In everything from pleasure riding to Grand Prix dressage, self carriage will give you a comfortable ride and a long lived, free from injury, happy horse.

A horse is in self carriage when he is moving forward freely and rhythmically, when his feet hit the ground softly and when his back is elevated to carry us comfortably and with strength.

And he does all that, with no rein and no leg to frame him up. It is truly the horse carrying himself – with no need for us to interfere.

And it’s seriously nice to ride!

When they are in self carriage, it is possible for our horse to carry our weight on their backs much, much more comfortably than otherwise. I was re-assured when I put on heaps of weight when I stopped smoking, to realize that with my horse’s back elevated, he could carry me with ease. Injuries and back problems are dramatically reduced, if not eliminated. In fact, I have noticed that old injuries can actually heal when a horse is free from fear and in self carriage.

So how can we get it?

Well, that’s the thing – we (the human) can’t get it. The horse has to get it – it’s the horse’s self carriage.

When our horse is in their comfort zone, they move in self carriage, naturally. And a horse is in their comfort zone when they are free from fear. Thus, when a horse is free from fear, they move in self carriage.

Self carriage is destroyed by any kind of force, which is why the hyper flexed, rollkured horses do not have the elevated backs of self carriage or the correctly elevated backs of real collection. In fact, lack of proper back elevation is one of the ways that you can pick a horse who has been trained with rollkur.

Now that I know how to achieve self carriage so simply, it’s easy for me to sit here and say “how come everyone doesn’t know how to do this?” I am laughing to myself as I write this. I see even beginner riders achieving it sometimes in days, sometimes in weeks, depending on how much fear they need to work out with their horse.

It’s quite simple, you get self carriage, the first and absolutely essential foundation to collection, by making it possible for your horse to live every aspect of his life without fear – on the ground and in the saddle.

Printed with kind permission of Jenny Pearce, author of “Zen Connection With Horses – a practical guide to inter-species communication”

At this time in history the classical school of dressage is very strong and is suffering little conflict in their theories and methods of training. However, the competitive world is suffering greatly. There are a lot of horses that are being rushed through the process because of the desire to compete. They are ridden with new methods of training to shortcut the old methods through the rider’s talent to take a horse falsely to the FEI levels.

Currently there is an upsurge in the classical methods helping the competitive world. I have had a lot of personal success using these classical principles and theories with riders and horses. I would like to suggest a book by Sylvia Loch, The Classical Rider. It points out that dressage riders in the top levels of competition, even at the Olympic levels, are utilizing classical methods to achieve lightness and self-carriage in their performances.

How I compare the difference between the competitive and classical methods is that the competitive school focuses on riding the horse into the contact with forward expression of the horse’s gaits while the classical method focuses on lightness of aids and contained expression of the gaits in self-carriage.

My Methods of developing a competitive performance resonate to the theories of the classical school. I prefer the classical methods of training because they focus on developing the dressage horse through the fundamentals of procedure, ground training, lightness of aids, harmony and unity. I also believe that the classical method provides the competitive rider with more support in developing the rider’s skill in horsemanship for dressage.

It seems as though the competitive world is having a problem getting the dressage horse to articulate his hocks and use his muscles to pick the foot off the ground. This problem occurs when the rider focuses on the driving the horse into the contact before the horse is articulating his hocks. I believe that a horse should be warmed up each time using suppling exercises, like the Überstreichen Exercises before he is ridden to the contact.

When I develop the dressage horse and rider in the classical theories, I find that the jump is easier to put into the horse once the hocks of the horse are articulating nicely. From there I can build a submissive, active and competitive performance without blocked muscles and resistance. After the horse is in control using classical methods of lightness and in-hand work the horse can be ridden to the contact with the lightest of aids. If the horse is pushing his steps before the hocks are articulating there is no suspension in his gait. When this happens, the horse becomes longer in his frame and on the forehand, heavy and locked, and the war is on.

If the rider does not understand that a horse can be ridden on a dropped contact or with a non-influencing rein and have the horse remain through, expressive and forward, the rider will create an incorrect balance between contact and self-carriage.

Another problem is that riders get confused about the meaning of forward. A forward horse is active without a persisting leg aid to stay active. It does not mean a horse that is in a hurry, taking quick, short steps. It does not mean a horse that would go faster if you let go of the contact.

A forward horse is a horse that is relaxed and performing at the top of his ability with free articulating joints and suspension in his stride with the look that he is leaving the ground more that returning to the ground. Forward is a quality of the mind of the horse, that when you ask him to perform, he performs willingly and with ease. Forward is without resistance. Forward means that the horse is active without the persistence of the leg aid. Forward is when the transitions from walk, trot and canter could be made easily without change of speed or rhythm from a quiet seat and soft hand.

It is a lot to think about, but all the problems that are occurring in the competitive world could be corrected by using the classical methods of dressage. If you think about it, once you put the leg and rein aids on the horse correctly, the horse is like a piano. A piano is a generic instrument. You can play classical music or jazz on the same piano. The only requirement is that the piano be in tune.

There are many ways of developing the dressage horse. My interest is to use the lightest aids from the beginning to create the maximum performance in each horse. I find that taking the time to develop the horse through the fundamentals of the classical methods builds the horse’s understanding and willingness to perform. In the end it is the fastest way to create a fully schooled dressage horse. Using the principles of the classical school of dressage, no horse or rider is put to a task that they can not achieve.

In unity there is harmony. Dressage is the practice of unity between horse and rider.

Unity is an art, the formula of practice, and the first and last step in dressage. Getting the resistance out of a horse when the horse is resistant is not dressage.

It is important to remember to keep the philosophy of dressage in the act of riding and training your horse. One rule that should never be broken is to never ask your horse to perform any movement before he is prepared and willing to try.

Joni Bentley is the originator of The Bentley Technique. The Bentley Technique is a simple way to realign your own and your horse’s spine – which naturally awakens your innate capacity for comfort and grace in riding. Heuschmann has a passion for helping the dressage world become aware of the terrible damage being done to horses in today’s competitive riding circuit. He is a Grand Prix rider and an international speaker and teacher. His workshops and talks highlight the injuries he sees as a veterinarian to other Grand Prix horses. He teaches a natural, biomechanical approach to training.

Joni: What you say about good functional connections between the head, neck, and back in the horse was discovered 100 years ago in people by F.M. Alexander – the originator of the Alexander Technique. It’s very exciting for me as an Alexander teacher and horse trainer to see how your teachings on the biomechanics of the horse support what I’ve been saying – and doing – for 20 years.

I’m particularly interested in your theory that good training encourages the base of the horse’s neck to lift and move forwards up and out of the shoulders. That takes on the responsibility of supporting the rider’s weight, leaving the locomotion muscles in the horse’s back and abdomen free to do their work. Would you elaborate on that?

Gerd: This question is key! Good riding creates a balanced horse. Balance means you keep the whole body working well as a unit. In this, there’s no difference between a warmblood or a quarter horse, or between an American, French, or German trainer.

The centre of movement in a horse is the back – the long back muscles are made to move the horse, not carry a rider. Yet the rider sits on the horse’s back. So we need to use different parts of the horse’s body to bring his back up into balance.

Another key, as Philippe Karl (author of Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage) says, is the rider’s contact with the mouth. The back can’t be supple and the hind legs can’t step under if the mouth, poll, and neck aren’t supple and relaxed. If the mouth isn’t soft, if the nose isn’t on the vertical and the jaw relaxed, then the neck can’t flex laterally, and the horse won’t open his throatlatch and search for the bit. So the key is for the poll to be supple, flexible, and soft. Then you get the rest.

Joni: I think a serious problem in today’s dressage world is the role models for young, ambitious riders.

Look at these photos of the 2008 World Cup Final.

Modern dressage - example A

Even though the horse can’t bend any more, the rider is still pulling, completely wrapped up in her success.

Modern dressage - example B

Take a look inside the horse’s mouth.The poor horse’s tongue is purple from being constricted by the bits. The horse is trying to suck his tongue up away from the bits, and the jaw and poll are locked in defence. Surely this goes against all the rules of training? Yet she wins! Purple tongues seem to be accepted nowadays as normal – I just don’t understand it.

Gerd: Yes. We see so many injuries to the mouth and jaw in our clinics.

I say it time and time again: It’s your pulling that pays to build our fine expensive clinics!

As a veterinarian specializing in orthopaedics, I see the results. Suspensory ligaments destroyed, sore backs, sore polls, wounds in the tongue, and even broken jaws. Worst of all are the tight dropped nosebands. When the rider pulls, the noseband presses the horse’s lips against the teeth. This is a very common injury.

What are we doing, we veterinarians – what’s our role in this?

It’s like being a doctor working in the torture chambers of Saddam Hussein. They nearly kill the guys, you repair them, and when they’re healthy you send them back. This is our world, this is what we do. I don’t want to be part of this circus that’s producing poor animals, making a big show, and killing them. This is not the aim of dressage.

It’s a bad thing. And that’s why I refuse to do it.

It’s hard for us Germans, with our classical tradition of training horses, to look at the development of modern dressage. When you look at the rules of dressage written by the FEI, you think you’re in heaven. Then we look at what’s actually happening, and it’s unbelievable. What they’re doing is the exact opposite of the rules.

I love the philosophy behind classical dressage. Our judges have to change. The time has come!

Classical dressage

Compare this example of classical dressage to the following photos of today’s dressage.

Modern dressage - example C

Modern dressage - example D

Joni: Yes – it’s as if the judges are blind. The pictures in the books on classical training show how beautifully the FEI rules can be expressed – how did we get from there to where we are today?

I mentioned F.M. Alexander earlier. He discovered that for a human to achieve good posture, the neck must be free and allowed to lengthen up out of the shoulders. Then the head can move forwards and up while the back lengthens and widens in an opposing stretch down to the ground. Francois de la Gueriniere found the same thing applies in the horse, as have you.

In developing my training techniques, I took Alexander’s approach and applied it to horses and riders together. It’s been a powerful way of re-educating riders to work with the way their bodies and their horses’ bodies naturally move.

Gerd: That’s right. Like you, I work with many damaged horses that have mostly draw rein experiences. They’re compressed even further by riders with stiff seats and ridged hands. I’ve learned that if you offer a very soft contact, without worrying about the head and neck position, and you feel for the hind leg with a listening seat, the horse engages behind release his poll and jaw and starts to chew.

Joni: Many riders come to my workshops trying to use Philippe Karl’s technique of relaxing the jaw, as he describes in his book. They’ve often badly misunderstood how it works. They have no awareness of how they’re using their hands or how the horse is reacting in his mouth. Without this awareness, riders feel like nothing is happening, and start trying to force the horse. Then, as Philippe said to me,

“The horse defends in the mouth. His whole body goes into contraction and it’s all over, you may as well put him back in the stable.”

That’s why this is the first lesson I teach in my workshops. I start with what you refer to as the first grade of bending, using voltes. When you bend the horse with the outside rein, the voltes stretch the outside of the horse and work the inside hind. That relaxes tightness and one-sidedness. As a natural consequence, the horse starts to seek the contact, softening his jaw and chewing. Then you can go on to the second-grade bending, flexing the poll.

The best thing about starting with first-grade bending is that riders don’t have to be very experienced. That’s important, because we need to work this way from the beginning. Philippe says it’s ridiculous how trainers ignore the mobility and softness of the jaw and tongue. Many trainers get it more at the level of piaffe, but it should be at the beginning, not the end of training!

I think this is a serious shortfall in our riding education. Riders need, as we agree, to do less and feel more. To think and give the horse time and space to react.

Gerd: Yes! This is very similar to my training, and it’s key. And this misunderstanding you mention – it’s a big problem. When these concepts we’re describing are misinterpreted, the training doesn’t work. Then the trainers get frustrated and start forcing the horse. Many people want to work on the horse actively, and there I see a problem. In reality, the more you come forward in your own education, as you are suggesting, the less you need to do, not more.

Joni: It’s so difficult for me when students have role models such as this Olympics winner, where the horse has yielded as much as he can, the rider is still pulling, and nobody even notices that his tongue is purple. It’s been wonderful to have you on my side, with the authority you have as a veterinarian and an international speaker

Gerd: You’re right. We have to create more understanding. We have to educate people and make them aware how important this is. It’s difficult, because in our society the emphasis is on showmanship. But the rider has to start to feel, to wait, and to think, and not to do.

Joni: And to enjoy and love what they are doing, and that precious relationship with the horse.

Gerd: That’s it! Do you remember the quote from Xenophon? The horse should be your friend, not your slave. He needs to be your friend, and then he does everything happily for you.

Article taken from Joni Bently’s site http://www.jonibentley.co.uk.

Apologies for those of you who could not listen in live via the webcast player. For some reason it decided not to work yesterday, the first time this has happened in a year. However, I hope the replay above is of some recompense if you also did not manage to call in by phone. There will hopefully be a transcription of the call coming soon too.

Carolyn Resnick:

“A teacher of mine once said to me that you should be able to ride with string for reins and if you can’t, then you’re no horseman.”

For those of you interested in learning more about Carolyn’s Uberstreichen Excercises, she has just begun a free class on them, which is happening over on her Horsemanship From The Ground Up blog.

What is Rollkur?

Rollkur, or hyperflexion of the horse’s neck, is defined by the FEI (Fédération Equestre Internationale, the international governing body for all Olympic equestrian disciplines) as:

A technique of working/training used to provide a degree of longitudinal flexion of the mid-region of the neck. Hyperflexion cannot be self-maintained by the horse for an extended period of time.

In everyday terms, this exercise uses reins and pressure from the bit to pull the horse’s nose to its chest, thus over-bending the neck.

Why is it an issue?

Rollkur utilizes force to pull the horse’s head down to its chest. In this position the horse cannot see in front of itself, its breathing is impaired, and many experts and professionals believe rollkur may damage the horse both physically and psychologically. Ridden this way, the horse’s natural dynamic movement is lost, and classical dressage movement, as defined by the FEI’s own standards, becomes impossible.

If rollkur is so terrible why are riders using the technique winning at the upper levels of the sport?

Ask the FEI. The following is excerpted from the FEI Rules available to anyone as a downloadable PDF from their website. Read and compare to the Epona TV video. Search for online videos of winning FEI riders for the past few years and compare what’s being rewarded with the actual written standards.

Chapter I Dressage
Article 401 OBJECT AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF DRESSAGE
The object of dressage is the development of the horse into a happy athlete through harmonious education. As a result, it makes the horse calm, supple, loose and flexible, but also confident, attentive and keen, thus achieving perfect understanding with the rider.

These qualities are revealed by:
• The freedom and regularity of the paces.
• The harmony, lightness and ease of the movements.
• The lightness of the forehand and the engagement of the hindquarters, originating from a lively impulsion.
• The acceptance of the bit, with submissiveness/throughness (Durchlässigkeit) without any tension or resistance.

2. The horse thus gives the impression of doing, of its own accord, what is required. Confident and attentive, submitting generously to the control of the athlete, remaining absolutely straight in any movement on a straight line and bending accordingly when moving on curved lines.

3. The walk is regular, free and unconstrained. The trot is free, supple, regular and active. The canter is united, light and balanced. The hindquarters are never inactive or sluggish. The horse responds to the slightest indication of the athlete and thereby gives life and spirit to all the rest of its body.

4. By virtue of a lively impulsion and the suppleness of the joints, free from the paralysing effects of resistance, the horse obeys willingly and without hesitation and responds to the various aids calmly and with precision, displaying a natural and harmonious balance both physically and mentally.

5. In all the work, even at the halt, the horse must be “on the bit”. A horse is said to be “on the bit” when the neck is more or less raised and arched according to the stage of training and the extension or collection of the pace, accepting the bridle with a light and consistent soft submissive contact. The head should remain in a steady position, as a rule slightly in front of the vertical, with a supple poll as the highest point of the neck, and no resistance should be offered to the athlete.

6. Cadence is shown in trot and canter and is the result of the proper harmony that a horse shows when it moves with well-marked regularity, impulsion and balance. Cadence must be maintained in all the different trot or canter exercises and in all the variations of these paces.

7. The regularity of the paces is fundamental to dressage.

Why is this important now?

Rollkur is not new. After Dutch Olympic dressage champion Anky Van Grunsven was videotaped in a warmup arena riding her horse using this method and created a public outcry, the FEI met with a panel of world-class biomechanics and equine anatomy experts in Switzerland on January 31, 2006.

The FEI concluded that there was no evidence that rollkur causes direct harm to the horse when used in the right way by expert riders. They did add, however, that it could cause harm if used incorrectly by inexperienced riders and that hyperflexion cannot be self-maintained by the horse for an extended period of time.

The controversy surrounding rollkur rekindled recently when Epona TV published a video of dressage rider Patrik Kittel riding his stallion Scandic in a World Cup Qualifier in Denmark. The video showed Scandic’s discolored, limp, tongue hanging out of his mouth. The video has created a global outcry. Groups have been formed and petitions are being signed protesting the use of this controversial method and demanding investigation and action by the FEI.

What you can do to help:

Join Heather Moffett’s Blue Tongue Facebook Group for up to the minute updates.

Help get the word out. Put links on your blogs and web pages educating your readers about this issue. YOU MAY REPRINT THIS ARTICLE IN FULL OR TAKE THE LINKS PROVIDED.

Sign the existing petitions.

BAN USAGE OF ROLLKUR

REQUEST FEI TO BAN HYPERFLEXION IN COMPETITION

Use the growing directory of dressage associations and rollkur sponsors to write and complain.

Support riders and trainers who ride and train without using rollkur.
Support companies who sponsor these humane riders and trainers.

Thanks to Billie Hinton for permission to reproduce this article.

VIDEO1

As suggested by Emma:

VIDEO 2

As suggested by SHARON:

VIDEO 3

The FEI condemns all training methods and practices that are contrary to horse welfare. The welfare of the horse has always been and will always be at the core of every aspect of the Federation’s work as the international governing body for equestrian sport.

During its meeting in Copenhagen (DEN) on 15 November, the FEI Bureau had extensive discussion on the issue of hyperflexion. The FEI Bureau insists that, with immediate effect, stewards in all disciplines use the disciplinary measures available to them, such as verbal warnings and yellow warning cards *, to prevent any infringement of FEI rules.

The FEI is now engaged with World Horse Welfare, a leading international equestrian organisation, in addition to continued consultation with riders, trainers, officials and veterinarians to thoroughly research the issues. The further education of stewards will also continue to ensure that welfare issues at FEI events are dealt with promptly and professionally.

The FEI acknowledges and welcomes public opinion and will continue to ensure that the welfare of the horse, which has been central to this debate, will remain its absolute priority.

* If a rider receives two yellow warning cards within one year, he / she is automatically suspended for a period of two months immediately following the event at which the second yellow warning card was received.

A study of the Rollkur technique used in dressage horse training has been carried out in Canada.

In Rollkur, the horse’s neck is hyper flexed so that the nose is very close to, if not touching, the chest. The front of the head is behind the vertical (angled in) instead of being vertical or slightly forward of vertical as in normal poll flexion.

Dr Ute von Borstel and others working at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada conducted a series of tests to investigate whether the technique adversely affects the horse’s welfare.

The FEI’s draft description of Rollkur states that:

“Hyperflexion of the neck is a technique of working/training to provide a degree of longitudinal flexion of the mid-region of the neck. Hyperflexion cannot be self-maintained by the horse for an extended period of time.”

With the help of two equestrian centres – one in Ontario, the other in Ohio – the researchers devised a preference test, to see if horses would choose or avoid Rollkur if they had the choice.

Equine Science Update e-news reports that each horse was ridden into the trunk of a Y-shaped maze and allowed to choose which arm of the maze to take to enter an exercise area. After leaving the maze the horses would be ridden in 20 metre circles in either the Rollkur or normal poll flexion posture, depending on which arm of the maze they had chosen.

Previous training had taught the horses that leaving through the left arm would result in being ridden in the Rollkur posture. Leaving through the right arm resulted in being worked in a normal outline.

A rider would ride the horse into the maze, but allow the horse to choose the exit – and by implication the style of riding that would follow.

Fourteen of the 15 horses in the study chose the normal poll flexion.

Another part of the study involved horses being exposed to a “fear test” whilst being ridden either Rollkur or normally. Each horse suddenly encountered a fear-inducing stimulus: a fan blowing air with plastic strips attached to it; and an umbrella that was opened and closed as the horse approached.

The researchers found that horses tended to have higher heart rates and to react more to the fear-inducing stimulus, when ridden in Rollkur rather than in normal poll flexion.

The researcher concluded:

“Horses show higher levels of discomfort when ridden in a coercively obtained Rollkur posture compared to regular poll flexion, and that they will avoid being ridden in Rollkur if given the choice.”

Impact of riding in a coercively obtained Rollkur posture on welfare and fear of performance horses.
UU von Borstel, IJH Duncan, AK Shoveller, K Merkies, LJ Keeling, ST Millman. Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2009) 116, 228 – 236.
Equine Science Update

There are 10 Uberstreichen Exercises, 8 are done at the sides of the horse and 2 standing in front of the horse. 5 Exercises are focused on training the horse to respond to a rein aid to relax and to give at the poll, neck and shoulders and 5 are lateral flexions. Both sets of 5 begin standing still facing your horse and then they advance to walking and trotting in hand.

In a slow and methodical pace, you can create a connection from the ground that well create a centaur ride and aids that are light from a Method that is based in lightness. Utilizing all 10 Exercises you will see significant results in two to four months in producing self-carriage without a contact rein. It might take you longer and it is important to take it slowly. Training horses is like running a vacuum cleaner. If you are in a hurry, the vacuum cleaner is not as effective as it would be if you pushed it slowly.

You and your horse are ready to start with the Uberstreichen Exercises when you have a good working relationship at liberty and your horse has good ground manners and attitude. You should be able to touch and rub your horse anywhere and pick up his feet easily and when you put his foot back down you can set it gently on the ground on a designated spot. You also need to be able to hold his foot off the ground as long as you need without the horse leaning his weight on you. When you can achieve this, you and your horse have an ability to work together well enough to begin to work with the Uberstreichen Exercises. You should also be able to fly spray your horse and he will stand relaxed. When you can do this, you have the skill in changing your horse’s mind and getting him to do something he would rather not do because you will working with resistance to achieve relaxation. Your horse should be respectful and obedient naturally over small matters and enjoy your company. You need to be able to drive your horse forward on a rope from your request because it is something you will be doing with the Exercises. Your horse needs to be able to walk at your side and halt without the influence of the rope.

As part of my continuing effort to support the readers of my blog, Horsemanship from the Ground Up, I will be offering free beginning instruction on my Uberstreichen Exercises each week over the Winter.

If you would be interested in joining us, I would invite you to visit me at Uberstreichen Exercises with Carolyn Resnick. I look forward to meeting you!