{"id":65913,"date":"2023-03-17T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T02:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=65913"},"modified":"2024-08-12T14:08:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T04:08:22","slug":"collection-and-the-neck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2023\/03\/collection-and-the-neck\/","title":{"rendered":"Collection and the Neck…"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Gatekeeper of Longitudinal balance and collection…<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

by Paul Belasik<\/h1>\n

Apparently it has not gone unnoticed that the FEI has changed language for some of its rules and guidelines concerning the broad subject of neck position in the dressage horse. When the FEI takes the definition of <\/span>\u201c<\/span>on the bit\u201d (a good definition in my opinion) out of the rules section, this simple omission can suggest a change in priorities about neck position that they might have not even intended. It can have the effect of opening the door to allow riders to rationalize endless unfounded ideas about neck shape. <\/span><\/p>\n

To me, neck shape is a very important connection to a humane and beautiful dressage.<\/strong> Regardless of the constant new amendments of regulations and guidelines from the competitive dressage organizations, it might be a good time to go over the fundamentals behind neck shape and its relationship to correct dressage, based on 500 years of experience and evidence.<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
\n

*******<\/span><\/u><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>If you are going to ask a horse to carry the weight of a rider and saddle – which can amount to an increase of as much as 20% of the horse\u2019s weight – it seems only logical and ethical that you prepare the horse to carry the additional weight that lands right in the middle of the suspension bridge of the horse\u2019s back. A feral horse or an untrained horse will carry 58% of their weight on the front legs. If the horse standing still raises its neck, even without moving the feet, it will adjust the centre of mass and relieve the weight on the forehand by several percent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

If the horse lowers its neck, conversely it will bring the center of mass forward and will increase the weight on the already overburdened forehand by several percent. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Figure 1.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

From The Dynamic Horse<\/i> by Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS. Used with permission from Sport Horse Publications.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

\u00a0<\/span>At first glance, it might seem this positioning of the neck in a high, strong, reaching arch with the poll at the highest point and the face near vertical has a relatively small effect of a few percentage points on changing the longitudinal balance of the horse or affecting its back to help carry the additional weight of the rider. However, the positioning of the neck is critically important, because the neck is the gatekeeper to connecting the topline of the horse. If the topline can be made into one strongly connected piece, then if the rider can get the horse to start bringing the great muscles of the hind end more under the mass, the rider has the possibility of lightening the forehand, not by a few percentage points, but by an infinite range all the way up to 100% lightening of the forehand, as in the levade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>Figure 2.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In this elegant and simple masterpiece of a diagram, we see the classical road map through the phases of collecting the horse, the position of the neck and continuously engaging hindquarters.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Illustration from Hans Handler\u2019s The Spanish Riding School: Four Centuries of Classical Horsemanship<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The position of the neck unfortunately has its greatest influence because it can be the \u201cspoiler\u201d to this systematically trained weight shift. If the neck is allowed or trained to be loose and low, it will always be a potential escape for collection, not giving the hind end and back anything to connect with, and add more weight to lift. These horses cannot develop enough core strength for leverage. A pry bar made of rubber is useless.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>Imagine you are in the gym and are going to lift a barbell. You step up to the weight, flex your knees and straighten your back, but the trainer rolls the barbell away from you by a foot or so. If you try to lift without fixing your stance, what do you think is going to happen to your lower back, etc? Unlike the feral horse or an unridden horse, the ridden horse must be trained not to use its neck for leverage. The ridden horse must stabilize the neck, taking it out of the balancing equation, and instead use the muscles of the core, back, and hind end to come under the weight. The same way the human needs to be trained to block the instinct of lifting when stretched out, but instead firm and straighten the back, bend the knees and come under the weight. An interesting note can be made here: one of the worst human jobs for back problems and pain is that of a chambermaid, a person who makes beds all day long, often carrying nothing much heavier than a sheet or blanket, but constantly locking the knees and leaning over stretching and lifting, day after day. Even without much weight, this posture is harmful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>Too many dressage riders and organizations seem to be ignoring these simple biomechanics and confusing stretching and strength training. The result is showing up in so much faulty collection; hollow backs, camped out hind ends, squatting behind and not sitting, swaying hind legs, epidemic joint injections. No good human trainer would risk asking an athlete to come up to a barbell with such faulty fundamental stances, and neither should any dressage trainer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>Why has riding the neck down so low and long gained popularity? One reason is that when the neck is ridden down and out there is a lever action, a kind of seesaw with the fulcrum at the withers. When the head and neck goes down in the front of the winters, the back comes up behind the withers under the saddle. HERE LIES THE SEDUCTION. Riders who have never felt or understood real collection, feel this lift and wonder \u2018how can it be wrong\u2019? For cooling down or rests of course it is fine, but the unintended consequence is that this riding is further overburdening an already overburdened forehand and lightening the hind end, over time weakening the very muscles needed for collection. And like the leaning chambermaid, stretched out while working, this posture for horses is courting injury, not building strength.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

However, there is another fulcrum in the horse\u2019s topline and it is centered at the lumbo-sacral area, with the psoas-iliopsoas group of muscles in particular being responsible for bringing the hind end down and under. This is the fulcrum that classical dressage is most concerned with. In the 1600\u2019s, the Duke of Newcastle said the whole objective of \u00a0schooling the horse is to get the horse upon the haunches. When the hind end comes down and under, the rider will also feel a lift in the horse\u2019s back, but this time the intended consequence will be the lightening of the forehand, the strengthening of the core, back and hind legs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Figure 3. \u00a0<\/strong><\/span>In this system, the horse will ultimately be able to carry the rider in increasing collection.<\/strong> \u00a0 \u00a0 Drawing by Brian Tutlo for Paul Belasik.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0Eventually in this system of training, the horse will be able to carry a rider in increasing collection that can ultimately result in piaffe or levade, even if you don\u2019t intend to go quite that far.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>The traditional method for starting the dressage horse is by lungeing in side reins without the weight of the rider. (See Paul\u2019s recent article \u201cA Cornerstone of Training a Classical Dressage Horse: The Role of Lungeing with Side Reins”<\/a> ). The side reins help position the neck either up or down, with more or less bend right or left, while the horse learns to engage the hind end in a series of transitions and changes of bend, all without using the neck as an unridden horse would. Some horses will come to the training with a wonderful sense of balance and will be conformed to use the hind end almost naturally, but for many horses, like people lifting things the wrong way, they will have to be helped. (In a sense, the natural movement of the horse becomes a moot point when you add the unnatural weight of the rider. There must be some ethical preparation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>So now we have an understanding of longitudinal balance, collection. We can engage trainers who are expert to help, we can read and study the classics. We should be on our way, right? Unfortunately, no! Now we will face a beast that has challenged some of the greatest equestrian minds and bodies throughout history. My next article: \u201cA Beast That Can Block All Your Knowledge of Collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Breeding your next dressage star this season in Australia? Select a top European stallion for your mare…<\/h1>\n

\u00a0Go to www.ihb.com.au<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Franklin<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Donier<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Fidertanz<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The positioning of the neck is critically important, because the neck is the gatekeeper to connecting the topline of the horse. If the topline can be made to be one strongly connected piece, then if the rider can get the horse to start bringing the great muscles of the hind end more under the mass, the rider has the possibility of lightening the forehand, not by a few percentage points but by an infinite range all the way up to 100% lightening of the forehand, as in the levade…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,4],"tags":[20,2415,2416,1624],"class_list":["post-65913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-dressage","tag-dressage-training","tag-longitudinal-balance","tag-neck-position","tag-paul-belasik"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65913"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68262,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65913\/revisions\/68262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}