Three days of Dressage (France vs. Germany)

My dear friend Tami invited us to her place in Carnation to ride. Actually she paid for me to have a lesson with her trainer who is a Phillipe Karl student. I'd seen Phillipe Karl on Youtube and like his methods very much, however they are the complete opposite of the German way. I learned that the German way is the way most Americans learn dressage, and that the French way is just as old.

The Alternate Universe

Tami gave me all of her dressage videos to watch before my lesson. Mostly Walter Zettl and Phillipe Karl. There was this one that is a must-see. It's called Classical vs. Classique. (Google this for more reviews!) Karl vs. Herr Hess, the head of the German Equestrian Federation. They sit down and argue and although I agree with Hess in his theory, where he brings in the "German Scale" - the training pyramid we all learn, there was something much more compelling about Karl. It kind of blew my mind, to be honest.

At the end there were two lessons, one given by Karl and one by Hess, and Karl picked a horse that had serious heavy-on-forehand issues, the horse was pulling down constantly and the rider was meeeting the tug of war. Well, Karl just jumped on the horse and showed everyone how to fix it, in about 10 minutes. That student sure got her money's worth! She got on, used his method, and voila, no heaviness, a horse carrying his own head! Hess, on the other hand, picked a Grand Prix rider on an advanced horse and basically said, "Good, you're doing great, more leg, good, that's great!" and they learned just about nothing. I was reminded of my recent German lessons where nothing helpful was forthcoming from the trainer. As I guessed, the German trainer did not even get on the horse.

The German method emphasizes forward and rhythm but completely ignores the head, except for what the horse "learns" from side reins or other tools, which often results in a horse ducking down, or even pulling, because correct contact is not taught until way later. Karl emphasized the hand-to-mouth connection right away, with young horses, always. Hess was shaking his head as the two men argued. But then we got to see the results. Karl also emphasized this contact can be taught from the ground, asking the horse to move his mouth, then bend and still chew the bit. Karl said you also work at a standstill, you do not need to rely on forward impulsion in order for a horse to learn about contact.

Karl also says legs and hands should always be used separately, to not send contradictory signals to a horse. (I do wonder about how to teach collection with this -- Tami can you add something?)

I loved how the first thing he did was to remove the flash from that heavy horse, and loosen the cavesson very much. He says the horses need to be able to have a conversation, and they cannot if their mouths/jaws are forced closed.

So I spent the last 3 days watching videos. Karl's technique is pretty strange to my eyes. His answer is to pull a horse's head up, way above the bit, for a moment, and then let the horse stretch horizontally forward, not down. This constantly raising the horse's neck and then lengthening it forward, with an open poll, never closed and vertical.

Then I watched "If horses could speak", another great one that shows with 3d computer graphics where the horse's muscles, ligaments, and bones are crunched when ridden deep (rollkur). It demonstrated exactly how working low inhibits the horse's hind end.

So with my mind full of these ideas I got a lesson, but first I watched Tami be instructed on Karl's groundwork, where they raise the bit up in the mouth (putting no pressure on the bars or tongue) to encourage movement. Then she rode her QH Riley and demonstrated Karl's methods.

I wanted to ride Topper, the Morgan, because Riley is kind of at project horse stage right now. This photo is Topper reaching one blade of grass under his fence. Adorable: )

I had such a nice lesson! It was such a difference after all these crappy ones I've had so long. The trainer saw so many issues with my body that I had to adjust from a standstill before even moving off. I really jam my heels down, for security, but I really overdo that and there is no flexibility. I also had my legs locked on pretty tight. When finally I was allowed to move, she had me carry a whip horizontally in my hands, and I had to keep that whip parallel to my torso the entire time. This was because I tend to move my hands too independently, bringing one forward and back while turning. Topper is quite a character and I was happy to ride him again. Morgans are really something aren't they? So different from Arabians.

When we were untacking, Tami removed his bridle and he escaped and went trotting right to his stall with his saddle still on! I was so worried he'd ram it into the doorframe, but he didn't. He just wanted his dinner. He's such a rebel.

Now I've got even more videos to go through and I'm really enjoying them. These photos were taken in our hotel room at Rockaway Beach, Oregon, where we are spending 4 days with family. We sure love it here. I will flood you with photos later. I hope to see Kacy tomorrow on our trip home. The Pacific is raging right now filling our room with what sounds exactly like white noise as the huge waves continually collide with each other. I'd better run, I've got 3 dozen oysters to put on the grill.