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"The Spirit Of Baroque Dressage"
By Jean Philippe Giacomini

Editorial Comment: Economic Pressure And Training Ethics

Competitive riders work under a high degree of economic pressure. It has become very obvious by the violence in the training methods sometimes used by amateurs and professionals alike. Many owners and riders have become more motivated by the relentless pursuit of winning ribbons, than by the love for horses, which, they may not remember, is what got them involved in the first place.

The people who design, organize and judge riding competitions must remember that they bear a large responsibility in condoning this state of affairs through promoting classes that encourage the practice of equestrian bizarreness. By supporting show classes that emphasize entertainment and education, rather than the sole pursuit of glory, the horse world would be altogether healthier.

In an era when overly well-meaning organizations are trying very hard to legislate every relationship we have, an effort for self-education by everyone involved in equestrian sports would certainly help the industry. Every brutality to a horse that I have ever witnessed, started with ignorance and I must confess that I have succumbed to the temptation of violence myself, only to bitterly regret it, moments later. This is why the divulgence of progressive, effective and kind methods of training, that relate correctly to what we know of the horse's body and mind, should constitute great help in improving the image (and the reality), of horse riding.

Personally, I have struggled through various attempts at reinventing the Dressage 'wheel' during the thirty years of my equestrian career, sometimes spent trying to make unsuspecting horses perform exercises they had little interest in doing. As a reflection of how much time I have lost, I am passionate about helping the next generation of 'kamikazes' (and their horses), by clarifying the very useful and basic concepts of 'Baroque' (or Classical) Dressage.

I. DRESSAGE MUST COME FROM THE HEART TO BE EFFECTIVE

Everyone's talking about "Dressage" - the fashionable horse sport in the US since the 80's. However, understanding it's concept eludes many of us. MOST riders, whether they know it or not, are already doing some kind of "Dressage", as one cannot ride a horse without training it to become better or worse. This is a haphazard method with results that are mostly unintentional and often surprising.

"The Spirit of Baroque Dressage" is copyrighted 1996 by Jean Philippe Giacomini.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, "Dressage is seen as a riddle, wrapped in an enigma that remains shrouded in mystery". In reality, Dressage is an old French word that means preparation and education, as well as presentation. In English, to dress, also means to become presentable. In our modern equestrian language, Dressage has become synonymous to an exotic European fashion of training and showing large, unwieldy, mostly bay, horses. Essentially, Dressage is a time honored progressive gymnastic system designed to teach the horse to comfortably carry the rider through a series of increasingly difficult maneuvers. As a result, he becomes easier and more enjoyable to ride. Throughout history, from country to country, the concept of Dressage has varied considerably. In history, each Master, after gathering his original experience (hopefully based on the essential principles supposedly taught in the very serious European riding schools), ended up creating a system of training personalized to suit his own idiosyncrasies and adapted to the local type of horses he rode.

As a young student in Master Nuno Oliveira's Classical Dressage School in Lisbon, I remember well an episode when the master stopped everybody in the class and dramatically asked why we all rode horses. After each of us fumbled some unsatisfactory answers, he stated: "I ride horses because I love them". To this day, that powerful affirmation remains vivid in my memory, particularly in a horse world that has increasingly become a 'straight business' environment. A horse loving his trainer learns the fastest and performs reliably. After all these years, this fact is undeniably clear to me and the only way I know to achieve that desirable success is to love the horse first, because what goes around comes around! Every rider has his or her own level of proficiency, ambition and every horse his own level of God given talent. This results in presentations that can vary greatly in technical quality, yet the most endearing and noticeable aspect of any enjoyable equestrian spectacle, at whatever level, is a look of happiness on BOTH faces of the rider and the horse!

II. 'DRESSAGE' HORSES EXTRAORDINAIRE AND 'SHANGRI-LA'!!!

In 1900, Captain de Saint Phalle won the Championship of the Universal Horse, organized by the French Cavalry, with his thoroughbred mare Marcelle. The competition required the riders and their horses to accomplish, in short succession, a 30 mile endurance ride, a 3 mile steeplechase at a speed higher than 550 meters per minute, and a free presentation of Dressage. Not only did he win every class, but in his freestyle, after performing all the ordinary movements, he followed it with Flying Changes while Cantering Backwards, one of the most complicated and physically demanding Airs of High School.

In the 1930's, Captain Beudant, a French mounted policeman in Algeria, and a self taught equestrian genius, won many steeplechases with his High School horse Robertsart II. He could perform Passage, Piaffer, One Tempi Changes, Canter and Trot backwards and the most spectacular Spanish Trot ever photographed, gently ridden on a snaffle without a noseband yet with his mouth quietly shut.

In 1980, my own Lusitano stallion, Novilheiro, was a proven Grand Prix Dressage horse, an Intermediate Eventer and an international Grand Prix Jumper. He accomplished this with three different riders: myself, my student, Rachel Bayliss, the European three day Champion of '83, and John Whittaker, the leading show jumping rider for the last two decades. Under my tutelage, Rachel rode her European Champion 7/8 Thoroughbred horse Mystic Minstrel, both on the British Event and the Dressage Team in the same season, the only recorded horse ever to do so! To me, all of those horses showed the purest expression of Dressage riding because of their versatility, the flamboyance they displayed in their presentations and their happiness at their work.

As I understand it, Classical Dressage is defined for it's enthusiasts by a spirit of continuing education for both the horse and rider. It is a way of life filled with the frustrating challenge of facing the same old problem hiding daily under a thousand new faces. Once in a while, perseverance brings, in rare moments, the overwhelming joy of discoveries that makes one feel like Christopher Columbus when he finally saw American land. The process of training through the Dressage method aims at creating the comfort of both the horse and rider. It is essentially the ability for the rider to place the horse, at will, in any number of positions, equilibrium, rhythms and gaits that will fix his particular problems presented at each moment of training. So, ultimately, it will give the horse a better, less taxing use of his own forces and, for the rider, a better control over them.

For me, Dressage riding is not limited to a given set of movements in fashion at one period or another, nor is it a set position of the horse's head, nor a rigid and unique equilibrium. Dressage definition goes beyond what clothes one wears, what tack one uses, or from which historical tradition one claims to be representing. For instance, there has been great discussion over the years between the tenants of 'natural' riding (who maintain that no intentional interference with the horse can come from the rider) and the tenants of 'artificial' riding (who insist in replacing all natural forces of the horse by new ones, exclusively transmitted by the rider). THE REAL POINT IS THIS: A truly trained and happy horse can feel like 'shangri-la' to his rider!

III. THE KEY TO DRESSAGE TRAINING IS UNDERSTANDING BIOMECHANICS, AND MOSTLY, HOW THE HORSE'S BACK WORKS

A human being riding a horse can hardly be seen as a 'natural' situation. The simple fact of sitting on his back affects every part of the horse's structure and permanently modifies his balance. The concept of leaving the horse alone by standing on the stirrups and letting the reins flop only transfers the weight to a different area and unless the rider can perform levitation, he will, at least involuntarily, affect the horse's balance. We have to understand that once he is ridden, the horse can no longer be considered separate from the rider: they have now become a new being we can call the 'hippanthrop', (from the Greek hippos-horse and anthropoids-man) whose balance must be collectively treated as ONE. The correct image of the educated horse and rider, as I see it, is one where each takes care of his own posture and uses only the muscles necessary to the performance, yet positively affects the other one's balance. It is called self-courage and relies on an ever changing combination of relaxation and nervous influx, brilliance and softness. The effective rider must displace his weight as necessary in order to affect the horse's weight distribution and the horse's back must follow the movements of the rider's back to reach the full expression of each exercise intended. It does not mean that the rider's aids need be grotesquely visible, only that, under a perfectly still and overly elegant rider, one can only see a rigid horse limited in his performance. The important precondition required before attempting to modify the basic biomechanics of the horse is to obtain the mental and emotional participation of the horse. When the rider's pay to this step all the attention it requires, the rest of training becomes extremely simple (simple, but not easy: I make no promises!). A contracted horse is physically uptight, emotionally upset and mentally absent and, as a result, he cannot learn anything. In view of this situation, the rider needs to apply a training method aimed at obtaining a horse with a body relaxed in all it's parts, an alert mind and a trusting emotional state.

The guiding training principle I have respected, goes as follows: PREVENT EVASION, USE REPETITION, OBTAIN COMPLETION PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY. This translates into a horse that performs the exercise, understand it and can repeat it every time on a simple cue and, finally, clearly enjoys it. In short, the horse "gets-it", does it and likes it". It might sound like a tall order, but if the principle is always followed, the result will always follow.

The greatest improvement brought to riding in the late 20th century is a better scientific understanding of the function of the horse's back. Descriptions of this essential concept were, until now, only reflecting intuitive notions based on the great masters' feelings.

In the history of Dressage, up until recently, the emphasis has been put on the flexion of the hind legs and their activity and on the flexion of the front end and its suppleness. Both preoccupations have been exaggerated and this was reflected by the use of very excessive devices such as the bits from the 17th century or excessive methods such as the endless flexion of jaw and neck practiced 'in hand' and under saddle in the 19th century. I believe that those excesses were a result of a lack of understanding by the riders from those periods of where the main problem lays.

There is a better way to obtain most of the desired flexion in the hind and front ends of the horse. The solution is for the rider to acquire and control the ability to flex the horse's back vertically and laterally under his weight. This ever frustrating quest for the equestrian 'holy grail' finishes (or at least eases up) when the rider understands that the crux of all the horse's contractions, his lack of balance under the rider, the defective form of his gaits, an eventual lack of energy, and even his unstable temperament, reside in the small area between the withers and the loins where the saddle sits. That part of the horse's spine possesses the most mobility laterally and vertically, because the lateral and vertical epiphysis of the vertebrae are the shortest. Today, all intelligent riding starts by understanding how our weight, through the pressure of the saddle, affects the position of that area. When this concept is TRULY understood with all it's consequences, when the shape and size of the saddle and the resulting dynamics of the seat are logically responding to the needs of a flexible dorsal spine, and only then, can the rider induce in the horse the desire to lift his back and flex himself through the middle of his body. In the thousands of horses of many breeds that I have ridden, in eleven countries, presented to me in seminars and clinics by riders practicing the complete range of equestrian sports, I have not seen a handful of horses whose problems I was asked to fix that were not resolved by relaxing and lifting the back. This method is the most assured mean to achieve a superior degree of collection. In essence, it means to control the horse "from his middle", as opposed to controlling him "from both ends" which results in compression, a very pale substitute for the real thing.

V. THE STAGES OF DRESSAGE TRAINING.

Let's consider in detail the many levels defining the phases of Dressage training in all it's complexity.

First, the horse must be ridden in his natural balance, his head and neck extended and free. The only demands made on his posture is to maintain his poll at the highest point and his hind legs pushing the mass forwards with great energy in response to the solicitations of the riding whip. The goal of this phase is the simple control of the horse's speed and direction. At the end of this phase, the horse can be ridden safely in company and in the country. Any short-cut in this early training, any premature positioning of the horse's head and neck, will seriously compromise the future because it will deprive the horse from his ability to carry the rider while remaining in an extended posture to which he can be returned any time that training warrants it.

The next step is when the horse is finally ready to be put "on the bit", that is now ready to learn the exercises of Low School Dressage, they consist of all the movements on one track (straight lines, circles, serpentines, halts, departs, reinbacks, etc.) as well as two tracks (shoulder in, half passes, renvers, travers, pirouettes and combinations of any of them). At the canter, the training includes the very important counter canter and isolated flying changes. At the end of that phase, the horse is rounded in his top line, laterally flexible in the back and always willing to go forwards with great energy in the horizontal balance. As usual, short cuts are dangerous and, for instance, to teach passage before the half passes are totally confirmed, can create the danger of the horse using this new movement to 'hold back' and pass 'behind the aids', (basically refuse to go forwards). Method and patience are the rule, especially for the inexperienced!!

In it's highest form, High School Dressage permits the performance of special movements known as 'airs on the ground' and 'airs above the ground'. The list consists of: the Piaffer, Passage, Tempi Flying Changes, Pirouettes (in Piaffer and Canter), Canter on the Spot and Backwards, Spanish Walk, Spanish Trot and Terre a Terre. The 'airs above the ground' consist of the Levade (or Pesade), Mezair, Courbette, Ballotade, Cabriole, etc. The real beauty of high school is the perfection of collection, the seamless transitions, the unaltered lightness, the harmony of the couple, the beauty of the 'hippanthrop', the dream of the centaur. This description of the perfect equestrian dream may sound romantic, but it is really only to make the point of what is truly important in the training of horses.

Even though no progression is cast in stone, it is good to repeat for all but the most experienced trainers that they need to achieve a correct performance of the low school movements before approaching the "difficulties" of high school, at the risk of completely ruining the training of the horse and turning him into a "one trick dog". High School without correct basic training is nothing but a caricature.

IN CONCLUSION

Some people are saying that cross country riding in the forward seat is incompatible with Dressage riding. They have even written that Dressage training will endanger the safety of the cross country rider and compromise the boldness of the horse. I respectfully say, that notion comes from a place of ignorance and these people have not been exposed to a style of work based on the Classical Principles of Calm, Forward and Straight. I do not imagine them with happy horses going in self carriage, as classical definition requires. A wonderful example of this is Novilheiro, with whom I share the greatest compliment I have ever received. Today, he is 26 years old and still going strong. At the end of his career, I sold him to stand at the Portuguese stud of architect Arsenio Raposo Cordeiro, a great breeder, writer, and eminent scholar of the Iberian horse, yet a very amateur rider. Arsenio decided to ride the horse to hounds with the Saint Hubert Hunt near Lisbon. Novilheiro had never hunted in his life, and after the first few moments of excitement, naturally started to follow the hounds with the greatest attention and gave his 'amateur rider' a very safe and enjoyable ride. A friend of Arsenio's, Don Jose Athayde, quipped on the way back, "this horse makes you look like a good rider". Arsenio, telling me the story later, gave credit to the noble mind of this marvelous stallion but also to the thorough Dressage schooling he received early in life. This story of a horse trained in High School and over competitive jumps, yet still capable of being pleasantly ridden cross-country by an amateur, illustrates my concept of a fully trained Dressage horse: when jumping, he must look like an able jumper; when hacking, he must look like a consummate trail horse, and when performing the 'difficulties' of High School, he must appear brilliant yet relaxed.

As I hope to have clearly evoked, Dressage represents, more than a series of movements, but a certain state of mind based on respect for the physical and mental integrity of the horse. This essential prerequisite must be maintained during training if the rider plans to achieve the transformation of his/her untrained animal into a beautiful dancing partner able to share the joys of performing with his educated rider.

Continued in Part 3B to follow

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