"Give Your Horse a Chance" Part Two
It only took me a year to get this far... the good news is that I am now halfway through this book!
Part two: The Methods of Communication with the Horse is much more substantial than part one: Fundamental Objects of Riding. It is almost two hundred pages compared to part one's 94. I do have to say that I will need to re-read this book in-depth sometime. Mr. D'Endrödy constantly points to other sections of the book (see page 74, etc.) to help tie it all together and create a complete picture. This is slightly frustrating if you are shorter on time and are just trying to get through it, but for a more leisurely read flipping back and forth allows one to be sure that any given passage is read in full context.
Gems from this section include "the horse...will respond as it has been taught to the actual actions of the rider." Which is so true. He goes on to talk about the horse "disobeying" because it is merely responding to the rider's unconscious actions. It's passages like these that explain why the book is so titled!
He emphasizes that any action the rider takes must be followed by complete relaxation of the engaged muscles, even before the horse has responded to the aid. There is no holding the aid or holding the pressure, it is a matter of asking the horse and then allowing the horse to do it. This is something that I often repeat and explain to my students as our natural tendency is to hold and try to force something to happen. He also notes that the horse most often responds during the yielding phase of the aid and states plainly that the greater the applied pressure (especially retarding aids), the quicker and more substantial the yielding phase has to be.
He goes into pretty extreme detail about everything. He talks about the canter and notes that the horse "will never hesitate in it's choice (of lead), but will always select for its action the direction which best suits the general position of it's body" and continues "Thus the principle 'aid' ... is to create the proper position." He also notes that "the horse must be struck off into the canter, and not driven into it!"
His diagrams can be initially confusing, but over time you get used to his visual language. Along with all of the theory he does give exercises and thorough descriptions on how to counteract almost any conceivable reaction from the horse. He talks about turn on the forehand, haunches, and also turn on the center in detail with their benefits and purposes.
He notes that collection is always a process and should be done gradually each time it is asked for from the horse. He notes that the hocks much be driven towards the mouth, and not the mouth pulled back to the hocks. The passage that caused me to exclaim excitedly was "the retardment should be performed with a particular feeling as if the effect of the reins does not stop at the horse's mouth, but is transmitted through the rider's arms, shoulders, hips, seat-bone...to the back of the animal." This is something I have been telling my students for years, but had not yet really seen it in print.
The illustration plates were pretty good, especially considering it had been initially published in 1959! Interesting to see how riding has both changed and not. Particularly interesting are some of the jumps and other obstacles that used to be asked in eventing, but aren't really seen anymore, specifically a very, very steep embankment one horse is pretty much sliding down.
I think my only quibble is his section on 'Conquering" the Horse. I can see the purpose, but at the same time the idea of picking a bit of a "fight" with the horse and drilling it into submission is not so much to my taste. He does note it is something to be done every four to six months and only by very experienced and good-tempered riders and I guess if I really think about it I do push buttons like that on occasion.
Now on to Part Three, which concerns jumping!
Part two: The Methods of Communication with the Horse is much more substantial than part one: Fundamental Objects of Riding. It is almost two hundred pages compared to part one's 94. I do have to say that I will need to re-read this book in-depth sometime. Mr. D'Endrödy constantly points to other sections of the book (see page 74, etc.) to help tie it all together and create a complete picture. This is slightly frustrating if you are shorter on time and are just trying to get through it, but for a more leisurely read flipping back and forth allows one to be sure that any given passage is read in full context.
Gems from this section include "the horse...will respond as it has been taught to the actual actions of the rider." Which is so true. He goes on to talk about the horse "disobeying" because it is merely responding to the rider's unconscious actions. It's passages like these that explain why the book is so titled!
He emphasizes that any action the rider takes must be followed by complete relaxation of the engaged muscles, even before the horse has responded to the aid. There is no holding the aid or holding the pressure, it is a matter of asking the horse and then allowing the horse to do it. This is something that I often repeat and explain to my students as our natural tendency is to hold and try to force something to happen. He also notes that the horse most often responds during the yielding phase of the aid and states plainly that the greater the applied pressure (especially retarding aids), the quicker and more substantial the yielding phase has to be.
He goes into pretty extreme detail about everything. He talks about the canter and notes that the horse "will never hesitate in it's choice (of lead), but will always select for its action the direction which best suits the general position of it's body" and continues "Thus the principle 'aid' ... is to create the proper position." He also notes that "the horse must be struck off into the canter, and not driven into it!"
His diagrams can be initially confusing, but over time you get used to his visual language. Along with all of the theory he does give exercises and thorough descriptions on how to counteract almost any conceivable reaction from the horse. He talks about turn on the forehand, haunches, and also turn on the center in detail with their benefits and purposes.
He notes that collection is always a process and should be done gradually each time it is asked for from the horse. He notes that the hocks much be driven towards the mouth, and not the mouth pulled back to the hocks. The passage that caused me to exclaim excitedly was "the retardment should be performed with a particular feeling as if the effect of the reins does not stop at the horse's mouth, but is transmitted through the rider's arms, shoulders, hips, seat-bone...to the back of the animal." This is something I have been telling my students for years, but had not yet really seen it in print.
The illustration plates were pretty good, especially considering it had been initially published in 1959! Interesting to see how riding has both changed and not. Particularly interesting are some of the jumps and other obstacles that used to be asked in eventing, but aren't really seen anymore, specifically a very, very steep embankment one horse is pretty much sliding down.
I think my only quibble is his section on 'Conquering" the Horse. I can see the purpose, but at the same time the idea of picking a bit of a "fight" with the horse and drilling it into submission is not so much to my taste. He does note it is something to be done every four to six months and only by very experienced and good-tempered riders and I guess if I really think about it I do push buttons like that on occasion.
Now on to Part Three, which concerns jumping!