Cavalli Connections » The lifelong pursuit of classical riding.

What It Means To Me

After my brief intro, I want to put a more personalized spin on all this classical stuff. You can say “classical riding is correct riding” until you’re blue in the face, but it still doesn’t help you until you know what correct riding is.

Here is what classical riding has come to mean to me:

1. It means you follow the training scale. All the time. There are several slightly different versions, which I will go into depth on later. Even when you feel like you can do things a faster way, you need to remember that this is the fastest way. If you don’t have time to do something right, you must have time to do it over. And guess what? It takes a heck of a lot longer to re-train than it does to train correctly in the first place.

2. You don’t pull or yank on the reins. This is a tough one, because inevitably after reading this you will have a life-threatening emergency, be at a dead gallop heading towards the edge of a cliff, or just plain scared. I have been as guilty as anyone of the last one…and I am really hoping that as I progress as a rider, my instinctual response to something like a bolt or spook can be to just relax and calmly help the horse recover. Besides situations involving large amounts of adrenaline, pulling back on the reins in general blocks the action of the hind legs and creates tension – two things that go in the opposite direction of progress.

3. You use the softest bit possible. Translation: You use a soft bit – it’s always possible. The bit is not a brake, it’s not a getting-the-head-down device, it’s not a punishment. It’s a method of communication, a fine-tuning of the energy created from the hind end, and your horse should LOVE IT. Someday I will have to post a video of my Mom standing next to her horse with the bridle – he actually tries to bridle himself when he sees his bridle and if he could walk around with his bit in his mouth like a pacifier, he would. He loves it.

4. You understand that all good riding comes from the seat, and the classical seat is something that takes a long time to develop and must be maintained. You work at it. The lunge line is a great place to start if you have somebody willing to help you.

5. You don’t use force. You don’t beat the crap out of your horse for any reason, and you don’t use gadgets. (Gadgets don’t include the use of the dressage whip and spurs – when used correctly they can be useful aids.) For example, I used to use running/draw reins occasionally…but the more I read, the more I realized it wasn’t such a hot idea. You shouldn’t use a gadget to compensate for your lack of riding ability, and if you had the riding ability you wouldn’t use it. On the other hand if you’re using a gadget to compensate for your horse, then you need to back up and start following the training scale again; if you horse can’t perform the way you want without the gadget, then he isn’t ready for what you are asking. If you ride correctly (from back to front), you will get there.

6. The horse is your training calendar. Sometimes things may seem to be going unbearably slow, but this doesn’t mean you start skipping steps or using force. If things are going slow, they are going slow for a reason. Find the reason! It might be a physical injury, certain muscles might need more time to develop, and it might even be you. Whatever it is, take the time to try to figure it out, and never stray from the training scale.

7. The horse is innocent. Always. Horses are products of how humans have treated them. They don’t have hidden agendas and secret plots to get us when we’re not looking. Behavior is functional and always has a reason. So many times I hear things like “I’m doing everything right, my horse just has a mind of his own”. You have to be willing to accept responsibility for your riding and for your horse. Or don’t ride that horse.

8. Be fit! This is a quote by Ernst Hoyos from the book Dressage Masters: Techniques and Philosophies of Four Legendary Trainers: “A rider should be very fit. His condition should be good enough that he can always help the horse to perform better. He should be able to ride double the amount that is required. A tired rider makes a lot of mistakes. He becomes a heavy burden for the horse to carry.” Enough said.

9. Read – a lot! Seeking out knowledge is one of the easiest and best things you can do to help yourself ride your horse better. Find the best books, articles, and magazines and get crackin’. To help you out, I’ve compiled a list of books that I really like – click on the Read tab to check them out.

10. See the whole picture, and make sure your horse gets to be a horse. A happy and healthy horse is a much more willing partner. This can mean anything from making sure he is getting adequate nutrition and turn out time to checking that his tack is fitting correctly. It’s important to learn about equine physiology and psychology as well so you can be sure you are safeguarding your horse’s well-being to the utmost.

That’s what it means to me. What does it mean to you?