
Introduction
Caveats
Overview Syllabus Review
CGF from The Start
How do the '4 Events' (Carry-Go, Carry-on, Carry-turn, and Halt/slow-down) fit in to the broad-scheme of the way-of-going ?
When riding is boiled down to it's most basic elements, we've got these '4 Events'.
There's some reading for you to do: You'll read the instructions and descriptions of these 4 Events from 3 main 'Schools' of horsemanship. There's a scanned copy of the texts (from my marked-up books) in the class resources if you don't own the entire library/reading list yourself already.
JF
The translation is, "It is necessary to navigate!" For jumpers and eventers, this is very obvious: they must look for the next fence. For dressage riders, it is not so obvious. Yet they must even more navigate -- to steer and control the course -- and to choose focal points or targets.
If the rider -- early and in advance -- decides where to go, the horse will then go there!
You'll know precisely instructions for the necessary actions for forward, through-going advancing. You'll have the visual criteria to determine when a horse is technically forward, through-going.
Turns make riders who make horses.
Turns and curved-lines engage the horse on one-side only. (Latin for 'one-side' is Uni-Lateral.)
There is enormous athletic benefit to riding engaged turns and curved lines. This benefit becomes evident quickly, even to a casual onlooker. Properly ridden engaging curved lines are the biggest contributor to the strength,symmetry, mechanical soundness, and overall health of the horse. It makes their butts strong and their backs flexible.
If we want to make horses who CARRY-GO-FORWARD 'Straight', we have to make their buttcheeks match each other ! The fancy way to say this is: “Moreover, the hindquarters must first be made flexible individually until they have been prepared for simultaneous bending by alternating exercise.” Steinbrecht p. 128: “Moreover, the hindquarters must first be made flexible individually until they have been prepared for simultaneous bending by alternating exercise.”
The Go and the Turn are so necessary and co-active with HALT! I hope you guys get a sense of how these 4 events function so closely and beautifully together. Reading the .pdf mini-textbook about the TURN and about the HALT I hope will help. Maybe you can print them out and keep them in your notebook ? In this lecture we also review everything we addressed today...which is a lot! Needs time to digest! I also added a scanned copy of Gymnasium pp 71-75 to keep you going and make you ready for more as we go forward next time I see you here. What is in pp 71-75 is practically all that is ever needed in riding. It's pretty dense to read...it took me years it made me sleepy! so don't worry if you hate reading it or it seems too 'heavy'....we'll ride it out in video soon then it will be obvious and easy :) Thanks, Jane
In this class we take a close look at what really happens when a horse honestly and consistently 'carries himself' -- from the very start!
How do we TRAIN this ?
Overall --and in all disciplines -- we are always teaching the horse 1) to follow our decisions and 2) to govern his own momentum by CARRYING.
We teach him this CARRYING priority by his hindquarters because those hindquarter/hip joints are the strongest, largest bones in his body, and because this big bone structure is mobilized by the largest, strongest muscles. Isolating the effort to the hindquarters of the horse keeps him sound. It also makes him more versatile, agile, adjustable, and comfortable to sit upon.
When we train with the carrying idea in HIS mind....namely his own discipline...his own "desire to advance the load"*...we end up with a really useful, rideable horse -- and also a really happy one.
We train 100% 'by the book'. To that end, an horseman's reading list and Bibliography is provided. The reason we adhere to this policy is because there is a lot of watered-down and merely- partially-right riding and training in the horseworld. All on-line students and on-site riders are taught to verify items we discuss. Riders check every doctrine that's trained; and they themselves enforce the policy to ride 'by the book'. The horses deserve this.
Off we go!
*quote from GYMNASIUM of the HORSE by Gustav Steinbrecht p. 71....which is the page that cites the renowned and beloved 2 Golden Rules of Riding: "...Ride your horse forward and set him straight..."
1. Carry GO Forward; 2. Carry-On; 3. The TURN and Curved-Lines; 4. HALT & Half-Halt (i.e. Stop-Slow)