Verfasst: Di, 21. Jan 2014 21:33
Für die englischsprachigen unter euch, hier ein Artikel von JP Giacomini, langjähriger Schüler u.a. von Nuno Oliveira.
There is a fundamental difference between a horse behind the vertical and a horse behind the bit. A horse behind the vertical is simply a horse whose temporary forehead position is behind the vertical. Any given horse whose head is ON the vertical while holding a certain position of his neck, will change it to behind or in front of the vertical simply by elevating or lowering his neck that will rotate around an axis placed at its base. This will happen whithout the reins changing length whatsoever ot any particular change in the actual force involved in the contact. The lift of the horse's back will generally result in a lowering of the front end and a possible placement of the forehead behind the vertical (if the hand does not interfere to lift the head for compensation by being raised vertically itself).
A horse whose neck is placed high may find his forehead in front of the vertical while having a very close angle of the poll (saddleseat horse for instance), while the same horse will have to considerably open his poll angle to place the forehead in front of the vertical to the same degree when his head is lowered (reining horse for instance).
While describing the position of the horse, the notion of verticality of the forehead is a very partial view of the horse's physical attitude that actually tells no more than a third of the story. The openness or closing of the poll and the height of the poll are the other criteria involved.
The actual angle of the poll (closed or open) is relative to the natural flexibility of the horse and to the degree of flexion applied by the rider. The artificial flexion of the poll (the closing of the poll angle achieved by the suppling of the horse) is a normal part of training that bears a (possible but not guaranteed) relationship with the closing of the pelvic angle. The closing of those 2 angles (front and back) are some of the important factors that determine collection (along with the lift of the thoracic sling and the ability to perform fluid transitions in a constant cadence).
This flexion of the poll, to be real and valuable from a training standpoint, must be maintained without actual pressure of the bit to be considered "achieved". Any flexion of the poll that requires constant pressure doesn't show any particular degree of dressage, simply that the rider has strength in his/her arms. The current fashion of presenting horses with a heavy contact (including but not limited to Rollkur) is a case in point.
Now comes the notion of "behind the bit". A horse behind the bit refuses to take contact with the hand of the rider by either over-flexing at the poll and dropping the contact or by lifting his head while pulling his neck up and back. "Behind the bit" actually means that the horse is behind the legs" and refuses to modify the shape of his body at the request of the rider.
To determine if a horse is behind the bit, we need to check if he will follow the hand when it is advanced forward. A horse trained in the French manner (aiming for the complete lightness that stamps true self-carriage) may take very little contact on the fixed hand, but will advance and lower his head when the hand advances and lowers. This horse that "follows the hand at a respectful - very short - distance" , must also yield to it when the hand is lifted, moved sideways or held firm.
La Gueriniere qualifies the hand as: Light, Soft and Firm. The Light Hand corresponds to the Descente de main/hand (accompanied by the Descente des Jambes/legs, so no increased energy induces the horse to change his position). The soft hand corresponds to a light contact and the Firm hand to a strong contact supported by the power of the legs. The ability of the rider to use different forms of contact as required and the willingness of the horse to go along with those changes characterise good training.
The "behind the hand" concept is usually not recognizable by a regular onlooker, unless it is a teacher giving a lesson and finding out the horse's lack of proper response to the sequence of exercises attempted. This is why everybody focuses on the verticality of the head because anybody but a blind man can see that and comment smartly.
But which type of horse fits which position of the head? I will adamantly agree that not all horses can be trained in the same position, even if the classic principles of horsemanship recommend that the FINISHED horse must have his poll at the highest point (and, furthermore, be elevated in his front end to give it all the brilliance it is capable of).
I have currently 2 youngsters (3 year old Andalusians I bred) in training. One has a superb toplline built like a brick house. We are working him with his poll up (not very elevated yet), until he is (frequently) rewarded with a full release of the neck in all 3 gaits. If we let him lower his poll too much, he would leverage his croup upward and end up croup high and loose his engagement. The slight lifting of his poll helps him sit down a little (particularly in the canter) and he is progressing very nicely that way. His forehead is usually 30% in front of the vertical and that works great for him.
The second horse, taller and more expressive in his gaits by nature, has a longer and softer back and he tends to place his head a little higher by nature. We are working him much lower and more firmly on the hand to help him lift his back. Too much height of the poll immediately perturbs his rhythm and his calm a little. I am not concerned if this one goes behind the vertical occasionally when his head lowers, because I am much more interested in the lift of his back, the consistence of his cadence and the resulting calm of his behavior.
There are rules out there, edicted by committees, that are supposed to describe the "finished look" of a horse at each given level. De facto, those edicts represent a training progression for people who follow the tests level to train their horses. The problem is that, at best, this progression is designed for the ideal horse (of the breed "du jour", not of ANY breed) and doesn't correspond to any reality encountered by a regular trainer working with normal horses, day in day out, struggling with their physical and mental shortcomings. Each breed, each type, each conformation, each degree of age-related strength, dictates training choices out of which head position and choice of tempo are paramount parameters.
I have ridden 100' of horses of each breed (1000' of others) and found common needs across the board, if not to those breeds, at least to some definite types. When Nuno trained his last horse Bunker (Russian Budyonni, I believe) he had to train him with a much lower head position than his usual Lusitanos, because his hocks did not take the flexion the others could. Training is both an art and a science that cannot be decided on a set of very restricted rules but must be inspired by our own lucid practice and the large and reliable literature written before us by very experienced masters.
There is a fundamental difference between a horse behind the vertical and a horse behind the bit. A horse behind the vertical is simply a horse whose temporary forehead position is behind the vertical. Any given horse whose head is ON the vertical while holding a certain position of his neck, will change it to behind or in front of the vertical simply by elevating or lowering his neck that will rotate around an axis placed at its base. This will happen whithout the reins changing length whatsoever ot any particular change in the actual force involved in the contact. The lift of the horse's back will generally result in a lowering of the front end and a possible placement of the forehead behind the vertical (if the hand does not interfere to lift the head for compensation by being raised vertically itself).
A horse whose neck is placed high may find his forehead in front of the vertical while having a very close angle of the poll (saddleseat horse for instance), while the same horse will have to considerably open his poll angle to place the forehead in front of the vertical to the same degree when his head is lowered (reining horse for instance).
While describing the position of the horse, the notion of verticality of the forehead is a very partial view of the horse's physical attitude that actually tells no more than a third of the story. The openness or closing of the poll and the height of the poll are the other criteria involved.
The actual angle of the poll (closed or open) is relative to the natural flexibility of the horse and to the degree of flexion applied by the rider. The artificial flexion of the poll (the closing of the poll angle achieved by the suppling of the horse) is a normal part of training that bears a (possible but not guaranteed) relationship with the closing of the pelvic angle. The closing of those 2 angles (front and back) are some of the important factors that determine collection (along with the lift of the thoracic sling and the ability to perform fluid transitions in a constant cadence).
This flexion of the poll, to be real and valuable from a training standpoint, must be maintained without actual pressure of the bit to be considered "achieved". Any flexion of the poll that requires constant pressure doesn't show any particular degree of dressage, simply that the rider has strength in his/her arms. The current fashion of presenting horses with a heavy contact (including but not limited to Rollkur) is a case in point.
Now comes the notion of "behind the bit". A horse behind the bit refuses to take contact with the hand of the rider by either over-flexing at the poll and dropping the contact or by lifting his head while pulling his neck up and back. "Behind the bit" actually means that the horse is behind the legs" and refuses to modify the shape of his body at the request of the rider.
To determine if a horse is behind the bit, we need to check if he will follow the hand when it is advanced forward. A horse trained in the French manner (aiming for the complete lightness that stamps true self-carriage) may take very little contact on the fixed hand, but will advance and lower his head when the hand advances and lowers. This horse that "follows the hand at a respectful - very short - distance" , must also yield to it when the hand is lifted, moved sideways or held firm.
La Gueriniere qualifies the hand as: Light, Soft and Firm. The Light Hand corresponds to the Descente de main/hand (accompanied by the Descente des Jambes/legs, so no increased energy induces the horse to change his position). The soft hand corresponds to a light contact and the Firm hand to a strong contact supported by the power of the legs. The ability of the rider to use different forms of contact as required and the willingness of the horse to go along with those changes characterise good training.
The "behind the hand" concept is usually not recognizable by a regular onlooker, unless it is a teacher giving a lesson and finding out the horse's lack of proper response to the sequence of exercises attempted. This is why everybody focuses on the verticality of the head because anybody but a blind man can see that and comment smartly.
But which type of horse fits which position of the head? I will adamantly agree that not all horses can be trained in the same position, even if the classic principles of horsemanship recommend that the FINISHED horse must have his poll at the highest point (and, furthermore, be elevated in his front end to give it all the brilliance it is capable of).
I have currently 2 youngsters (3 year old Andalusians I bred) in training. One has a superb toplline built like a brick house. We are working him with his poll up (not very elevated yet), until he is (frequently) rewarded with a full release of the neck in all 3 gaits. If we let him lower his poll too much, he would leverage his croup upward and end up croup high and loose his engagement. The slight lifting of his poll helps him sit down a little (particularly in the canter) and he is progressing very nicely that way. His forehead is usually 30% in front of the vertical and that works great for him.
The second horse, taller and more expressive in his gaits by nature, has a longer and softer back and he tends to place his head a little higher by nature. We are working him much lower and more firmly on the hand to help him lift his back. Too much height of the poll immediately perturbs his rhythm and his calm a little. I am not concerned if this one goes behind the vertical occasionally when his head lowers, because I am much more interested in the lift of his back, the consistence of his cadence and the resulting calm of his behavior.
There are rules out there, edicted by committees, that are supposed to describe the "finished look" of a horse at each given level. De facto, those edicts represent a training progression for people who follow the tests level to train their horses. The problem is that, at best, this progression is designed for the ideal horse (of the breed "du jour", not of ANY breed) and doesn't correspond to any reality encountered by a regular trainer working with normal horses, day in day out, struggling with their physical and mental shortcomings. Each breed, each type, each conformation, each degree of age-related strength, dictates training choices out of which head position and choice of tempo are paramount parameters.
I have ridden 100' of horses of each breed (1000' of others) and found common needs across the board, if not to those breeds, at least to some definite types. When Nuno trained his last horse Bunker (Russian Budyonni, I believe) he had to train him with a much lower head position than his usual Lusitanos, because his hocks did not take the flexion the others could. Training is both an art and a science that cannot be decided on a set of very restricted rules but must be inspired by our own lucid practice and the large and reliable literature written before us by very experienced masters.