TOPLINE INK TOPLINE INK
™
Business Name
Equestrian Journal Journal Equestrian JULY/AUG 2010
WWW.TOPLINEINK.COM
Charles De Kunffy Back to Basics Special Edition Online Preview Version
The Basics
Topline Ink ™ The Basics
2010
Cover Art by: donna Bernstein / Donna B Art www.donnabart.blogspot.com
From this point of view Keep the rein in hand! Practical advise for open hands and rein contact. By Ida Anderson Norris
Back to Basics
IN THIS ISSUE
These basic riding principles should be understood and followed throughout the training and progress. By Charles de Kunffy
Feel, Technique and Compromise: The Foundation of all Training An insightful interview with Manolo Mendez . Detailed descriptions of training ideals discussed. By Manolo Mendez with C. Larrouilh 2 Subscribe at http://toplineink.com
Riding Walks: And an Independent Seat An inside look into the foundation gait for horses and for humans. By Dr. Nancy Nicholson
An Overview of the Three Training Phases of the Classical School Excerpted from Monsieur Baucher and His Art: a Serious Word with Germany’s Riders by Louis Seeger Translated by Cynthia Hodges, J.D., LL.M., M.A.
The ABC’s of Exercise Learn how to get out of the training rut and progress in your dressage training. By Jec Aristotle Ballou
Topline Ink Equestrian Journal
3
EXPERTS PERSPECTIVE Q&A What are the most important “basics” for horse and rider? Answered by Christine Rivlin, Gael Bourquin, Gigi Nutter, Ivetta Harte, Joan Williams, Linda Landers, Lynne Sprinsky, Melonie Kessler
The Important Basics of the Seat Tammy offers understanding on how to properly use your seat. By Tammy Fifer
Topline Ink Equestrian Journal Directory & Marketplace
All parts of this magazine are protected by copyright. © Do not duplicate in part or whole. 4 Subscribe at http://toplineink.com
The Full version of this issue (THE BACK) is available IN PRINT only. Special edition - online preview versions of Topline Ink Equestrian Journal may be enhanced for online viewing. This special edition, THE BASICS, includes color and six additional photos. NEW In This Issue
Topline Ink ™ Subscribe Today Information at
www.toplineink.com Topline Ink Equestrian Journal
5
The Rider Education
Back to
By Charles de Kunffy
6 Subscribe at http://toplineink.com
o Basics
O
ne of the most common coaching advices we hear in the equestrian world is to “go back to the basics.” Well, what are those mysterious “basics” we are suppose to re-visit? The riders' impatience with “going back” to anything when they want to progress is in itself understandably maddening to them.
In reality, however, one progresses, developing horses' gymnastic proficiencies, only by paying constant attention to the basic riding principles, not merely “going back” to them. These principles are to be always present in the rider's mind. They are interactive; they give context to one another and not necessarily sequential. They belong to a “pool” of academically important factual realities to be observed throughout training, regardless of the level of the horse's achievements.
Topline Ink Equestrian Journal
7
“These principles are to be always present in the rider's mind.”
These principles interact and work in many intricate CONFIGUARATIONS, which produce enormous progress, derived from “miniature” moment-to-moment administering to the horse's needs through knowledgeable, patient, gradual and sympathetic training that never forgets them.
1. Horses must be CALM, unafraid of their rider in order for them to work physically correctly. Only calm horses can learn. Only calm horses can move through and with their entire body. Horses “wear their emotions on their sleeves.” A mentally tense horse will always be physically tense, and therefore, athletically disabled too.
2. The rider must possess the horse's ATTENTION. No animal can be trained without attention to its trainer. The horse's attention has to be focused on the rider to the degree that it should replace instinctive, genetically prompted action, with submission to the rider's commands because of trust. Only attentive horses are adjustable, changeable, malleable, and therefore, supple.
8
“Horses must be CALM, unafraid of their rider in order for them to work physically correctly.�
Topline Ink Equestrian Journal
9
10 Subscribe at http://toplineink.com
3. All work must be based on REHABILITATION of the horse's balance under the intrusion of the rider's weight. The clarity of rhythm for maintaining the purity of the gaits is indispensable.
4. Building on the correct and adjustable balance in pure gaits, we can continue with the THERAPEUTIC work of aligning the horse: Straightening, insisting on even use of the hind legs and insisting on the alignment of the hind legs with the corresponding front ones.
5. The GYMNASTIC PROGRESS can only be built on the preceding principles. Crooked, tense, irregular horses cannot progress gymnastically. Progress should be made in shifting the center of gravity toward the haunches (=collection) and amplifying the gaits by building strength and skills that enable the horse to grander movement with less effort.
11
“Only attentive horses are adjustable, changeable, malleable, and therefore, supple.�
6. All progress depends on KNOWLEDGEABLE and GRADUAL progress and sophistication in all the above principles. The horse is your calendar (not the competition schedule). If the horse were to show signs of deficiencies in the above principles, then training, teaching and coaching should make demands easier, slower and more understandable to the horse.
The BASICS should always be upper most in the rider's mind. Any deviation from, or default of, the above principles could arrest the horse's development. Therefore, never return to the basics but rather stay with them.
12
“All progress depends on KNOWLEDGEABLE and GRADUAL progress and sophistication in all the above principles.”
13
From his California home, Charles de Kunffy travels throughout the world to lecture, teach, coach and perform demonstration rides to convey his profound understanding of the principles of classical horsemanship. He was trained in the strictest tradition of classical horsemanship in Hungary, through a traditional and institutionalized equestrian academic system by great riding masters who first learned , then performed and finally taught. Mr. de Kunffy has been thoroughly educated in the classical equestrian tradition and invested by the traditional equestrian culture. In this respect, his inheritance is rare and remarkable. He remains a tireless student of current equestrian developments, not only by continuously judging and teaching dressage, but also by visiting great riding and marketing centers and attending FEI, Olympic and World Championship events to remain up-to-date and well informed. He is considered a colleague by many great riding, teaching and judging personalities of our times. Mr. de Kunffy’s six equestrian books were all published and four of these are continuously in print. These are “The Athletic Development of the Dressage Horse,” “Training Strategies for Dressage Riders,” “The Ethics and Passions of Dressage” and “Dressage Principles Illuminated.” He also produced six instructional videotapes, the latest of which, “The Art of Traditional Dressage,” is also available on DVD format. He designed excellent saddles, marketed by Courbette Saddlery. Many other authors, in their books, have quoted Mr. de Kunffy; his writings have been reproduced in instructional manuals and brochures. He has been a popular speaker on radio and television interview programs about horsemanship. Mr. de Kunffy is a man of many passions and interests of which only one is horsemanship. He has traveled widely, is a knowledgeable historian and connoisseur of art. He is a well-read man of culture who has taught psychology and philosophy. ©Charles de Kunffy For more information visit www.charlesdekunffy.com
14 Subscribe at http://toplineink.com
Topline Ink Equestrian Journal
15