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Post by horseguy on Jan 7, 2017 14:49:21 GMT
Cadence: the rhythmic flow of a sequence, a rhythmic pattern that is nonmetrically structured, the beat, rate, or measure of any rhythmic movement, the flow or rhythm of events, especially the pattern in which something is experienced.
The word cadence is very important, almost as important as unity. I got on a Quarter Horse the other day and the horse had zero cadence. His fore feet were jamming into the footing in every stride so as to make a cloud of dust in front of the horse that reached up to his shoulders. This horse literally stumbled forward. I only trotted because I had a feeling this guy would catch a toe and fall. Stumbling has no cadence. Zero. I backed this horse up 2 or 3 walk strides and applied strong leg to "pop" him off into a more energetic trot. The dust cloud was gone for about 4 or 5 strides, then the stumbling returned. He could maintain some cadence for only 4 or 5 strides.
I told the owner to use hill work, trotting up and down hills. Over terrain cadence offers a physical continuity, a place to return to after a brief stumble, a hole, or an uncomfortable foot fall. Cadence is beautiful, if feels secure. Cadence has its own energy, it's not just a word.
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Post by jimmy on Jan 7, 2017 16:00:51 GMT
To the Portuguese rider I rode with a few times, cadence was the corner stone of suppleness and straightness. Regularity was the product of suppleness. He had an obsession with cadence.
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Post by horseguy on Jan 7, 2017 22:50:46 GMT
European dressage riders are obsessed with cadence. It's their reference point or "metronome" that underlies their tests. But I am using it in a different way, a more practical way. When you are galloping down a hill in a harvested field, the corn rows can catch a toe. The ground is uneven often with furrows that do not match your horse's stride. A subtle downward slope will put a horse on the forehand unless you are in a balanced rhythm. If you have a strong cadence, catching a toe or having an odd footfall in the furrowed ground is just one wrong note in a symphony, not the undoing of your stride. When the power of the horse is in a cadence, it overrides a glitchy movement or a difficult footfall. But if you are on a horse like that toe stubbing stumbling QH I rode that kicks up a cloud of dust before himself, those little glitches can be dangerous.
I have had people comment from time to time when they have seen me canter in such circumstances, like furrowed frozen ground. They say something like, "You are so brave, you cantered so powerfully down through that field." I say, no I am not brave I was scared and used cadence to protect myself. The same is true in polo. If a horse hits you hard and you are in a weak rhythm with little cadence, your horse gets knocked around. But if you have strong cadence in you movement and take a big hit, the horse with the lesser cadence just bounces off you.
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Post by horseguy on Jan 11, 2017 13:52:01 GMT
“I do not expect everything at once; on the contrary: for the only type of horse fit for this movement will be a high-couraged horse of much blood, who must also be a brilliant natural mover. Such horses are ambitious and will, on being pressed from a school-walk into a trot, be only too keen to achieve the ‘elevation’ at once. But if we let them, we shall have great difficulty in subsequently maintaining suspension, cadence and regularity, and I do not therefore look for elevation in the beginning; on the contrary, I prevent it!
And when the horse can do this low passage with perfect regularity, with real cadence, and with the period of suspension well marked, I shall then have no difficulty whatever in finishing off the brilliance of his work by now adding elevation" from “Equitation” by Henry Wynmalen
This interests me because it addresses the "construction" of lightness. Wynmalen explains that regularity comes first as a foundation, then cadence, which to me essentially means adding in power to the regularity, and finally suspension. When combined in this sequence these elements by themselves in combination generate elevation or lightness. The process he describes seems more like chemistry than sculpting or making a form like a "frame". He's describing energy, not form.
I am reminded of the two videos Jimmy posted. The young mare was very irregular, as a green horse usually is. The older horse has regularity and cadence. We can see the difference. There are steps but the process is not arithmetic. It's geometric. Cadence is an essential early ingredient. Without it we are stuck.
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Post by rideanotherday on Jan 11, 2017 14:36:16 GMT
Teaching cadence and rhythm to a young horse is like teaching music to kids. It's a mess at first. You must teach fundamental skills first. Each skill builds on the previous. Without a good foundation in cadence and rhythm, balance is difficult. Fitness must be built to support regularity of movement. Training both "sides" of the horse to perform through arcs, straight lines counter-arcs build ability.
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Post by rideanotherday on Jan 12, 2017 12:29:42 GMT
Teaching cadence and rhythm to a young horse is like teaching music to kids. It's a mess at first. You must teach fundamental skills first. Each skill builds on the previous. Without a good foundation in cadence and rhythm, balance is difficult. Fitness must be built to support regularity of movement. Training both "sides" of the horse to perform through arcs, straight lines counter-arcs build ability. I have to add a few things. You must have fitness first. The horse has to have some sort of strength to be able to support and balance. Without balance, there can be no cadence. I suspect the quarterhorse you rode Horseguy, is built downhill ( a LOT of QH are). It makes them travel on the forehand and because of that it is much more difficult for them to be able to travel in a functionally correct manner. It can be done, but it's hard work to get them back on their hocks and working with their hip and pushing themselves rather than pulling with their front end (that's what all the toe stubbing and dust was likely from). |
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Post by horseguy on Jan 12, 2017 13:23:20 GMT
The QH was somewhat downhill but in relation to his stumbling I think his downhillness was a minor factor. He was very heavy on the forehand, kicking up a huge cloud of dust in front of him as he trotted. I could feel that he had no reach under his belly, no elevation as a result. Lazy. When I put him into the trot from backing up, it improved. He does need a lot more conditioning because he could hold that reach/balance for only 4 to 6 strides.
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Post by rideanotherday on Jan 12, 2017 19:26:57 GMT
The QH was somewhat downhill but in relation to his stumbling I think his downhillness was a minor factor. He was very heavy on the forehand, kicking up a huge cloud of dust in front of him as he trotted. I could feel that he had no reach under his belly, no elevation as a result. Lazy. When I put him into the trot from backing up, it improved. He does need a lot more conditioning because he could hold that reach/balance for only 4 to 6 strides. Lazy or uneducated? How broke is he really? When you startled him into moving with more energy was that just because he had an "OMG" moment or because he knew what you were looking for? |
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Post by horseguy on Jan 13, 2017 13:16:00 GMT
"Lazy or uneducated? How broke is he really? When you startled him into moving with more energy was that just because he had an "OMG" moment or because he knew what you were looking for?"
I think a little of both. When I was backing him up and then asked for the trot, he was startled and did not respond at first. He kind of said to me, "Hey, what are you doing?" Then I asked again and he trotted off in a pretty balanced way, but 5 or 6 strides out he fell onto his forehand and began kicking the dirt forward into a cloud again. I do not believe he has spent a lot of time being ridden in and energetic balance.
I make the distinction of energetic balance because he does have a sort of balance in a slow heavy kind of way. He's stable but not balanced in a light agile kind of way. And this raises the question of expectation of a rider for their horse. My sense is his rider is usually going for this brand of stable as opposed to agility. So, in the end you have this horse that stumbles forward in a stable kind of predictable way, and that apparently suits the owner. But I did not feel I wanted to canter him because I didn't feel his "stability" would transfer into my demands for agility at speed.
This becomes a personal judgment question of, what do we want from our horse?
I want agility, quickness, edginess. I like two kinds of moment or two types of horse. One I call the "dancer", which is the light, quick, agile horse, and the second I like is the "blaster", a powerful jumper that overcomes every challenge with raw power. This horse is neither of those two, but he is a type I'd call a "plodder" and I think a lot of people like this kind of horse. Today they have these western obstacle courses where you have a course with "things to do" like get up on a wooden deck and stand, or go sideways through a gate kind of thing. The "plodders" do really well at this, and someone who can't ride very well can win a ribbon doing it. Plodders are good at trail riding too, if you stay on the trail.
My favorite horse, Riley, was a "blaster" with some degree of "dancer". I would let other people hunt him and eventually sold him to a person who thought he was the best ever, but very few people really liked riding him. They typically said after a ride on Riley, "too much". On the other hand, these "plodders" please a lot of people, but I didn't enjoy riding this one. We may be in "suit yourself" territory here regarding what makes a good horse.
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Post by rideanotherday on Jan 13, 2017 13:51:22 GMT
I guess I would have to say I enjoy dancers more than blasters, though a blaster does have a bit of charm at times. It's really dependent upon what you are doing, I think. I enjoy western performance (cowhorse, cutting, reining, roping). They should have hips like a fry cook, a front end like a ballerina and walk like a hooker. Unless it's a head horse. Then they need shoulders like a linebacker.
I tend to be more of a "cross trainer" than most western folks. I understand the principles of dressage and it gets incorporated into my training. I did not start jumping until very late in life, so I can't say I enjoy "big" jumps. I can get along well enough to pop over a log on the trail though.
I've seen people with trailhorses like you describe. They are "stable" in that they aren't going to fall over under you and they can navigate most groomed trails. Often their personalities match that - they just aren't any kind of inspiring to ride.
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Post by horseguy on Jan 13, 2017 14:35:41 GMT
"they just aren't any kind of inspiring to ride."
Yes, exactly. But many riders today are not seeking to be inspired by a horse. They just want to feel safe. These kinds of stumbling, stable, trail horses make them feel safe and once safe the rider feels they can ride a horse, that's the sum of their goals. That level of riding is not what I'd call riding, but it is what they call riding.
But here's my objection. If we allow the general standards of riding to sink to this level of lowest common denominator of stumbling safe, what will happen to US horsemanship? Have I mentioned that since the China Olympics in 2008 the American team (bolstered by two Australian members) has dropped in Eventing performance to the level of a second rate international competing country? We now regularly get beaten by countries with fewer horses and rider than Pennsylvania. There is something to be said for building national level skills from the ground up, but there is no will to do that.
Also, someone mentioned that riding is now an elite sport due to the cost. Yes and no. Where I live there are back yard horses all over the place. When I retired and move here I sent an email to the local 4H offering to do clinics etc. for free. I included a brief resume and a link to my farm website. Never heard from them. It would seem that stumbling stability is the accepted and preferred norm.
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Post by horseguy on Jan 13, 2017 16:05:56 GMT
Further thought. Cadence is being lost. It is essential to dynamic balance in a horse. It acts almost like a gyroscope keeping the horse balanced from within. There was a glimpse of it in the trained horse video Jimmy posted of his daughter when she correct the horse coming long strided into a jump, staying inside the cadence, using it. We can use cadence. It's not just pretty dressage. All the principles of dressage were developed by and for military riders. The principles of dressage are essentially practical. Cadence is one very important principle. Yes, some riders do not know it, can't use it, can't develop it in a horse, even find it unnerving, but it is very important and useful. It just requires some rider development to access.
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Post by rideanotherday on Jan 13, 2017 17:48:43 GMT
Further thought. Cadence is being lost. It is essential to dynamic balance in a horse. It acts almost like a gyroscope keeping the horse balanced from within. There was a glimpse of it in the trained horse video Jimmy posted of his daughter when she correct the horse coming long strided into a jump, staying inside the cadence, using it. We can use cadence. It's not just pretty dressage. All the principles of dressage were developed by and for military riders. The principles of dressage are essentially practical. Cadence is one very important principle. Yes, some riders do not know it, can't use it, can't develop it in a horse, even find it unnerving, but it is very important and useful. It just requires some rider development to access. I can't comment on the videos Jimmy posted. I can't see them, so I really can't say if I see the same things. |
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Post by horseguy on Jan 14, 2017 13:06:22 GMT
Let me try to narrate the video of the older well trained horse.
The rider has the horse in a very steady powerful but no excessive cadence in an arena full of jumps. The word crisp always comes to mind when I see a jumping round like this. Each jump is like snapping a carrot in half. And then somewhere near the middle of the round the horse extends a little and that causes him to come into a jump so that he will be too close to it in the takeoff.
Many horses become a little exuberant in their job of jumping a course and extend, pulling somewhat with their shoulders, lengthening their stride. I feel it is a good thing when they do this. It's enjoyment. The down side is they can mess up the lengths they must travel between the jumps, which results in them coming to a jump too close or too far away to make a comfortable jump.
In these cases it is important, I think, not to diminish the horse's enjoyment or exuberance for their work but still correct them. It's really correcting their math. If they are off in their striding, we must change the stride(s) in the approach so the math of the combined approach stride lengths places them in an optimal place in which to plant their hind feet and to jump well. This is where we must respect the cadence of the horse's round through the course. In this situation it is far easier to make it worse than to make it better. We can destroy the cadence and thus the exuberance that drives the horse's heart. We can also "tip" the internal physical "gyroscope", which is a very useful element of cadence, by being too heavy handed such that the horse's centered balance is diminished or lost.
In the beginning when I teach students to do a course of jumps, I tell them not to try to fix any mistakes in striding they might see or feel. I tell them to let the horse fix it and to stay with the horse. This advice addresses the probability that the less experienced rider will most likely do more harm than good in trying to fix the striding in an approach. In the early days of jumping, riders do not have the precision skills to intervene successfully during the approach, and they do not have the feel of the cadence they need in order to protect it. So, we just let them jump and tell them to adjust their seat, not the horse's strides.
But as riders improve, an instructor begins to address how the rider can help the horse by carefully intervening in the approach to a jump by adjusting the stride(s). I was working on this with a student this past week and we made some progress learning to intervene in the horse's striding. In the video the rider does a very careful but firm correction of the stride length. The rider's correction is technically correct and very precise, but more than that the rider executes the correction within the rhythm and power (the two combined being cadence) of the horse's motion that she established throughout the course of jumps. This basically is as good as it gets, technical skill combined with feel.
And this is not to say this is a big thing. It is what good riders do all the time. It is often imperceptible to most observers. But that is the point. When a rider can make these kinds of corrections within the cadence and with precision, the corrections are so effective as to be nearly invisible.
If you can watch the video, the correction I am discussing happens mid way in the video. The horse is traveling from the right of the screen to the left. The correction is quick. You might miss it. The quickness employed is a risk. Some might say that the rider, being this good, might have better corrected the horse in prior strides. By this I mean if the correction level is a 4, instead of changing the math 4 in one stride, the rider might better have changed the math 2 in two strides (totaling the needed 4), thus making the correction smoother. But we cannot know if this would have been equally effective. There are horses that if you try to change their striding in smaller increments, they feel you are needlessly interfering with them and they become annoyed. In these horses it is better to fix it all in one action and closer to the jump where the correction is more apparent to the horse. And this is the third dimension of correction within cadence. They are (1) precision, (2) keeping the correction within the cadence, and (3) knowing the mind of the horse and how it excepts corrections. From the result in the video and the near zero disruption, I believe the rider understands all three quite well.
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