BOOK REVIEW

Excerpts From

The Classical Rider

- Being At One With Your Horse

by Sylvia Loch

From Chapter 8: Cresting The Wave --

And When Hollow Means Straight

... It is a simple lesson, but one which few riders will forget if they are humble enough to throw away all the old, preconceived ideas of pushing at the horse with the seat. Staying with the movement does not require more movement, but rather less. In addition, the horse is much more able to concentrate on the forward aids of the leg once the seat is quiet.

... This makes it even more important for us to think of stretching up when we ride as the very act of sitting tends to compress the upright stacking arrangement of the human spine and makes it hard for the discs to do their job Sitting and pushing with the hips at the same time is even more detrimental as it tends to flatten the lumbar spine by curling it under, thus depriving the back of those natural contours which allow it to absorb movement.

... Riders are so used to collapsing the waist, flattening the spine, and rocking on the tail to stay in balance, that they find the hardest thing of all is to do so little? 'Let your legs do the asking,' I say. "Keep your upper body above the movement.' Generally, I then have to add, 'Imagine my hand is keeping you over the crest of the waive, matching your centre of energy to that of the horse. What you must never do is allow yourself to drop behind it. Riding is a continuous process where you become proactive with the movement. Don't follow the movement, stay over it -- as it peaks.'

One of the difficulties of staying upright in the saddle in motion is not to allow ourselves to be thrown off-centre, generally outwards on a circle by centrifugal force or backwards by acceleration. It is all very well telling pupils not to grip but once the horse is in motion the temptation can be strong. The action of the calves and knees gripping upward which throw the hips back so the upper body moves out of kilter. Once the "mast" loses its verticality, true balance is lost.

Only by developing full contact of the seat can the rider hope to remain over the horse's strongest point at speed. However, before this concept can be appreciated, it is important to point out that no amount of good intentions will help unless the rider has learned to counter balance centrifugal force by projecting their own centre of gravity forward, commensurate with the horse's forward impulsion. This is what (Nuno) Oliveira meant by 'taking the horse by the waist.' Indeed this centring action is required in any sport which requires a marrying of balance and movement.

. . . This bending inwards or yielding through the back was what other authors of the time described as maintaining a 'little hollow' at the loins, but the impression of concavity in the spine itself is actually somewhat of an illusion. . . . as' the too straight back.' This will be as problematic in its way as the over-hollowed back.

Only through a controlled but flexible lower back can we fully absorb thrust to remain over that illusive cresting wave. . . . Saddles which fix the rider behind the vertical and on to the back of the seatbones flatten out those very areas which are designed by nature to diffuse stress. Only by sitting tall with the seat supported under the fork as well as by the buttocks will the spine come into its natural alignment of 'three gently curving arches.'

... Watching the way children move . . . I note how the young ones in particular always carry their tummies in front of them with their shoulders set easily back and their arms unconstricted and bent at their sides, yet no one ever taught them to do this. Most seem to display a pronounced lordosis of the lower back, far greater than that of the average (adult) rider . . . a photograph of a very normal child of eight years old . . . shoulders back, open chest and tummy, bottom neither tucked in or pushed out -- in short, everything vertical.

. . . It seemed he had confused the straightening of the spine with flattening the back .. . At its innermost point, the spine can only be 'straightened' and correctly supported when the shoulders are squared, the ribcage is open, the abdomen is stretched upward, and the lower back itself appears to have a slight hollow or lordosis. . . it has to be recognized that one of the most damaging things an unfit person can do is to over-accentuate the natural lordosis of the spine by collapsing the waist and allowing the tummy to sag forwards and down. Obviously, lack of abdominal support places a great deal of strain on the lower back whether walking about or riding. Projecting the centre of gravity towards the wither is, however, a very different feeling from either tensing the tummy or letting it flop. Correctly done, the horse is also projected forward from a positive influence of the rider's weight. I the latter, the horse is dropped downward on the forehand like a stone.When modern instructors nowadays say, 'flatten your back' . . . they actually mean 'support the loins' which all goes to show just how misleading equestrian terminology can be. . . The word 'brace' is actually a difficult one as it can mean two completely opposing concepts to two different people.. . Because of all these misunderstandings, it is often safer to improve riders by concentrating on their fronts. Once they can think of opening upwards from the waist and, in particular, keeping the navel and sternum projected, the spine will take its own correct alignment. Erik Herbemann writes of allowing the 'upper body to grow taller' while Oliveira asks us to 'expand the torso.' The worst advice an instructor can give his pupil is to 'relax the upper body.' ... Why do certain people in authority confuse straightness with stiffness?

... This idea of the whole seat in contact continues to create controversy, despite the fact that the term 'three-point seat' has been around for at least two centuries.

... Like so many so many other expressions used in equitation, the term three-point seat is, of course, one of imagery. . . the reason why the subject of the rider's seat has been so much neglected in recent times. It is, of course, because people are no longer required to ride one-handed . . . Until not so long ago, however, it was considered a life and death matter if you could not control your horse almost entirely from the seat, the legs, and the upper body. As only one hand controlled the reins, the horse was expected to be light and hence the rightful preoccupation was with position and an understanding of the weight aids to achieve this end. Little wonder then that cattle ropers and bullfighters still ride from a seat which renders the horse well engaged and light on the forehand and I am not referring to those who mar the picture through overuse of the curb.

... Lightness of the forehand is talked about but little understood . . . Unwittingly, new and modern ideas have allowed riders to become far more dependent on the reins than ever before. Thus ideas concerning the importance of teaching an effective controlling seat have diminished drastically with the disappearance of one-handed riding. .. It would also be refreshing to encourage one-handed riding in dressage competition as a proof of correct training and to reward it. If this were done, one could virtually guarantee a return to good posture and an understanding of the three-point seat.

One-handed riding requires a very balanced three-point position and total confidence from both horse and rider, whatever the discipline.

Two-handed riding and a preoccupation with outline has led to the employment of the two-point dressage seat with certain riders. To compensate for the lack of balance, there is greater tension on the reins, which shortens the horse's neck and produces a less flowing overall picture.

Fortunately, the traditional disciplines of classical or manège riding are still preserved in a few isolated regions or countries. Despite mounting pressures from outside, the Spanish Riding School continues to uphold the age-old principles of lightness, delicate aids, and the need for a well-balanced seat. It is interesting that they, too, find it important to demonstrate one-handed riding in much of their display work.

... but these weight aids cannot be applied unless one sits with a full contact of all the seatbones to ensure quiet stability. Rocking on just two points under the buttocks leads to instability while sending out endless confusing signals to the horse. . . In a general sense, however, the three-point contact merely implies that the rider feels they are sitting on a full contact of the pelvic floor.

Those people whose lack of centred posture or suitable saddlery still inclines them into the chair seat, will basically be balanced only on the buttocks -- the mythical two points or half seat. If the rider rounds or convexes the back, such a position may lead to the tail being turned under the trunk. Such action is essentially harmful to the spine for reasons already discussed and concentrates the rider's weight towards the horse's loins in a way not dissimilar to the old fashioned hunting seat of the nineteenth century. Such a seat merely placed the horse on the forehand and flattened his outline, leaving, as Francis Dwyer wrote, 'the propellers out behind.'

From the horse's point of view, it is harder to carry the rider who leans back and no longer supports their weight over the stirrups. This requires more support from the rein, which prevents the horse from extending his topline. The result is often a little goose-stepping from the front legs -- a common sight in modern dressage.

...The main difficulty for the average rider seeking to acquire a full seat as opposed to the half seat is to be able to sit up while keeping the thighs and knees sufficiently under the seat for the body weight to flow downwards and into the ankle joint. Pushing against the stirrup with an exaggerated deep heel creates stiffness in the hamstrings, causing the whole seat to slide back.

...Just to confuse the issue, one author had written of the coccyx as forming the third point of the triangle, instead of the crotch. Every doctor will warn us against ever sitting on our tail bone, which is not only virtually impossible but would, of course, be excruciatingly painful. When one rides in the classical three-point position there is a sensation, as one bends the small of the back forward, that one is pushing the coccyx towards the pommel at the same time. In actual fact, the coccyx is lifting well clear of the saddle as one does this . . .

Brigadier General Kurt Albrecht (former director of the Spanish Riding School) is refreshing unequivocal about the triangular base of the classical rider's position. He writes, 'The stability of the correct, properly balanced deep seat depends on the ability of the rider to maintain at all times an upright posture with the weight of his upper body resting on the three points . . . The three points of contact are at the junction of the two ischia (seat bones), the broad, fairly flat bones which form the posterior and lower border of the pelvis, with in front the inferior process of the public bone (the fork).'

Trafalgar Square Publishing 1997 $21.00