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LATEST NEWS |
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16/11/09
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Very well, the first huge chun...
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The following article is an excerpt of
'The Code' - HD Encyclopaedia |
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~ The Contact ~ |
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(from The Symbiotic Perfection and The Art of Dressage) |
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This article regards the contact between the horse's mouth and the rider's hands. It is the area where trust in the rider is developed, besides having acquired it from the ground. It is very evident in the jumping horse, and the whole of the Dressage horse's culture is based upon it.
Let's divide the subject into sections:
1) WEIGHT onto the rider's hands through the reins
2) DIALOGUE of the rider through finger movements
3) DIRECTIONAL GUIDANCE of the rider via the reins themselves
4) SUPPORT to horse from the rider's hands
5) CONSTANT PRESENCE of the rider acknowledged by horse through contact
1) The weight a rider feels through to his hands by the reins is individual, and influenced partially by the sensitivity of the rider, and partially by the horse ridden. A young or badly schooled horse will feel heavy on the hands whilst a 'cultured' horse will not. The correct weight for every horse and for each and every one of us is very easy to discern: if the horse is moving forward flowingly, whether light or heavy on his forehand, the weight is correct. If he runs away, it's too light. If he's not moving freely forward, it's too much.
Bad mouths are ALL resolved through good schooling, so for this you'll find in-depth info on the article Topline Construction (note: you need to register into HD to enter the major parts of the site, registration is totally free)
2) The dialogue developed between horse and rider is accomplished individually. The best way to have a dialogue is to establish a few finger-movement cues to the horse according to each one's preferences. Personally, for example, if I have to prepare Regal Realm for a flying change from right to left, I'll warn him by twitching delicately my left fourth finger, say three quick twitches, before asking the change with my seat and legs. He, being a cultured horse, knows that this means 'flying change coming up', and makes my aids easier to listen to. To him, it also means start canter left from halt or standstill. This small example is ampled to all movements and all situations - thus creating a very personal 'vocabulary' that only you and your horse know about. Once it has been said, "The greatest secret in the world is found between a horse and his rider". This is one of the things it meant.
3) The reins themselves are a great directional aid - if only optical. An opened hand to the side (therefore an opened rein also) gives visual guidance to the horse, who is invited to move into the space provided. Using the opposite rein close to his neck's skin helps undelining that 'hey, on this side the door is shut, while on the other the door is open'. The hands must in any case remain level to each other, or the cue is distorted and the mouthpiece twists in the mouth - creating confusion, distraction and discomfort to the (poor) horse.
4) The rider's support to the horse is VITAL for good training. Imagine yourself running towards a small country wall and you have to hop over it - you'd probably lean with one hand upon it for a fraction of a second while leaping over, correct? That 'fraction of a second' is what horses ask for to perform transitions, lateral movements, haute ecole movements, jump, run, stop - anything. The clever rider will develop a position in the saddle stable enough to be able to release the horse's given weight through the hands/reins/shoulders/back right into and through the heels into nowhere, towards the ground. The clever rider becomes an instrument through which the horse finds his ideal balance - so said rider must check constantly that he/she is sitting correctly and comfortably for the horse.
To give the horse support, the horse must first accept it and TAKE it. A-ha, that's the difficult part, for it is based on trust. Trust is built via constant confirmations that things are always the same, and pleasant. A horse is a horse, he's going to take his own good time to trust you - especially, like most, if he's had dull or bad experiences in his past. A horse's mouth is a JEWEL, so so precious and so easily ruined. The sensitivity itself of a horse's mouth is pretty irrelevant regarding trust - trust is built, step by step - and you can have a hard-mouthed horse who becomes light on the forehand (and on your hands) through quality schooling and TRUST building. These are all connected, there are no short cuts here. Of course, a horse will happily take a contact if the bit is the correct size, width, and generally comfortable to live with. He will never begin to listen to the rider's hands through a severe, thin bit - and even less if 'gadgets' of sorts are in the way, say draw reins or gogues or else. These cut out completely any dialogue the hand may try to obtain with the horse.
Physical cues are what reach the horse first right after 'love'. It is fundamental that one hand is ALWAYS there ONLY for support, and the other is there for dialogue, cues, guidance, relaxation of the jaw cues, etc. The hand that must ALWAYS be just still and supportive is the outside hand. It means that when you ride, your outside hand (to the centre of the arena or related to the direction your moving in) is feeling the mouth with the weight you decided is correct and THAT'S IT. It's passive. It NEVER moves. It may move for an open rein aid, or following an extension of the neck (placing of head) but the weight in it NEVER changes. The fingers NEVER move. The outside rein is the constant, permanent support a horse looks for. Why the outside? Because the best way to keep a horse straight is to ride him between inside leg and outside hand - but this is material for another whole article.
If, say, you ride a left hand turn at any gait and you 'give' with your outside hand, the horse will probably bulge out through his shoulder towards the outside of the turn. Try opening your inside rein (opening, NOT pulling) and DON'T give with the outside. If your legs have given enough impulsion for the turn, your horse will go left rounding around your inside leg, lift his back and turn exactly where you wanted him to turn. Try this: walk with a good contact. Contain the walk for a stride or two, open your inside rein and HOLD the outside rein exactly the same as when you were walking an instant before, don't pull, don't give. Sit back, push with your outside leg at the girth, and voilà! There you have a quarter turn on the haunches with him crossing his front legs - which is the intro of a pirouette, or an excellent turn to a jump. This without straining the horse's back, or his hocks, or his MIND! And he doesn't need schooling for this - it's just a matter of balance.
Going back on trust, the continual presence of a supporting outside hand is what any horse dreams of, whatever age, whatever ability. It's just there and he knows it's there and WILL be forever there. He can lean on it a bit. He will give onto it. He, most of all, will move through it. So let's tackle the last section....
5) By continuous presence I mean exactly that. If you observe one hundred refusals at a fence, you'll see that at least 90 times the horse was 'dropped' at take-off. By this I mean that the rider gave exaggeratedly with the hands, releasing contact/support to horse, and horse found himself in deep water, as we call it. If you let go of contact suddenly, the horse is lost, loses balance and has no idea what to do next. Most of all, he'll expecting you to do it again, losing confidence and trust. This 'dropping' happens in jumping, in Dressage (with transitions for example), almost in anything. On the other hand, it is the most effective 'tool' to use if a horse pulls your arms off and bolts off with you - instinctively, we hold even more, but try dropping the contact altogether: he'll lose balance, and either fall on his nose or stop bolting at once. Dropping the horse is bad, and yanking the horse in the mouth over a jump is even worse...there are many ways the hands can destroy the horse's trust in the rider. It must be kept in mind.
By keeping a constant, reassuring contact, the horse knows always and exactly where we are at any time, boosting his confidence. Besides, a constant contact will make our aids clearer and definite, easier for the horse to discern and understand. Most of all, it gives the horse the feeling he's being kindly held together (by hand and leg) and guided gently into pleasant physical exercises, whichever they may be that we prefer.
"Good hands" are a mixture of different aspects and use of the hands and the reins. The bit is the instrument by which all this is decoded to the horse - so the more severe the bit, the least trust and dialogue one can expect to achieve with his/her horse.
RR
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