The "School of the Aids", The "Rein Effects" and Development of Lightness



The purpose of training from the ground is to establish a communication system between the rider’s hand and the horse’s body. It must start with controlling the head because this is where sight, smell, hearing, touch and balance are located. The head position and direction of movement lead the horse’s movement and expresses most of his intentions: where he wants to go and how quickly. These intentions (“to go or not to go”) are directly affected by the lift and stance of the feet (front first, then hind). Under the riders’ influence, if the feet lift without resistance and move in any desired direction, impulsion and balance are defined. If the feet are stuck on the ground, delayed in their lift or uneven in their timing by a lack of release of the Stay Apparatus, the relationship with the handler/rider is compromised by a lack of communication. It is important to remember that the muscles that arch the neck (produce its flexibility and malleability) are the same ones that unlock the bracing of the feet standing on the ground. The
rhythmical activation of the front legs always relaxes the shoulders, the neck, and the poll, down to the contact in the mouth. There is no effective flexion work without stimulating and controlling the timing of the front feet. The 2 cannot be dissociated.

This communication is based in “the Rein Effects”: how the horse moves his feet by yielding to any hand action that changes his head position forward, sideways, backward or upward and how quickly he follows a hand cession. This allows him to advance his head and stretch his neck to reach the bit (in a correct dynamic). This is how the “Connection” is defined.

The quickness and fluidity of the changes of position of the head demanded by the rider, their harmony with the movements of the hand, their synchronization with the lift of the feet and the control of the range of motion of the limbs in every direction are the very definition of Lightness.

When the horse understands through a progressive protocol to always follow the direction of the rein with his feet (the effect) and a tiny bit with his head (the intention), his impulsion and balance are easily modifiable without force or conflict. His feet can be directed from forward to sideways to upward to change his speed or modify his balance
without having to pull backward in a way incomprehensible to the horse. The front feet movement is easily taught in hand to a horse of any age, and the hind feet will synchronize through the natural reciprocal diagonal reflex (front to back) until the artificial diagonalization (back to front) is progressively wired into the horse’s nervous system.

This form of communication implies that the neck has a certain firmness, otherwise all the movements of the hand are “lost” in the neck’s excessive mobility and never reach the feet.

All the great riders empirically or instinctively arrive at that form of communication through “the knowledgeable hand”. This is the equitation of Etienne Beudant (“Hands without Legs….) but Otto Lorke also showed it (without explanations). Prince Bagration observed Fillis riding 2 previously unmanageable very large horses in Saint Petersburg
and he commented that the older trainer could get a canter depart by a very slight movement of the hand. The position and motion of the horse’s head affects the dynamics of his entire body.

The Leading rein

This education of the leadership/followship process starts on the ground and the response to the “Leading rein” (going straight ahead) is its foundation. It must be done thoroughly and achieve an impeccable result that will facilitate all further training (leading, tying, loading, turning, jumping, forwardness, balance, amplitude and symmetry of the range of motion, etc.).

Horses naturally resist being pulled forward by the halter: they brace their feet on the ground and invert their topline to brace their poll against the direct pressure from the halter’s crown piece.

The Com’Along solution:

The Zentora Leading Halter™ differs from all existing halters:

      1. The crown sits further back on the neck in an area that is much less “reactive” than the poll
      2. The actual main acting effect comes from a very light pressure just behind the jowl, an area that does not offer any hardwired natural resistance.
      3. The “Com’Along vagal trigger, lightly lifts the tongue from the gullet, inducing eventual salivation, swallowing and the associated parasympathetic (relaxation) mode.
      4. The halter releases all light forms of pressure as soon as the horse advances his head.
      5. For all these combined reasons, and as I have been observed in many trials, the application of the Zentora Leading Halter™ bypasses or greatly reduces the horse’s natural “opposition reflex”.

Protocol:

  1. Stand 6 or 8 feet in front of the horse,
  2. Hold the lead rope and apply a steady, stationary pressure toward you.
  3. Cluck to the horse and wait for the bracing to subside and the horse to move forward.
  4. Sometimes, it is easier to lead a resistant (uneducated) horse a little to the side than straight ahead, which avoids a direct opposition to the bracing of both feet and ends up moving one of them separately.
  5. Additionally, IF THE RESISTANCE LASTS TOO LONG, it is very helpful to touch the one front leg standing further back with a dressage stick or wave a buggy whip (or a flag) softly from the side. However, the cession must come from the lead rope to be effective and the sue of the stick is only a “training bridge”.
  6. Reward the horse verbally IMMEDIATELY (if not sooner) as soon as he moves forward or stretch his neck in the slightest.
  7. When the horse moves forward, pat him on the nose and reassure him that he just joined his dominant/ protector (Teach the horse to move back than ask for forward again with line tension until all transitions (standing to forward, forward to halt, halt to back, forward to back, back to halt, back to forward) are completely seamless.

Goal:

This is The Dance! Ginger Rodgers could do everything Fred Astaire did, backward and in heels! The horse must move in any direction on the slightest forward pull, the nose and the feet moving forward without any resistance. Starting/moving toward the dominant (the Herd or the trainer/handler impersonating the Herd as the Haven of
Safety) is the most natural form of impulsion. Transitions into all directions is the utmost form of balance.

The Opening Rein

Using the Leading Rein progressively to the side AND forward increases the lateral mobility of the shoulders without any loss of the range and motion. When the horse is ridden, the “Opening Rein” will be used to ask for tighter and tighter turns in all 3 gaits, producing an increased flexion of the back. When the horse is trained to turn short, he will eventually be limited by his natural asymmetry, but this limit will have been pushed much further down the line (3m diameter turns) and it will not be noticeable any longer in any larger diameter turns.

Opposition Reins

When the Opening Rein acts more and more toward the haunches, it becomes the Opposition Rein. intend to displace the shoulders (assisted with a weight displacement and an opening rein on the other side) and the haunches with a yield (oppose the shoulders to the haunches)

The Vertical Rein

The direction of the rein action is the direction of the foot’s movement. The rhythmical use of the vertical rein can cadence the trot, the passage or the piaffe. It starts the levade or indicate the lift off of a jumper that may need an occasional support

The Pivot Rein

Inside hand fixed, outside rein gives (lengthen the entire outside and flex the inside passively.

The Neck Rein

It is the least natural of the rein effects and it requires a long and precise education. For a horse to yield to the neck rein, he must a clear intention to turn it is entirely based on goodwill.

The Com’Along Effect


The soft pressure of the Zentora Com’Along halter teaches the horse very quickly to respond with a forward step, a backward step and an immediate forward step again. These forward and backward transitions automatically include the vertical lift moment that can be later translated into a cadenced step on the spot, a square halt. The lateral steps become more and more ample which loosens up shoulders and haunches, supple the neck and engage the horse’s mind. According to General Decarpentry, co-author of the original FEI Dressage rulebook, writer of the seminal “Academic equitation” and commentator of the “Method of Haute Ecole of Raabe” (who coded the work-in hand methodology educated trainers follow on the way to developing collection), leading the horse from the front while lightly tapping on the chest, is the foundation of groundwork. The Zentora Leading Com’Along Halter™ is designed to make this work easy to understand for the horses and accessible to all dedicated trainers.

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