What is classical riding?
A working definition of Classical Riding
In this climate of classical, this often cliché word is overly used by people who attempt to gain added credence. Thus, there has become a certain amount of confusion, with riders accepting standards of teaching which are not based on true classical lines. There are however, faithful horsemen and women who are not necessarily in the competitive arena but who are recognised widely by their competition peers to be true classical trainers. These are the individuals who have honed their knowledge meticulously over very many years, teaching, riding, training and in some cases performing for audiences across the UK. One such person is Peter Maddision-Greenwell.
Described in Penny Hillsdon’s excellent book Pathfinder Dressage as one of the world’s top trainers, Peter is a closely guarded secret among the owners of Spanish and Lusitano horses. However, he recognises that riders of all breeds and at every level should be encouraged to comprehend the elusive classical riding approach. Peter’s skills lay in immediately identifying exactly where each rider is having difficulties. From these first basic steps, the building blocks of classical riding can begin. Often a degree of uncomfortable self-analysis is required. It is always so easy to blame the horse, the weather, or some other abstract article for something not going correctly in the training of the horse, or lack of improvement in one’s riding. For any rider, it is easy to carry resentment, anger, pain or an undesirable emotion which transfers straight into the saddle under which the horse is trying to move. Or, along the arms into the hands and from there into the very delicate mouth of the horse who contends with the metal bit and the attitude attached to it from the rider!
It seems as if we live in a blame free society; we look for every possible scapegoat to avoid admitting responsibility. A dressage trainer or classical trainer is firm in his or her beliefs that each rider must accept that the responsibility lies with him or her to accept their faults and to work on correcting them. An ever-ready supply of excuses will always prohibit a rider from learning. Short cuts in training horses may work for short periods. A good trainer will know horses learn by systematic training, not by force or brutality or conversely by allowing the horse to take control.
True masters of equitation, and there are many who work quietly away from the glare of publicity, dedicate their lives to improvement of themselves and their horses. Fortunately, some impart their knowledge to others. They have the self-discipline to know that gaining the illusive partnership with a horse starts with an understanding that the dedicated road is long.
The epitome of a high standard in any discipline begins with the basics. For instance, most of us have very fundamental position problems which hinder the horse immensely. Once these have been corrected riders are amazed at how differently the horse moves. Given that, if you took the rider out of the equation, the horse, whatever it’s breed, would carry itself and move freely; this fundamentally changes once the horse has to carry a rider.
Thus it is always the rider that requires the assistance but when this picture is one of beauty and balance, then to me, this is classical, nothing more nothing less.