Susanne Miesner talks about the connection between horse and rider, and
that it's something that has been persued for hundreds of years.
She says: When we talk about connection we are also talking about keeping
the horse healthy in the long run, along with harmony between horse and
rider.
Her article is focused quite a bit on the neck, as it seems that riders tend
to impact the neck in looking for the connection.
Many riders and judges think you see the degree of collection in the way
the horse carries its neck. So if the horse is very closed in the gullet,
and the poll is the highest part, then they think the horse is collected,
but they don't look at the whole neck, all they are looking for is that the
nose is on the vertical.
Susanne feels that riders can work on getting the connection and maybe
find it for a few minutes at times, but that some riders, most riders, do
make mistakes, maybe riding horses too short, and the question is do we do
that purposely, and make that mistake into a method?
She relates typical mistakes mistaken for connection:
Going behind the bit.
Going behind the vertical.
Going over the bit.
Going against the bit.
Twisting the poll.
An interesting part of her article:
Twenty, thirty, forty years ago, it was not like that, then horses were
trained slower, then there was no emphasis on producing young horses for
competition. And horses then, in general, were not so refined. Their bodies
were stronger and broader, so a rider could not so easily destroy the
natural balance.
Judy
http://icehorses.net
http://clickryder.com
