The Art of Riding
A SERIES OF ARTICLES BY BERT HARTOG

Part 1: Forward for the legs

A horse has to be 'forward for the legs' of the rider. This means that the horse must react actively and quickly to the leg aid of the rider, by going forward. This is a necessity in dressage, because all achievements originate from a combined energy and all this energy is only created by making the horse more active.

First of all a forward urge is needed. The leg aid of the rider creates the 'forward urge'. By guiding the horse correctly this forward urge can be limited and gathered into a generous 'urge to perform' by the horse. It is absolutely necessary that the horse is obedient to the leg aids. With a following seat and rein contact the rider must make it possible for the horse to obey the legs, which allows him to offer his paces expansively. If the rider works against the movement of the horse with his seat, posture or hands, the horse will not be inclined to obey the forward pushing leg aids. The result is a horse that holds back, and only reacts to kicking, sharp spurs and hard smacks with the whip. It will not be surprising that such horses are sour and unfriendly in the stable.

Of course there are many degrees between the two extremes of a willing and active and an unwilling and not so happy horse. The rider must control the hindquarters if he wants to create a horse that turns easily, actively extending and shortening and feeling pleasantly in hand. After all, the motor is the hindquarters and the motor can be started and accelerated through the influence of the legs of the rider. But even though we are making a comparison with a mechanical machine the horse is certainly not a dead thing that does everything by itself as long as you push the right button. But we can extend the comparison - if the motor is used by somebody unknowledgeable, it will run badly and play up. This also goes for the horse.

The rider has to teach the horse to be forward for the legs. We will discuss this a little further for those who have not had much experience and are training a young horse. Everyone knows a horse must have impulsion. This impulsion can only be achieved if the horse wants to go forward, and in such a way as is indicated and controlled by the rider. The horse must always, and at every moment, react actively to a pushing leg aid from the rider. What do we do if the rider has problems with the leg aids? If the horse is reacting slowly to the leg aids, and the rider is giving increasingly stronger leg aids without noticing it? When the rider works more and more with his spurs and hits the horse harder and more often with the whip, without really achieving the result that he expected? If the rider is honest enough to recognise the problem it is not too bad, because he can correct the fault. Those who keep going stubbornly in this way and blame the horse for it, will get stuck in their training and punish the horse for the faults that they have created themselves. What did the rider do wrong?

Unless it results from bad condition, or incapability because of conformation, the cause of the problem will be found in the way the rider has been riding. He may have forgotten to teach the light leg aid in the first few lessons. The solution is clear, the rider must go back and teach those first few lessons, and this will take time and patience, but it is absolutely necessary.

In most cases, the rider jams his thighs, knees and calves into the horse, and holds onto the horse this way. This clasping of the legs goes together with a jammed, stiffened seat. This combination of seat and legs works so much against the movement of the horse that he learns to keep himself back. It is also possible to have the reverse effect - the horse becomes restless and takes off! Now it is easy to picture a rider that hangs onto the reins and jams up his body completely. Many riders don't even feel that they are holding on with their legs, because their muscles have become so strong by using them a lot.

If they want to check their legs, they should consciously try to keep their legs a little away from the saddle. Keep your legs a few millimetres or a centimetre away from the horse so that you just, or just not feel the hair on the side of the horse. You will notice (as your senses sharpen) that the horse starts to react to the lightness. The horse will find the new sensation, pleasant.

Then the rider can test himself to see if he is really balanced - neither falling forward, or staying behind the movement. This is a very good exercise to do now and then. Nobody can see it, and it is a good way of checking your seat. The position of the legs must be correct and the legs - which are a hand width behind the girth - must be in touch with the horse, following the movement and the expanding and contracting ribcage in a supple way. The legs ought to be lowered because of the relaxed position. The knees will be low because the thighs are directed downwards. The heel will be lower because the ankle joint is relaxed. If the rider gives his horse the leg aid, then, immediately after the aid, the legs go back to their relaxed position. This way each new leg aid will be experienced by the horse as being clearly another aid, following the previous aid. Performed like this, the leg aid is indeed an aid, it is an indication, a command for the horse to do something specific.

The aids do not have to be heavy or strong. The horse is the one who does the heavy work, who offers the full use of his muscles. The human has the task of using his brain to regulate and guide... which the horse has to obey unconditionally. The unconditional obedience cannot be achieved by forcing the horse with unfair methods, which are often more cruel than one thinks - if one is thinking.

To know and to do are often two completely different things. Therefore it is right to ask yourself: Is the horse really alert to the leg aids. Does the horse really give the maximum of his ability without becoming nervous or tense? Or does the horse run away from underneath the rider when he applies the leg aid, which causes the horse to go on the forehand? Or does he react sufficiently to the pushing aid? It is up to you, the rider, to give an honest answer, and if you feel that everything is not right, make sure that you correct this fault, because this is necessary for progress in dressage.

How to make the horse 'forward to the legs'?

A young horse that is being trained to become a riding horse first needs to experience the concept of co-operation with humans on the lunge rein. Through systematic lunging not only will the horse become stronger and more able to carry the rider, it will also teach him what certain voice commands mean.

This is very important for the horse when it is being ridden for the first time. He does not only have a great problem to re- establish his balance - as the natural balance is disturbed by the weight of the rider - but at the same time he has to learn to understand that the rider gives certain signals, with the reins and legs, which he has to obey. To make it clear for the horse that he has to go forward from the pressure of the leg, the rider can at the time he applies the pressure of his legs, say the command which has already been taught to the horse on the lunge.

It does not take long before the horse understands that he has to go forward into walk or into trot if the legs of the rider exert a light pressure. The more obedient the horse was on the lunging rein to the commands of walk or trot, the more the horse will keep his mental balance when the same thing is asked under the rider. Do not under estimate this! If the rider is able to keep his horse mentally balanced (full of confidence, not frustrated) during the whole training towards the more advanced dressage, he can be assured of the co-operation of his horse, and that is worth a lot. Allow your horse the time to let any new exercise sink in. This is applicable for every new exercise in his career as a dressage horse.

Once the voice aid is not necessary anymore, the rider can take a whip in his hand to support the leg aids. Not one of these extra long dressage whips which are totally unsuitable for this work. The rider must be able to touch his horse everywhere with the whip without the horse shying at it. Often you see a helper give the whip to a rider while he keeps it hidden behind his back, because he could not approach the horse without him shying away. It speaks for itself how patient and understanding this rider has been with his horse... No, that is not the way to do it.

The whip is meant to make the horse attentive to the request of his rider and if necessary stress this request. The request has to be put into a language the horse has to learn to understand and after a while, does indeed understand. On one condition: The rider has to speak in a clear language.

That language is expressed through the aids that the rider gives his horse. This means, that the way of expressing must always be the same - the rider must always speak the same language, he must be consistent with his aids. Always exactly the same aid for the same request. It is not easy to be really consistent, certainly not for the less experienced rider. However, this must not be the reason not to try at all. You must keep on trying until it becomes a habit hopefully with the correct aids. The whip is used if the horse does not, or does not sufficiently react to the legs of the rider. The tap, or with complete disobedience, the smack, is placed behind the calf of the rider, because it is there (the place of the aid) to which the horse has to be obedient.

Suppose the rider asks the horse to trot on with a light leg aid, but he only responds after a tap with the whip. Then the rider should allow the horse to trot for a little while, take him back to walk quietly, and again apply the same quiet leg aid to ask him to trot again. If the horse has understood the message and makes an obedient transition to trot, do not forget to praise the horse. If he is not obedient, then the rider must stress the request with a tap of the whip, but a controlled tap. Do not give a stronger leg aid!!! Keep repeating this procedure until the horse has understood completely that he has to obey a light leg aid. The leg aid must be short. Lengthy squeezing with the calves goes against the movement of the horse and is therefore not logical and not correct .

Have a nice ride.

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