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?
Well, that’s the thing – we (the human) can’t get it. The horse has to get it – it’s the horse’s self carriage.
When our horse is in their comfort zone, they move in self carriage, naturally. And a horse is in their comfort zone when they are free from fear. Thus, when a horse is free from fear, they move in self carriage.
Self carriage is destroyed by any kind of force, which is why the hyper flexed, rollkured horses do not have the elevated backs of self carriage or the correctly elevated backs of real collection. In fact, lack of proper back elevation is one of the ways that you can pick a horse who has been trained with rollkur.
Now that I know how to achieve self carriage so simply, it’s easy for me to sit here and say “how come everyone doesn’t know how to do this?” I am laughing to myself as I write this. I see even beginner riders achieving it sometimes in days, sometimes in weeks, depending on how much fear they need to work out with their horse.
It’s quite simple, you get self carriage, the first and absolutely essential foundation to collection, by making it possible for your horse to live every aspect of his life without fear – on the ground and in the saddle.
So just decide to notice, all the time that you are with your horse, whether there is the tiniest bit of fear or anxiety in what you are doing with them.
And every time that you notice that they are anxious or afraid, you decide that you are going to take some action that will eliminate their fear. You can stop what you are doing, back off or get off or retreat to where your horse is not scared or anxious and wait for them to lick their lips and chew – no matter how long that takes.
If you take that simple action, every time, you will have a horse who starts moving differently, who comes more and more into the soft , rhythmic stride of self -carriage, who gets more and more elevated and has more and more of the happiness and joyfulness of self carriage. And for you dressage riders, your horse is closer to and more ready for a collection that is an expression of glorious power and control.
There are many more systematic ways that you can help your horse live every aspect of their life without fear. I’ve been watching some amazing people around the world doing just that, in many different ways. Zen Connection with Horses, the book and audio lesson set available here on this website, is another one of those ways. It leads you step by step through a unique and beautiful journey. It shows you how you can understand and help your horse release old fears and traumas. It shows you how you experience and develop a deep and profound connection with your horse. The book comes with my personal “love this book or get your money back” guarantee.
