I’m feeling in a critical thinking mode and decided to put it out there why Hyperflexion is here to stay and no matter how much protest goes on abusers will exist – and publicly. If for some reason this changes I will *gladly* eat my words! Read the rest of this entry »
It never ceases to amaze me what our horses will allow us to do, but then when I step back and consider what we as people are willing to put up with in regards to one another I am less surprised. And still, do I always appreciate how much my horses are willing to do for me – simply because I ask?
It isn’t because I love picking on competitive Dressage, it is because it is prevalent in competitive Dressage since it is right in front of us, that I can point to the examples so easily seen. False forms of collection abound in every arena however, and it isn’t because it is more fun to fake it, but often because we don’t know what to look for, how to recognize when that fun movement isn’t really what we thought it was, and not sure how else to train the horse.
I work a lot in metaphors, it helps my mind connect ideas and make sense of theories that may otherwise leave me in the dark. So, this is how I’m going to compare collection in the sense of competitive dressage… a bit like a weight lifter bench pressing weights that are inflated with air. Sure, it might look like he is lifting 300 pounds and his muscles are certainly flexed, he has some sweat upon his brow… but there is something missing and that is the reality of the weight, the action, the exercise. It looks like a bench press and acts like a bench press, but is he really lifting any weight? No.
What we see in the competitive arena are collected movements that look like collection, act like collection, are called collection and scored as though they are collection, but there is that vital thing missing – the reality of collection.
Let’s think a bit about the individual movements that are a result of collection : Piaffe, Passage, Canter Pirouette, Flying Changes, Collected Canter, Collected Walk, Extended Trot. Collection unfortunately is often mistaken as being synonymous with slow or short. We see many variations on these different movements and instead of writing a giant article, I think instead I will pull a collection of pictures together and make comments. I like the way my brain functions with visual interaction…
Come swiftly, or slowly. Come towards me when you are ready. I will stand, I will wait, I will be ready in every moment.
Turn left or turn right, stay straight ahead if you like. I am centered, I am balanced, I am ready in every moment.
Jump ahead or turn around, step straight forward, step straight back. I care little which way you should go, for I will be ready in this moment.
The horse in his infinite patience has but to ask us for ours in return, but do we listen? That is the meditation, we listen, we become still and silent. We leave the door open for the wind to tousle, or the curtains drawn for the sun to shine inward. Meditation is not the thought, but leaving the thought behind. Isn’t that what we long for in our time with the horse? To leave the thoughts behind of tomorrow, of yesterday, of the stresses, of the worries, of all those fears that keep us locked to the ground or stuck in our own path? That the horse could set us free, and yet we find new problems arise in that hope.
