Always alternate
1/ Long <-------> short frame
2/ Long <-------> short strides
3/ Bending / straightness
You can always do four changes of something on a 20m circle
Hegel Dialectic
Wiki link here
C de K described it as
OBSERVE ============================= ANTHESIS
SYNTHESIS
Observe is the existing reality
Synthesis the reality we wish to achieve
Anthesis the flip (bad) side
Riding is surfing with your pelvis
- Leg energises
- Seat modifies
- Rein verifies
Focus on task in hand but do not compromise future
Make an ally of your horse
Duty ahead of mood
Duty versus inclination
Do not punish for perceived wrongdoing
Gerd Heuschmann - True lameness or bridle lameness?
We as riders create a problem but then 'fight' the symptoms rather than addressing the problem
Preserve the natural gaits
A young horse should have a long neck and hanging nose
Stiffen the back and you stiffen the hindquarters then the only joint free to flex is the pastern and fetlock joints so the suspensory end up taking too much load and you then get suspensory issues.
The swinging back is where riding starts
Kissing spines GH has seen > 1 unbacked horse with impinging dorsal processes so not solely caused by riding. Possibly we are breeding horses with narrower spaces, however impinging dorsal processes rarely the primary cause of lameness.
95% of 'back problems' are rider related, how can we as vets ignore the influence of 80 kg of rider on the horse's back?
Natural crookedness is intercostals and deep abdominals less inclined to stretch on one side, 2007 gene discovered in humans for handedness, similar in horses? Thus a horse is unwilling to stretch his stiff side