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[RC] dressage for endurance riders - lisa oberteuffer

Most of the things the instructor tells me to do (full contact on the
bit, sit deep in the saddle and drive with my seat, squeeze tight with
my lower legs) ...

~~~~~~~~

I guess there's not so much likelihood of being flamed on dressage
points on this list as on a dressage one, so here goes!

your instructor sounds like a proponent of "German" style dressage. lots
of contact, lots of action of the part of the rider to KEEP THAT HORSE
DOING WHAT YOU WANT HIM TO.

whoof. it's a lot of work, and I don't think most horses like it that
much--especially not independent minded distance horses. fortunately,
there's a whole other school of dressage thinking, usually called the
"French" school, whose motto is "riding in lightness"--or some such
variation.

the idea of the "French" school is to promote self-carriage in the
horse, and a light but balanced seat in the rider. you do NOT use legs
and hands at the same time; and you do not keep bugging the horse to do
things. where the "Germans" would have you keeping contact with the
mouth and also legs nudging the sides TROT TROT TROT TROT TROT TROT TROT
TROT TROT TROT (you get the idea), the "French" say you should have
"only the weight of the rein" in your hand and you ask ONCE for trot
with a nudge of the legs and then desist and let those legs lie still.
if the horse doesn't trot on one nudge, you need to train him to do so,
not keep poking him in the ribs.

anyway, I can go on about this for hours, but I won't. UNFORTUNATELY
"French" instructors are rare as hens' teeth. the "German" school has
pretty much taken over the world of competition, and so that's what
people think dressage is all about ... but look around, maybe you'll get
lucky! you can attend clinics or go watch people teach before you commit
to lessons.

there ARE a lot of books on the subject, though they aren't the
mainstream ones ... try anything by Jean-Claude Racinet or Nuno
Oliviera. I'm sure I can come up with other names but they are the two
pillars of the "French" school, in my mind.

and remember, do "as less as is possible" as I once heard an instructor
say (and I must tell you, he is an actual German!)

(I absolutely don't mean to offend any French or German people on the
list, so don't take the school names personally)

lisa in santa fe
--doing dressage in a bitless bridle, which is pretty much heresy in the
"German" school ...


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