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COWBOY DRESSAGE™ - Article 3
TRAINING YOUR HORSE FOR COWBOY DRESSAGE™
The Art of Self-Carriage
(Part 1)
“To create
Self-Carriage I drive the horse from behind, rounding his back
and lifting him up into my hands. When the horse is in
self-carriage the reins will soften like butter and melt into my
hands.”
I ride a horse
“up” into Self-Carriage not “down” and flat. Everything about
Self-Carriage is about “up.” ~EBH
 Self-Carriage
is the heart and soul of Cowboy Dressage. To me self-carriage is
what canvas or clay is to an artist. It is where the “Magic”
begins. With self-carriage you can begin to mold or shape the
horse into form followed by function. By developing
self-carriage you can take a horse that is on the scale of a 6
and make an 8 or 9 out of him by simply developing his carriage.
Let me give you a visual- close your eyes and imagine walking
into a room filled with people. You can “enter” a room or you
can make an “entrance” into a room. When you merely “enter” a
room you are going from one space to another. When you make an
“entrance”, you own that room; you fill it with your presence,
carriage and style. Self–carriage is not just a necessity for
advanced movement, it is an “aura” of self-confidence, strength
and power. Every “winner” has it, every competitor wants it.
 A
Cowboy Dressage Horse is created with self-carriage on light
contact. The carriage is encouraged by the rider's seat and
rounding of the horse’s back, not by heavy contact with the
horse’s mouth through the rider’s hands as it all too
often appears on traditional dressage horses. The reining horse
that is also recognized for its spins, slides, lead changes and
circles is held up by a combination of speed and self-carriage.
Try doing these maneuvers without speed and you will quickly
learn if you are in carriage or not. Remember that you
always ride the rear end of the horse - the hindquarters are the
motor. You don’t want your horse moving in “two pieces” - he
should move as an integrated whole, and the quarters work
purposely forward, well beneath the horse, such that he is
“tracking up well” from behind. If he is moving forward well and
correctly, you will be able to feel this through your seat and
hands, a kind of rounded energy beneath you.
Self-carriage is
what allows a western horse to go on a light or lose rein. It is
what the old California Vaquero ultimately strived for.
They say you could recognize the carriage of a finished bridle
horse a mile away. A finished bridle horse is one that
carries himself proudly and in frame, can be maneuvered with one
hand, easily neck reins, has a quiet mouth and is on the bit. He
has a very round and Baroque style look to him. Like a good
dressage horse, a good western horse must also have
self-carriage. However, because a western horse is ridden on
lighter contact it is quite obvious when carriage is
self-maintained as opposed to a dressage horse that is all too
often ridden with more contact. Because of this, it is not always
easy to tell who is doing the “holding up”, the rider or the
horse. I believe the principles of self-carriage between Cowboy
Dressage and Dressage are the same but the application and
follow through may be visually different.
Self-Carriage is not
about the horse. Self-Carriage is not about the rider.
Self-Carriage is about the partnership between the horse
and the rider. It is this partnership that creates true
self-carriage.
Now we have a visual
of self-carriage but how do we create it? In this article
I will explain to you how I go about creating self-carriage in
my horses.
I start teaching my
horses the rudiments of self- carriage early in my
training program. A simple thing like teaching direction
and turns, the stop, back and circles are the beginning building
blocks for self-carriage.
In all these lessons I want the horse to carry himself into and
out of the turn. I want him to move back the same way he moves
forward, in carriage with a round back. In circles I want the
shoulder up. I do not teach my horse to turn or do circles by
pulling on the rein; I only give direction with it. When you
pull on the rein, you pull the horse into a circle, you need to
drive him forward and give direction with the rein. By pulling
you drop the shoulder thereby losing the self-carriage. I will
discuss and clarify this more in the next few paragraphs.
BUILDING
SELF-CARRIAGE WITH DIRECTION AND TURNS
 I
will ride my horse forward at a walk towards a wall or fence. As
I approach the fence/wall, I lightly pick up the direct rein as
an indication of the direction I wish to go. As I make the turn
I use my legs and seat to push the horse forward helping him to
follow through with the turn. I do not turn the horse with my
legs or hands. I let the fence or wall turn him. When the
horse approaches the fence or wall I lightly pick up one of my
reins and make a quick and light contact giving direction. At
the same time I drive him forward with my seat and legs towards
the wall. By riding forward to the wall and driving the horse on
with my seat and legs, he will have to round his back as he
approaches the wall. By doing this I pick the horse’s back up
with out using my hands. For a brief time he is in
self-carriage. It is the beginning! The light contact with the
rein gives him direction, the wall turns him and my legs and
seat drive him into and through the turn. I do not teach him to
turn off of my legs. Remember the legs are to move the rib cage
and haunches. By doing this the horse does not rely on
my hands to pull him into a turn or step off in a
specific direction. In this manner the horse cannot lie on the
reins or pull on my hands. With the encouragement from my seat
and legs he must carry himself into and out of the turn with his
own energy. Also, the wall causes the horse to cross over with
his shoulders making the turn properly. Driving him into the
turn with your seat and legs keeps his hindquarters engaged. As
you come out of the turn ask the horse to step out briskly with
energy and forward motion. Do not pick up the reins but allow
him to move with a lot of “forward” out of the turn. During this
exercise the horse does not rely on my hands to hold himself
“up”, for we have set him up from the beginning to carry
himself. Be sure to repeat this work in both directions
but do not drill the horse. Move on to something else and then
go back to it. Find success at the walk before you go to the
trot and then the canter.
 Work
for subtlety of cues. Remember that the finesse of your own cues
as a rider have great importance for the response you receive
from your horse. The rider can actually preclude self-carriage
in his horse by incorrect riding or coarse use of signals. For
example, when teaching direction: Do not pull a horse into
a turn or direction with your hands and reins. The reins
suggest
direction; the seat and legs are the motor for the follow through.
That is why it is beneficial to use a wall or fence in
the beginning until the horse understands your cues. If you pull
a horse into a turn you will cause the horse to drop his inside
shoulder and throw his hindquarters out, thus disengaging his
hind end. You also teach him to lie on the bit and your hands.
When a horse lies on the bit there is no self-carriage.
Remember the legs do not teach the turn, they move the rib cage.
Unlike in western riding, where the horse is taught to move away
from pressure and the rider’s legs can hence be used as an aid
for giving direction, in Cowboy Dressage there is a wider world
of communication and a greater range of response. We are not
merely asking for a response, we are asking for a response of
lightness, with fluidity, feeling and expression. We may only
wish the horse to make a subtle arc with his body when we use
our leg, not move away or change direction on us when he feels
pressure from the rider's legs or calves. Perhaps one of the main
differences between western and dressage horses in general is
that the western horse traditionally is not asked for the same
degree of precision as the dressage horse. In the Cowboy
Dressage horse, the finesse and wider nuances of signals is
restored without sacrificing lightness of contact and ease in
the manner of going. The rein moves the shoulder of the
horse and the use of both legs drive him forward through the
turn. That is what teaches the turn, not the use of leg or calf
pressure on one side of the rib cage that the horse moves away
from . . . the execution of that correct turn is the early
foundation of self-carriage.
As an example: If
you want to make a turn to the right and you place your calf on
the left side of the horse’s rib cage and ask him to move away
from the pressure of the leg and go to the right; you will, in
fact, move the rib cage to the right while turning to the right.
He is counterbent and leading with his outside shoulder and
will not be able to turn properly. That is why I teach my Cowboy
Dressage Horses to turn stepping off with the inside shoulder,
aided with a cue from the rein, and only use my legs to move the
rib cage and haunches. You can use your right inside leg to move
the rib cage out to the left a bit during a turn to the right
that will assist the horse in creating the “arc” to make the
turn to the right. Some people call this bending a horse around
your leg. You do this with your inside rein and inside leg, not
your outside leg. You can use your outside left leg placed
behind the girth area to bring the haunches to the right to
create a tighter “arc” by shortening the stride of the inside
hind leg, but not to move the rib cage during the turn.
Since Neck
Reining is a term long associated with Western Riding, I
would like to expand a bit on it. Neck Reining can be a
misleading term. Often people think that if you move the neck,
you move the horse. Have you ever been on a horse who when you
pull on his face to the right, he can still go to the left or
move strait ahead? Neck reining is actually a moving of the
shoulders. When you lay a rein on the neck, the horse moves away
from the pressure with his shoulders. It is the moving of the
shoulders and the cross over of the front legs that makes the
turn. A horse does not always follow its nose, but it does
follow its shoulders. What you saw on the silver screen in
Hollywood Westerns was poor horsemanship. The rein was placed up
high near the horse’s poll and he was yanked around with his
head up in the air and his mouth open. The American Cowboy did
ride with one hand, neck reining, allowing him to carry rope,
rifle, gun or whip. A good finished reining horse that is
in the bridle is an excellent example of proper neck reining.
Cowboys also wanted a horse that worked well underneath himself.
This allowed the cowboy more comfort, as a round backed horse is
smoother than a hollow backed horse. A round backed horse stays
sounder longer as a majority of his weight is placed back over
his hocks and off his front end. A round back horse in
self-carriage is quicker and more maneuverable. A horse in
self-carriage is pretty to look at. There was, and still is, a
great deal of pride in the horseman of yesterday and today. It
was an honor to be recognized and respected for their good
horses. The California Vaquero and his bridle horse is a perfect
example of pride and horsemanship. They may have never heard the
word “dressage” but they were practicing it in its purest forms.
USING THE STOP TO
BUILD SELF-CARRIAGE
Along with
teaching direction and turns, I also use the stop to help
teach self-carriage. A stop helps teach self-carriage because a
good stop has a round back. This round back is important to
the stop because the horse then has his legs well beneath him,
is engaged and tracking up behind, and better able to balance and
carry the rider.
I will once again use the fence. In the beginning I will walk my
horse to the fence and allow the fence to stop him, not my
hands. As I approach the fence I change my seat to a “stop
position.” To do this I bring my shoulders back slightly and I drop
my seat into the saddle by moving my legs forward in front of
girth. At the same time I lift my hands to take the slack
out of the rein. I do not pull on the rein. I let the fence stop
the horse. (To review the stop, back and forward positions in
more detail, read the “stop position”, Training Your Horse For
Cowboy Dressage, Teaching The Horse to Move Forward and Stop.)
The object of this
exercise is to drive the horse with your seat and legs into the
stop maintaining forward motion. You want the horse to stop with
his back up underneath your seat, his haunches underneath
himself and his head set comfortably in the bridle. You do not
want a hollow backed stop with the head up in the air, pulling
the reins out of your hands.
By accomplishing
this kind of stop with the use of the fence, your horse will
learn to read your body and seat signals and not rely on your
hands to stop him. This exercise teaches your horse to carry
himself into the stop… it is a beginning lesson in
self-carriage.
If you get him to
stop with his back up underneath your seat and his hocks deep
underneath himself he is carrying himself, into the stop, not relying on your hands to hold him up. The frame of that
correct stop is a self-carriage frame.
END PART ONE
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