In This Chapter
Europeans have been riding horses for centuries, both in battle and for sport. The English riding discipline, most prevalent in Europe during modern times, is closely associated with the elite. Prince Charles and Camilla ride this discipline, as do all the rich British people in Hollywood movies and riders who jump. This discipline is also featured in all the equestrian events at the Olympics.
In this chapter, I tell you about
the sport of English riding and its main sub-disciplines of hunt seat and
dressage. I also describe how riders around the world use this type of riding
today. (Check out Chapter Off
into the Sunset: Western Riding to read about Western riding.)
Examining the Basics of English Riding
English riding was the original
cavalry style of riding in Europe (with some modifications). In the 1600s, this
riding style morphed out of the military saddles and was adopted by the British
elite. They rode this style to fox hunt, a favorite sport of wealthy English
folk. Regular people also hunted foxes and used the English saddle.
In the 1650s, this style of
riding came to the United States with British transplants. Today, it’s a
popular discipline with serious riders throughout the world. In the following
sections, I describe English riding’s uses, tack and apparel, and horses.
Uses
Besides the chance to indulge in
fantasies of wealth and sophistication, what can English offer you? Well,
English riders often compete in the show ring because this style of riding
lends itself to competitive events (Chapter Show
Off: Riding in Competition can fill you in on shows). And
if you want your horse to fly over fences, English is your best bet. Despite
the focus on showing, many English riders also enjoy hacking (riding on
the trail), as you can see in Figure 7-1.
Tack and apparel
You can do English riding in two
types of saddles: hunt seat (also known as an all-purpose saddle or a forward-seat
saddle) and dressage. These saddles are generally known as flat saddles,
which distinguishes them from the deep Western saddles.
Each saddle designed for English
style riding serves a unique purpose, and the one you choose depends on whether
you want to jump or ride dressage. Protocol dictates that the horse wears a
contoured pad underneath the hunt seat saddle and a light square pad under the
dressage saddle. (See Chapter Dressing
Up Horses with Saddles for full details on saddles and saddle pads.)
Figure 7-1: An English rider
enjoys a hack on the trail.
The bridles that English riders
use typically consist of a browband and noseband, with the option of adding
accessories (which have nifty names like flash or gag). The reins
that attach to English bridles are often braided.
Protocol
English riders in the two subdisciplines I discuss here wear similar apparel when schooling, but they get dress differently for the show ring. The clothing riders wear in the subdisciplines reflects the traditions associated with each particular style of riding:
- Hunt seat apparel: This getup consists of breeches, tall boots, a “ratcatcher” shirt, and a tailored jacket. A helmet finishes off the ensemble.
- Dressage apparel: Lower level dressage riders typically wear the same apparel as hunt seat riders, but in the upper levels, they dress very differently. White breeches, tall boots, a white shirt, a dark jacket with tails, and a black derby are the formal apparel of the upper level dressage rider.
For more details on English
riding apparel, see Chapter Equipping
Yourself with Other Important Gear.
The horses
The type of horse that people use
most often in English riding is taller and leaner than its Western counterpart.
Ideally, English horses are built uphill, meaning that the horse’s withers
(where his shoulders come together) are higher than the point of his hip.
(See Chapter Head
to Hoof: The Mind and Mechanics of a Horse for a diagram showing the parts of the horse.) However, horses
of all shapes and types, as well as all breeds, may sport English saddles.
Generally speaking, the horses you see most often in English tack are
Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods, although many Quarter Horses, Paints, Appaloosas
are also ridden English.
The training for English horses
involves teaching them to be collected and on the bit. Collected means
that the horse is expected to hold himself a certain way and drive his forward
movement from behind. On the bit refers to the horse’s connection — the
line of communication — to the rider’s hands through the bridle.
Activities are specific to the
subdisciplines. Riders often ask horses in hunt seat to jump, so their training
includes this activity (see Chapter Making
the Leap into Jumping for details on jumping). Horses in
dressage are trained to perform dressage maneuvers, such as the piaffe, in
which the horse essentially trots in place. The next section gives more
information on these English subdisciplines.
Brushing Up on the Basic English Styles
The basic English styles of hunt
seat and dressage have more elements in common than differences. Yet knowing
these subtleties is important, and I describe them in the following sections.
The English discipline you choose to ride determines the types of activities
you perform on horseback.
Each of the English
subdisciplines involves a slightly different position in the saddle, yet each
requires that the rider be well-balanced. English riders also use two hands to
hold the reins and have more contact with the horse’s mouth through the reins
than Western riders do. (See Chapters Enjoying
the Walk, Bumping
Up Your Skills with the Jog or Trot, and Getting
on the Fast Track with the Lope or Canter for more information on
the mechanics of English riding.)
Jumping around in hunt seat and riding on the flat
Hunt seat gets its name from the
tradition of fox hunting, from which it was born. Keeping up with the hounds
and clearing obstacles were essential aspects of the fox hunt, so hunt seat
saddles are designed primarily for jumping; hunt seat riders, with hardly an
exception, participate in this activity.
Riders who use hunt seat sit in a
slightly forward position, meaning they lean forward at the hips when they
ride. This leaning puts them in a prime position for jumping, because putting
weight over the horse’s withers frees up the horse’s hindquarters. Hunt seat
riders also ride with their stirrups shorter than riders in dressage do, again
to assist in jumping. (For more information about jumping, see Chapter Making
the Leap into Jumping.)
Figure 7-2 shows a hunt seat rider in hunt seat apparel riding a horse in hunt
seat tack.
A horse trained for jumping and
for the flat (hunt-seat riding done without jumping) is taught to
respond to his rider’s cues to speed up and slow down at each gait. This
training comes in especially handy between jumps, when the rider is responsible
for helping the horse approach the jump in the best way possible.
Beginning riders who start with
hunt seat often find riding a bit more difficult than Western riders do. Novice
English riders must rely a lot on their balance to stay in the saddle because
English saddles are flatter than Western saddles. On the plus side, riders who
start out in English often develop their balance and riding muscles very
quickly.
Figure 7-2: A mounted hunt
seat rider moves among fences intended for jumps.
Making moves in dressage
Dressage — the French word for training
— is a very old discipline. This style of riding has its roots in ancient
Greece, and it came into its own during the Renaissance. Stemming from European
military maneuvers performed on horseback for centuries, dressage is sometimes
called horse ballet because of its disciplined yet graceful movements.
Some of the maneuvers, or movements,
in dressage include
- The passage, a slow-motion trot
- The half-pass, in which the horse travels on a diagonal line, keeping his body almost parallel with the arena fence while stepping forward and sideways with each stride
- The pirouette, a 360-degree turn without moving forward or backward
Accomplishing these movements
with great precision takes years of training for both horse and rider.
Dressage riders have a more
upright position in the saddle than hunt seat riders, sitting more deeply to
“drive” the horse with their legs. They hold the reins with two hands, as do
all English riders. Figure 7-3 shows a dressage rider in dressage apparel
riding a horse in dressage tack.
Figure 7-3: A horse and
rider perform in dressage.
Protocol
Dressage has seven levels that represent different stages of a horse’s training. These levels are Novice, Training, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Prix St. George, and Grand Prix. Novice level is for horses who are just learning dressage and are worked only at the walk and trot. As a horse improves, he progresses toward Grand Prix.
Novice riders who begin their
training in dressage quickly develop their balance, timing, and feel of the
horse. Dressage is an excellent way to start riding. It can be challenging for
any rider, however, especially a beginner. This riding style is hard work!
by Audrey Pavia with Shannon Sand
0 comments:
Post a Comment