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November 2007 • VOLUME 27 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine
Self-carriage, collection, freedom of movement, harmony: how do we accomplish this? Are these qualities we hope to achieve only after years of work? Is it a distant goal? Or is it possible to obtain the object of dressage in the earliest moments? The object of dressage, as described by the Federation Equestre Internationale, contains these wonderful words: happy, athlete, harmonious, education, calm, loose, supple, flexible, confident, attentive, keen, understanding. The physical manifestation of these qualities are well described in many dressage texts and are hugely important. Biomechanics is vitally important to the athletic endeavor of dressage. But if you look at the words listed in the object of dressage, you will notice that the majority of the words are describing a mental/emotional state. Even the word ‘athlete’ has an emotional aspect; it is someone who works hard because they enjoy it. We know they enjoy it if, when given an option of freedom, they choose to show up and do it again. Someone who works hard only because they must, is a slave.
The Mind, Emotions and Body are all equal doorways to the whole horse. Each affects the other. Each has a particular way that deficiencies show up, and strategies needed to solve them. In some dressage training, the shape or positioning of the body is too often the top priority. Often the game is to train the body in a way that hopefully isn’t at the expense of the mind. The opposite is often seen in ‘natural horsemanship’ trainers; the mind/emotions of the horse are developed, hopefully not at the expense of the body. Can you imagine if we, as horsemen, had the tools to go through each of the doorways, (mental, emotional and physical), to develop the whole horse in a balanced healthy way... creating horses that are not only able, but are also ready and willing to an equally high degree? The physical aspect of the horse is the easiest to see. Humans are very visual creatures, but sometimes we do miss the forest for the trees.
The posture and picture of a horse being ridden in connection with the reins and moving harmoniously and balanced with good biomechanics has a very particular physical look. It is easy to be fooled by the illusion that the posture can be created only by talking to the body alone. It is often thought we must make the body go there in order for the horse to be able to end up being balanced and harmonious. Then, after he is strong and positioned correctly, he will feel happy because now he can do the movement. This is sometimes true, but it also can be where the trouble begins. Perhaps the horse can do the movement, but maybe he never really cared about doing anything for the rider in the first place. Or he was scared to begin with, and now feels trapped inside the rider’s aids. Now he still doesn’t care, the work is harder, the pressure is increased and he is becoming stronger! This is how to create a monster!
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