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Post by horseguy on Sept 10, 2015 21:51:56 GMT
The last Czar of Russia invited James Fillis, who taught at the French Cavalry School in Saumur, to come to St. Petersburg to teach. On his arrival Fillis rode for the Czar and his family for nearly a half hour never moving beyond the walk. He finished and rode to the Czar's box and said (paraphrased), "You have just witnessed the most difficult thing to do in riding, the perfect walk." The walk is a difficult gait to do well, much less perfectly. The walk's four beat is slow by its nature and few horses naturally maintain a steady tempo. In my experience, in a dressage test, it is the hardest gait to do well because it feels so exposed somehow.
As a horse trainer, when I go to look at a horse I look first at how the horse reaches with the hind in a relaxed walk. It's there I can often pick up a difference between the left hind swing of the hip and the right before the horse warms up. There is a lot to be learned from observing a horse's walk.
I'm not going to go on and on here, as I would enjoy doing. I want to start with something simple yet complex, and the walk fill the bill.
We're just starting out, so if this topic is boring, or uninteresting, please post another of interest to you. Thanks.
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Post by jacki on Sept 28, 2015 1:34:08 GMT
Laura had her first lesson at the new barn today. She spent an hour in the dressage arena, just walking and trotting, and it was very informative. While I probably would not know a "perfect walk" if I saw one, I agree there is a lot to notice - the "reaching under" with the hind, the movement of the neck, how the horse bends through the corners, straightness across the long lines, etc.
It looks like we lucked out again with instructors - everything she said was 100% in line with how you taught Laura to ride. While it was a technical-type lesson (as opposed to a more "exciting" one), Laura was not bored at all. She enjoyed the lesson tremendously and learned a lot. She did very well - you would have been proud of her.
As much as we worry about the quality of a horse trainer we don't know, I wonder what goes through your minds as trainers when you get a new student who thinks she knows how to ride! I hope she was as happy with her new student as her student was with her new instructor.
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Post by horseguy on Sept 28, 2015 14:48:21 GMT
I am so glad you have found an instructor that you feel addresses riding correctly. Your message comes at a good time. This morning I received an email from a former student who move out of state and has had some real difficulty, but through perseverance, found a good instructor. It's not easy.
Countries like Germany, Britain, France and others, mostly European, have set standards that make it much easier for students to move around and still have continuity in their instruction. The way they do it is with a universal structure of the national riding curriculum. The U.S. has nothing approaching a curriculum. Every discipline, breed and some regions have different standards. This leaves the door wide open for incompetent, fraudulent and just lazy instruction. When the USEF was formed not too many years ago, I thought the first thing they would do is work to develop a national standard of horsemanship. But no, and I have no idea what they are doing except promoting the business end of riding, and I think setting standards may be bad for their idea of good business.
When the Fort Riley Seat was the national standard (1920s/30s), we lead the world in international competition.
Col. Harry D. Chamberlin U.S. Olympic Team rider
Since the days of the Fort Riley Seat we have had Morris come to the forefront with his short cut based Hunter Seat Equitation, Parelli Horsemanship and other "Natural" methods that have questionable value particularly with competition horses, as well as some very extreme forms of "artful" dressage that has no basis in practicality. All these "innovations" have created great confusion in American riding instruction and very poor national team results in international dressage and eventing competition.
Therefore, finding a suitable instructor today is a challenge and you have my respect for sticking with it and finding a good one.
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