From: Mary
Hi Jessica, I turn to you to make all my major horse training and stable managment decisions. Thanks for being there. I am losing a trainer I have worked with for a couple of years and have very pleased overall with the progress my horse and I have made although I have not followed ALL her advice. My soon-to-leave trainer has long encouraged me to put my coming 6-year-old Lusitano in either a double bridle or at least a Pelham or a Kimberwick. I have kept him in a full-cheek snaffle on the basis of your comments on the subject and I clearly understand that neither my horse nor I are ready for a double bridle. I know you are opposed to using a Pelham for early dressage training and I'd like to understand why. Is the Kimberwick equally as bad? I'm a relative novice having only been riding for about 3 years.
Fino is extremely strong and it is a struggle to keep him on the proper bend on the bit to the left. Would it be mistake to follow my trainers parting advice and use a Kimberwick every once in a while to teach him to stop resisting on the left? This seems to be more a mental issue with him than a physcial one as he can perform a lovely collected canter volte to the left if he feels like it with just a snaffle.
I also wonder what you think about riding with side reins occassionally as a training tool to help with this issue? I rode at a clinic with a different instructor and her solution to the left balance problem was to give up the left rein completely whenever he dropped a shoulder or got heavy so he couldn't lean against it. Whenever I did this with my regular instructor she told me it was a mistake to reward the horse for the incorrectness and to never completely lose contact. Who is right? I've discovered that if I lighten my contact too much he easily counter bends. Help, being between trainers is a bad time to be so confused.
Thanks, Mary
Early dressage training is aimed at relaxing the young horse, then helping him develop a clear, consistent, accurate rhythm in his gaits. Once the relxation and rhythm are established, the rider will work at gymnasticizing the young horse, helping him become supple, flexible, and evenly-developed on both sides. Bending and flexing exercises are part of this education and development, but they're not goals in themselves, and in dressage, there CANNOT be any question of "the end justifying the means". In any case, it won't work! If the rider's or trainer's focus is on creating a certain "look", not on building a horse that will eventually have the strength and flexiblity and understanding to be able to carry itself and move correctly, then that horse is not ever going to be able to develop or move correctly, because there is no way to "fake" the necessary strength OR flexibility OR understanding.
If you've ever taken ballet lessons, you'll know that it takes time and effort and a systematic program of progressive exercises to create in a young dancer the ability to (for example) lift her leg straight up, high over her head. If anyone suggested to you that it would be much faster and more effective to use a rope and pulley to force her leg into that position and hold it there, you would be horrified - and you would know that any such action would probably cause enough damage to the dancer's body to put an end to any hope of a career in dance. But this is very much what happens to a horse when someone says, in effect, "I can't be bothered to take the time to do this properly, I know what I think it's supposed to LOOK like when the horse is fully trained, so I'll just use these ropes and pulleys (or a bit and reins and the rider's biceps) to FORCE him into what I think the position should be."
The person who asks "How do I make this young dancer's leg go way up in the air and stay there, right now?" and the rider who asks "How can I force my horse's neck and head to curve in a particular direction?" have something in common - they are both asking the wrong question.
In the case of the dancer, the right question would be: "How can I help this young dancer become stronger and more supple and flexible, with better control over her body, so that she will be able to lift her OWN leg high into the air and hold it there - without experiencing pain and without causing damage to her body?"
In the case of the horse, the right question would be: "How can I help this young horse become stronger and more supple and flexible, with better control over his body, so that he will be able to bend his body evenly and easily, from nose to tail, when I ask (not force) him to do so, and maintain the bend without experiencing pain or causing damage to his body?"
Your horse's difficulty to the left is almost certainly NOT related to "attitude". It's far more likely to be related to ability - his and yours.
Most horses that "resist to the left" are horses with a strong, well-developed right side and a less-strong, less-developed left side. Bending and turning to the right is easy for such horses, as the stronger, tighter muscles on their right sides will tighten and compress readily, whilst the weaker, looser muscles on the left side will readily stretch to accomodate the bend to the right. But when the rider asks for the equivalent bend in the opposite direction, the horse becomes very uncomfortable, because NOW, it's the longer, looser, weaker side that's being asked to tighten and compress, and the shorter, tighter, stronger side that's being asked to stretch and lengthen.
So when you find that your horse bends easily to the right, but much less easily to the left, think about the reason for this. Don't label him "resistant" - that won't help him, and it won't help YOU help him. Look at the situation from his point of view! To you, it may seem that your horse is being asked to do exactly the same amount of work to the right and to the left, and that he is deliberately CHOOSING to "resist" to the left. This is simply not the case. From your HORSE's point of view, the bend to the right is easy - the equivalent bend to the left is much more difficult. If he doesn't do it as quickly or as well, or if he can't do it for as long a time, he's not being "resistant", he's just being honest.
Dropping the contact is not the solution, but it's certainly a better choice than pulling. The instructor who suggested that was correct - by removing the contact completely, you can acomplish two things. First, you won't be pulling against your horse; second, you won't give him any reason to push against the bit. I generally find that riders with "pulling" horses have overdeveloped biceps... which leads me to ask those riders to think about just which end of the reins is being pulled, and by whom! (Hint: it's not the bit end, or the horse.)
The way to encourage a horse to bend around a turn is to take all the time that's needed, over weeks and months, to develop the horse's body so that he finds it easy to bend, and THEN to ask the horse to bend, and allow him to respond correctly to your request. The inside rein may be used to remind him, ever so gently, that you would like his nose to tip slightly to the inside. "Remind" means "a brief tightening of the fingers, and a brief, slight increase in the contact. It doesn't mean pulling, or exerting heavy pressure. Imagine that you break a rubber band. Now, hold each end of that strip of stretchy rubber between the thumb and forefinger of your hands, and begin to separate your hands slowly. When the rubber is no longer looped, and you can make a tiny movement with one hand and feel it in the other hand, you've got the sort of contact that should be your default contact. Now, move your hands another quarter-inch apart. Feel the very slight increase in pressure - and move your hands closer together again, back to that straight-and-just-barely-stretched default contact position. The moment when your hands were slightly more apart created as much pressure as you'll need to "remind" your horse of where you would like his nose to go.
Contact is NOT about a FRAME - it's about a CONNECTION. Too much focus on the horse's head and neck, too much pressure on the reins, too-strong contact and trying to pull the horse's head into the turn will NEVER have the effect you're hoping to achieve. The secret of good head and neck position on turns is simple: the horse's head and neck complete the curve established by the horse's BODY and legs in response to the rider's position and aids. A good rider will never try to pull the horse through a turn, but will set him up for, and ride him through, a balanced turn. Keep your rein contact gentle and EVEN, and let your horse keep his neck in front of his shoulders and his head in front of his neck.
The question is not "Can you pull his neck around?" but "Is he bending through his body?" A horse bent through the body should remain bent on a turn and through a circle, whether your contact is even on both reins or whether you drop the inside rein entirely. Dropping the inside rein is a very useful test. Here's why: If a horse immediately counterbends when you drop the inside rein, he wasn't bent correctly in the first place. A correctly-bent horse won't lose the bend just because you float the inside rein loose for a moment, eliminating the tiny amount of pressure that he was feeling before - if his head whips around to the outside when you drop the inside rein, you can be sure that the only reason his head was tipped to the inside was that the inside rein was forcing it there. That's not what the reins are for.
Riding with sidereins is something you should NEVER do, unless your horse is a vaulting horse or a circus rosinback - in which case its only job will be to trot or canter around and around the circle with no input whatsoever from the rider.
Sidereins have their use - they can help confirm collection in a horse that is developed and trained to the point at which it finds collection easy. They should never be used to make the horse bend its neck in a particular direction. Adjusted in that way, they are not a training tool but an instrument of coercion.
Now, let's look at bits. The reason I don't like to see a horse wearing a Pelham or a Kimblewicke for early training is that this is precisely the time when the horse needs to learn to move confidently forward and stretch toward the bit, into the rider's hand, INTO contact. The use of a curb, either alone (the Kimblewicke) or alternating with a snaffle (the Pelham - the effect at any given moment depends on whether you are using the upper or lower rein), tends to discourage the horse from reaching forward and accepting contact calmly.
The rider who does trade her snaffle for a curb often finds that the horse "feels lighter", and thinks "Oh, my, he goes so much better in the curb, the contact is so much lighter!" Well, no, not really - what's actually happening is that the horse now feels a much STRONGER bit action from every movement of the rider's fingers, and becomes understandably wary of the bit, and cautious in his movement. This can reassure a nervous rider and make her feel "more in control", but it's bad for the horse's development and training. Once a horse has learned "bit bad, bit painful, must avoid bit" and developed the habit of tucking his chin and avoiding contact with the rider's hands, it's a very difficult - and often lengthy - process to re-train him.
It's not always easy to tell which issues are mental and which are physical, but if you're willing to assume that horses are generous and willing - which they ARE - then you'll find that, 99% of the time (or more), looking for and solving PHYSICAL issues will eliminate the problem. Pain is a physical issue. Most mental issues, with horses, come down to fear or confusion. The former is caused by pain (physical), and the latter by inconsistency and/or lack of clarity on the rider's part.
Getting different responses on different days is usually the result of asking differently or under different conditions - NOT the result of the horse being in a "mood". For example: If you feel secure on a horse that is balanced and bent, you might ask for a pirouette with your seat and legs, and get it - without ever touching the rein. On another day, when your horse is neither balanced nor correctly bent, and you are worried about him going too fast, you might ask for another pirouette (although you shouldn't, under those conditions!) and find that he is suddenly "resistant". If you are honest with yourself and review all the conditions of a successful pirouette and all the conditions of this attempt, you will probably realize that you were trying to pull your horse into a movement that he simply was in no position to perform.
I think that what you need is more time riding your horse in the gentlest possible snaffle, and perhaps even some time riding with no bit at all, so that you can see for yourself that there is no need to put heavy pressure on the bit. Try to spend a few months - INVEST a few months, I should say - working on the most basic concepts of relaxation, rhythm, energetic forward movement, and straightness, with the clear idea that your hands will only ASK (gently), and that any INSISTING will be done with your legs. When your horse moves with confidence and balance, you'll find that riding a turn will require only that you look through the turn, indicate the bend with your legs, and ride your horse forward in rhythm. The reins will lie against his neck and provide reassurance, but you won't need to shorten your inside rein at all, and you certainly won't need to pull.
A thoughtful rider like yourself, especially one with a Baroque horse, needs to spend some time considering the more philosophical aspects of riding, including the purpose and meaning of contact. If dropping the contact entirely is a reward for the horse, what does that say about the nature of the contact, and about the rider's attitude toward contact?
Whenever I hear someone say "Don't drop the contact, you're rewarding the horse", I have to wonder how the horse perceives the contact. Classical training requires that the rider maintain the horse's comfort, respect its feelings and needs, and develop its physique and understanding so that it learns first to accept, then to welcome, and finally to seek contact with the rider's hands. In the process, the young horse must learn to balance itself under the rider, and so the horse may, early in its training, take a heavier contact than the rider finds enjoyable. When this happens, the rider must allow the horse to determine the amount of contact, and try to help the horse become lighter, NOT by pulling or tweaking or dropping the reins, but by lengthening them just a little and using transitions, bending, and elementary lateral work to help the horse develop its strength, balance, and the beginnings of carrying power. From the very beginning, think in terms of seat, legs, and hands - and use them in that order. Try to keep your contact even on both reins, and as light as your horse can comfortably accept, but don't "throw the horse away". The contact between his mouth and your hand is the connection that completes the circle of the aids: your legs activate his belly and hind legs, your seat allows his back to lift and stretch, your hands accept the contact that he creates when he lifts the base of his neck and reaches forward. If you force or take away any part of this, either through heavy, forcible gripping with seat, legs, or hands, or through dropping the contact with seat, legs, or hands, the circle is broken and the connection is lost.
It's very important that you consider these things - and I believe that you will - because your horse is a Lusitano. When dealing with horses that are "born collected" and appear upright and balanced, it's often tempting for riders, instructors, and clinicians to ignore or "skip" the early stages of training. Be careful not to give in to that temptation - your horse will last much longer and enjoy his work much more if you take the time to go through the entire training process with him. He'll be stronger for it, and there will be no gaps in his skills or his understanding... or in your own. ;-)
These aren't the easiest concepts to absorb, I know, but you and your horse will be better off, forever, if you understand them. Good luck, and please let me know how it goes.
Jessica
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