Christine Sander: What, after all, do these lessons do?

Listed, and here described in detail, are the phases and lessons we do at the a.i.s. study-horsemanship program to prepare research horses for health and usefulness in the second part of their lives. Again squaring the hindquarters is issue Number One. Once both hind legs step towards the center of weight and balance horses tend to mobilize, elevate and movement begins to flow. 

Proper progressions render greatest benefits. Aim is the unhurried horse that in tune with individual abilities gains a self-control, which with liveliness and pleasure champions the rider's every wish. The rider on the other hand prepares mentally, provides guidance and avoids mistakes.

"The correctness of the (horse's) response is almost always in proportion to the accuracy of the (rider's) demand." Etienne Beudant

1. The Turn-Around-The-Shoulders

In the classical turn-around-the-shoulders the horse's front legs step in place. Hind legs move sideways and the croup performs a circle around shoulders/withers. Turning around the shoulders is the first lesson the horse learns. It demands concentration and the horse's full attention. One unhurried sidestep is a good start. Followed by a second one, and another one, and so on. The value of this lesson resides in its slow execution. The horse gains awareness of a particular sequence of motions, which on the rider's demand it first produces in hand and later under saddle.

Lateral movements of the hind legs extend the haunches sideways. Producing neither forward movement nor a back-up they tend to close the croup. In the process the lumbo-sacral joint closes and the back mounts. The horse's awareness of its postural options is schooled. It discovers how to integrate in its balance the rider's weight while mounting the cantilevered back bone.

Turning around the shoulders supples the haunches. The horse takes conscious possession of a structural adjustment it uses to renew impulsion. This adjustment is due whenever the back lacks resilience or begins to sag. The raising and lowering of the front legs, an essential part of the classical turn-around-the-shoulders, sharpens the horse's awareness for the freedom of the front legs in locomotion. It assists elevation.

The turn-around-the-shoulders can render its inherent values only if the horse consents to remain in place. The jaw must be supple, the body open and accessible. Interestingly enough, just as this exercise requires these qualities, it also offers the rider a chance to address and perfect these qualities.

The value of calm and sensible progressions is soon recognized. The horse must understand the request before it can agree and respond. And one thing soon is obvious. Without this lesson the horse does not fully understand the closing of the croup. It is not aware of how to adjust the sacral-joint or purposefully mount the back and thus misses the key to carrying the rider. In addition the horse will not have endorsed the rider's control.  

Time and again horses that did not learn the turn-around-the-shoulders turn out to be a problem. Only after they have begun to trust the rider and ranking orders are settled, do such horses agree to quietly and contentedly step with their hind legs around the forehand without any retaining actions from the reins. 

The turn-around-the-shoulders is the first exercise the horse learns. And already In this first of all exercise balance is key. The body's fascia trains must be able to move freely. Only thus can a horse, according to the rider's wishes, direct each leg individually in a chosen speed and direction; can it lift and set down each leg with conscious control. Balance, flexibility and peaceful cooperation improve in unison. 

Best aids for this exercise proceed from the rider's balance controls and the adequate input of his energies. In practical terms he closes the elbow and makes a motion of his hand away from the neck on that side of the body from which the hindquarters will yield. Adding to it the gentle opening of the rider's corresponding side, which in fact amounts to a backing up rotation of that side. As a result the horse will yield into a croup-out position and begin to turn around the shoulders.

The benefit of this approach: The rider's balance and by the same token the horse's balance remain untouched. The horse's body is not restricted and often they get the hint in an instant. Those that do not understand and/or do not respond are easily cheered on with a soft tap of the whip behind the rider's calf.

In the turn-around-the-shoulders the horse's backbone may remain straight. Poll and/or neck may be set to either side and/or the backbone bent to either side. In German equitation the counter-turn-around-the-shoulders is rejected. For Etienne Beudant (Baucher's famous intellectual grandson) this very movement was the first lesson the mounted horse learns. The turn-around-the-shoulders serves to introduce the back-up and the Piaffe. Then again the back-up assists the turn-around-the-shoulders and the Piaffe. 

Unrequested advances are to be avoided. They are effectively countered by thinking of backing up before the horse begins the first lateral step. All the while the rider's hand maintains a soft contact with the horse's supple jaw. If the horse is long and low and/or lacks attention, the rider must raise and call it to duty with supple legs. Center of balance, in this lesson as in all others, is the rider's belly button. It monitors the combined dynamic balance of horse and rider. 

2. Walk without Impact on the Bit

Standing still on four legs was a condition for the turn-around-the-shoulders. The croup closes. Functions of the forehand activate. Both the horse needs to carry the rider. Both the rider needs to steer the horse. Both are also a condition for the walk without impact on the reins. 

In equitation two bodies join one balance. In the turn-around-the shoulders often a spontaneous permeability of the horse's body comes about. All of a sudden the rider feels the horse's hind legs in his ring fingers. All the same he focuses on the belly button as center of position and a link to the position of the lumbo-sacral joint. He thus seeks the horse's balance. 

Fine-tuning begins in the walk. The rider sits still. He offers the horse the opportunity to get accustomed to the closing of the croup and the mounting of the back while allowing the full range of neck movement and the choice of its posture. He administers no bearing on jaw, tongue and/or poll. His only purpose is the horse's familiarity with the closing of the croup and the mounting of the back. Both backs are calm. 

The horse's attention and permeability and its readiness to serve the rider are a premise of training. The rider establishes leadership in hand. The horse learns the guidance of the rider's hand from the ground. Once mounted the horse's state will be revealed in an instant. No matter how well or poorly the horse succeeds, the steps that follow begin the horse's walk of life. And, the first turn will reveal the degree of the horse's warp. Start-up problems, no matter how grave, are no indication for further progress. Conscientious proceedings will help any horse to come around. All is not about beauty or performance, but about understanding and mutuality.

In the school only a few meters down the first turn is at hand. And, according to the schools very nature, the horse will keep on turning, which makes proper turning the first goal in schooling. In the turn the horse's body ideally will follow the glance of the eyes, as they explores the direction of movement. The head will be set sideways in the poll and the vertebra will be in proper longitudinal bending. The inner hind leg will support the horse's weight and by the same token maintain the back in raised position.

In the course of turning the rider discovers his two sides. And he soon finds out how, with their control, he can direct the horse's turns and lateral movements. Depending on the degree of the horse's warp, however, he will for the time being insert this influence variably. From the uprightness of his center line one side may move back and, as before mentioned, thus initiate the lateral yielding of the croup. But that is not all.

Many horses are overly pliable in the right turn. By contrast they do not want to straighten up in this side. When turning to the left they tend to be rigid and reject the longitudinal bent, leave alone giving in the ribs. How does the rider react to these manifestations of the horse's warp? He uses his back accordingly.

To illustrate the interaction between turning, straightening and the application of the rider's sides I will quote again the turn-around-the-shoulders. "...aids proceed from the rider's balance controls and the adequate input of energies... he closes the elbow and makes a motion of his hand away from the neck on that side of the body from which the hindquarters will yield... adding to it the gentle opening of his corresponding side... in this sort of rotation the joined balance of horse and rider is preserved and the horse gets the hint in an instant..."

This very same aid applies to turning, only now in movement. And again without any contact to the horse's mouth. In other words, the very same aides that produce the turn-around-the-shoulders (that is the turning rearward of the rider's inner side, which automatically brings the rider's hand away from the horse's neck and the rider's leg to the horse's body) produces a type of turn, which preserves the horse's cantilevered back bone from harmful compression.

So far so good. This approach will work on one side. It may not work at all on the other.

It is therefore sensible, and needful, to acquaint the horse also with the effect of the outside rein. This aid also has nothing to do with impacts of the horse's jaw. The rider directs the horse's turn with a forward motion of his outside shoulder, which simultaneously weighs the inner seat bone. In the process the outside rein touches the horse's outside neck and its weight distributes towards the inner hind leg. With this action the rider has at hand a second approach to turning.

There is, however, yet another option. The rider in support of the horse's turn can move his inside hand all the way away from the neck and thus turn the horse around the same-sided front leg. All the while his elbow rests by his side. These fundamentally different ways of turning will be touch on again later. The value of the swivel emerges and of the rider's hand as predominant venue of communication.

Turning his sides the rider employs the most elementary communication of his body. The rein towards and away from the horse's neck follows. Turning sides and/or shoulders and the attendant actions of rein and leg soon fine-tune and permit the effortless and well-directed distribution of the horse's weight. Contained in these aides are the basics for all types of turns in motion and on the spot. They make for all positions and permit all lateral movements. They help the rider to place the horse on the line of movement in whatever manner he may need to efficiently straighten the horse while keeping it safe. They are the main factor in every single change of direction. 

Back to the walk without contact with the bit. It is done at a relaxed speed and in steps of medium size. The rider does well to end the ride before the horse's abdominal muscles tire, the back comes down and the horse falls apart. 

3. Taking up the Reins

In the walk without impact on the bit the horse discovered how to capitalize on the experience of the turn-around-the-forehand. The rider does not touch the bit as long as the horse does not turn nose first and, in doing so, the vertebrae of neck and back follow from poll to tail in a soft longitudinal bend. He leads the horse on hanging reins until it is able to walk without strain with a calm back on straight and curved lines.

The rider learns to turn the horse and to bring it back to straight lines with turns of his sides. Reins to or from the neck are a hint, which the attentive horse with receding strain increasingly needs less. The rider will use his sides differently, depending on the degree of the horse's warp and thus little by little obtains similar and equally fluent turns to the right and to the left.

When the horse begins to elevate, and as soon as the bit reaches the height of the shoulder joint, it is ready  for a contact with the rider's hand. After shortening the reins the rider, in addition to the effects of the reins on the horse's neck, now also can appeal to the horse's jaw, tongue and poll. The opening and closing of his ring fingers match the range of motion of the horse's jaw, lips closed. 

What accounts for a proper contact? The rider's ring fingers purposefully encourage supple movements of the horse's jaw and tongue. They guard the lateral positioning of the poll. An exchange of energy begins between the rider's hands and the horse's innermost being. The horse knows the direct address of functions of the upper neck and head from working in hand. 

Normally the contact between the rider's ring finger and the horse's jaw equals a point zero exactly between touch and no-touch. The horse bears neither with the weight of its body nor with the power of its muscles down on the rider's hands. The rider administers no pressure on the horse's jaw. A motile connection between the rider's hand and the horse's mouth is the condition for the horse's self-carriage. Permeability, resilience and the free flow of energy depend on it.

While the horse is long and low the rider can't help but adopt, for the time being, a hands off approach. When it gains strength it steps out with greater freedom. The shortening of the reins present the question of proper posture. No matter how it is answered the horse's nose remains before the vertical. As long as the bit is below the shoulder joint the horse is not in balance. it can't support a proper posture nor can it establish a useful contact to the rider's hand. 

Regular riding, reins long, on straight and curved lines, and occasional halts, prepare the horse for strength. Once it is ready it will bring up the neck base and be in balance. It needs no support from the rider and carries itself. Hindquarters and hind legs know the difference between pushing and supporting the horse's weight. The rider guards the lateral position of the poll and the uprightness of the horse's head. The horse carries the softly shaped neck in a position of its own choice. The rider appoints the speed.

The horse's first careful contact with the rider's hand is a supreme expression of trust. It has no reason to close the yes-joint between occiput and first neck vertebra. To the contrary, the joint opens and the poll moves forward while the horse resumes responsibility for a well-regulated contact between its jaw and the rider's hand. The entire vertebra from head to tail alongates by the some five centimeters of this joint's range of movement. In the process neck and back muscles consolidate.  

4. Stop, Stand and Start again

While working in hand and in learning to turn around the shoulders the horse got acquainted with the effect of the rider's hands. As a result it not only knows how to interpret the rein towards and away from the neck. It also is familiar with the vibrating rein. In a correct turn-around-the-shoulders the horse's front legs step in place. To keep it in place it also needs to properly respond to the rising rein.

In the saddle the rider keeps the horse in place with a soft closure of his legs. The horse, however, also needs to be familiar with the retroacting effect of the rider's reins. Only thus will it not be caught by surprise if, under circumstances beyond control, the rider's hand comes back and pulls on the reins. Stopping to the pressure of the rider's legs and habituation to the retroactive effects of the rider's hand are an important security measure for riding the fast modern horse; despite the apparent quest for lightness and the rider's gentler than gentle touch. 

While walking without impact from the rider's hand the horse moves with reins hanging. Halting in this phase most effectively is commanded by slowly pulling up the reins. If and as soon as the horse reacts to this impact and comes to a halt the rider releases the reins. If the horse does not react the rider uses the same soft aid to first reduce speed and then balance the horse's advancing and supporting forces. The resulting elevation produces proper posture, balance and self-carriage, as long as the horse responds softly and willingly. Eventually, with improved calibrations, the rider's wish and/or an exhale from his lungs alone will prompt the horse's spontaneous halt.

If on the other hand harmony lacks, the rider can resort to the combined effect of his legs, the position of his pelvis and the functions of his ringfingers. His legs bring the horse into a state of heightened attention. The drawing in of the belly button opens the lumbo-sacral joint and redistributes the weight towards the hindquarters. The elevation of the collar bones raises the rider's hand. The combination of these effects brings the horse calmly into elevation and progressively down to a halt. 

In the process of the effet d'ensemble the closing of the fingers and pressing down the thumbs are means of power in the rider's hand. But be aware, the horse knows exactly when it is forced. Refusals to halt often have their origin in stiffness and pain of the haunches and a resulting inability to halt squarely. On the other hand stopping, standing and restarting are just the lessons to supple the haunches.

As soon as the horse comes to a still stand the rider's combined aides slowly cease. His ring fingers relax. He lowers his hands, brings the belly button back to center position and releases the pressure of his legs. And then comes a time to stand square and calmly retain the joint balance. The horse with a soft jaw remains in position and stays at attention. To reward it the rider may open his fingers and permit a gentle lengthening of the reins, only to pick them up again and resume the walk. Or he may transit from the halt to the walk without any changes in the horse's posture.

Opening legs and fingers permit the horse to restart. Rushing as well as holding back are expressions of a lack of strength. The rider therefore makes sure the horse starts off calmly and walks fluently in no more than medium size steps at an average speed. Muscles soon develop and the horse thus gains trust and self-confidence.

And what, if the horse does not want to resume movement? Then something is wrong with the training and the rider begins to look for possible reasons...  

5. Walking the Eight

The mounted horse, on the basis of its morphology, can turn around the front legs. It can turn around the hind legs and it can turn around the lowest point of its back. From this point the rider's vertebra rises. Turning around the shoulders distributes the horse's weight to the front legs. Turning around the croup distributes the horse's weight to the hind legs. Turning around the center of balance rotates horse and rider around the only pivot line they share.

When one hand moves away from the neck, the horse turns around withers/shoulders and weight is distributed towards to the same-sided front foot. In the process the hind legs move sideways. When one hand moves towards the neck the horse turns around the highest point of the croup and weight is distributed towards the diagonal hind foot. In the process shoulders and front legs step sideways. When the rider distributes two hands sideways the horse rotates around the center of weight, which also is the focus of its balance.

In other words, the rider sits on top of the horse's center of weight and balance. What's more, distributions of the horse's weight and balance are quite literally in his hands. The rider's hands and corresponding rotations of his sides and/or shoulders also are the instruments to walk the horse on the eight and make it straight. While doing so horse and rider are tuned for lateral movements and further suppling as well. 

In the turn-around-the-shoulders the horse learned to respond to a unilateral aid from the rider's hand and mounted the back in the process. While walking on hanging reins it discovered how to integrate in its balance the rider's weight and how to yield the croup. With the shortening of the reins it experienced the soft impact of the rider's hands. It knows how to interpret any impulses from the rider's ring fingers with a gentle yielding of the jaw.

Coming to the halt the horse learned to let the rider's impact on bit, jaw and tongue pass. Unruly horse experienced the combined effects of the rider's pelvis, legs and rising hands. Horses consolidated in the square halt and resumed walking with the release of the rider's legs and hands. They walk freely on straight and curved lines.

The horse now begins to walk for longer intervals on curved lines and in the process learns to smoothly change directions. The rider clearly distinguishes between the straight and curved elements of the eight. While turning the horse's poll is set laterally and the row of vertebrae follows in a gentle longitudinal bent. On smaller eights the horse in addition gives in the lower neck and ribs. During the short straight phase between left and right turns the horse prepares for the change of direction, vertebrae aligned from poll to tail, and walks straight as much as the current degree of its line-up may permit.

Concordant with straightness and elevation the rider will turn the horse predominantly with a rein coming to or going away from the neck and apply his sides accordingly, in the process bringing the horse into a shoulder-fore or a croup-fore position. The horse's willing compliance and the precise implementation of the rider's request account for success. It requires the rider's feel and concentration. How much can the horse give on one side or the other, in the lower neck, the ribs and the position of the croup, without compromising the core?

Between the limits, which the horse's warp imposes on its flexibility, and the rider's proper choice of turning points, distributions of weight and appropriate positions (both laterally and horizontally), and the gradual removal of those limits, the horse gains confidence and makes its peace. Which makes for a proper foundation of all that follows once straightness and elevation are established. Horse and rider begin to communicate. Regular halts reenforce awareness.

Disturbances in the horse's composure almost always are an expression of weakness and/or pain, plus the added frustration of having to serve the rider under such circumstances. The process of making the horse straight thus always demands a special attention to its health and well-being. Its most effective policy, however, is the rider's tact: Ask again, commend soon, be happy with little. Know what to ask, and understand when the time for more has come.

Walking the eight hence is not only about bending and changing direction. It is about turning, weight distributions and proper postures, which favor the horse's straightness and suppleness. Before long the young horse on a large eight will learn the casual, fluent trot, which precedes the first canter. The fully grown horse on a small eight will accomplish the shortened trot, which provides the basis for lateral movements in the trot and canter. However, an idiosyncrasy exists in the warped horse, which will have to be address while walking the eight. 

The ideal of classic equitation is leading the horse with both reins in one hand. The rider soon will notice that as long as the horse is not straight, well elevated and on supple haunches, he will not be able to lead it with both reins in one hand. And, what's more, the horse for starts will no want to be led with two hand. It will seek contact to but one of the rider's hands.

The rider thus contents himself with balancing the horse between the reins and directing it with the leading hand, which moves towards or away from the neck. Lateral shifts of the horse's head in the poll and longitudinal bending are the result of the rider's turning sides and/or shoulders and the alteration of his line of vision. 

The young, healthy horse will thus soon accept to be led on one hand as well as on the other. The really warped horse will take time. The disturbed and mistreated horse most likely will need the shoulder-in to repossess its center line, and accept any guidance.

6. Balance and Lateral Movements

In liberty horses alternate between a leisurely walk croup open and faster paces with a closed croup. As soon as the croup closes the horse's head and neck come up and the level of energy rises. In the transition from long and low to elevation neck and haunches conform. The higher the forehand elevates, the more the haunches settle. The equine dynamic balance thus revolves around a steady pivot or center of balance, which is located under the rider's seat. 

Rotations of the hind legs also maintain a balance. They lift, advance, settle and push in proper coordination to form a consistent rollover. Hind legs do not step forward more than they extend rearward. They rise in proportion to the action fore and back. The larger the steps are the higher is the hind leg's lift.

Under the rider the horse's balance and the cycle of its hind legs ought to remain untouched. This goal succeeds if the horse is granted the choice of posture. It succeeds with a balanced rider who sits in his seat right above the horse's center of weight/balance with composure and stillness. All is well as long as the horse's motivation is up and the closing of the croup remains. Walk is the appropriate gate to regain the horse's dynamic balance under saddle. It learns to rebalance with the rider's added weight and adjusts to the process of straightening.

No creature on earth remains young. The muscle's oscillatory elasticity fades. Fascia hardens and hinders joint mobility. By the same token the ability to balance degrades and the range of motion gets smaller. A proper agents to counteract this aging process in the horse is the sum of classical lateral movements.

On the eight the horse walks on straight and curved lines. In the progress it changes from long and low, to posing itself, to elevation. In the croup-fore it loads the outside hind leg. In correct turns and in the shoulder-fore it loads the inner hind leg. In narrower turns it in addition yields in the ribs and extends the entire outer side of its body. Alternating between walk and halt addresses the haunches. It tends to close the body and motivates the hind legs. 

When the horse begins to straighten it rises and takes an even contact to both hands. The rider then can begin to teach it side-steps from a straight line at a mere hint. In doing so the horse, in a well regulated rhythm, advances one by one all four legs sideways. Poll, neck and backbone remain straight. Hip and shoulder joints are suppled. 

The easiest manner by far to teach the horse transitions from walking straight to walking in lateral directions is the soft closing of the rider's legs, followed by a gentle turn of his thumbs into the direction of movement. This transition is introduced with a conscious inhale. In the process the rider's front rises and his heels come down.

The rider soon realizes, that only a balanced horse will understand the turning of wrists and thumbs. Only without any pressure in the reins does it take the desired effect. The rotation of the rider's hands and wrists is the result of a changed position of radius and ulna in his lower arms. The rotation of the rider's wrists may support the work on the eight. 

At the latest with lateral work the rider's straightness, release and elasticity moves center stage. The middle position of his lumbo-sacral joint between lower vertebra and sacrum keeps his pelvis level. His ilio-sacral joints between pelvis and sacrum are relaxed and correspond with senses and breathing. His hip joint between pelvis and thighs rotate and move freely. The rider senses and directs the horse's lateral movements step by step with his seat. 

7. The Flat Serpentine

Within the pelvis' range there are, in the human and in the horse, several distinctly different joints. They fulfill, as is to be expected, completely different functions.

The horse's lumbo-sacral joint between the last lumbar vertebra and the front of the sacrum works like a spacer that opens and closes. It is positioned under the upper ends of the pelvis in the uppermost part of the croup. The human lumbo-sacral junction connects the rising human lumbar vertebra with the sacrum below and provides lee-way towards the front and the back. The joint just above it is formed similarly. The equine lumbo-sacral joint normally is a singular joint. There are reports, however, of a similar form in the junction in front of it.

Ilio-sacral and hip joints come in pairs. In the horse the pelvis rest on the lateral processes of the sacrum. In the human the sides of the sacrum properly fit into the rearward pelvis. In both species ilio-sacral joints provide close to no mobility. They rather are attachments of bones, cushioned and secured by an extensive ligament and fascia apparatus.

Entirely different are the hip joints. Their range of movement is impressive. In both species the upper end of the thighs' neck of femur is formed like a ball, which is fastened in the hip joints' socket by a substantial internal ligament. In addition it the hip joint is secured by a strong muffle.

Due to this set-up the horse is perfectly prepared not only for forward locomotion, but for free flowing flexibility in every directions and for smooth transitions between gates and speeds. In full operation the horse's lumbar region and its croup function like two parts of one spring board, which connect in the lumbo-sacral joint. When due to the shortening of the diagonal abdominal muscles this junction closes the vertebrae of the lumbar region mount. By the same token the horse's haunches take control of the hind legs; working in a subtle coordination of sensitive ilio-sacral joints, stable hip joints and supporting stifles. The lower junctions of the hind legs supple and participate in support and suspension of the horse's force and weight.

The morphology of the lumbo-sacral joint, the lateral lumbar processes and the lateral extensions of the sacrum, permit but little lateral movement, over and above the elasticity of all living tissue, in the transition between lumbar region and croup. The mobility of the horse's hindquarters thus is almost exclusively accomplished by haunches, which are well equipped to support forward and sideways movements of all sorts. They as well respond to the horse's change of postures and any demands that unlevel grounds and/or jumps may pose.

On long lines, reins hanging, the horse has learned to incorporate in its balance the rider's weight and to turn with ease despite the pressures of rider, saddle and girth. On the eight, due to alternations between straight and curved lines, it has begun to supple its sides. The rider, in the croup-out/shoulder-fore and in the croup-fore, has distributed the horse's weight evenly on all four legs. Because in correct turns the inner hind leg is loaded, the loading of the outside hind leg in the occasional croup-in was the proper choice of lessons.

No trot or canter as yet. The horse halts promptly. It stands square. It is in command of the classical turn-around-the-shoulders, straight or bent to either side. Back-ups are permitted. The rider can lead the horse between the reins without contact to the bit. He can lead it on one hand or the other in either direction. The horse's jaw is flexible and it seeks the rider's hand.

The horse is familiar with walking without impact on the bit and knows how to stride with ease on continuous lines. On the eight it practiced the change of direction while tracing two half circles and connecting straight lines. Scaling down the eight it has accomplished smaller turns. It begins to back-up. And now the time has come for continuous changes of direction on the flat serpentine.

In the process the horse's straightening is perfected, feet get light and the energy of its center line begins to flow. On curved lines the rider directs the horse's shoulders between the reins to and fro with ease. In each change of direction the outer hind leg promptly takes over the weight from the inner hind leg, only to become the new inner hind leg within an instant. By and by the lumbo-sacral joint in the croup's highest diameter becomes the point of inflection. 

The flat serpentine, more than any other lesson, raises the horse's awareness of a pending straightness of shoulders, lower neck and no-joint. It discovers how by adjusting all irregularities toward the wither's center line it may align and activate. In this process often a veritable self-discovery takes place. It leads the horse to extend the occiput forward, activate the upper line and mobilize the hind quarters.

8. The Stages of Straightness

Only if a horse advances both hind legs towards the center of weight can it be straight, elevated, healthy and with humor serve the rider. The croup must be closed, the lumbo-sacral joint in a position which conforms to the tasks at hand. Haunches must have activated. Neck and forehand must have elevated. The horse's relative erection (German: Relative Aufrichtung...) consists of a gliding interaction between neck and haunches. That is, the more vertical the neck base the more pronounced is the lowering of the haunches. The horse's head must be raised, the nose fore; senses active and participating. Only thus can the horse's natural dynamic balance transfer and mature into the mounted horse's dynamic balance. Only thus can the horse serve the rider and remain sound. Hooves must be in balance.

On the royal road (for the sake of this text referred to as Straighening One) the horse's hindquarters have consolidated. Both hind legs alike step towards the horse's center of weight. The rotation of the horse's hind legs remains in balance. That is, they lift and do not step forward more than they swing back. The horse can distinguish between propelling and supporting itself. Most horses have elevated. In the process the bit has risen to the height of hip and shoulder joints. The horse seeks a quiet contact to the rider's hands.

Disturbed horses, however, often do not find themselves in this manner. The bit remains below shoulder and hip joints. Unless the rider is attentive and acts quickly poll and neck are over-bent. The nose is behind the vertical.  Hind legs trail behind and/or swing fore and back with no lift. Such horses are at best in horizontal balance. Their weight is distributed on all four legs, often with more weight on the front legs. The weight is distributed unevenly.

The mounted horse's ideal dynamic balance, which is characterized by a gliding interaction between the elevation of neck and withers and the yielding support from the haunches thus can not come about. Horses, which are trained forward in imperfect balance and inappropriate postures soon phase out the haunches from their perception. They no longer know they have haunches, which with elasticity and strength can support the body's weight and movement in all directions. They can not enter into the mounted horse's dynamic balance and before long degrade into primitive machines, which are able to sustain movement into but one direction. Any additional demands are met with resistance. 

Such horses must first rediscover the elevation of the forehand. In Straightening Two they are provided with the opportunity to reestablish the optimal distribution of their weight and begin to take possession of their mounted dynamic balance. Only after the lessons of Straightening Two, in addition to the turn-around-the-shoulders and side steps on the royal road in the first phase of straightening, done in exchange with a relaxed moderate walk, will the fully grown horse in the third phase of straightening be introduced to systematic lateral movements, designed to supple the forehand and reenforce elevation.

Young horses that are straight in the hindquarters and have gained a degree of elevation (possibly only after additional lessons in Straightening Two) are in good hands moving on continued lines and over small jumps in the outdoors. In the process they find out about themselves and the rider and get to know the world around them. Disturbed horses continue in the school and get acquainted with the outdoors on leisurely walks in hand.

Preparing the horse for comprehensive use and a possible later specialization hence consists of tree phases. One. Both hind legs step toward the center of weight. Two. The horse elevates and in the process mobilizes. Three. The forehand is suppled and made straight. Only after these three phases are completed successfully is the mounted horse in full possession of its forces. Only then is it in full control of its forces and able to present this control to the rider. 

9. Special Tutoring

Horses know how to run. To support their weight and that of the rider they must learn. Three classical exercises help problem horses to elevate and engage the haunches: Stand and redistribute weight (1), do the counted walk (2) and turn around the haunches (3). Healthy horses walking the royal road normally of their own accord elevate as soon as both hind legs alike track towards the center of weight. Once they fully come into their own (which often happens on the flat serpentine) and seek an even contact to the rider's hands, they may begin to go out on small hacks. Horses, however, that do not come to remain in the school until they have learned to mount and stabilize the back, take up weight with the hind legs and elevate. 

The latter often suffer from profound irregularities of the backbone. A thorough inspection of their health is due. Do hooves balance? Is the frog healthy? Do they suffer from any physical pain or discomfort in the back, in the head, in the legs? Are they discouraged or even confused? Do they understand the rider? Are they understood by the rider? Why the expressions of resentment, the release of the cantilevered backbone, the lack of cooperation.

The lessons of Straightening One address the line-up of the hindquarters. The lessons of Straightening Two address the elevation of the forehand, which results in the engagement of the haunches. They prepare the horse for lateral work in Straightening Three, which supples and establishes the forehand. By the same token the lessons of Straightening Two make way for repossessing horses that otherwise may be untrainable. These lessons also are the base of a school of equitation that works without opposing (one falsely calls them) aides. The horse's dynamic balance develops under the the rider's tutelage, who directly addresses both the horse's senses and its intelligence. Lessons which, after an initial phase of strengthening in the outdoors, normally render young horses more attentive and resilient before entering advanced training, provide the rider with an access to excessively uneven, badly spoiled and/or unhappily distrusting horses.

In the combination of missing core strength and lacking cooperation, which is typical of disturbed horses, the rider in Straightening Two often has but one option. He fine-tunes, with the before mentioned leading on one rein/hand, in a distinctly reduced tempo the counted walk and thus restores to the horse's self-perception functions, which in false postures and paces were lost. In proper postures he then demands the displacement of weight in the square halt and the turn-around-the-haunches.

In this process the rider thoroughly gets acquainted with his the language of his own body. And he experiences how to work without as much as a hint of force. Force in this type of training has absolutely no chance, because if for instance either horse or rider should put pressure on the one rein, a volte would be the only figure that results. The rider soon discovers that and how he can direct the horse with his body. The horse on the other hand notices that it will not be forced. It calms down and before long signals its willing trust. It is a path without forward, which none-the-less or precisely because of this holds great promise. 

The affinity of this approach to the work of Moshe Feldenkrais or for instance Tai Chi is obvious. The upright human body and the largely horizontally distributed equine body are both optimized for movement in the field of gravity. False body orientations, which rely on movement rather than core muscles disturb the horse's posture and locomotion. Only after they are corrected, not the least by repositioning the neck, do movements flow again and peace enters. This repositioning and a concordant rebalancing is for many horses the only chance to gain a sense of their mounted dynamic balance and gain mobility other than in the forward direction.

Depending on the horse's temperament, the degree of its damages and the quality of the rider's demands progress in this phase will set in soon, slowly or not at all. Not infrequently really troubled horse will at first refuse cooperation completely. On the other hand many quickly take pleasure in the suppling and at last liberating effects of these lessons. Their success are a witness to the quality of the rider's requests.

During this phase of training regular time in the pasture, if possible in a group, work in liberty and walks in hand help the horse to find its mental and emotional balance. Also helpful are controlled transitions between gates and speeds on long lines at a medium length longe combined with calm lateral work in hand. The horse is at its best in regular smooth locomotion. Sudden starts and explosions are a witness to stress and blockages in the body.

The rider with really disturbed horses, however, often encounters yet another problem. Such horses are not only warped and lack stability. They also are set to escape what they perceive as trouble with forward movements that resemble the flight instinct. They have no image of themselves as calm, weight-bearing partners. They do not halt on a wink from the rider's seat. On the other hand they also are afraid of the bit and any reining actions on the bit only increases stress and anxiety.

With this sort of horse it is best to resort to the very first step of training: The turn-around-the-shoulders. Done on a lighter than light rein, slowly and with precision the horse has a chance to understand the rider in a new way. It gains a learning experience with many levels. Alternated with walks in hand it encounters the rider as friend and partner and chances are it comes around as a process of physical and mental commences.

The rider who chooses this path soon realizes that the problems he deals with almost always have their root in severe problems of the horse's core. Be they physical or mental. A change of paradigm is due. The equitation he thus enters is not about performance and success. It is a new sort of togetherness, which by and by permits him to properly ride the horse from the core and gives the horse a chance to master itself. 

10. A New World and the Novice Rider

As long as the horse's hindquarters are not lined-up and the neck base not raised, the setting of the poll, the orientation of the neck and the distribution of the ribs follow the lines the horse walks on. That is, the horse sets the poll and turns in longitudinal bend following the direction of the rider's eyes. On smaller turns it in addition adjusts in the ribs. The rider follows the horse's movements and with rendering a beneficial influence, by the same token prepares for communication and straightness. 

Entirely straight the horse can walk only after both hind legs track towards the center of weight and after the base of the neck and the withers have elevated. Only then the stirring functions of the upper head and neck, the lateral bending of the neck and corresponding adjustments in the ribs develop their full significance, in unison with the mounting of the back and resilient haunches. Only then does the horse fully give itself and is able to carry the rider without damaging its body.

With proper preparation in progressions of What after all Do these Lessons Do? the horse's readiness and accord, which both are aspects of mobilization, often set in at once unannounced and simultaneous. And exactly therein lies the mystery of equitation. Long and low, on the way to straightness and put together, elevated and straight are different worlds. That which the rider in the former world was able to address but with proper figures, in the latter is the result of direct communication and mutual understanding. 

What exactly happens in this other, this new world in the horse's body or for that matter in the rider is not fully known. In due time it will be discovered and evident to all, that I am certain of. For the time being only equitation itself provides evidence and, if you want, proof that in the horse there is another horse which, with improved innervations and perfect posture/balance, gives witness to the mounted horse's dynamic balance.

Fact is the horse needs not learn this true form, which resides at the root of all equine manifestations. The greater the rider's respect for relevant details while preparing the horse, the sooner and the safer he will in due time encounter this other horse in the horse. And then the world opens and entirely new options lie at their feet. Just as a horse in grazing mode hardly resembles the horse in display mode, the horse in preparation is not the positioned horse.

Keys to this other horse and world are straightness, uprightness and elevation. And, once this metamorphosis has taken place the rider does well to take possession. No mindless laps without goals, tasks, communication and/or friendship, but postures, orientations and bends are now due, which improve the horse resilience, intelligence and enablement. And just as the horse's preparations are characterized by simple lessons, employed to habituate the horse to the rider's weight and his effects, the elevated horse's life is characterized by an adequate address of the stirring units in the horse's upper head and neck, lateral distributions and the pliability of the ribs.

Before introducing appropriate new lessons, their benefit and proper progression, however, the rider's learning must be addressed: The phases of What after all Do these Lessons Do not only are about the horse's straightness. They also represent a proper school of training for the rider in all basic questions of equitation. While hindquarters line-up the horse needs simple, calm and consistent instructions. All is clearly laid out and well-arranged. Whatever does not work today will, with improved efficiency, will work tomorrow and soon be no more remembered. All takes place in a program of simple alternations between walk and halt. There is no rush. The rider is informed, knows and implements necessary safety standards. He keeps communication and consent going.

As soon as the horse gets to, however, it normally is prepared for a change of footfalls, first in the trot and soon in easy canter strike-offs in the school, and soon thereafter in the outdoors. It is up to the novice to assess if and when he and his disciple can venture the sitting trot. More than anything success herewith depends on mutual understanding. Does trust and calm rule the relationship? Does the horse stop promptly and halt dependably? Does it follow the rider's instructions with precision? Are horse and rider friends, do they care for one another? On the other hand a rider's lack of self-assurance and and hold-ups in his flow of energy can easily unsettle a young horse and bring on unpredictable problems.

Therefore, in case of doubt, it may make sense for the novice rider to first gain experience with the horse's locomotion in the trot and in the canter on the lunge, and under the tutelage of an experienced teacher learn to sit still and be quiet while he accompanies the movements of the horse's body. One thing is obvious. By the time the horse mobilizes the rider must be fully aware of and in command of his body. The body is his instrument and means of communication. 

Finally. Disturbed horses belong into the hands of experienced riders, who know to maintain peace in the presence of profound problems. Improvements of mental and physical health almost always accompany the process of recovery. Riders with deficiencies in their muscular-skeletal system belong into the hands of experienced therapists. Only when existing tensions and structural malfunctions in his body are recognized and removed will the horse be able to interpret him completely and correctly. 

Well-directed movement programs, be they for the horse or the rider, soon result in normalizations, which often show their effects particularly in the human far beyond equitation. Without restrictions horse and rider will soon be able to join forces and, with due concern for safety, be able to conquer their world. 

Workshop 2011: The Orientation of the Rider's Hands

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I. The horse's posture and the rider's hands interact

1. While the horse is long and low the rider's palms are turned down

2. When the horse begins to elevate the rider's palms face each other. Hands are upright

3. After the horse has mobilized the rider's palms can turn up

Note: In the following lessons the rider's calm body control, direction of eyes and intent play the leading part.

II. In a balanced horse a turn of the rider's two hands produces side stepping. It is the same movement as a leg yield. The rider may also turn hands individually.

1. When one palm turns up and the other palm turns down both thumbs point into one direction. The rider looks into their direction and softly closes both legs. The balanced horse follows the direction of thumbs and eyes, and steps sideways.

2. The rider's outside hand, turned palm down, effects the croup fore. The inner hand remains upright.

3. The rider's inside hand, turned palm down, effects the shoulder fore (=croup out). The outer hand remains upright.

Note: The most logical introduction to the turns of the rider's hand is done with both hands, palm down. Raising one hand into upright position impacts the same-sided shoulder and passes on to the diagonal hind leg.

III. When the horse elevates much has changed. The rider's hands now work differenty

1. A movement that at once turns the palm up, turns in the wrist (and with it, shortens the rein) bends the horse and brings the croup in. The outside hand remains upright.

2. Turning the outside hand, palm up, brings the rein closer to the horse's neck, distributes the horse's weight toward the diagonal inner hind leg and by the same token effects the three track shoulder in. The inside hand remains upright.

3. Interestingly enough the effect of the turned up outside palm continues, even when the hand moves away from the neck and becomes a directional rein. The inside hand works propulsively as it moves towards the horse's neck.

Note: Shoulder in and croup in displace fore and hindquarters individually. The following lesson displaces the forehand into one direction while displacing the hindquarters into the opposite direction. The horse thus turns around the center directly under the rider's upright vertebra.

IV. The turn around the center prepares the swivel, which in turn prepares for free transitions between all lateral movements. The effects of the turning hand follow the same logic.

1. To initiate the turn around the center the rider leads the horse on a volte and turns both thumbs towards the outside. The horse's shoulders come in and the diameter of the volte diminishes until, finally, the horse turns around its center, which is located right under the rider's upright vertebra. The inside hand, palm down, leads.

2. If in the turn around the center the horse is kept straight (that is, the vertebra is lined up in a straight line) the horse tends to elevate. The rider's hands remain the same. The outside hand, palm up, now leads.

3. Coming to a gentle halt and then turning the thumbs into the opposite direction prepare for the counter turn around the center. To initiate it the rider curls the inner hand in/palm up. The horse reverses the direction of movement from head to tail and eases into the counter turn around the center. In the process it poises.

Note: The counter turn around the center prepares for fluid counter croup in movements on straight and curved lines and helps to initiate the back up.

V. The turn around the center and the resulting swivel are the fastest and most effective way to turn the horse. They require the least amount of space and/or time. Both lessons balance the horse's fascia trains safely, are uncomplicated and without any risk. As a result the horse elevates, shortens the base and mobilizes.

1. To introduce the swivel the rider leads the horse on a straight line (away from the wall), both reins same length, and transits from side stepping to one side to side stepping to the other side. To effect the swivel the rider alternates the direction of his thumbs and points them into the respective direction of movement.

2. By shortening one rein (or turning in one hand) the rider can determine the degree of the horse's lateral positioning and all over bend. He can thus, according to his plans and purposes, set and bend the horse however he needs and/or wants in one or the other direction.

3. And so the circle closes. With improved resilience the rider by and by can direct the horse in all gaits into every degree of lateralization, bending and/or direction and do transitions between them.

Note: Turns of the hand, on account of actions in the rider's fascia trains, perfectly prepare the rider's seat. Soon the rider can command lateral movements not only in the walk but in all gaits from the seat alone. In due time he will lead the horse with both reins in one hand, or with no reins at all. 

One Flat Hand

On the Eight

We begin on the eight in the walk with one hand palm down. The other hand is upright. As a result the horse on one loop of the eight develops the shoulder-fore. It turns into croup-fore on the other loop. In due time the rider will bring the flat hand into upright position and turn the other palm down. That is all. No change of direction. Simply continue on the eight and alternate from shoulder-fore to croup-fore as before. The horse now does both lessons in mirror image.

It soon will be obvious that these lessons work only if the horse responds promptly to the rider's eyes and their change of direction. I.e. some sort of centering must have taken place and the rider's intent must be undivided.  As the eyes turn the rider takes his head and neck and shoulders along. He sits still and permits the acting hand to do the rest.

Results will be immediate as long as neither horse nor rider pull on each other, and if the horse has taken up a zero contact to the rider's flat hand. If results are lacking the reader may want to refer to previous chapters (see start-up) and make sure the walk without contact to the bit, the taking up of the reins, stopping and halting, the medium size eight, first side steps and the long serpentine work properly. Special tutoring may not be necessary. 

What exactly happens in the horse's body in these shifts from shoulder-fore to croup-fore and concurrent changes of direction...? The horse in fact alternates between shoulder-fore and croup-fore of the other hand. It changes direction continuously and bends first to one and then to the other side. Front legs and hind legs are alternately displaced. Shoulders and croup are suppled. The horse is prepared for lateral movements and flying changes. It varies between the trot and the canter position and improves in all over resilience. Each hind leg is in turn loaded as the inside or outside hind leg.

Soon the horse will be able to step sideways on a straight line and shift with ease from left bending to bending right. But that is not all. The lesson "One Hand Flat on the Eight" contains nothing that may result in a breakdown of communication. The horse obeys fascia trains in the rider's body, which are activated with the eyes' change of direction and the turn of one wrist.

The orientations of the hands transfer to the rider's body/seat and on to the horse's body and direct it without any additional impacts from the rider. No opportunity arises for misinterpretations. And, as long as the rider respects any physical limitations the horse may have harmony abides. The flow of their individual and their joined energies never is disturbed. What's more, the rider can fully trust the effect of his eyes and hand. They safely and precisely direct the horse, despite any short-comings in the rider's seat and/or possible false concepts in the rider's mind.

This lesson also should not be overdone. It should not register as work in the horse's perception. Horses often shorten their frame and lift their steps in the process. They subsequently should be permitted to lengthen their frame in a small trot and/or on a ride out. Calm trot/canter transitions on the lunge mobilize the horse. If in the course of the eight with one hand flat the horse begins to swish the tail the lesson should be interrupted.

On the Square

The square may as well be a rectangle. In contrast to the eight there are no continuous changes of hands. On the other hand there are corners. Long and low is Kindergarten, elevation and position are school. The horse's full mobilization not only is university, but life itself. To that effect horse and rider should not linger too long with one flat hand. There none-the-less, however, is good reason to understand the functions of one flat hand also in context of correcting the horse's warp.

The lesson "One Flat Hand on the Eight" normally works at once and without any introduction. It is demanding and soon reveals, which if any of the horse's fascia trains don't flow freely. The rider draws his conclusions and may prefer to walk the horse along a square to activate curtailed fascia trains by transitioning between shoulder-fore and croup-fore on straight lines.

Lateral movements without ongoing changes of hands allow for a more targeted and less demanding approach. They do, however, require a step forward in the rider's growing dexterity. Because on the square alternations between shoulder-fore to croup-fore are no longer the result of the figure eight, a turn of the rider's eyes and the rotation of one hand.

Doing named transitions on straight line the rider keeps on looking into the direction of movement. While leading the horse on the second hoof track he rotates the inner side of his body back and makes the inner hand flat, thus effecting the croup-out, which at this point equals the shoulder-fore. He turns his outer side back and makes the outside hand flat to effect the croup-fore. Seat or hand can take the lead. The acting hand changes.

These lessons also should not be overdone. Occasional stops, halts and breathing help. When the horse begins to elevate the rider can proceed to shoulder-in and croup-in. However, with the change of position the orientations of his hands will change. The horse will be giving in the ribs and the angle will be larger. Flat hands will be replaced by upright hands and other effects will take place. These also correspond with the horse, now in elevation. Additional and/or different fascia trains in the rider's body will be activated. Again their effects transfer to the horse's body one-to-one. 

Leading Hand

During preparative work on the eight and the square any faults in the horse's bio-mechanics and a resulting curtailment in the fluidity of its fascia skeleton soon emerge. A change of lead may help to lighten them.

Let's take an example. Horse and rider walk right hand and, to effect the shoulder-fore, the rider turns down his right palm. It may be the case that the horse does not respond to the flat inside hand and nothing much in the way of the demanded shoulder-fore happens. In such cases it may be useful to change the leading from the now flat right to the now left upright hand, without any changes in the orientation of the hands. That is, the rider, in place of with the flat right hand, makes contact with his upright left hand and moves it towards the horse's neck. The diagonal inner right hind leg is loaded and the requested shoulder-fore instantly emerges.

The lead changes from an direct inside rein to an indirect outside rein. These two rein effects are carried out, not with lateral movements of the under arms, but with rotations of the rider's wrists, which originate in the elbows. The rider continues to supple the horse as outlined, until he can lead on both hands, flat or upright, alike.

 

 

Illustrations...

Illustrations...