Thoughts( ok, opinions) on deep, Global Dressage Forum (wish I coulda been there) and so on. I found this threaad interesting, and thought Id jump in.
…And at this Global Dressage Forum, Erc Lette
(O judge, former head of FEI, now Swedish team trainer)said:
“It is not what is done but how. Bad riding kills the horse, whether he is deep or high.”
EGG-ZACKLY.
What makes deep work for Anky/others is:
one. Sjef-or-equivalent on the ground
two. TIMING and talent and experience/knowledge quotient.
three. the specific horses s/he chooses to ride.
OK, you can change 1, 2 and 3 around–but you can NOT remove any one of these.
Try this perspective:
Let’s say, for the moment, that deep has been around forever. It is a means of momentary control-- the horse locks in its back/jaw/brain–and deep is a way to ask it to restore its focus back on the rider.
After all, in deep, the horse is basically looking at its weenie.
This has to be true, because a horse ‘on the bit’ in the accepted sense is, basically, looking at the ground in front of it. One of the best short descriptions Ive heard of dressage is that the horses have to accept being ‘introverted’ in personality because they are not looking out (extroverted) as do jumping and eventing horses.
Thats why martingales were invented–for control.
OK…so when the rider/person on ground feels that the horse is losing focus and therefore losing rhythm and therefore losing ridability–a re-balance move is called for, and the horse is asked for an obedience move–lower the head.
Lower the head is just about the first obedience move ANY horse ought to be/is taught. It is what a horse does to show submission to another horse, and hopefully, the human handler.
In lowering the head, of course the entire balance is affected. And of course–one cannot and does not keep the horse there, it is not healthy mentally or physically for the horse.
From this perspective, it is not deep that accomplishes anything much–it is what the rider does immediately AFTER asking for this obedience move,.
And it is THIS moment or two in time that determines whether or not deep is going to actually accomplish anything positive.
IF the hind legs lose rhythm or energy–then deep has accomplished a negative and it is in the horse’s memory banks.
IF the horse does not stay through in the circle of aids, then ditto.
IF the horse cannot maintain focus, rhythm and balance during the following of the rein, then ditto.
Why wasnt deep used a lot by people like Watjen, Podhajsky, Klimke, Theodorescu, Wahl, Andersen, Chammartin and whoever else?
Well…they ALL use forward-down, but the horse-rider ratio in terms of size and outsized athleticism was very different for these people.
Deep became popular because the horses are always being asked for more athleticism, but the riders are female and lighter…The playing field has to be levelled somehow, so deep–which has been around forever–came more to the forefront.
It is just it went from a straight obedience move that any sane rider uses when necessary, to some kind of training technique on its own.
OK…I think that says what i am trying to say…
and for the record: I have trained a horse thru GP and coached riders at FEI and been eye on the ground for some rather hefty FEI rider/trainers…and I try never to stop learning.
It has been my privilege to talk to and gain insights from many horsemen, in interview/clinic/etc.
cheers to all
As for good seats, how about Gunther Siedel or C. Traurig or Klimke, or Debbie MacDonald?
