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Kit Houghton image<\/em><\/p>\n Can we talk about positive tension? It looked to me, when we have been watching Charlotte working Valegro, that the incredible quality that she was showing was positive tension, he was electric, he was never stressed, but he was electric, and that\u2019s a very weird concept\u2026 Did you have to create it with Valegro? The young Valegro, he always had the hock action… K Sparrow images<\/em><\/p>\n Working on self-carriage right from the start, Carl and Valegro<\/em><\/p>\n He has a hanging moment now and he looks like an incredible mover, but back then, he had all the mechanics, but he didn\u2019t have the lightness, he was always a\u00a0bloody<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>strong horse. He always had the hock action, that I don\u2019t believe you can change.\u201d<\/p>\n Can you talk a little about self-carriage? \u201cWe were always told, particularly through the German system,\u00a0hind legs, hind legs, hind legs, ride him more forward, ride him more forward\u2026\u00a0<\/em>and when you look around the world, there are very few riders with an independent seat, and if you don\u2019t have that independent seat, then finding self-carriage is one of the most difficult things, and you should never forget it, really. But balance first.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure if it is chicken or egg, but the riders who sit in the middle of the movement, in the middle of their horse are the ones with the self-carriage\u2026
\n<\/em>\u201cWhere it tips over, that positive tension, is if you let the horse get strong in the bridle. Once you let the horse become heavy on the hand and strong in the bridle, it\u2019s not positive any more, because then there is a block. If you can create what we try to create, without heavy hands, without hanging onto the rein, if you can do it with self-carriage, then it looks beautiful. It\u2019s this word, expression, which is a dangerous word because once you put expression into it, like heightened suspension and things like that, then if you have got the wrong rider, or a rider who doesn\u2019t ride with an independent seat, then they use their hands and that\u2019s when you get that horrible looking, jerky dressage. It is something we really work on, to be able to create it, without going over-board.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/CornerInd.jpg\")
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\n<\/em>\u201cOf course. Anyone who remembers him as a four, five or six year old, he had a very strong, Cobby, trot, there wasn\u2019t the sort of power and expression he has now.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1HSW_1241-1024x683.jpg\")
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\n<\/em>\u201cSelf-carriage is really easy to see. It\u2019s that tension into the hand that we were just talking about with Valegro the first place you see it is through the whole of the top line of the horse. The best thing you can do for self-carriage is the give and re-take of the reins. It is amazing how you forget to do that when you ride on your own. That constant giving the hand, taking, giving, taking, making sure that the outline is stable, the mouth is soft. You only have to look at the mouth to know how it is working, the horse is carrying its own head and neck. People who ride on their own, it can be something that they forget they are doing, people put in too much power and that\u2019s why they find self-carriage difficult, and I always think you\u2019ve got to create balance and then put power in, that way around.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>\u201cExactly, they have self carriage themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n