Self carriage does not be ‘light in the hand’. It means ‘the horse is not relying on the reins for balance’. He can give the rider the feeling he is putting a rather surprising amount of pressure on the rider and still not be relying on them for balance.
Why do we call “contact” in dressage when reins are tight - ie, no slack.
I have never heard ANYONE say ‘contact is when the reins are tight’.
Is contact not the connection between horse and rider when the horse responds to the rider immediately and obediently?
[I]No. Contact is ONLY one simple thing with a very simple definition. When you have the slack out of the reins, that is all it means. A CONNECTION is when the contact is consistently maintained thru correct riding, with the horse at least to some degree in balance and under control.
Self carriage has nothing at all to do with the reins being loose, slack or anything else even remotely like that! I think your confusion and questions all arise out of the basic misconception that ‘self carriage means a loop in the reins’ - it does not. [/I]
Certainly, a horse can respond while there is slack in the reins?! Reining horses do, old dressage horses are depicted that way, why is that not desired now?
[I]Dressage has one fundamental concept at the basis of it - that the art of it is by doing things in a traditional, classical way, NOT by finding an easy, pleasurable way to do things that avoids difficulty. It is far, far harder to train horse and rider to work with a contact, a connection.
“Old dressage horses”? LOL. The rider would release the reins during the moment of the photograph, my dear. It was kind of a trick(like holding the hands on the stomach)…but with the better trainers, having a real basis - momentary release of the reins ‘asks a question’, which is ‘are you relying on the reins for balance’? and when that question is answered, the rider goes back to his work, establishing connection, half halt, balance, developing impulsion. Look at the 70 year old movies of the Spanish Riding School riders schooling their horses. Releasing the reins is indeed a part of training, but a momentary part.
Impulsion is developed through half halts. Half halts develop from rudimentary to very subtle, but the aids are all the aids, all the time, sure, over time the rider’s reins become used in a more and more subtle way, but note even the Spanish RIding school does not ride or train without a bridle. All the aids, all the time. Ride the whole horse, not just the back end and not just the front end.
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Now, on to self carriage. If the horse is in true self carriage, why do I need to hold up 6, 10, 1 lbs in my hands to “keep the horse balanced”? Isn’t the idea the horse is in “Self Carriage”?
You’re confusing loose reins with self carriage. The two couldn’t be more different.
Please do make references to reading materials or other resources if you think they may be helpful.
[I]A rider has as much ‘pounds’ in his hands as he needs to at that moment, no more, no less.
Horses learn to swing their backs, reach for the bit (even when in a more advanced posture) and to always ‘push their impulsion to the bit’ as time goes on, and the ‘pounds’ become much more, and then again, as training progresses, lighter. Because the horse’s hind quarters and back gradually increase in strength and power and straightness.
The horse learns to make a resilient connection with the reins and hence the rider’s hands so that they can become as one. They will have many, many less than perfect moments on the journey to that goal - and most horses and riders will work only and training and first level, and may not progress beyond a rudimentary degree of training.
Without the circle of the aids, half halts, contact and connection, true impulsion, no one ever will progress in dressage, and no one ever has.
The hardest thing is to learn to use all the aids together, in a coordinated balanced way - too little rein as bad as too much.
Von Ziegner, Elements of Dressage.
“There is no communication without contact”
“Maintaining this permanent gentle connection, the rider will give his horse the chance to start the first communication” (p 42)
“The more consistently the horse travels on one track, the more the rider will feel the thrust of the hind feet in his hands. In other words, the better the straightness, the better the contact” (p 43)
Steinbrecht, The Gymnasium of the Horse.
“Contact is correct, no matter to which degree the individual horse takes it, depending on his training, as long as the horse reacts or responds to the action of the hand” (p 23)
“…the trainer must know how to use these different hand actions (referring to earlier discussion of light, soft, and firm contact)…He must be able to keep the hesitant horse moving with a light hand, use his firm hand to get the horse that leans on the bit or pushes forward too much to settle down, and in between, use his soft hand to invite his horse to take on a quiet and uniform contact”. (p 23)
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its my reward too - it is what keeps me coming back as it i the best feeling out there :")