"Give Your Horse a Chance" Part One
Originally published in 1959 this book is a hefty tome. Lt. Col. A. L. D'Endrödy divides the book into five sections and I feel that I must do the same in order to give the book any service for I am certain that by the time I reach the end of it I will have forgotten much of the beginning. It is over five hundred pages long with an extensive index, diagrams, and 20 pages worth of photos with commentary. I have just finished the first part and will share my thoughts about it.
Part one is "The Fundamental Objects of Riding" and is very thorough in its treatment of the subject. You will want to read this with highlighter or pen in hand to mark and note all of the interesting and relavent points.
"Natural" horsemanship is certainly not a new phenomenon. Some people would have you believe it is only in the past 20-30 years that truely enlightened horsemen have revealed to us the inner workings of the horse's mind or known how to treat the animal with kindness, understanding, or in a language it responds best to, but it really has been the foundation of good horsemanship throughout the centries from Xenophon to the present day.
Gems such as "Before blaming the horse, the rider should make a careful check on himself, since 90 per cent. of the opposition may rise from his own mistakes." As well as notes that punishment is justified only when the rider "is convinced of the animal's malice" and not to be used when it simply does not understand and, echoing Xenophon, not to be used when one is angry or frustrated suggesting that the rider whistle or smile to check himself so that the punishment is without heated emotion.
"Good riding starts... when the rider can properly influence the horse...knows how to aid it in overcoming difficulties...how to overcome its opposition in a constructive manner." And "'Tricks' have no place in the art of riding, since in moments of crisis, when effective action is most needed, the superficial 'trick' never succeeds."
He emphasises the most thorough education of the rider, noting that the "elementary" schooling of a rider takes one to one and a half years of daily schooling. I think this helps to explain to students who only come to weekly lessons why it takes years to get a good base instead of a few months. Good riding takes time, a lot of time, even at the basic level! He notes the education of the horse is much the same, about a year and a half, sometimes less, but only under the hands of the best horseman and only if the horse is exceptionally athletic and fully developed physically. He does caution that a lot of it has to do with building the physical strength necessary to perform the tasks and that can not be rushed on any account.
He gives an interesting series of exercises to help one develop their hands, one of which being writing with a pencil that has a very long point (without breaking it of course). The book also cross-references itself all over, which means a straight read-through might not be the best manner of course as one seeks further depth of the current subject by reading up on another just mentioned.
He thoroughly explores the horse's gaits, noting that the walk has "very little natural swing in the pace makes instruction difficult for the rider, and enables the horse to resist easily" which rings very true. Of the trot he notes "by its simple grouping of movements, and by its natural balance and swing, facilitates the teaching work of the rider and the learning of the horse. Therefore, this is the pace which plays the main role in the horse's schooling."
After the gaits of the horse he moves on to the rider's aids, from leg to seat and reins. Also with many diagrams showing how pressure is applied, the strength thereof, and its most appropriate application. He states that the yielding phase of any aid is just as, if not more important than the taking or asking phase, for it is in this stage of the aid that the horse performs the action, or is allowed to perform the action. If one has unyielding aids the horse becomes incapable of executing the desired action as there is no space to do it in.
He goes over the "leveling function" of the aids in great detail, which I strongly suspect refers to the "half-halt" as most now call it as he puts it leveling "has an exceptional aiding quality, by smoothing and polishing both the activities of the rider and the horse."
All in all I think it is an excellent read thusfar. It is very dense and at the start I found myself re-reading passages to be sure I had them properly in my mind. It is not a book I would recommend to my young students as I fear it would be a bit over their heads, however it is packed with information that is presented in a very thorough, detailed manner. I also note that reading it appears to have affected my writing as I sense a more contemplative, verbose and formal expression than usual. I look forward to reading the rest of it and seeing how many more passages I end up highlighting before the end of it!
I have started part two "The Methods of Communication with the Horse" and will share my thoughts on that when I have finished it.
Part one is "The Fundamental Objects of Riding" and is very thorough in its treatment of the subject. You will want to read this with highlighter or pen in hand to mark and note all of the interesting and relavent points.
"Natural" horsemanship is certainly not a new phenomenon. Some people would have you believe it is only in the past 20-30 years that truely enlightened horsemen have revealed to us the inner workings of the horse's mind or known how to treat the animal with kindness, understanding, or in a language it responds best to, but it really has been the foundation of good horsemanship throughout the centries from Xenophon to the present day.
Gems such as "Before blaming the horse, the rider should make a careful check on himself, since 90 per cent. of the opposition may rise from his own mistakes." As well as notes that punishment is justified only when the rider "is convinced of the animal's malice" and not to be used when it simply does not understand and, echoing Xenophon, not to be used when one is angry or frustrated suggesting that the rider whistle or smile to check himself so that the punishment is without heated emotion.
"Good riding starts... when the rider can properly influence the horse...knows how to aid it in overcoming difficulties...how to overcome its opposition in a constructive manner." And "'Tricks' have no place in the art of riding, since in moments of crisis, when effective action is most needed, the superficial 'trick' never succeeds."
He emphasises the most thorough education of the rider, noting that the "elementary" schooling of a rider takes one to one and a half years of daily schooling. I think this helps to explain to students who only come to weekly lessons why it takes years to get a good base instead of a few months. Good riding takes time, a lot of time, even at the basic level! He notes the education of the horse is much the same, about a year and a half, sometimes less, but only under the hands of the best horseman and only if the horse is exceptionally athletic and fully developed physically. He does caution that a lot of it has to do with building the physical strength necessary to perform the tasks and that can not be rushed on any account.
He gives an interesting series of exercises to help one develop their hands, one of which being writing with a pencil that has a very long point (without breaking it of course). The book also cross-references itself all over, which means a straight read-through might not be the best manner of course as one seeks further depth of the current subject by reading up on another just mentioned.
He thoroughly explores the horse's gaits, noting that the walk has "very little natural swing in the pace makes instruction difficult for the rider, and enables the horse to resist easily" which rings very true. Of the trot he notes "by its simple grouping of movements, and by its natural balance and swing, facilitates the teaching work of the rider and the learning of the horse. Therefore, this is the pace which plays the main role in the horse's schooling."
After the gaits of the horse he moves on to the rider's aids, from leg to seat and reins. Also with many diagrams showing how pressure is applied, the strength thereof, and its most appropriate application. He states that the yielding phase of any aid is just as, if not more important than the taking or asking phase, for it is in this stage of the aid that the horse performs the action, or is allowed to perform the action. If one has unyielding aids the horse becomes incapable of executing the desired action as there is no space to do it in.
He goes over the "leveling function" of the aids in great detail, which I strongly suspect refers to the "half-halt" as most now call it as he puts it leveling "has an exceptional aiding quality, by smoothing and polishing both the activities of the rider and the horse."
All in all I think it is an excellent read thusfar. It is very dense and at the start I found myself re-reading passages to be sure I had them properly in my mind. It is not a book I would recommend to my young students as I fear it would be a bit over their heads, however it is packed with information that is presented in a very thorough, detailed manner. I also note that reading it appears to have affected my writing as I sense a more contemplative, verbose and formal expression than usual. I look forward to reading the rest of it and seeing how many more passages I end up highlighting before the end of it!
I have started part two "The Methods of Communication with the Horse" and will share my thoughts on that when I have finished it.