Gerd Heuschmann Conference - my musings!!!

[epona]

 

Thanks for that Issy  Some great discussions there.

To clarify from my perspective (you can post on BD if you like  )

Personally I think the closer you get to that TRUE point of balance, that point where horse and rider are BOTH in self carriage, yet working harmoniously together without tension, the closer the 'schools' of riding come together.  No matter what direction you come at it, biomechanics / rider position / absorbtion of movement / fitting of equipment / farriery etc etc, the more pieces of the jigsaw you can fit together, the closer you come to the middle point.  Dependant on horse and rider, you will need to use different measures of all these ingredients, but they must all be used in thier optimum way to create the perfect balance.

I heard a lot of similar information at the Heuschmann weekend as I did at the Herbermann clinic last year http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/ee/boards/index.php/topic,30497.0.html
for example herbermann says ride with elegance and poise, heuschmann says ride like you are the most beautiful lady in the world!  Herbermann says 'As you pick up the reins the horse should stay REACHING FORWARDS ' Heuschmann says ' bring the horse to the bit not the bit to the horse' so many similarities, so I dont think Heuschmann has abandoned german principles, but I do feel that the most influencial trainers were all open minded and used many techniques of each of the 'schools' and that is how it should be - best practice 

Just to clarify, in ALL of the horses Heuschmann was looking first for RELAXATION and RHYTHM before anything else.  Once he had this, he added in the lateral steps to engage the hindquarters BUT STILL KEEPING Rhythm and Relaxtion    Then FINALLY, he would ask for relaxation of the jaw by asking with a RAISED INSIDE HAND until the horse began to chew, then he let the horse walk STRAIGHT and STRETCH into the bridle.  This was the combination of aids he used for every horse, and it worked very well.  He repeated, OFFER THE HORSE A FRIENDLY CONTACT, and at no time was the horse ridden with a very upright neck and hollowed back which can be a very extreme form of french classical, and at no time was the horse asked to work overbent in too fast a tempo that it put the horse on the forehand and leaning on the hands which can be a very extreme form of german! (neither correct I hasten to add!)
He tried to bring the horse to a balance point, where the horse was able to balance himself while stretching into the bridle to a sustaining hand.  Most horses to start with were at too fast a tempo to be balanced and I feel once Gerd had slowed things down, asked for better engagement of the hind leg utilitsing lateral steps and finally mobilising the jaw to ask the horse not to balance on the hands, we could see the horse begin to move in a far more relaxed and balanced way.

Of course, as Gerd said, all this takes a near perfect seat!!  Because the RIDER must be independant of the horse to be able to influence its balance - and of course, many riders do not have that kind of seat! ME INCLUDED!  But I do KNOW this and im forever working on it!
I could understand why Gerd was asking the riders to RELAX, as in an effort to stay balanced, many of the riders had high tension in their bodies (This is a fault of mine too!) and this 'clamping' effect along with the 'holding' was a big part of why the horses were rushing.  It is hard to explain to a rider that like the horse you need positive tension in the body to be able to be independant of the horse. You need to be relaxed yet poised for action! see its hard to explain!  The area that needs addressing in most riders (im talking generally now) is the CORE, they hold everything else so stiff, but the core is still wobbly so the support just isnt there.  I am suprised that Gerd did not mention core strength to the riders but maybe he has not made this connection yet, or maybe he was pre-occupied with the horse?  That I couldnt say!

The biggest thing I did come away with though, is HOLDING the horse by over use of hand riding, is one of the most damaging things physically, mentally and for the purity of the gaits.  And that cannot be a bad message to take away 

Issy - Is Herberman back in August?

[issywizz]

Well said as ever Epona!
I will post onto BD and see if it sparks any further discussion.
Yes,Erik should be back in August and I just hope I can make it with B this time.

[issywizz]

Btw,will you come and do another report at the Erik clinic-please??
And can I post that report onto BD too? there are some members who Im sure would love it?

[Pikku Karhu]

This has become an absolutely brilliant discussion, thanks Issy for including the comments from BD too, it's really adding interest to it!!

Away to digest it all....

[epona]

I will def be coming to watch Erik again - and of course, take notes 

Feel free to put the Erik report on BD - if they liked the Heuschmann report, I feel sure they will get something from the Herbermann clinic too    I came away from both feeling very uplifted and inspired 

[issywizz]

Well if you write up my lesson I'll happily pay your spectator fee.
BD is quite a mixed bunch,but there were quite a few that really enjoyed the Heuschmann report so,having just reread the Erik report Im sure some will really appreciate that too. Thanks.

[Heather]

I think the point that Lee was trying to get across, and myself included, Vicky and Sarah, is that so few teachers in the world seem to know what actually constitutes a near perfect seat- or at least how to go about achieving it! For me, it is not just about being elegant and poised, it is having the knowledge through the pressure testing and the simple yet incredibly revealing exercise of the student placing their hand under the back of the saddle between saddle and simulator, and feeling the extreme differences that the horse feels!

I saw horses being blocked by riders last weekend that I could have improved in minutes, and which I see at clinics which I have attended, by many of the top riders and trainers in the world, both classical and competition. But they dont see what I see, and how it is affecting the horse, and it makes me want to scream. It is not just that they are at such an elevated level that they are above teaching such things. They had to come up through the levels, and if they had the knowledge, should be able to teach it if they are taking someone's money, no matter how exulted a trainer they have become.

But the truth is, they wont have been taught it. I have been saying this now, for more years than I care to remember, and the longer I have been in this business the more importance I attach to the way in which the rider interacts with the horse. I frequently feel so alone in this- is it just my opinion? I truly sometimes wonder if I have actually wasted my life, barking up the wrong tree.That this is not at all as important as I seem to find it. 

Heather

[issywizz]

Heather,
My view is that the only way to develop a really good seat is to spend many hours on the lunge-for sure there are some corrections that can be made pretty quickly,but most things take many hours of stretching and loosening muscles and cannot be achieved from the beginning whilst actually riding a horse off the lunge.
Therefore I do completely understad the conundrum that most clinicians have.
Add to that the fact that many people would feel insulted  if they were told to go away and work on themselves and its a tricky situation.
Plus,tbh,an awful lot of riders who compete actually dont *want* to improve or work on themselves-they want to know how to make the horse do a better test and dont want to listen if the answer to that involves looking to themselves.

[Heather]

I agree that many hours on the lunge are needed to perfect the seat, Sarah, but many hours spent doing the wrong thing, doesnt make it right. The old adage 'practise makes perfect', only holds true if it is the right practise!! I have seen riders who have spent many hours on the lunge, but who are still absorbing the movement totally by moving both seatbones together in sitting trot, and the vast majority who still 'polish the saddle' in canter. The former not only blocks the riders feel, but also can prevent the back from really swinging under the rider, because instead of the unlateral rise and fall of the seatbones with the back, if one is hitting against the back as it rises, as will happen if both seatbones move bilaterally, the movement can be dampened by the rider.

Likewise, in canter, if the rider is 'polishing'- ie scooping the seat along the saddle, the back is trying to rise and round at each stride convexly, whereas the rider is pushing the seat against it, and flattening the movement. Yes, horses do learn to compensate for it, but it results in a stiff tight back, just as Gerd was describing in so many competition horses.

So yes,as the victim of many hours on the lunge under Desi Lorents instruction, I agree that work on the lunge is necessary to deepen and perfect the seat, but in my opinion, the rider needs to bloody well be told what to do with it- exactly and precisely- if that perfection, except in a very well coordinated and talented student, is ever to be achieved!!

Heather

[epona]

Heather,

I repeat n earlier comment:

From my point of view, Gerd seemed to be very much on a journey, and we all kind of joined him at the weekend!  I liked the way he said he was still learning and that he was unsure 'techinically' why some things / exercises seemed to work but he was looking for answers.  Arent we all?  I dont think he knew all the answers, I dont think he professed he knew all the answers and I do feel he is open to suggestions..................

Did you speak to him about your teaching of the absorbtion of the movement?  I do think he is interested in every bit of information he can find! he seems genuinely passionate about finding answers and didnt come across as an exulted trainer who knows it all, like some can!  It would be very interesting to see a combined lecture / conference between you both.............

I dont think you are barking up the wrong tree Heather, I personally think your work is very important, but again it doesnt stand alone. Its all part of the many pieces of the jigsaw puzzle - although admittedly Heather, you do seem to possess many many pieces with your knowledge of the seat / saddles / jaw mobilisation etc etc - hence why I admire you greatly    Dont get despondant, you have a lot to offer. 

[Pikku Karhu]

Add to that the fact that many people would feel insulted  if they were told to go away and work on themselves and its a tricky situation.
Plus,tbh,an awful lot of riders who compete actually dont *want* to improve or work on themselves-they want to know how to make the horse do a better test and dont want to listen if the answer to that involves looking to themselves.

Sadly I think this is very true and therein lies the problem - if someone simply wants to do the movements and win the rosettes rather than actually learn to ride, then how can you teach them to ride? Especially when the judges reward what they are doing? So I don't think you're barking up the wrong tree at all, Heather, I think it's more like you're the child who shouts "But the Emperor doesn't have any clothes!!!" and the problem is there's so many of the emperors, thus they decide it's better to ignore the uncomfortable truth...

And part of the problem is that it is SO difficult for most of us to find a trainer who can actually teach you to ride correctly, so people either give up or keep doing what they've always done.... and when there's so many people telling the poor riders that THEY are teaching the correct thing it becomes bewildering and how does an average rider know who is right and who is not? And generation after generation, more knowledge is lost and more difficult it gets to learn to truly ride...

I just managed to make myself depressed....  

ETA Oooops cross posted with Epona, sorry.... Yes I would love to see a combined lecture/conference, that would really be something as I think your work would compliment each other perfectly!

[issywizz]

Totally agree Heather so stop banging your head against the wall now.

[Heather]

I did speak to Gerd, and he agreed with me when I piped up that the stirrup bars were too far forward on the saddle, in fact it seemed to strike a chord with him that he hadnt thought of before. But I told him about the fact that I was actually lecturing on the classical seat in the same arena as him at Equitana in Germany for all 9 days, and he just more or less said 'fancy that!' or some thing similar! 

I would love to do a joint seminar covering all aspects, a bit like Mary Wanless's 'For the Good of the Horse' days a few years ago. The thing is that very often when the rider is sorted, the horse looks after itself and changes drastically without any intervention by me, as long as I correct the rider.

It would have to be a joint seminar as so few people want to come to see the likes of me in a lecture demo, that it would take a big name to get bums on seats, and hopefully enable me also get the message across!

Heather