Education

Classical dressage vs. competitive dressage

Modern dressage evolved from the classical school, although it is seen in a slightly different form than its ancestor. Competitive dressage is an international sport ranging from beginner levels to the Olympics. Unlike classical dressage, competitive dressage does not require the aires above ground, which most horses cannot perform well even with correct training, due to physical limitations. Instead, competitive dressage focuses on movements such as the piaffe, passage, half-pass, extended trot, pirouette, and tempi changes.

In theory, competitive dressage should follow the same principles as classical dressage. However, there has been criticism by some for the trend, especially at the lower levels, for "quick fixes" and incorrect training that makes the horse appear correct, but that is in fact neglecting the basics. These short-cuts usually catch up to the rider as they move up the levels and need to be correct to perform certain movements. This is of course, a debatable proposition, as others argue that modern methods, such as the highly controversial rollkur technique, produce winning animals.

It is also believed by some that competitive dressage does not always reward the most correctly trained horse and rider, especially at the lower levels. For example, some riders who consider themselves to be training classically would not ask their horse to hold his head near-vertical when he first began training, and this would be penalized at the lower levels of competitive dressage, marked down because the horse is not considered to be correctly on the bit. Other riders, who also would consider themselves classically trained, would disagree, saying that if a horse is not ready to travel in a correct outline (on the bit) he is not ready for competition, and this is the reason such horses would be marked down.

The purest form of classical riding, as well as dressage, High School dressage, of Haute Ecole, takes years for both the horse and rider to master. When a horse is advanced in its training, it can perform not only Grand Prix dressage movements such as collected and extended gaits, passage and piaffe, but some can also perform certain "Airs Above the Ground," although usually a horse will only be trained in one air, and only if they are particularly able.

On the Importance of "Fixed Hands"

The concept of the "fixed hand" versus the "following hand" does not do justice to the subtleties of riding in lightness.  Opponents of the "fixed hand" tend to reject it out of a belief that it is rigid, because the word "fixed" leaves that connotation, when in fact, the "fixed hand" can actually be very soft and light.  This will try and explain how and why this is the case.

 The "following hand" which moves visibly forward and back is by no means lighter or gentler than the quiet hand which does not visibly move.  On the contrary, a following hand it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to feel and affect the horses hind legs with any precision.

All the classical schools ride with a "fixed hand".  If one looks at videos of the SRS, the Cadre Noir, Egon von Neindorff, the Real Escuela Andaluza, and Nuno Olivera, one will observe that all these riders hold their hands very still in all three gaits. The movement of the hand is minimal, especially front to back.  Yet, "fixed" hand horses are light, supple, energetic, and collected, all of which would be impossible with stiff hands. The agreement of these venerated schools coming from different traditions is most significant.

 A close look reveals no contradiction at all, as Egon von Neindorff says repeatedly: "The hand stands still, and yet it moves."  Nuno Oliveira paraphrases the same thought as: "Immobile hand, mobile fingers."  Both masters refer to the same concept.  While the hands themselves should not move visibly, the wrists and fingers have to be elastic and mobile enough to prevent the rein contact from becoming dead.

 When a rider tries to stop following the horse's mouth with his hands for the first time, he will most likely experience resistance and rein contact that goes from non-existent to taught and back with each stride.  This is of course not what we want to achieve.  So, how do we reconcile quiet hands with a soft, un-constricting rein contact?   Nuno Oliveira again gives the answer quietly and simply: "Follow the horse's mouth by means of a supple back."  More concisely he adds: "If you want to accompany the young horse's walk, do it with the lumbar back and not with the hand."

 Charles de Kunffy teaches the same philosophy.  He has his student’s tuck their elbows against their hips so that the hands become quiet, instead of moving forward and back.

 Here is how it works.  By keeping the elbows or forearms in close contact with the hips, the rider's hands become extensions of the seat bones.  Whatever the seat bones are doing is what the hand is doing.  In other words, if the seat bones are following the horse's back, the rider's hands will automatically follow the horse's mouth without visible movement. If the seat bones resist the grounded hind leg for a split second, the hand will automatically apply a half halt on the same side in support of the seat. The rider's pelvis and seat bones are controlled to a large extent by the muscle ring above it. Otto De La Croix sums the same principle up in: "The hand can therefore not exist without the abdominal and back muscles.  If the latter yield, the hand also yields eo ipso.  Without good use of the abdominal and back muscles, a good hand is unthinkable."  That's why Oliveira says you should follow the horse's mouth with your back, not with your hand.

 Keeping the elbows connected to the rider's hips and keeping the hands still has very interesting repercussions.  It no longer allows the rider to cheat with his hands.  In order to apply half halts, to steer and maintain a good rein contact at the same time, the seat has to do the majority of the work.  Eliminating the possibility of cheating underscores even the smallest shortcomings in the training of horse and rider.  It's a wonderful diagnostic tool.  This means that if the "fixed" hand results in a stiff, constricting rein contact, there is something wrong with the seat.

 Most riders are too wobbly in their waist, which compromises the stability of their seat.  The problem is almost always compounded by a less than perfect distribution of the weight (especially leaning forward).  The lack of balance and stability forces them to compensate by gripping with hands and legs.  This is paraphrased as the rule of thumb: The more deficient the muscle-tone in the midsection, the greater it must be in the extremities - to the point of stiffness.  On the other hand, the greater the muscle tone is in the rider's midsection (without becoming rigid), the more the arms, hands and legs are able to relax.

 Elbows that are disconnected from the hips create a gap in the energy flow.  The same thing goes for a waist with insufficient muscle tone, leading to collapsing either laterally or forward.  They are comparable to false bends in the horse's spine.  The energy from the hind legs exits the horse/rider unit in these locations, instead of traveling all the way to the mouth, and all rein aids get stuck in these locations as well, instead of being passed on to the hind legs.  This is a point that is all too often neglected.  Teachers talk about false bends or breaks in the horse, but they usually don't dedicate as much attention to these false bends or breaks in the riders.  The result of these holes in the energy flow is always a loss of true lightness, suppleness, balance, self carriage, permeability, impulsion, and collection.

 When the elbows are taken off the hips, the hands often develop too much a life of their own that is no longer synchronized with the seat.  Whereas when the elbows remain close to the hips, the upper arms lend additional stability to the torso, and the hands automatically assume a subordinate role to the seat.  This touches on what Steinbrecht means when he says: "By weight aids in general, the rider can restrain or reinforce every movement as desired.  It is understood, of course, that in all these weight aids, hands and legs must participate correspondingly, but the less such participation is required, the greater is the perfection of the dressage training."  The seat is the aid with which the rider controls his horse first and foremost. Legs and hands are merely supporting aids.

 Otto De La Croix sums it up with: "The calf aids are, in short, never the main aids but have to be considered merely supporting aids. They must originate in the correct seat, adapt to it and subordinate themselves to it. They must be given in the awareness that they are even worthless by themselves and without their correct exploitation through the seat."

 In summary it is clear that a fixed hand is perfectly reconcilable with lightness and gentleness, since the quality of the hand depends entirely on the quality of the rider's seat. The same thing can be said about the legs and the purity of the horse's gaits.