Horsey Ramblings... (long)
Feb. 2nd, 2010 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
callistotoni...to help me unwind after a long day. ;-)
1)-- For Christmas![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nightbocci gave me 2 tiny books, both from the Masters of Equitation on Dressage Series (compiled by Martin Diggle, Trafalgar Square Publishing): "--On Trot" and "--On Canter". These books really are small -- about 8" x 4", and only about 100 pgs each. But they were a fun and worthwhile read.
I think nightbocci bought them because (A) she found them on sale, and (B) they have rather deceptive covers showing a joust reported by Froissart. However, the books are a collection of quote mostly from the masters of what we could consider modern dressage, starting in the 18th C with Francios Robichon de la Gueriniere, and ending with 20th C riders. I found it a useful read for several reasons, including an appreciation of why the trot is (and has been) emphasized in my lessons, and why my trainer is taking her time with developing Brandee's canter. There is a general theme of patience with training. The quotes showing the vast differences of opinion on how to initiate the canter were also interesting, especailly 'cause it demonstrates just how differently horses can be trained.
But I got a real kick out of the Introduction, and Diggle explaining why he did not include any Xenophon or any Renaissaince authors. Per Xenophon, Diggle quotes, as his explaination, W. Sidney Felton:
"It is remarkable that Xenophone should have expressed so clearly the principles that should govern our apporach to ...schooling..the horse, but we should not make the mistake of asserting that he was also the master of techniques of riding that did not even come into existence until many centuries after his era."
As to why he included no quotes from the Renaissance, Diggle writes for himself before turning once again to Felton:
"With no evidence to the contrary, it is generally accepted that, throughout the Dark Ages and the medieval period, equitation, in the modern sense, did not exist. [Remember, this comes from a book series on the development of Modern Dressage.] Horses were basically compelled to do their riders' bidding, by whatever brutal means were most expedient. The rise, in sixteenth century Italy, of the Neopolitan School, saw the *beginning* of a remarkable change. My reason for emphasising *beginning* is that the renaissance in riding should be seen in he literal sense of the word, a 'rebirth'. To illustrate this point, when Federigo Grisone, the founder of the Neapolitan School, emphasised the importance of the rider's legs in schooling, his suggestion was seized upon as a grea innovation and refinemen of what had gone before.
It is certainly true that the teachers of the School, such as Grisone, Fiasche and Pignatelli introduced the concept of riding as a science and an art and their influence 'lit a fuse', as it were, for the explosion of equestrian thought that was to follow. However, while ther influence (especailly that of Pignatelli, through his illustrious pupils from many countries) was immense, the Neopolitan School can be seen as instigating an awakening from the Dark Ages which was both gradual and prolonged. Sanapshots of the School are provided, again, by W. Sidney Felton:
"What was this new type of riding and schooling which gained such rapid acceptance? First of all, it was a method based on complete subjugation of the horse. Training was often carried on not by one person alone, but by a riding master with one, two, or even more assistants. All of these assitants carried whips or rods. And from the short length of time that a whip was reported as lasting, it is evident that they were not merely pointed at the horse...[as] in longeing.
A great deal of work was done with pillars, that is the horse was fastened to a single pillar and worked in a circle around it.
Curb bits were used exclusively and were of a most elaborate design. ...But all these bits without exception had one thing in common -- that they had very long cheeks and were very severe by any modern standard. And the effect is clearly seen in the pictures illustrating what was then considered proper carriage and proper action, for in our eyes the horses were very much overcollected...
Perhaps it is an unfair inference, but one cannot but wonder whether the horsemen of this period were not afraid of thier horses. Certainly they used every possible method of restraint, and extended gaits of even a free...walk on a loose rein had no place in ther schooling"
If there refections seem, to modern readers, to be damning, the writer goes on to make a telling point:
"But, while we may find much in the early school riding which we would not wish to follow today, we must not lose sight of the fact that it represented a great step forward from anything which had preceded it...and that it was the foundation for the more modern school riding, particuarly in France, which in turn has becom the advanced dressage riding of today.""
Diggle goes on to say a few interesting things about Pluvinel, an author many of us are more familiar with.
"Two of the founder figures of the French School were Salomon de la Broue and Antoine de Pluvinel, both of whom had studied at the Neapolitan School. ...De Pluvinel, a student of Pignatelli, is credited with being the first humane trainer of his era. Although this should be considered in the context of his times, he certainly took account of the horse's powers of reasoning, and understood hat the horse does not always resist out of malice, but frequently through lack of understanding."
2)-- A second thought -- one I've had before but these books brought them to mind again -- is that I can understand the origin of the "Dressage Queen' stereotype. More specifically, the image of the DQ as a know-it-all, rather then the Rich Spoiled DQ. To be honest, I'm rather sympathetic to the "know-it-all" DQ in that there is so much thought behind how a horse is built, how the horse moves, and how best to work with those characteristics to develop the horse's strength and flexiblity. If you haven'd drunk the dressage koolaid (as I have ;-) ) it can sound all rather subtle and arcane. In my experiance, and I'm sure in the experiance of other dressage students, there is so much effort in learning and practice and understanding the best way to get the best results from your particualar horse and what it feels like when you're doing things right/wrong, how to engage your core and your lats but only as much as is needed in a particular moment and yadda yadda yadda, that when you see riders slamming down on their horses' back at the trot or yanking up on the reins and riding around on a hollow horse back, well, it takes all the restraint one has to keep one's mouth shut. So, yeah, I can see how the seeds of DQ-ness get planted. A good mantra I think is: There are many different ways to ride and train and there is different training for different desired horse jobs, to each is own (barring criminal abuse, obviously).
3)-- Elsie and Helga have posted EQ goals for 2010. A big part of me wants to post goals too, but the realistic part of me knows that this year is going to be all about Life (TM). My overriding thought is that may main goal is to survive this year (especially financially) and keep Brandee and keep up with her training. I suppose I have my ongoing goals to improve my riding and to get Brandee on the bit consistantly at the walk, trot, and canter. I'm hoping I can participate in this year's WK EQ Championship, which is far enough away that I don't have to really think about it yet. Of course, that all depends on how the competition is structured. If it is like last year, that would be the best for me, personally. If it will be run like a Pas or Emprise than there's nothing of interest for me to ride in and so I'd pass. I'm happy that I got so much encouragement last year, and that makes me want to enter this year. But, of course, I'd make the worlds worst "champion" since I never want to do anything marshal. Good thing my lack of interest and skill in that area will keep me from winning, so I think it will be safe to enter. ;-)
And I still think it would be a great fun challenge to do a 16th C-inspired-theme ride, but I just don't want to commit to that until I know how Life is going to be. Same with teaching a class on training/riding history: it's something I'd like to do and have made noises about for years now, but I just don't want to commit to anything more than I already have this year until J/S and my new Life gets settled and we know how much time and money we are going to have.
(Tangential note: I'm finding that since having to deal with big life changes is causing me to curtail my SCA participation, the thing that I believe my psyche needs the most is forgiveness. That it's OK to, not flake out on responsibilites, but to not live up to what I/we think a Peer should be doing, or at least the expected level of participation. I'm a costume laurel that's making very few costumes these days, and what sewing there is has been pretty basic. I'd love to advocate for a place for non-marshal "performance"/dressage riding in the SCA/West, but I just don't have the bandwidth right now. So, yeah, there is a yearning for forgiveness. :-/ )
I do want to get J/S around horses as much as possible this year. I'm considering making pilgramiges to the various EQ practices with J/S (hunrvogt, this includes you) so that J/S could see what we have going on here in the West. Most of what is going on is in Cynagua, so that would mean more trips there. Won't be possible until we get all settled, of course, and we'll have to see if the budget will allow for the additional gas expenditure(s). But it's a thought.
4)-- Can Brandee tell I'm all stressed out? She's been pretty affectionate, and I've had some *fabulous* rides recently.
5)-- I've been riding less, so maybe I'm focusing more? I also think that I've had a muscle-memory jump in skill recently. My position has gotten a lot better and I'm much more upright with a relaxed and independant upperbody and arms/hands. I'm finally able to ride consistantly with relaxed arms and have my contact come from my lats. Also gotten a much better feel for when Brandee is coming through from behind rather than rushing forward and being heavy in the hands. I think we're looking pretty good these days. :-)
6)-- Brandee is still having hives which come and go. Other horses have had them, and a vet suggested that it may well be an allergic reaction to mold. I'm super allergic to mold, so like mommy like Brandee I suppose. :-P
OK, now I've really reached ramble mode, time to get to bed.
1)-- For Christmas
nightbocci gave me 2 tiny books, both from the Masters of Equitation on Dressage Series (compiled by Martin Diggle, Trafalgar Square Publishing): "--On Trot" and "--On Canter". These books really are small -- about 8" x 4", and only about 100 pgs each. But they were a fun and worthwhile read.I think nightbocci bought them because (A) she found them on sale, and (B) they have rather deceptive covers showing a joust reported by Froissart. However, the books are a collection of quote mostly from the masters of what we could consider modern dressage, starting in the 18th C with Francios Robichon de la Gueriniere, and ending with 20th C riders. I found it a useful read for several reasons, including an appreciation of why the trot is (and has been) emphasized in my lessons, and why my trainer is taking her time with developing Brandee's canter. There is a general theme of patience with training. The quotes showing the vast differences of opinion on how to initiate the canter were also interesting, especailly 'cause it demonstrates just how differently horses can be trained.
But I got a real kick out of the Introduction, and Diggle explaining why he did not include any Xenophon or any Renaissaince authors. Per Xenophon, Diggle quotes, as his explaination, W. Sidney Felton:
"It is remarkable that Xenophone should have expressed so clearly the principles that should govern our apporach to ...schooling..the horse, but we should not make the mistake of asserting that he was also the master of techniques of riding that did not even come into existence until many centuries after his era."
As to why he included no quotes from the Renaissance, Diggle writes for himself before turning once again to Felton:
"With no evidence to the contrary, it is generally accepted that, throughout the Dark Ages and the medieval period, equitation, in the modern sense, did not exist. [Remember, this comes from a book series on the development of Modern Dressage.] Horses were basically compelled to do their riders' bidding, by whatever brutal means were most expedient. The rise, in sixteenth century Italy, of the Neopolitan School, saw the *beginning* of a remarkable change. My reason for emphasising *beginning* is that the renaissance in riding should be seen in he literal sense of the word, a 'rebirth'. To illustrate this point, when Federigo Grisone, the founder of the Neapolitan School, emphasised the importance of the rider's legs in schooling, his suggestion was seized upon as a grea innovation and refinemen of what had gone before.
It is certainly true that the teachers of the School, such as Grisone, Fiasche and Pignatelli introduced the concept of riding as a science and an art and their influence 'lit a fuse', as it were, for the explosion of equestrian thought that was to follow. However, while ther influence (especailly that of Pignatelli, through his illustrious pupils from many countries) was immense, the Neopolitan School can be seen as instigating an awakening from the Dark Ages which was both gradual and prolonged. Sanapshots of the School are provided, again, by W. Sidney Felton:
"What was this new type of riding and schooling which gained such rapid acceptance? First of all, it was a method based on complete subjugation of the horse. Training was often carried on not by one person alone, but by a riding master with one, two, or even more assistants. All of these assitants carried whips or rods. And from the short length of time that a whip was reported as lasting, it is evident that they were not merely pointed at the horse...[as] in longeing.
A great deal of work was done with pillars, that is the horse was fastened to a single pillar and worked in a circle around it.
Curb bits were used exclusively and were of a most elaborate design. ...But all these bits without exception had one thing in common -- that they had very long cheeks and were very severe by any modern standard. And the effect is clearly seen in the pictures illustrating what was then considered proper carriage and proper action, for in our eyes the horses were very much overcollected...
Perhaps it is an unfair inference, but one cannot but wonder whether the horsemen of this period were not afraid of thier horses. Certainly they used every possible method of restraint, and extended gaits of even a free...walk on a loose rein had no place in ther schooling"
If there refections seem, to modern readers, to be damning, the writer goes on to make a telling point:
"But, while we may find much in the early school riding which we would not wish to follow today, we must not lose sight of the fact that it represented a great step forward from anything which had preceded it...and that it was the foundation for the more modern school riding, particuarly in France, which in turn has becom the advanced dressage riding of today.""
Diggle goes on to say a few interesting things about Pluvinel, an author many of us are more familiar with.
"Two of the founder figures of the French School were Salomon de la Broue and Antoine de Pluvinel, both of whom had studied at the Neapolitan School. ...De Pluvinel, a student of Pignatelli, is credited with being the first humane trainer of his era. Although this should be considered in the context of his times, he certainly took account of the horse's powers of reasoning, and understood hat the horse does not always resist out of malice, but frequently through lack of understanding."
2)-- A second thought -- one I've had before but these books brought them to mind again -- is that I can understand the origin of the "Dressage Queen' stereotype. More specifically, the image of the DQ as a know-it-all, rather then the Rich Spoiled DQ. To be honest, I'm rather sympathetic to the "know-it-all" DQ in that there is so much thought behind how a horse is built, how the horse moves, and how best to work with those characteristics to develop the horse's strength and flexiblity. If you haven'd drunk the dressage koolaid (as I have ;-) ) it can sound all rather subtle and arcane. In my experiance, and I'm sure in the experiance of other dressage students, there is so much effort in learning and practice and understanding the best way to get the best results from your particualar horse and what it feels like when you're doing things right/wrong, how to engage your core and your lats but only as much as is needed in a particular moment and yadda yadda yadda, that when you see riders slamming down on their horses' back at the trot or yanking up on the reins and riding around on a hollow horse back, well, it takes all the restraint one has to keep one's mouth shut. So, yeah, I can see how the seeds of DQ-ness get planted. A good mantra I think is: There are many different ways to ride and train and there is different training for different desired horse jobs, to each is own (barring criminal abuse, obviously).
3)-- Elsie and Helga have posted EQ goals for 2010. A big part of me wants to post goals too, but the realistic part of me knows that this year is going to be all about Life (TM). My overriding thought is that may main goal is to survive this year (especially financially) and keep Brandee and keep up with her training. I suppose I have my ongoing goals to improve my riding and to get Brandee on the bit consistantly at the walk, trot, and canter. I'm hoping I can participate in this year's WK EQ Championship, which is far enough away that I don't have to really think about it yet. Of course, that all depends on how the competition is structured. If it is like last year, that would be the best for me, personally. If it will be run like a Pas or Emprise than there's nothing of interest for me to ride in and so I'd pass. I'm happy that I got so much encouragement last year, and that makes me want to enter this year. But, of course, I'd make the worlds worst "champion" since I never want to do anything marshal. Good thing my lack of interest and skill in that area will keep me from winning, so I think it will be safe to enter. ;-)
And I still think it would be a great fun challenge to do a 16th C-inspired-theme ride, but I just don't want to commit to that until I know how Life is going to be. Same with teaching a class on training/riding history: it's something I'd like to do and have made noises about for years now, but I just don't want to commit to anything more than I already have this year until J/S and my new Life gets settled and we know how much time and money we are going to have.
(Tangential note: I'm finding that since having to deal with big life changes is causing me to curtail my SCA participation, the thing that I believe my psyche needs the most is forgiveness. That it's OK to, not flake out on responsibilites, but to not live up to what I/we think a Peer should be doing, or at least the expected level of participation. I'm a costume laurel that's making very few costumes these days, and what sewing there is has been pretty basic. I'd love to advocate for a place for non-marshal "performance"/dressage riding in the SCA/West, but I just don't have the bandwidth right now. So, yeah, there is a yearning for forgiveness. :-/ )
I do want to get J/S around horses as much as possible this year. I'm considering making pilgramiges to the various EQ practices with J/S (
hunrvogt, this includes you) so that J/S could see what we have going on here in the West. Most of what is going on is in Cynagua, so that would mean more trips there. Won't be possible until we get all settled, of course, and we'll have to see if the budget will allow for the additional gas expenditure(s). But it's a thought. 4)-- Can Brandee tell I'm all stressed out? She's been pretty affectionate, and I've had some *fabulous* rides recently.
5)-- I've been riding less, so maybe I'm focusing more? I also think that I've had a muscle-memory jump in skill recently. My position has gotten a lot better and I'm much more upright with a relaxed and independant upperbody and arms/hands. I'm finally able to ride consistantly with relaxed arms and have my contact come from my lats. Also gotten a much better feel for when Brandee is coming through from behind rather than rushing forward and being heavy in the hands. I think we're looking pretty good these days. :-)
6)-- Brandee is still having hives which come and go. Other horses have had them, and a vet suggested that it may well be an allergic reaction to mold. I'm super allergic to mold, so like mommy like Brandee I suppose. :-P
OK, now I've really reached ramble mode, time to get to bed.
