The Struggles, The Tears, The Dreams – A Dressage Journey

Sharing my experience as I explore Dressage Today OnDemand!

A few weeks ago, I shared my notes from the Classical Horsemanship Lectures 1 and 2 which are featured in the Charles de Kunffy Collection on Dressage Today OnDemand. If you missed that post, check it out by clicking here.

Are you on Facebook? Dressage Today shared a sneak peak of some of his lecture. Click on the picture to be taken to their post!

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In the third lecture, Charles discusses the benefits of lateral work. I was watching this video late one evening on my laptop with my earbuds in so that my husband wasn’t subjected to hearing yet another horse video. He kept giving me the strangest looks as snorts and giggles were randomly coming from my side of the couch. Dressage videos are usually very serious and I sit glued to my screen watching for the subtle changes in the horses. So what was so funny? Charles! The man cracks me up.

I was left with fabulous information for my training toolbox and a new perspective on “inside leg to outside rein”. I did not see that one coming! Below are my notes from the lecture!

Notes

goal of gymnastic training – amplify the natural gaits / minimum effort, maximum bloom

horse’s posture is most important

doing movements incorrectly destroys the horse

communicate to the horse to put more power into the hindlegs to step closer to the bridle / rock weight back on the haunches / becomes strong to not only articulate through joints upward into suspension but also in sinking downward / constant coil

from day 1, horse should be given the idea of collection / weight on to the haunches

definition of forward – to bring the hock closer to the bridle / achieved by constant attention to the energy

align the spine onto the territory he moves

create a straight moving horse through changeability/adjustability

collection is more weight in the haunches

horse is to move forward with a lowering croup

teach the horse the skills to strengthen and elasticize the haunches to lighten the forehand

Shoulder-in frees the shoulder and strengthens the inside hind leg – hock forward and under

Haunches-in – strengthens and supples the stifle

Half pass – addresses the hip joint, strengthen all joints of the limbs

riding a bent horse – ride the outside hind leg toward the inside rein / inside rein slows the progression of the shoulder in order for the haunches to be pushed closer

envision horse as a bow / longitudinal bow is the most simple / the lateral bow is most complex

goal is to acheive ambidexterity

interesting take on inside leg to outside rein at end of lecture!

speed is the enemy of impulsion

green horses – slow down to where hocks are moving / gradually from impulsion of the haunches open him up longer / movement is to accommodate current status of where he can balance and carry weight on his joints

If you are interested in listening to this lecture, click on the link below! Not a Dressage Today OnDemand subscriber? Use my code at the top of the page and explore the site with a free 10 day trial!

Link to video

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Happy riding!

Sara