Karen wrote:
Emmerie, here is the topic I started, and my conclusions, which may or may not be totally correct, but it feels right for me.
http://www.artofnaturaldressage.com/viewtopic.php?t=713A bit is not necessary to get a relaxed poll, and a relaxed poll is not entirely necessary if you are not using a bridle at all - as long as the relationship with the horse is one of complete trust, allowing the horse to be mentally relaxed .
Relaxation of the poll relates to a relaxed and composed mindset. The actual muscles which control the release of the poll contract and expand within movement - that is, it is not a static state, it is an emotionally serene and flowing state...it is a thinking state...a giving state. A state in which the questions asked of the horse are received by the horse easily and freely and the horse is responding calmly...even in the highest collection and most energetic movements.
To me, the relaxed poll is originally a goal of those who use bits. One hopefully seeks a soft contact and the same relationship with a horse that we strive for here...but we know that it's not always the case...so people devise ways to make the horse "give the poll" by submission, rather than striving to concentrate on the whole state of mind of the horse (or even the whole body of the horse, evidenced in many modern dressage riders that have a horse who will give the poll and hold it's head in a certain way, but by no means do they have a realxed body or a composed and thinking state of mind).
It's a complex issue to explain (or for me, to even understand) because as my friend Paul says, there too many nuances. But I think I'm beginning to understand enough to get by at the moment.
Just a day or two ago, referred by someone here, I viewed a website discussing breaking at the poll. It had good drawings to accompany descriptions of what is taking place in the breathing apparatus of the horse as the skull rotates on the end of the spine, and effects the windpipe.
Two events, if my memory serves, take place that tend to block the windpipe. The collapse of and narrowing of the windpipe, and the pressure of the tongue up into the soft palate causing it to intrude into the nasal airway.
What I strove for, and hopefully still have a good feel for, is to allow the horse to determine his headset based on his needs. Not just for effecting how the rest of his body works, but for the airways themselves.
We ask for athleticism, yet in some riding disciplines we remove partially the access to air. No wonder the horse sometimes fights and tosses his head.
Imagine how you would feel if someone curled your chin to your chest and it cut off your airway. Fortunately for humans we don't get as much effect as horses do in this posture.
Sadly for the horse, they lose a great deal of capacity to breath.
I don't care how a horse looks as long as he has the air he needs to breath to work and play.
Karen, your description of what is taking place is what I was looking for 40 years ago. You complete a picture for us that we need to refer to when we ride, every time, just as we check the gauges in a car we drive.
If I am forcing my horse into a frame that does not allow for the connection and flow and energy I see in your description then it is likely I am harming him, and damaging our relationship.
What can we say when we mean 'performance' in the AND philosophy that would distinguish it from "Performance" as we know it the competitive arena?
We seem to have to invent a vocabulary.
Though some terms in languages other than English might well apply. Another reason for valuing AND...that we have resources such as you, and we have a larger repertoire of syntax.
Defining our terms will, in the end, give us not only a way to define what we do to other horse people that are curious, but a way to help them understand that can change their consciousness.
The amount and kind of work being done here is truly wonderful and productive.
Now to work on a term, or phrase, to label descriptively what you said above.
Here is the most clear description of what AND, and you of course, seeks in the context of a frame without pressure of bits or reins.
"Relaxation of the poll relates to a relaxed and composed mindset. The actual muscles which control the release of the poll contract and expand within movement - that is, it is not a static state, it is an emotionally serene and flowing state...it is a thinking state...a giving state. A state in which the questions asked of the horse are received by the horse easily and freely and the horse is responding calmly...even in the highest collection and most energetic movements."
I think there is enough there for us to meditate on it, and let ourselves incubate it, and gestate. And see what comes forth.
I think I'll see, when I can ride again, what the horse tells me as I work to remember what you've said, and treat him the best I can in that way, your way.
Donald Redux