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Erica Greenwald,
from the Maryland Region, and her horse Summer Finale, 5 year old Anglo-
Arabian competing in
Training Level
Musical Freestyle at Festival 2007. They earned a 66.6% on their
musical freestyle
from the judge at C, Trip Harting.
Thanks Erica for your submission! |
Check
the bottom of the page for archived articles from this site!
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History of
the Dressage Quadrille
An explanation of where the quadrille came from and
how it was originally used.
By Ron Smith
To
View this File as a PDF Click Here
By 1657 classical riding was beginning its rebirth and the armies of
Europe had at least one riding school per country for its mounted corps.
Saumur in France and the Spanish Riding School (SRS) in Austria were
among them but the SRS was more of a riding school than a military
training center. Saumur taught military tactics as well as High School
riding.
These schools taught equitation and formation riding in varying degrees.
From the 1650s to World War I, battles were fought in linear formations.
This type of fighting technique required disciplined men and horses to
move as one. The basic elements of quadrille riding came from this
formation. Each sub-group (twos or fours) had to execute the maneuver
required in order to allow the body as a whole to complete the movement.
Linear tactics required the simultaneous movement of troops in order to
maintain integrity of the line or formation. Squadrons were the common
element of formation and usually consisted of 140-180 men and horses.
When on the march, the squadron had to perform various movements in
order to change direction, continue the march or face an enemy.
Cavalry usually moved by File (single), Twos (pairs), Threes and Fours
(Sets). In quadrille we see the maneuver of singles to pairs. In
military terms, it would be from files to twos. Fan formation is from
twos to fours, or the "Form Fours." Fours were commonly used to attack
if in column. This was rarely done in Europe but was highly effective in
the U.S. Indian Wars. (The 4th U.S. Cavalry in 1872 attacked Lipan
Apache Indians in Mexico using this method.)
An oblique line was used for a directional change of march, to avoid
obstacles or to realign with the enemy's front on the battlefield,
usually done by file, twos, or fours. A simple turn, if executed
improperly, could destroy a column's integrity instantaneously. When
turning, each trooper had to turn at the same spot in order to maintain
the line or column. If the turn was called for by files, twos, threes or
fours, each group was required to perform a left turn simultaneously.
Consider that a column could be as much as six to seven miles in length,
and you can see the need for precision in executing each maneuver. On
many battlefields in Europe and the Middle East, up to and including
Waterloo, the front of a cavalry corps could contain as many as 10,000
horses. That meant a front up to eight miles wide, which explains why so
many battles were on the plains of Europe and Asia Minor.
When aligning all of these troops so they could charge or receive the
enemy, it was paramount that the groups moved as one. Lateral movements
such as the half pass take on new meaning when there are 60 horses
moving left or right at the same time. If the squadron is in double
ranks (two deep but act as one), the levels of precision are even more
demanding.
The truth of the rank and file cavalryman, dragoon, curassier, lancer,
etc., was that until the riders had reached about five years of service,
they were not that skilled. Most were city peasant boys or poor farm
kids who knew nothing of riding. But many became highly skilled horsemen
and many achieved the rank of instructor. Non-commissioned officers
(sergeants or corporals) did most of the real instruction under an
officer's supervision.
Officers were schooled as young men as the social customs dictated from
the end of the Dark Ages through the early 20th century. Once in the
Army, their riding training was intense, and they would have been
expected to become what we would consider a Grand Prix rider today. Not
all achieved this, of course, but many did. Bear in mind that all of the
masters were military horsemen at some point and many were quite skilled
soldiers as well.
Quadrille was also used as a diplomatic tool by the Royal Courts.
Officers in charge of the cavalry schools as well as some of the field
grade officers would perform quadrille for their king or queen and their
guests to show the prowess of the host country's cavalry. Well-groomed
mounts of strong blood fitted with gold-accented tack and fine cloth
accoutrements mounted by young officers of proper blood in their most
elegant uniforms made quite an impression. But the level of skill
displayed in the court arena was not always what was seen on the field
of battle.
The Prussian, Polish and French cavalry were considered the best on any
field. At Waterloo, the French made repeated charges upon British
Squares at the trot (as was their custom). The British were highly
impressed by the precision at which they maintained line integrity and
uniformity of gait, and it is said that a few British officers remarked
that the French died in an orderly fashion.
Quadrille training taught man and horse to work in the same tempo as the
next man and horse. This allowed for the unit to advance at any gait (in
theory) and keep each trooper and horse aligned or dressed with the ones
left and right of him. With enough practice, a group of horsemen up to
100 wide can walk, trot, hand gallop or canter and maintain a
boot-to-boot position.
A Staff Sergeant in the Army, Ron Smith has been riding dressage for
20 years. He is a founding member of the Conclave of Cavalry Historians
and is an amateur military historian. He has done quadrille clinics all
over the country, for both dressage riders and the military law
enforcement. He was on the United States Dressage Federation quadrille
committee in 2005 and has also trained riders and horses for the United
States military. Thank you to Ron for allowing us to use this article.
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Your Horse's "Stiff Side" and "Soft Side"
By Jane Savoie
Jane Savoie is one of the most
recognized names in dressage, and for a good reason. Her accomplishments
and the breadth of her influence are impressive. She has been a member
of the United States Equestrian Team and has competed for the US in
Canada, Holland, Belgium, France and Germany. She was the reserve rider
for the Bronze medal winning Olympic dressage team in Barcelona, Spain.
She has been long-listed by the USET with several horses and has won
nine Horse of the Year awards and three National Freestyle
Championships. Ms. Savoie is as well known as a coach, writer and
speaker as she is for her competitive accomplishments. She was the 1996
and 2004 Olympic dressage coach for the Canadian 3-Day Event Team in
Atlanta and Athens. She also coached several top dressage and 3- Day
Event riders in their preparations for the 2000 Olympics and while in
Sydney she helped rider Susan Blinks secure a bronze medal for the US
dressage team. For more information about Jane please visit her
website,
http://www.janesavoie.com/.
To
View this File as a PDF Click Here
Okay. I'm back to my series on "Benign Antagonism". Remember, benign
antagonism is just a training philosophy that allows you to custom
design a program for each and every horse. It simply means that you
kindly and quietly do the opposite of whatever your horse chooses to do
on his own. For example, if your horse likes to carry his head too high,
then you ride him "deep". If he likes to put his head on the ground,
then you ride him "up". If your horse likes to go too fast, then you
work him in a slow tempo.
So, in this article, I'm going to talk about horses that
have trouble bending in one direction. Few horses are
ambidextrous-meaning they can bend as easily to the right as to the
left. So, you'll use benign antagonism to make your horse's soft side
more "stiff" and his stiff side more "soft" and bendable.
How Do I Make the Stiff Side "Softer"?
Riders tend to think that the stiff side is the "bad" side because it
feels harder for them to bend their horses when that side is on the
inside. But you need to think outside the box. The stiff side is not the
problem. Your horse feels stiff on one side because the muscles on the
other side of his body are shortened and contracted. Those shortened
muscles limit how much he can stretch and bend around your other leg.
So, let's say your horse is stiff (hard, strong) to the
right. The benign antagonism solution to this problem is to stretch the
shortened muscles on the left side by riding your horse with too much
bend when you track to the right. In schooling, you'll live in "right
bend" until you feel the muscles on his left side elongate. (You'll know
those muscles are stretching because it'll feel easier to bend your
horse to the right.)
Here's an exercise to gently stretch and elongate the
muscles on the left side (the hollow side) of your horse's body. Track
to the right for this exercise.
- If your horse is really stiff, do the exercise in
the walk.
- Go on a large circle to the right.
- Pick a point somewhere along the arc of the circle, and turn onto
a 6-meter circle.
- While on the small circle, think about your bending aids. (Put
your weight on your right seat bone, keep your right leg on girth,
place your left leg behind girth, flex your horse to the right by
turning the key in the lock with your right wrist, and support with
your left hand.)
- Ride the 6-meter circle a couple of times until your horse's body
conforms to its arc.
- Once he's bending, keep applying the 6-meter bending aids, but
blend back onto the 20-meter circle,
- If it gets difficult for your horse to stay bent this much to the
right, blend back onto a 6-meter circle. The idea is to ride the
20-meter circle with a 6-meter bend.
- Once you can do this on a circle, try riding straight down the
long side with your horse bent as if he's on the arc of a 6-meter
circle. (The feeling is a bit like doing shoulder-in in front and
haunches-in behind at the same time.)
How Do I Make the Hollow Side "Stiffer"?
The flip side of this "stiff to the right" issue is that your horse will
be hollow or soft to the left. You might think his soft side is his
"good" side because he feels easier to bend, but the hollow side of your
horse needs help as well. On the hollow side, your horse usually doesn't
have true bend-equal from poll to tail. He usually overbends his neck to
the inside and places his inside hind leg to the inside of his line of
travel. By doing so, he can avoid bending the joints of his inside hind
(engagement). He doesn't carry as much weight on that hind leg. As a
result, that leg gets weaker, and he develops unevenly.
My benign antagonism solution for this problem is to
ride without any bend at all when the hollow side is on the inside. Keep
your horse as straight as he is on the long side even when you go
through corners and circles. Think that his body is like a bus that
can't bend on turns.
- So, let's say your
horse's hollow (soft, weak) side is his left side. When circling to
the left, ride without any bend at all. Keep his body as straight as
a bus.
- To get a perception of straightness, halt somewhere on the long
side. Make your horse's body parallel to the long side all the way
from poll to tail.
- Also, ride him either with no flexion (His chin is lined up with
center of his chest.) or in counter-flexion (-1). In
counter-flexion, his face will be 1 inch to the right.
- Ride through corners and circles with no bend through his body and
in counter-flexion at his poll. If you ride in this position, your
horse's left hind leg will step underneath his body.
- This will make that leg stronger over time. (This exercise is only
for schooling-not for competition.)
If you use this philosophy of benign antagonism, you'll find that you
rarely get stuck solving training issues. Invite your horse to do the
opposite of what he chooses to do on his own until it becomes easy for
him. Once that happens, settle back into a happy medium.
A special thanks to Jane Savoie for letting us
use her article on the USPC Dressage website. For more information
about Jane please visit her website,
http://www.janesavoie.com/.
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The
Cog and the Training Scale
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In the cog illustration,
notice which way the circles rotate. The rider must be thinking of the
hind legs coming towards her for the back cog to rotate smoothly, and
the front cog she needs to have the idea that her hands are moving
forward without completely letting go of the loose contact. If her
timing is off with her seat and leg connected to the hind end and her
reins and arms connected to the front end, the cog will either jam or it
won't connect and rotate smoothly.
The Basic Training of the Training Scale is Rhythm...Looseness...Contact.
These Basic Training elements are easily explained in the idea that your
horse has two cogs rotating inside of him.
The rear cog is Rhythm. The rider must think 1...2...1...2...metronome for
instance at the walk or trot on the hind legs. The rider's body and legs
can slow the swing down or let it longer. That holding of the rider's
core helps the horse's swing to slow into an even rhythm.
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The
front cog is associated with looseness first and contact second. The horse
must know that he can stretch his neck, therefore the rider must never be
tight on the reins. The horse needs to know that he has his head and neck
for his balance. The rider feels as if the neck muscle in front of the
saddle is always stretching a bit. Then the horse lets the rider know when
to shorten the reins to meet the contact.
The
contact is a dynamic thing. When the horse gathers his hind leg rhythm and
the horse's chest elevates, the rider can, in a forward thinking way, feel
the horse's mouth and take up the contact. Then the connection begins and
the balancing between the aids works. |
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by Betsy LaBelle
With
the idea of helping Pony Clubbers understand the biomechanics of
horse
and rider better. Betsy finished as a Graduate B from North Star Pony
Club |
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Biomechanics for the Rider
The Body-Torso
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The positive tension in the torso of the rider is the major life-line of the
half-halt. The tall torso helps the horse to balance himself. If the rider is
stiff or wobbly, like a slinky, the horse cannot balance himself under the
rider's seat. It's the same as a male ballet dancer or figure skater lifting his
partner. If a woman does not hold her torso in positive tension with strong core
muscles, she will weigh too much for the man. He will not be able to balance
himself if she is wobbly. He will fall. The horse is built differently with four
legs, therefore, only his chest will fall. He will carry himself onto his
forehand with his chest down and his hind legs out behind him when he cannot
balance himself up while carrying the rider. The rider's body is made up of ten
layered muscles in the abdominal area and 9 layered muscles on the back of the
lower torso. Different layered muscles are used while riding than in any other
sport, and therefore can only be completely kept fit by riding. |
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Several instructors may suggest that you let your stomach stick out, but
that is incorrect. Your hips may need to loosen and become soft while you tilt
your pelvis forward a tiny amount, but your torso must stay long with your
stomach pulled in to open your spine completely. The real Joseph Pilates
Instructor teaches you how your held in belly allows you to strengthen while
elongating your body. It's the way of a dancer and the way of a rider.
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by Betsy LaBelle
With
the idea of helping Pony Clubbers understand the biomechanics of
horse
and rider better. Betsy finished as a Graduate B from North Star Pony
Club
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Archived Articles in PDF Format
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