Adolph Kästner, Continuation.
The tools for longeing are cavesson, snaffle, and surcingle.
The cavesson has to be shaped around the horse’s nose and lined with deer leather, in order not to injure the horse or to render him fearful. At the ends of its noseband, the cavesson must have rings to which the chinstrap is attached, so that it can be adjusted before the snaffle bit in such a way that the cavesson has a steady position and the snaffle does not injure the horse’s lips. The cavesson must be attached neither too high, because it would otherwise lose effectiveness, nor too low, because it would otherwise interfere with the breathing and become painful to the horse in every way. The horns of the cavesson must be bent backwards at their ends, and must be neither too long, nor too short.
The snaffle bit must be sufficiently thick.
The wide surcingle should rest where the saddle girth will lie later on. It must have three rings: one exactly in the middle, the other two right next to it.
The inside snaffle rein is attached to the middle ring, which has to be exactly over the center of the horse. The head is positioned a little to the inside. The outside snaffle rein is attached to the outside ring, so that the horse receives a completely straight, unflexed position. For this purpose, the trainer steps in front of the horse, positions him completely straight, adjusts the head and neck, and the whip bearer attaches the reins.
The inside cavesson rein is attached to the inside ring, which has remained empty so far, so that it positions the head to the inside, as well. The outside cavesson rein is attached loosely to the outside ring, together with the outside snaffle rein, so that it remains without influence.
The incorrect adjustment of the reins that counter-positions the horse to the outside of the circle prevents the horse from bending along the circle line, and forces him to lean into the circle, and to go incorrectly. It binds the shoulders; and, ultimately, makes him stiff.
Often over-checks are used to raise the neck at the longe line. However, this will only be a preparation for the ensuing work under the rider in the rarest cases. For one teaches the horse to lean onto the reins and to stiffen the poll, and the rider has to deal with mistakes that he himself created before he even mounted. The excessive use of the overcheck over elevates the neck, i.e. it forces it out of the necessary alignment with the back. It stiffens the poll. It pushes the shoulders down and tweaks them. It stiffens the back and the haunches, and it pushes the croup up. The same thing applies also for the dumb-jockey.
The trainer can give the following main aids with the longe line:
- In order to collect the horse, the hand applies a half-halt straight upwards with the longe line without coming back towards the torso.
- If the horse leaves the rein contact, i.e. if he leans out into the longe line, then the longe line is shortened intermittently in a straight line. The aid is given gently when only a flexion of the fingers is involved. It becomes stronger when the wrist participates. It becomes even stronger when the forearm participates and the hand moves backwards turning the intermittent pressure into a backwards squeeze.
The gentle, as well as the stronger, aid must be given at that moment at which the horse wants to step down with the inside front leg. This induces the outside front leg, which is now moving forward and out of the circle, to move in a circular manner, and the inside hind leg has to step in close and under.
- If the horse leaves the rein contact, falling into the circle, then the longe line is raised forward upward. If this aid is insufficient, the longe line acts with intermittent pressure as indicated in 2), but downwards towards the cavesson when the outside front leg touches down so that the inside shoulder, which is sucking back, has to step forward onto the circle line.
- The trainer executes downward transitions by stepping forward towards the horse with aid 1) which is also used when the rhythm is too fast.
- In the rein-back, the trainer has to stand directly in front of the horse with a short longe line. From here he has to apply aid 3) step by step in intermittent squeezes against the cavesson. He has to make sure that the horse steps back on a completely straight line.
These aids, as the whip aids that are discussed later, must always be the same for the same purpose, so that the horse always understands the trainer and the whip bearer immediately and is able to obey.
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The unity of the work must remain intact throughout the entire training, from beginning to end. Therefore, the aids at the longe line must not be fundamentally different from those under the rider. On the contrary, they must be almost identical as far as this is possible at the longe line. If the esteemed reader will turn his attention to the above-mentioned aids at the longe line again, he will find that they correspond to the aids which the horse must receive as soon as he is ridden.
For aid 1) and 4), for collection, and for downward transitions, the longe line should be applied upward-backwards, the reins of the rider should do the same for the same purposes.
Aid 2) prevents falling out of the circle line by intermittent squeezes of the longe line as the inside front leg touches down. The rider brings the horse onto the circle line by the position of the inside rein while the outside rein is applied with intermittent squeezes against the inside rein as the inside front leg touches down. This makes the outside shoulder, which is lagging behind, step in a circular motion.
For aid 3), when the horse falls into the circle, the longe line has to be applied upward as the outside front leg touches down. The rider leads the horse outward onto the circle line by remaining passive with the outside rein and directing the inside rein upward against his outside shoulder, also as the outside front leg touches down in order to enlarge the inside shoulder, which is lagging behind.
In the rein-back, aid 5), the longe line is applied straight backwards. The reins of the rider should do the same.
All of this proves that the work at the longe line must be studied and can only be practiced with due success by an experienced and skilled rider.
The whip-bearer basically has to observe the following, and to apply the following aids:
He has to walk a perfectly round circle and to follow the horse’s movement without inconsistency. He must constantly observe the horse and its gait, staying opposite the horse’s middle, unless exceptions make it necessary to stay further back. In the canter he has to keep time with the horse’s jumps. If the horse goes correctly, he stays close to the longe line. When the horse hesitates, sucks back, stops on his own, then he will have to stay opposite the haunches, or even behind them, in order to apply the appropriate aids.
He generally holds the whip so that the lash is on the ground.
The driving aids, with the whip, consist in raising it, letting the lash drop onto the middle of the horse’s back, in flicking the lash of the whip close to the ground, in other words without raising it and without touching the horse. When the horse is asked to halt, he steps behind the trainer after the transition where he remains at the halt and during the rein-back.
This means that the whip-bearer must also be an experienced rider if he is supposed to have timely and appropriate influence on the horse and its gaits, in support of the trainer.
It is as impossible as it is useless to list all the activities of the trainer and the whip-bearer. On the one hand, they are often a matter of tact, as in the saddle. And, on the other hand, they cannot be learned in theory only.
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Thomas Ritter
