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At the 1999 National Symposium, Conrad Schumacher outlined his approach
in terms of the familiar Training Scale from the German handbook,
Principles of Riding, and he made frequent reference to the classical
figures of the "old masters." He said at one point, "We all use
the same words. The difference is in what we do."
Even so, which words and which ideas he chose to emphasize offer
insight into the roots of his success.
"The goals in training," he said, "are to achieve a lot and at
the same time to keep the horses happy. We ask the horse to do something
that challenges him, something that probably makes him a little
less 'comfortable.' When he responds, in that moment, we reward
him. The reward is the key."
"Training is ninety percent rewards, eight percent correction,
and two percent quote unquote punishment," Mr. Schumacher reminded.
The reward in his system, which the horse can understand far better
than a pat on the neck, is to allow him to stretch at the instant
he reacts correctly. The stretch "takes the pressure out of the
horse" and relaxes him.
With one of the six year olds, Mr. Schumacher asked the horse to
be ridden on a twenty meter circle first in travers, then in shoulder-in,
then in travers again, and then stretching long and low. His reasoning:
the first travers is comfortable for the horse. His hindlegs go
"the shorter distance." Then the shoulder-in is his challenge, and
it stresses him a little more to engage. The second travers is easy
again, which allows him to relax. For this reaction, he is permitted
to stretch - his reward. The horse doesn't perceive this as being
manipulated. He just concludes: "when I soften and relax, I am rewarded."
As a consequence, the horse is inclined to anticipate a reward whenever
he softens, permitting him be trained without force in a "friendly"
way.
At the heart of this approach is the rider's ability to initiate
a directed stretch at any instant he or she desires. A directed
stretch entails maintaining an elastic connection from the hindquarters,
through the topline, to the bit. The horse is permitted to descend
smoothly and gradually, making a rounded, rainbow-like reach over
his back and neck. In other words, the rider must neither "throw
the horse away" nor let him hang in the hand. The horse must remain
soft, pliable, and in balance.
To teach this "stretch on demand" mechanism, Mr. Schumacher asked
his rider to put her horse on a twenty meter circle and on the open
side of the circle to expand it outward in leg yielding. He emphasized
the inner leg at the girth driving and the outer leg behind the
girth, receiving the energy and channeling it forward to the outer
rein. When the horse connected into the outer rein and softened,
the rider allowed the horse to take the reins (and neck) gradually
longer, drawing them through her fingers inch by inch as the horse
sought the ground.
[Author's note: Although Mr. Schumacher did not mention it specifically,
try this similar stretch-inducing exercise: Put your horse on a
twenty meter circle in counter-leg yielding, positioned forehand
to the outside. Create the connection with the leg on the outside
of the circle placed at the girth, driving the horse on his concave
side forward to the hand. When he meets the hand, re-position him
to the inside of the circle with the new inner leg and allow the
elastic descent.]
A second way to "take the pressure out of the horse," Mr. Schumacher
said, is to do uberstreichen. This is the release of one or both
reins towards the mouth during which the horse maintains the same
balance, frame, and carriage as before.
Earlier, Mr. Schumacher had transliterated a German phrase, which
he decoded as: "the horse must push himself away from the bit."
When ridden forward into contact and made supple, the horse must
react, not by leaning with strength on the bit, but by softening
butter-like so he is is with the bit but not against it. This places
him in a self-carrying relationship where uberstreichen will work
correctly.
We'll return to stretching and uberstreichen shortly, but first,
another topic: Mr. Schumacher observed that many riders tend to
practice what the horse offers easily and avoid the things he doesn't
like. Over the two days Mr. Schumacher had the riders demonstrate
exactly how maleable and maneuverabe he expects his horses to be,
constantly expanding the riders' available options. On various occasions
he asked the riders to place either the forehand or haunches inside
or outside the line of travel. He asked the horses be able to bend
in either direction. He asked that they yield in either direction
and be able to adjust their stride longer or shorter. To keep the
horses honestly on the aids and their riders reading them correctly,
he demanded that the above alterations and displacements be done
in any combination he called for. Thus, we saw, among many examples,
half pass left to leg yielding right, walk shoulder-in to trot shoulder-in
to halt in shoulder-in position, a straight horse developing into
and out of renvers with the renvers being yielded from the track
in to the quarter-line and back, and a line of 4 tempis being performed
in increasing stride from collected to medium canter. The Symposium
videos illustrate numerous other combinations he employed.
On very many occasions, while the horse was performing one of these
combined exercises, Mr. Schumacher also asked for a moment of long
and deep riding or a few strides of uberstreichen. For instance,
we saw canter half pass and pirouettes performed long and deep,
and uberstreichen performed in piaffe, in pirouette, and in extended
trot.
All these possibilities ensure that the horses are not posing,
are not just programmed, and are not just "going through the motions."
A constant throughout each of them is the maintenance of balance
and self carriage, which leads to one final unifying idea.
"I hate when people keep saying 'get the horse in front of your
leg'," Mr. Schumacher said. "Better that you should think to 'get
the horse in front of your hips'." Not only in front of them, it
turns out, but intimately tied to every nuance of their movement.
Teaching the horses to follow the body language of the rider and
making riders aware of how much effect they can have is a basic
tenet of correct training. When the horse is properly on the aids,
Mr. Schumacher explained, you can relax your leg and he'll stay
bent, relax your leg and he'll stay energized and thinking forward
into the hand. Meanwhile, the stride or the tempo can be increased
or decreased with the motion of the rider's hips.
Allowing the horse to stretch or releasing him to stay in self
carriage is further proof that he is tuned in to the rider's body
and doesn't require constant support or overt direction from large
amounts of leg or hand.
Mr. Schumacher reminded his audience that it is a fallacy to believe
that teaching these principles to a horse once is enough. Whether
the horse is green or very experienced, it is the rider's task to
re-achieve and reinforce these basic relationships every day. Only
then can the horse be ridden consistently and correctly on the aids.
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Underlying
Relationships - Kyra's ABC's From the May 1999 issue