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December 2007 • VOLUME 28 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine
Letter To The Editor
In M. Racinet's article -”The Hand” (Dressage & CT, December '94, #99), he states that the proper manner of holding the whip is in the vertical (perpendicular) position. There are two ways to achieve this position: the hand must be tilted back from the wrist, resulting in a stiff, cocked wrist, or the forearm must be exaggeratedly raised, severely breaking the ideal straight line from the elbow to through the rein to the bit. In both cases, the whip will lie in front of the rider's knee, a placement more conducive to activating the foreleg, as in the Spanish walk, than the hindquarters.
Since riding with four whips in hand is not a viable alternative, surely the first goal of the dressage rider is the whip position which most readily influences the hindquarters activity.
Lois P. Bixby
Milford, NH
The Democratic Rider
Jean-Claude Racinet
It is very easy to undo my contradictor's argumentation, since in each of the three examples she proposes, the rider displays a tightly closed fist. And of course, if the fingers are constantly and firmly squeezing the reins, it is impossible to keep the whip vertical without lifting the hand in an exaggerated way. Here lies all the problem. In the horsemanship I promote, the tight fist is the exception, and of course when this exceptional case occurs, the whip quits its position of rest, which is vertical, to more or less come into the position of the “Bereiter” of Vienna (incidentally, how unnecessarily strong his hand looks!).
Another instance when the whip quits its position of rest is when the rider has to apply its action on the horse's body, and this can be wherever it is needed, not only on the hocks, not only on the shoulders, not only on the front legs, not only on the croup, but also on the rump, behind the saddle: everywhere! In the baroque time, riders would cut a twig from a tree (usually a hazel tree) and hold it vertically, upright, in their right hand (the left hand holding the reins). Then they would apply this very “natural” aid - most often by soft contacts - wherever it was necessary in order to position the horse's body properly .
Hands relaxed and ajar on the reins, position of rest with the crop, these are the two master phrases to understand the principle of the vertical whip.
And now, let's get down to brass tacks.
When I wrote, in the incriminating article, that the whip should be held vertically, I certainly was not expecting that this would pass without strong reactions from some readers, since it goes so much against contemporary trends. I am even surprised that this reaction has been so long in coming.
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