The Art of Natural Dressage

I have never worked with a cordeo, so I would not be able to comment on that aid..but I have used cavessons on a number of my horses and I have found that instead of teaching and co-operating with all my horse's they just end up all strung out or camel headed, which in time could end up damaging the horse's muscles, and once they become slightly older they will probably get a few stiffness issues from being on the forehand instead of the hind quarters! :( So, I find an elasticated pessoa works best, but obviously only use this if you are experienced, modern pessoa's usually come with elasticated side reins which attatch to the roller (depends how you use it because you can attatch it to the girth, but I find this doesn't give the horse much of a chance to lift itself on the forehand) if the horse is round, the contact on the horse's mouth will be minimal and a lot lighter than the average riders hands, if the horse tries to evade the bit and stick it's head up the pressure will increase..just like when you're riding, if your horse sticks it's head up we do the sponge effect on the reins to get our horse's round again (our hands are not always equal in pressure like a pessoa unfortunately though). I do stress that if you are not experienced with horses/lunging then you should contact a professional to fit everything and to guide you, because overworking a horse in any way can prove to ruin them. Personally, I find that working with a pessoa correctly will not eradicate the 'thinking part' you are just increasing top line to help your horse with it's self carriage. When fitting a pessoa make sure the side reins are not overly tight but so that the horse is on the bit and round, slowly loosen it and you will see that your horse will automatically go to that same position because of how much more the muscle has increased!Make sure you give them a good long stretch after lunging to loosen up their back muscles otherwise they will be stiff in the morning and hard work to ride :( If you have any queries about how I fit or work with a pessoa please let me know! Thank you

Julia, I appreciate it that you want to explain your way of training and help people with the things you have found to work for you. However, please understand that this is not the kind of work this forum is about. We have an exercise section here where we have collected a lot of information that people can use to improve their horses' movement and make sure they do not move like camels. Using mechanical tools to restrain the horse's head is not one of the things we do. If this works for you this is fine, but I do not understand why you come to a forum that explicitly is about doing dressage at liberty and post tips on how to fit or work with a pessoa?

The old masters didn't have trouble with the cavesson alone...and I don't understand what you mean by camel headed. I work only in a cordeo or cavesson (I ride in a cavesson) and my horse is light, uphill and very responsive.

Some modern masters, such as Bent Branderup, also work without gadgets, doing beautiful work in the cavesson alone. The flexions of Baucher, tact in the hands and a light cavesson are all that are needed to achieve lightness, responsiveness, decontraction, willingness, lifting of the base of the neck and relaxation of the poll and readies the horse for the gymnastic exercises under saddle. The progressive classical gymnastics (lateral work) develops the topline, teaches the flexing of the haunches and readies the horse for high school.

If you watch the dvds of Philippe Karl or Buck Brannaman, you will find the means within your own two hands to help a horse through "evasions" and at the same time you develop a feel in your hands to the slightest nuances of the horse.

If all your horses become camel headed and strung out from working in a cavesson, then perhaps you can do a little study in the classical arts to remedy that. I don't mean to sound harsh, but this is not the forum to come and recommend side reins and gimmicks to reach the heart of a horse and gymnasiticize him in a physically and mentally sound way, again, within which the horse is a willing and eager participant. As a friend of mine once wisely said, "If I tied you, restrained you, then told you I meant you no harm, would you believe me?"

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"Ride reverently, as if each step is the axis on which the earth revolves"

One thing you cannot avoid in a pessoa or side reins, is the possibility of the horse learning simply to go behind the bit. As a cowboy friend of mine (also classical) likes to say, "don't do anything you have to undo later". Pretty simple philosophy. There is no "feel" with a pessoa or side reins. You cannot make the hundreds of minute adjustments needed within a single session that are needed to help the horse find a position of peaceful relaxation of the entire body. You can teach the horse to go in frame, but it is not fluid nor dynamic nor natural...which is what this lovely forum is all about.

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"Ride reverently, as if each step is the axis on which the earth revolves"

One more post:

Anja Beran http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJlIHQu5q-E
Bent Branderup http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G60f-ZvyKDo
Marijke de Jong http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8XvHoEY898

I could find more, but you get the idea.

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"Ride reverently, as if each step is the axis on which the earth revolves"

Or just to illustrate that you do not even need a bridle: Karen and Tam.

I use caveson for inhand work and lunging and like it very much. Of course the effect of every tool depends solely on the way it is used. I explained the use of the caveson at first to my horse with positive reinforcement. If a horse gets camel headed it will be because it tries to resist the pressure coming from the caveson. My horse would have done the same if I had not taught him to yield to very soft pressure cues - how else should a horse know what to do with it?

The problem I see with tools like the pessoa lunge is that there is no human to operate the device. What some people see as a benefit, is in my eyes a big problem. How can I react to the horse if he has done something right, like keeping the right postition? A fixed tool like that is always relentless and does teach nothing to the horse but to give in and submit.
What we strive for here in this forum is communication and dialogue with the horse - a reciprocal learning process more or less. And to truly understand the way a horse learns, it is best to study it at naked liberty.

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Volker

The horse owes us nothing.

Nikita,
I googled head bobbing a while back as my trimmer owns a large OTTB who head bobs more than usual. After watching your video I didn't wonder if this article may be of help. Scroll down for head flicking:
http://www.gotcha.com.au/articles/aspects_of_pasture.php#casestudies

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Annette O'Sullivan

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. - John Lennon

Morgan thank you so much for your article! Wow, when I read the first few sentences I got really scared because that seems like a serious issue... And thankfully it doesn't seem like that's what Crescent does... The appy at the barn does something similar to that though, poor boy )= Then again, looking at my video again, i see some similarities between the video in the article and him... But if he were in pain would he be relaxed? Whenever I work with him, he drops and stay like that the whole time.. However looking at my recent footage, he isn't relaxed while we're trotting... But, I have also noticed with more muscle gain and more work together, his head shaking has greatly diminished and the only head tossing I see is during our short canter steps, but I can't tell if it's actual head shaking, or him being pissed at the annoying dog that will never leave us alone(he hates that dog a lot). Maybe it was a muscle deficiency thing? Or strength? It looks like I will have to look out for it a lot come spring to see if it returns, then I will know if it is head flicking or not... Thank you so much for the article again!

You are very welcome. The horse that bobs his head doesn't seem bothered either (he does it at rest as well as when ridden). I don't wonder if allergy/deficiency causes his. We have a lot of the "bad" grass around us and my trimmer has adjusted his diet introducing beet and taking the lucern away. It is difficult to see with the short video but it doesn't look to me like he is doing it in response to mild lameness/back etc, more like he is trying to rid himself of an annoying fly type thing. Does he do this out in the paddock? Ie does he stop grazing to flick his head and then go back to grazing? The horse I know will do it when standing doing nothing, will stop grazing for a minute to head bob and then for days doesn't do it at all.........
So maybe a diary of what he is eating and what the weather is doing and when you see it might help?
It was interesting for me to see the case studies and if it is a an allergy/intake imbalance then at least you know it's fixable.
It frustrates me that vets are often clueless as to things like this and if the horse appears sound and mentally/physically okay then they don't seem concerned or bothered to find a cause.
So....if you do get to the bottom of it...please share what you find

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Annette O'Sullivan

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. - John Lennon

The only time Crescent swings his head is in motion. However, he is a good 1/2 hour away from me, and I'm not out there everyday watching him graze... But I have never seen him stop grazing to swing it, then go back down. The appy does though :P But I will work more on figuring out what is the root cause if I can. All he's on is grass, orchard grass hay, and dynamite whenever I see him. But like I said, I will look more into it! Although I expect my work load to pick up, so we'll see how that works out xD

Spring is here again in NZ and the conversation of grass effected horses is big here. Its amazing how important diet is and the effects of not getting it right.

I found this link on FB recently. I don't think its related to your horse though. Just thought I would share it. http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/11/15/grant ... LLAAuSR-So

good luck!

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Live, Love, Dream