Calm Forward Straight Simple

Words by Gen. Decarpentry, and Jim Wofford for quoting it. HorsPoor for the idea. I'd forgotten it, trying to remember the far more intricate "dressage" training scale. You know, the oracle. Rhythm, looseness, contact, impulsion, straightness, collection. RLCISC. Yeah, I keep forgetting it. Calm, forward, straight. Easy-peasy, and then I remembered it well.

GoLightly taught me that, and carefully re-worked my thoughts on all that other stuff above there. (RLCISC)If I was better at charts, I'd try to show you what I mean, but the simple fact is, without calm, you have none of the above RLCISC. Without forward, same thing. Without straight, yup, same bleedin' thing. Trying to complicate the simple, can actually get in your way. In a large way.

Jim Wofford's article on Art or Violence was bloody brilliant, in my huge extravagance called Practical Horseman Magazine.. Favourite line "I believe in classical principles, and I also believe you can't have good hands, if you don't have enough bit". That's a TraineD rider he's talkin' about.

Anyway. The simple three, Calm, Forward, Straight also applies, are you ready? To You, the Rider. If you aren't any of the above when you get on, you might as well get off again.. Your body lines up with the horse, or vice versa. If you are learning, the horse is leading, once you are really riding, it becomes the dance.

You two think together, calmly, forward and straight. You cannot have this without balance. Straight line from shoulder, through hip, to heel, to start. Like Fern Showed us.. And the guy in my previous post. Amazing rider, no longer in it. I know, and he knew, he was a little goose-necked and puppy-pawed, it's effeminate affectation that has SurE caught on:):)
Makes bad hands worse, good hands silly lookin', IMO. Plus, your elbows can smack people..

And then, forever, through the various angles you will bend, in walking, in two-point, or while trail-riding and cantering and galloping and walking.. You have to be calm, and going forward, and straight to the curves of your horses two sides, with your 2 legs and 2 hands. Equally. Musicians, like the Almighty Mel, have a real advantage. Dancers, too. Like the Master. AnY kind of dancing.. Ambidexterity. Your horse has it, shouldn't you?

It's amazing, the connection you can feel, when you are calm, and forward and straight, and comfortable..

Does that make sense?

This picture and this one and especially this one demonstrate too long stirrups over fences. Might as well HavE no stirrups. Bigger fences. Berry berry bad, heckquitation. The pictures are mature, they're from 65-67 or so. That's 1965, to anyone who doesn't know what I mean. (looks behind, wow)

No straight lines anywhere, in those pics. My heel is at the hip of the horse, fcs. I collapsed my upper body downward, and threw myself forward. Oh, yeah, horses can jump, it's amazing what they'll put up with. Saxon was my first hero horse for jumping, then Musket, then that big old bay Whip.

The point is this. You cannot, repeat, cannot learn to jump properly, if you spend too much time trying to do it without stirrups. The horse will throw you up, when he jumps, IF you let him. Without stirrups, you cannot get light enough in the tack. Yeah, yeah, show me legs of frickin' iron, first, and a LighT seat. But it's better for the horse, with stirrups. Ask him, he'll agree.

Oh, and one last thing. (As if..) Straight line from shoulder, through hip to heel. Say again..
If your heel is back towards his hip, you is SO in the wrong place.. POSTURE!! Two-point, without falling forward, is correct. Falling forward while in two-point, is NoT.

Much easier to maintain that line, if you practice my handy dandy Christilot Master exercises... Yes,the line does have angles, but they are all straight. STRAIGHT.

I wasn't yelling:)

Wasn't I a funny lookin' kid:) Rough and ready, with stirrups at Cavalry length, and eyes and shoulders down, and horse "hoping for the best".

This is what GoLightly taught me to do. Took 17 years, but as we all know, I take a while..Yes, I know, I know, A little too crest release, posy-wosy, teeny fence...
Silly, smooth moving mare, that Spider.. Bit of a jug head. Lazy jumper. Hey, I'll ride it:)

My posture and my ability to wait for the horse to JumP, was taught (well, finally hammered into me) by Master GoLightly. I rarely jumped him without stirrups. It really isn't that fair, unless you're a masochist, or something. I already had a strong two-point. You can't really do a proper two-point, over any size fence, without stirrups. I mean, easily, and daily, and all.. What's the point?

Jockeys tend to keep their stirrups, yes?
Yes.

To all your fine horses. Scritch a few withers, and rub some noses. Tell them I do miss them, painfully, daily.

(where did that tangent GO??)