We spend years of training teaching horses to understand
us. We teach them to respond to verbal and physical cues. So far,
millions of horses have proved throughout history their extensive
ability to wittingly respond to us. But just how many people have taken
the time and effort to 'see through' their horses?
"The horse is popularly, and quite wrongly, thought to be
an animal of high intelligence."
Elwyn Hartley Edwards, "Encyclopedia Of The Horse."
A rather disappointing statement, isn't it? Anyone who
interacts with horses can easily disprove such a claim through their
daily encounters. Another frustrated rider may complain "But he's just
so stubborn! He knows how to perform correctly but he just won't respond
to me!" Again, here we are blaming the horse.
What if that rider was doing something wrong? What if the
horse was struggling to understand the rider, and yet there still
appears to be a communication gap? How can one overcome this gap? We
have seen the level of harmony between horse and rider achieved by the
Spanish Riding School and by the international dressage riders, so we
know that is it possible. How?
These pages are dedicated to provide insight into the
basics of classical riding. Classical riding has proved to be the route
to achieving harmony between horse and rider, so take a few moments and
visit our
online riding school to see what could make a world of difference to your
horse.
You'll learn not only about dressage training, but also
about jumping and horsemanship. Read the articles to learn how to
develop your horse's collected and extended trot and canter, or on a
more basic level, how to train impulsion, straightness, and suppleness.
Movements like shoulder-in, leg-yield, rein back, and half halt and
explained in simple steps. Soon, you'll also find articles discussing
the training scale--or pyramid--on which all correct training is based
and makes possible advanced movements such as half-pass, piaffe, and
passage.
