So what's your excuse? Oh, you're not Reiner Klimke? Psssshhh, look, all he did was make an adjustment in one second and his horse was perfect. I can totally not do that!
But in all seriousness, this video elegantly and simply illustrates incorrect and correct. We are all guilty of it at some point I think. I absolutely admit to losing my focus and wanting "pretty archy neck." But we cannot fall into that trap which leads to a dead end. Bonus points if you speak German. Because it's "Dr. Reiner Klimke war der erfolgreichste Dressurreiter der Welt. In dieser Lehrfilmreihe widmet er sich detailliert den täglichen Problemen des Trainings auf dem Weg zur Klasse L." Which means "Dr. Reiner Klimke was the greatest dressage rider in the world. With diesel film, he tackles the sick details of lichen-based training problems auf dem Weg on Klasse L." Um, obviously!
Ok, all you have to do is watch the horse. Watch his back behind the saddle and his hind legs. On the surface, he "looks pretty," with nice suspension and rhythm. But with his neck overflexed and his head behind the vertical, his lower back is stiff and hind legs aren't really active, moving up beneath him. Let go of his face and ride him forward with magical Klimke power...
Now his lower back is loose, lifting and swinging behind the saddle. His hindquarters and hind legs have changed subtly and are now actively moving forward under his body and pushing up into the bridle. He is happy to stretch down and even then, his back remains soft and his hind end is engaged.
Voila! It's that simple. Ha. Go ahead and watch it 20 times. I did. But we do all need to remember to forget about the stupid head, to erase the word frame from our vocabulary, and ride our horses FORWARD, for lichen's sake!
But in all seriousness, this video elegantly and simply illustrates incorrect and correct. We are all guilty of it at some point I think. I absolutely admit to losing my focus and wanting "pretty archy neck." But we cannot fall into that trap which leads to a dead end. Bonus points if you speak German. Because it's "Dr. Reiner Klimke war der erfolgreichste Dressurreiter der Welt. In dieser Lehrfilmreihe widmet er sich detailliert den täglichen Problemen des Trainings auf dem Weg zur Klasse L." Which means "Dr. Reiner Klimke was the greatest dressage rider in the world. With diesel film, he tackles the sick details of lichen-based training problems auf dem Weg on Klasse L." Um, obviously!
Ok, all you have to do is watch the horse. Watch his back behind the saddle and his hind legs. On the surface, he "looks pretty," with nice suspension and rhythm. But with his neck overflexed and his head behind the vertical, his lower back is stiff and hind legs aren't really active, moving up beneath him. Let go of his face and ride him forward with magical Klimke power...
Now his lower back is loose, lifting and swinging behind the saddle. His hindquarters and hind legs have changed subtly and are now actively moving forward under his body and pushing up into the bridle. He is happy to stretch down and even then, his back remains soft and his hind end is engaged.
Voila! It's that simple. Ha. Go ahead and watch it 20 times. I did. But we do all need to remember to forget about the stupid head, to erase the word frame from our vocabulary, and ride our horses FORWARD, for lichen's sake!