect, which usually is caused by the rider's weight and the pressure of his thighs.
Again Pinochio was our test horse. After lunging I did a brief test ride to feel his hindquarters and reenforce turning on the touch of the outside rein on his neck. This touch is initiated by the turning of the shoulders. Pinochio was active and straight. He did however insist on turning his head and stretching forward as if to release some pressure somewhere. I am not sure how the latter symptom relates to the way he reacted to the test rider.
Continued...
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