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Piaffe in the Pillars. Painting by Ludwig Koch. |
Tapestry depicts horse and rider in the Capriole. |
Pirouette by George Hamilton c. 1700. |
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Mary Stuart in the Piaffe, Sidesaddle. |
Capriole in the Pillars, 1890. |
William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle |
Equestrian Portrait of Henry IV (1555-1610). King of France before the Walls of Paris, 1594. |
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Queen Isabel of France by Velasquez |
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The Dressage Blog
March 06, 2009
On the Bit 7.0
©Thomas Ritter 2009
Adolph Kästner (1876, translation: TR):
“Rein contact is the soul of equestrian art … Without correct poll flexion, without perfect coordination of the seat, the posture, the rider’s guidance and all aids, without precise and tactful guidance of the hand above the middle of the horse, rein contact is impossible. For, in the case of incorrect flexions, the horse either leans onto the inside rein while freeing himself from the outside rein, or he steps behind the inside rein while leaning onto the outside one, or he leans against both reins, or he stays behind both of them.”
Kästner expresses a sentiment here that is shared by many of the old masters. The rein contact is considered by many to be of such great importance, because the reins are a very sophisticated two way “information super highway” between the rider and the horse. Through the reins, the rider can not only give orders to the horse, but he can also feel every nook and cranny of the horse’s body. He can check on the “status” of any muscle in the horse’s body with the help of the reins. In other words, the reins allow the orchestra of the aids to feel if a certain muscle is stiff or supple, whether a certain joint operates with the full range of motion or not.
The rein contact goes far beyond the rider’s hand and the horse’s mouth. It encompasses the entire body of both horse and rider. The rider can talk not only to the horse’s mouth, poll, and neck through the reins, but also to any leg. The reins complete the circuit of energy that begins with the thrust of the hind legs. They complete the circle of aids by recycling the energy impulses of the hind legs, which then enables the rider to use the seat and weight aids with the greatest efficacy. They allow the rider to utilize the weight and the leverage of the horse’s head and neck in flexing the joints of the hind legs. They also help the rider to align the horse’s shoulders on the ridden track. The reins furthermore support the sideways driving calf aid in lateral movements, and they support the seat and the legs in bending the horse’s spine.
This sophisticated language of the reins that I briefly sketched out in the previous paragraph is only possible, when there are no blockages or leaks in the horse’s body that would prevent the rein aids from reaching their destination. The poll is the first joint that the rein aids have to pass through on their way to the hind legs. If it is blocked and not flexed enough, the rein aids will be limited to the horse’s mouth. That’s why the old masters considered the poll to be the gateway to the horse’s spine and hind legs and why they spent so much time unlocking this joint.
The sophisticated language of the reins is furthermore only possible, if the rider’s seat is balanced, supple, and coordinated, so that the rider can guide his horse clearly and efficiently through his seat and aids. Imbalance always leads to stiffness. Stiffnesses in the rider’s body always lead to corresponding stiffnesses in the horse’s body. Holes in the rider’s seat and aids always lead to leaks and false bends in the horse’s body. The better the rider’s seat, the greater the coordination of the aids will be, which means the precision and efficacy of the horse’s guidance through the rider will be greater as well. This is the reason why the old Spanish Riding School spent so much time on refining the rider’s seat and aids at the longe line.
Kästner mentions the importance of keeping the hand above the middle of the horse. This is based on the assumption that the rider is holding the reins in one hand, as was often a necessity for military horses, as well as for working horses of any kind. When holding the reins in both hands, it is generally a good idea to keep both hands close together and to let both reins touch the neck. This creates additional points of contact between the rider and the horse, which translates into greater stability and a greater exchange of information. If the reins are touching the base of the neck, they can feel the positioning of the shoulders, and they can influence the shoulder placement through a pressure of the rein against the neck muscles. The rider can even feel an evasion of the shoulder before it has happened, because the rein contact changes when the horse shifts his weight onto a front leg. The next step is then usually a lateral displacement of this front leg. If the reins are kept close to the neck, the rider will feel what is happening and be in a position to prevent the crookedness before it has started. If the reins are held too wide, all this information is lost to the rider, and his aids will often come too late.
In the second half of the paragraph above, Kästner briefly mentions four basic deviations from the correct rein contact. He says that the rein contact will be incorrect if the neck or poll is not properly bent.
- The horse can lean onto the inside rein and stay behind the outside rein.
- The horse can lean onto the outside rein and stay behind the inside rein.
- The horse can lean onto both reins.
- The horse can stay behind both reins.
The first two items on the list are consequences of crookedness. The horse always tends to lean onto the rein of the stiffer side and avoid approaching the rein on the hollow side, which leads to an uneven rein contact. The remedy here is to straighten the horse. In other words, the rein contact is only a symptom, but it’s not the real issue. The problem will not go away when the rider tries to correct it with the reins. When the horse’s entire body has been aligned properly, the rein contact will become more even.
The third item is an indication that the horse is not carrying enough with his hind legs. The body mass therefore falls mostly onto the horse’s front legs and the rider’s hands. Once the hind legs are properly engaged and flexed, the rein contact will become lighter.
The fourth item refers to a horse that is curled up behind the bit. This type of horse is also on the forehand. Typically, the hind legs in this case are out behind, and the croup is pushed up. These horses often have a good neck with sufficient length, which is why they curl up rather than invert, when their hind legs are not engaged.
In none of these four cases can the rein contact problem be solved through the reins alone. It always takes an adjustment of the posture of the horse as a whole. In the fourth item on the list, the hind legs have to be engaged under the body mass, they have to thrust enough, and they have to be flexed, so that the direction of the thrust and the horse’s posture is forward-upward, rather than downhill.
Adolph Kästner (1876, translation: TR):
“Every horse has only one appropriate head and neck position for riding with respect to his conformation into which he has to be brought and in which he has to be worked. In other words, it can never be arbitrary. It is determined by the poll, whose position is limited to a very small space, if not merely a point, in terms of its height. The rider has to search for it. He has found it by keeping the neck in the same place, or by raising or lowering it, when he feels that the reins affect the entire horse, including the back and hindquarters, through the poll and the steady neck.
“This point in terms of the poll height has not been found yet as long as the horse yields to the reins only or even partially in the neck and evades with his neck.”
Kästner mentions something very important here. He hits the nail on the head when he says that the rider has found the right head and neck position when he can feel and influence the horse’s entire body through the reins. The function determines the form, in other words. Like Steinbrecht and Plinzner, Adolph Kästner does not give a one-size-fits-all position that is supposed to work for all horses and all circumstances. – And in this respect they all differ considerably from many contemporary riders, trainers, and judges who think that all horses have to go in the same “frame”. Instead, Kästner emphasizes the individual variability of the position in which the horse is on the bit. I would like to expand his claim that there is only one poll position for each horse in the sense that for each state of balance that the horse can assume there is only one appropriate head and neck position. Since the horse can assume a continuum of positions from stretching forward-downward to the ground with more weight on the forehand to the highest degree of elevation and collection that he is capable of, the individual poll positions that are associated with each individual state of balance can be drawn as a continuous curved line.
Adolph Kästner (1876, translation: TR):
“No matter how much or how little the horse’s head and neck position needs to be adjusted, the rider must take care from the moment of the first mounting that he assigns the correct position to the poll, because it is only from this position alone that the entire horse can and must be addressed, if one wants to be successful. Through the correct position of the head and neck the rider obtains the feel of the entire horse in his hand and seat, so that he is able to make all the necessary improvements that the horse is capable of executing. It is only through this feel that the good, beautiful and uninterrupted, correct position of the head and neck can be achieved in which the rest of the horse’s body closely participates as well. The same goes for collection and obedience.”
This is an important observation as well. From the beginning of the training, the rider should try to find the best poll position, and, in fact, the best balance, for each horse. Even very green horses should be guided into the best position of balance that they are capable of at the moment, and they should be asked not to brace with any part of their body against the rider. This means, among other things, that the rider asks the horse to flex and yield to the rein if he braces against it. The combination of balance and absence of bracing will lead to the horse being on the bit.
To be continued…
Feel free to e-mail me with questions and comments.
Thomas Ritter
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