...."Provided a horse is balanced and free of both physical and
mental contraction any movement can be called classical. The
definition of what is said to be classical has arrested all
forward progress in the art of horsemanship by limiting the horizon
for those who would wish to study it more profoundly ". Nuno
Oliveira

Someone recently reminded me of this great quote by Nuno Oliveira and I was grateful to be reminded because it perfectly summarizes my feelings on the subject.

In my clinics I have to teach people from very different backgrounds
(dressage, jumpers, western, natural horsemanship etc.). Those
students attend other clinics and are frequently confused on how to
sift through the information they receive, so they often ask me how
to keep the good stuff and reject what is misleading information.

I suggest to them that they observe a lesson AT ANY LEVEL and decide
if, at the end, the horse is MORE:

• 1- willing
• 2- responsive
• 3- round
• 4- symmetrical
• 5- self-carrying
• 6- self-propelled (forward)
• 7- relaxed TO ANY DEGREE

This is a little more detailed than the "Calm, Forward and Straight" of the French School and easier to observe and determine than "free of mental and physical contraction".

If the answer is YES to all 7 questions, the teaching was beneficial
and in accordance to the classic principles of horsemanship.

If the progress in all categories was very obvious and convincing, then
stick to that teacher. If some of the answers were no (for instance
on roundness and forwardness/self propulsion), then change the
teacher as there will soon be a price to pay in the training of the
horse and corrections will have to be made.

A positive response to these 7 questions is far more important than
what kind of hat or saddle the teacher is using, what grand
tradition is being claimed, who he/she learned from or what letters
he/she has after his/her name.

The task of learning horsemanship is difficult at best and generally
confusing. A simple compass showing true North is far more important
than a restrictive map full of one way street.

Horsemanship has evolved in many ways and is making progress. Over
my lifetime, I have seen the general level rise considerably, we
have better horses, better techniques, better equipment, yet some
crazy stuff will keep appearing that will mislead people with their passing fashions. Great riders are still rare and great teachers are rarer still (as it has been at every epoch of history).

The only way I know to evaluate the fare they sell or the techniques I choose to teach is to ask my seven questions and try to answer them objectively. The discipline other teachers or my students practice, or the movements they prefer, is the least
important part of that evaluation.

Regards,

JP Giacomini

Attn: Chicago Area People:

A Clinic w/JP Giacomini this weekend, Sept. 6 & 7. More info on JP at:

http://tinyurl.com/JP-Giacomini-Blog

Clinic is at Versailles Equestrian Center, a lovely indoor facility!

We have room for auditors, and possibly space for another rider.

Call or email for last minute signups!

859-236-1530 or tmundi@bellsouth.net

ALSO -
~ OCTOBER Clinic in North Carolina...
~ NOVEMBER Clinic in So. California....

Call or email to sign details or to sign up!

Out of the 7 Classic goals of horsemanship, Willingness comes first,
as nothing is possible without it.

The training of horses aims at developing their physical and
emotional disposition to do more in the way of adaptability to new
situations, motion range in the gaits and specific skills.

For a horse to eventually become able to do MORE than he can
(biomechanical progress), he must first be willing to do AS MUCH as
he can now (behavioral progress). Once this is achieved, the rider
can increase the horse's motion range through the judicioius use of
adapted gymnastics sequences that will both stretch and strengthen
the horse.

This is achieved by the progressive suppression of *resistances* to
forward movement. In natural herd conditions, mares, youngs and
geldings are chased by stallions who want to include them or by
mares who want to exclude them, all for the purpose of some change
in the social order. They resist this chasing by stopping,
zigzagging, kicking, rearing, turning etc. The chaser eventually
establishes the new order by making the other run straight, or stop
when requested. In the same way, the trainer/rider suppresses
resistances by establishing clear forward motion as well as
instantaneous stops, which translates into WILLINGNESS.

In the search for willingness, the more leverage you use, the more
ill will you prevent from being expressed. Conversely, the less
leverage you use, the more goodwill you encourage to be expressed.

Once basic forward desire/willingness is established, it is time to
increase it further by developing more relaxation, another subject.

Regards,

JP Giacomini

Q- They say Warmbloods are built more for extensions, with their longer backs, and Iberian horses are built for collection, with their shorter backs. Do you do anything different in your training, one compared to the other?

A- A square horse is shorter in the back, therefore stiffer. It will
need more bending to help him lengthen his frame and be made to
practice medium gaits.

A rectangular horse will be longer in the back and maybe weaker, so
it will need strenghtening (rounded back) and work on collection as
well as medium gaits.

Other than that, it will be down to the individual characteristics
of the horse.

I usually follow the same program with every horse and insist on
what they have a hard time doing until they even out.

Traveling left versus traveling right, collection (balance) versus extension
(impulsion), domination versus free expression; all of this through
round pen, lunging, in-hand, long lining, riding routines.

A horse's frame is determined by many things. When it comes to extensions, yes a horse should lengthen his entire front end somewhat when extending any gait, WITHIN THE MEASURE ADEQUATE TO ITS UNIQUE BALANCE. In an advanced horse, the lenghtening and shortening of the neck is minimal (except in the free walk), particularly if the rider
wants to produce an extension in the uphill balance (collected) that is needed for transitions into passage or school trot at the end of the extension for instance.

A horse can extend his neck and open his poll angle and still have
his forehead on the vertical, it is a matter of degree. A horse with
a stiffer poll by nature (TB or Anglo Arab) will open his nose more
readily than a horse with a naturally flexible poll (Iberian).

What mostly matters in extended trot, is length of stride, cadence
and balance in relation to the bridle. Each horse has his own exact
position that serves him best according to many factors due to
conformation, strength of the hind end and back, and actual stage of
training.

The Dogma of what is "correct" is actually a guideline rather than
an inflexible rule. The degree of difficulty in achieving "so called
perfection" varies from horse to horse and movement to movement.
Many warmbloods can achieve perfect extensions with little training
while many Iberians may achieve quickly a picture of the piaffe that
will take a warmblood 10 years to perfect, if ever. The experience
gained in training many horses help us understand the flexibility
needed to accomodate the dictates of correctness.

Q. Can Lusitanos compete in extended gaits as well, even in upper levels against Warmbloods?

A. I think the problems of the Lusitanos not doing well is not that
they are BRED like warmbloods, but they are RIDDEN like warmbloods
and it kills their energy which his very different from the bigger
horses. They cannot take the driving seat combined with 1/2 halts
for collection, as their flexible structure becomes anhiliated from
too much force applied to it.

This is why you need a really light seat
with them if you want the hindlegs to keep coming under.

Thanks for asking,

JP Giacomini