Saturday, December 12th, 2009
Self carriage. Why do we want it? And how we can get it, quite quickly
A horse is in self carriage when he is moving forward freely and rhythmically, when his feet hit the ground softly and his back is elevated to carry us comfortably and with strength – he is in effect, carrying his own body with grace and strength and happiness.
And he does all that, with no rein and no leg to frame him up. It is truly the horse carrying himself - with no need for us to interfere.
I guess I can sit here at my computer and tell you that self carriage is an incredibly important foundation in any sort of riding. I guess I can tell you that very specifically for good dressage, self carriage is an essential foundation before we can have real collection.
But what’s that going to mean to you, the you that is sitting there on the computer reading this?
In everything from pleasure riding to Grand Prix dressage, self carriage will give you a comfortable ride and a long lived, free from injury, happy horse. It means that your horse is going to live longer, with healthier happier joints that mean a longer riding life and a comfortable old age for your friend when the time comes.
It will give you the kind of ride where you just pick up a slightly closer rein when you want to change something.
It will mean that when you are ready to start exploring collection – you will keep the same joyful, free, expressive movement of your horse as you start to collect them up.
And it’s seriously nice to ride!
When they are in self carriage, it is possible for our horse to carry our weight on their backs much, much more comfortably than otherwise. I was re-assured when I put on heaps of weight when I stopped smoking, to realize that with my horse’s back elevated, he could carry me with ease. Injuries and back problems are dramatically reduced, if not eliminated. In fact, I have noticed that old injuries can actually heal when a horse is free from fear and in self carriage.
If you pick up two reins to ride close contact and your horse is not already in self carriage - then real collection just ran further away from you. Yeah, I know… I thought that too. I’ll bet most of you said to yourselves, “How the heck am I supposed to get it then?” So how can we get it?
I promise you that it is a lot easier than you think!
