When is a Rose by the Same Name No Longer a Rose?
I’ve seen the words Classical Dressage used so much of late, I was a little hesitant to call myself a classical dressage instructor, fearing the words had become meaningless, or worse, had become an empty marketing phrase. But, after so much effort on my part to become a properly educated rider and instructor, I’ll try instead to explain what actually distinguishes classical dressage. There are a number of excellent books written by those much worthier than myself, so this condensed version of classical vs. modern will be mainly observations of what I’ve seen, and what I’ve learned through instruction, study, and from my own horses The word classical itself has numerous meanings: of or relating to the ancient Greeks or Romans; relating to the most artistically developed stage of a civilization; standard and authoritative rather than experimental - these are just a few that I found. All of these definitions would apply to some degree when we use the term Classical Dressage. I will use the term Modern Dressage to refer pejoratively to practices which have crept into riding in modern times and which are classically incorrect and harmful to the horse, but I'd actually prefer the term Pseudo-dressage, as it's the falseness of the practices, not the modernity which is the problem. As much else in life, these black and white distinctions do not hold up well, and there is more of a continuum between the two. There are many correctly trained riders who would not call themselves classical, but who do ride according to classical principles (perhaps with a few modern elements). There are also riders who ride using a bag a tricks which they’ve learned, but perhaps have also absorbed a few elements of correct riding along the way (or at least the terminology). Then there is an admix of everything in between. I will not use the term competitive dressage. The rules for the FEI were written by classically trained riders and are based on the classical principles of riding. In competition arenas you will find everything from the most accomplished to the absolutely tactless. Judging may also vary between those who reward correctness and harmony and those who reward mainly large and flashy gaits. I will not criticize any one national school. Personally, I find it commendable when a nation at least makes an effort to educate its riders and codify what it expects them to learn, even if one chooses to disagree with some of its teachings or methods.
The earliest treatise on horsemanship is from Xenophon, written before the time of Christ. During the Middle Ages in Europe horsemanship fell into decline, and it was only during the Renaissance in Italy that interest in horsemanship as an art was resurrected. From Italy this interest traveled to France, and then throughout much of Europe. Most of us know that military schools eventually became the holders and teachers of this art in order to train horses to be quick and reliable in battle, as well as for purposes of national pride in parade. The first European treatise on dressage was written in the early 18th century - F. de la Gueriniere’s School of Horsemanship. Then there are numerous more recent books written by those of the various national schools. It is difficult to describe in words what is actually feeling of movement, so one will notice some differences in wording and emphasis when reading works by different authors. One can say there is a French Classical School, a Portuguese Classical School, German Classical, Viennese, etc. The fundamentals are the same until we reach modern times, but there are some differences in style and emphasis. Riders were all men, and they were all from privileged, educated classes of society. Horsemanship was taken very seriously, and riders were rigorously trained by academies for horsemanship. In modern times, thankfully, we live in more egalitarian societies where anyone with a backyard with grass may own a horse; but this has left riders seeking training for themselves (from riders who have sought training for themselves) leading inevitably to techniques and ideas adopted and passed on because they seem to provide shortcuts to the training of the horse. Some of these false practices have come out of a false understanding and exaggeration of some of the differences between the national schools mentioned above. I will explain.
Roundness and the horse’s back - is it a bow? In classical teaching the horse becomes ‘round’ due to the engagement and impulsion of his hindquarters and the resultant lifting of his forehand. The rider must school the horse carefully and over a long period of time through gymnastic work to strengthen and supple the joints of the hind end as well as the muscles of the hindquarter and core. We might think of an image of a motor boat - as the engine in the back of the boat lowers and increases in power, the front of the boat lifts naturally. The horse’s back gently swings and lifts as if meeting the rider’s seat, and the neck gently arches upward from the withers, flexing at the poll. One of the German classical writers in describing the feeling of the gently rounded horse’s back used the unfortunate term ‘bow’ (as in an archery bow) and it is this, I think, which has led to a basic misunderstanding in modern times of how to achieve roundness in the horse. Riders will often attempt to ‘make their horse round’ through the compression of the horses spine (like an archery bow). They will use leg and hand to force the horse’s spine to arch upward in an artificial manner. This compression of the horse’s back between the riders leg and hand causes too much flexion in the horse's spine, which can do physical harm to the horse. It also creates an incorrect balance in advanced horses, with the horse literally collapsing over his shoulders (on his forehand) rather than lifting in the shoulders and withers and lowering the hindquarters through the articulation of the joints of the hind end. Visually, this incorrect balance will result in a horse who is tight in the throat latch, who’s poll is too low with head behind the vertical and the cervical vertebra 'broken' somewhere near C3, who doesn‘t engage the limbs of the hindquarters sufficiently for the work demanded, and there will be an overall tightness and mechanical way of going. In extreme cases it is easy to see, as the horse is likely to drop his back during extended trot - flinging his front legs outward and not tracking up with his hind legs. In piaffe, his front legs will be angled sharply backward - toward his center of gravity - as a counterbalance to the weight of his head collapsing over his shoulders. Although not difficult to see in advanced horses, the problem begins with incorrect lower level schooling.
Related to this incorrect attempt to achieve roundness, is an incorrect attempt to achieve connection. If you think of the energy generated by the hindquarters as an electric current, it travels from the horses hindquarters, through the horse’s back and the rider’s center of gravity, into and through the riders hands to the horse’s mouth, and back again to the hindquarters - like an electrical circuit. To achieve this, the horse is schooled from the very beginning to reach for the bit - to seek the rider’s hand. The hind end of the young horse is strengthened through forward movement and the hand is soft and stable to encourage the horse to seek the contact. This cannot be achieved if the horse is first started under saddle by lunging him in tight side reins with his head pulled part way to his chest in order to teach him to ‘go in a dressage frame’. The young horse needs time to come to trust both the bit and the rider’s hand. When the young horse has regained his balance (and no longer feels the need of his neck to help him balance under the weight of the rider) and when his hind end can move energetically, his nose will naturally drop on its own. As he becomes stronger and his balance shifts more to the rear, his haunches will lower, his neck will arch up from the withers, and the head will appear vertical to the ground (the ‘on the bit’ outline we are used to seeing). The angle at the horse’s atlas does not actually change - it remains about 90%. Any attempt to achieve this ‘look’ too early in the horse’s training (through hands pulling left and right or gadgets) pulls the horses head behind the 90% angle, disturbs the connection of energy from hindquarter to hand, and necessitates bigger and bigger aids to keep it all going. Obviously, self carriage could never be achieved in this manner, and the horse will resort to leaning on the rider’s hand for support to balance himself.
This brings us to the next difference between classical and modern dressage - cessation of the aids. In classical dressage the horse is schooled to respond promptly to a light aid. If, for instance, a leg aid is given and the horse does not move forward, the leg aid is backed up with a light tap of the whip. I should not have to use my leg nagging or spurring with every stride in order to achieve energetic movement. If an adjustment needs to be made to the horse’s balance, I half halt. I promptly release my half halt and allow the horse to carry on. I do not hold him up with my hand. I repeat these aids as often as necessary, but I go back to 'neutral' when the horse responds. In this way he is rewarded, and he learns to balance himself with the rider on of top him (self carriage). If I were to go on continually asking with leg and hand (driving and holding), the horse would perceive this as so much ‘white noise’ and would only respond to my aids when I resorted to ‘screaming’.
Which brings us to separation of the aids. We all know that a young horse should not be given a rein and a leg aid at the same moment. He is just learning the meaning of our aids, and this would confuse him (go and stop at once). As the horse progresses and our aids become more nuanced, they begin to meld and are given closer together, but still not at the exact same moment. Ideally there should be a split second between, let’s say, leg and hand aids, or between using the inside and the outside rein. In this way we give the horse 'someplace to go'. He is not bombarded from all sides with various aids at once, which would lead only to tension. This obviously does not mean that we 'drop' the contact with the horse’s mouth, or that we remove entirely our leg from the horse, but they do not act continually, nor do they act at the same time. In between more specific requests from my legs (forward, sideways, bend) the legs remain lightly on the horse “like wet towels” as one author wrote. In between more specific rein aids (half halt with the outside rein, or more flexion please with the inside rein) there should be a constant tension on the outside rein. The inside rein may be quite light or even go slack as the horse gently bends around the rider’s inside leg, filling the rider’s outside rein. This is another difference between classical and modern dressage. Many dressage instructors (and even some judges) will admonish you for ‘loss of contact’ if they see the inside rein go slack (of course, if you’re one of the unfortunate riders holding your horse up with your hands, you’ll probably need to keep firm 'contact' on both reins in order not to wear your arms out too soon).
Next, we come to one of the differences between classical and modern that I find most interesting - relaxation. Everyone will admit that relaxation is important (because it’s in the German training scale) but it’s not easy to find anyone who can give a definition of its equestrian meaning. According to Nicole Bartle, who translated a number of classical works on horsemanship, the French word for ‘relaxation’ (if translated literally) would be something like ‘decontraction’. In other words, it is the opposite of ‘contraction’. It signifies an absence of sustained contraction of muscle during movement. When a muscle is used it contracts - it must then ‘decontract’ and remain in a toned and ready state (not become entirely slack) until called upon again. This applies to both horse and rider. When a muscle remains in a sustained state of contraction, it becomes fatigued. At best, this condition is unpleasant for both horse and rider and results in overall tension in both. At worst, it can result in soft tissue injury. Additionally, in order for the rider to maintain a 'relaxed' position, his core muscles will be engaged, but his joints will be 'open'. When a rider continuously uses his biceps muscle in order to give a rein aid, the joints of his shoulders, elbow, wrist and fingers will become tense or locked. This continuous muscle tension and locked joints translates to the horse as tension in the jaw and poll, and can transfer down the horses neck to his back. When the rider continuously applies his leg, his continuously engaged gluteal muscles and the muscles of his upper thigh and calf feel 'hard' and uninviting to the horse's back and sides. Likewise, his hip flexors, knees and ankles will not be 'open' and soft. When the rider adds to this a 'driving seat' the horse is more likely to want to drop his back away from all this pressure than to lift his back to meet the rider. 'Open' joints allow the rider to remain in continuous contact with the horse in an elastic and giving way while sitting deeply in the saddle. 'Closed' joints disable the rider's ability to yield and soften immediately when the horse yields and softens. This is why we see so many horses ridden in tension in the dressage arena.
This brings me to the most fundamental of rider qualities - the rider's seat. I addressed leg and hand frequently in the above paragraphs (since we see so much riding from leg and hand) but in classical dressage, these aids should become refined until they are mere nuances, and the horse responds more to the rider's seat and weight aids. In order to attain this, the rider must have a classically correct seat, as the horse mirror's the rider. Correct rider seat also affects the rider's ability to aid correctly, since a rider who is sitting in a manner that interferes with the biomechanics of movement, will be unable to aid the horse with a well-timed, effective and light aid. I'm not actually going to describe a correct rider seat, since this could be the subject for a short book (I suggest the reader refer to Sylvia Loch's, The Classical Seat, or any number of classical works where correct rider position is always addressed). Instead, I will address two common defects seen in rider position in modern times which adversely affect the training of the horse (as well as looking most inelegant). The most common defect is a collapsed upper body and rounded shoulders. Many of us spend much time slumped over computers or desks, and little time in athletic pursuits. When we slump, we literally 'hang on our ligaments'. In other words, we do not engage the muscles which would hold our spines 'straight' and our bodies erect. Our muscles and ligaments become shortened in the area of our chest, and elongated near our scapula and upper backs, resulting in a slightly (or largely) hunched, round-shouldered posture (and in riding, sometimes a 'turkey neck', as the rider juts his head out at the atlas to counterbalance the weight of his shoulders). When we take this poor posture into our riding, a collapsed rider upper body causes the horse to collapse his 'upper body' (shoulders and forehand). In classical riding, the energy of the rider's upper body is up - and the horse comes with him: the rider's sternum is up, chest open, shoulders relaxed and back, rider thinking 'waist to hands'. This is not physically possible if the rider's shoulders are rounded and the chest 'closed' through poor daily posture. The rider must first address these issues through exercises on the ground, since attempting to correct them only in the saddle may result in stiff shoulders and back. The next most common defect in rider seat is a collapsed pelvis. This often goes hand in hand with the collapsed upper back. The muscles which hold the pelvis upright are connected to the bottom of the ribcage. If the ribcage is collapsed (due to the collapse of the upper body) the rider does not have the control over his pelvis he needs in order to give a refined seat aid, and the pelvis may even rock forward and backward, tossed about by the movement of the horse's back. Thinking 'waist to hands' engages these muscles in a manner which holds the pelvis upright, but does not result in stiffness in the back. The core muscles are engaged, but the lower back remains entirely elastic. Additionally, the hip joints will open, allowing the rider’s legs to fall naturally. Not only do the above defects inhibit the rider's ability to give a refined aid, they make the rider feel even heavier on the horse's back. Many Warmbloods do a remarkably good job of carrying such a rider, but put our sack of potatoes on a less tolerant, highly sensitive horse, and immediately the horse will hollow his back away from the rider. Ideally, the energy of the rider's lower body should flow down from the pelvis, over the thighs and knees and through the balls of the feet (gravity working), just as the energy of his upper body is up. This allows the rider to adjust his pelvis and seat bones, using the weight of his seat as an aid. These minute, well timed seat aids are quite different from the misguided attempts by some riders to 'drive' their horse with their seat by bearing down on his back. Such efforts will only cause the horse to drop his back away from the discomfort, and some very sensitive horses may even come to a complete stop in protest (or possibly take off running in order to 'escape') .
I'd like to address very briefly flexions, practiced by some of the French classical school, and first used by Baucher in the 19th century to supple the horse's jaw and adjust his balance. I do not wish to become involved in the debate over flexions, except to say that they are not necessary to the correct schooling of the horse, and incorrect usage of them can cause problems in the foundation of the horse's schooling. Flexions, as they are practiced in the French tradition, should only be taught by and taught to, rider's with impeccable tact, impeccable timing, and an impeccable rider seat. Attempts by those with less education and less skill and tact often have horrible results, with the rider literally pulling his horse's head this way and that in order to 'supple' him. I've heard instructors ask students, "Well, you've seen a horse reach around to remove a fly from his side, haven't you?" I'd like to respond to that, "Yes, but only when the horse is at a complete standstill, never in motion, and never in an 'on the bit' outline". Since these rein aids are given by the tactless rider at random moments, the horse does not find them comprehensible and may even perceive them as punishment. The result is more front to back riding, the biomechanics of which are opposite to that of the horse who is over-flexed in his spine through the rider's harsh attempts to 'make the horse round' with his hands. Rather than leaning on the hand like the over-flexed horse, the horse who is aided with ill-timed flexions may come to distrust the rider's hand, thus disturbing the contact. Rather than an over-flexed spine, the horse may hollow his back as he lifts his head in response to over-active rider hands. Personally, I have found that lifting one rein as a correction to a bulging or leaning shoulder, or to raise a dropped poll (if a half halt failed) can be a useful correction, but when it comes to asking the horse to remain relaxed in his jaw and poll, hands that aid in a sympathetic manner (quiet but ‘alive’) never fail to do wonders. As for making the horse’s back supple, only proper gymnastic work practiced over a period of time will actually strengthen and stretch muscles and ligaments. One cannot ‘supple’ the horse's back by pulling on his head any more than I can ‘supple’ my shoulders by pulling on my arm. Even if you feel a momentary ‘give’ in a horse’s ‘stuck’ position, this will not last, as you are not actually stretching the appropriate soft tissue. Oftentimes it is the ribcage which is ‘stuck’. Pulling on the horse’s head and neck do nothing to correct this in-balance and can only hinder long term efforts to straighten the horse. Only tactful riding of well planned exercises has lasting results. My advise: since innumerable master's of horsemanship have schooled horses without these means, I strongly advise rider's not to convince themselves that they are among the few who have the tact to use flexions to advantage, particularly if they have not been schooled in this over a long period of time by someone of this school.
If all of this sounds rather complicated, that’s because it is. Dressage is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for the impatient or simple minded. One cannot learn dressage from a book, although study to understand theory is absolutely necessary. Once theory is understood, the rider must be able to feel it on the horse and then be able to practice it in schooling the horse. Likewise, when the rider feels something, he must go back to theory to understand what it is he feels. Most importantly, he needs a well trained eye to tell him when he has ‘got it’. It’s a bit of a circular learning process, and since it’s so easy to misunderstand what one feels or to misinterpret what one reads, instruction from someone who themselves has gone through this process is absolutely necessary. Dressage is one of those disciplines where a little bit of knowledge is a very bad thing. If the horse is unable to comply with a request, the rider should look to himself first: is the rider sitting properly or unintentionally blocking with his body; did the rider ask in a manner the horse can understand (based on previous training); did the rider set up an exercise where the horse was in an optimal position to fulfill the request; most importantly, has the horse been prepared physically (and psychologically) for what was asked. Asking the horse to ‘yield’ to the rider’s aids is a basic part of training. That is precisely why someone with quite a bit of experience and education should oversee the training of the horse - so the rider knows when his request was given with tact, and when he has given it in a way that the horse is unable to comply. If your ‘dressage trainer’ continually blames your horse for a bad attitude - find another one. If your instructor offers you one ‘tool’ after another, but cannot tell you the purpose of what they ask (or you find there is no long term benefit) seek someone with better qualifications. Everyone and their sister offers dressage instruction today. Riders who otherwise have a lot of experience in other disciplines and possibly some real talent, often consider themselves experts after taking a handful of dressage lessons, or even reading a book or two. The ability to confidently bellow out well appointed phrases may at first impress. Possibly such an instructor may even give helpful flat work lessons to a novice rider. But, the rider/owner should be aware that should they later wish to specialize in dressage, their horse will likely need some amount of re-schooling, and they will likely need to undo some bad habits which they’ve formed. Although the lower levels of dressage should constitute the basic training of every horse, this is not the case today. Be careful before entrusting your dream horse to one of our self-appointed experts. If any harm comes to your horse, their life will go on as usual, but you will be feel devastated and betrayed, and your equine companion may suffer lasting consequences.
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