Science Of Motion

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Comment by Helyn Marie Cornille on December 13, 2009 at 1:30pm

Hi Lyndsey
Yes we will continue with video clips we had a technical problem for a few days with camera.....but tonight should be able to shoot the training session..:) so will post on our podcast on SOM.

Comment by Lyndsey Lewis on December 13, 2009 at 1:25pm

Helyn,
I have really enjoyed watching the video's on Chazot's training and was just wondering if Jean Luc will continue to post updates?

Thanks,
Lyndsey

Comment by Ann Hatfield on December 13, 2009 at 10:46am

The magazine Horse has an online newsletter which sometimes has interesting articles that relate to mechanics of motion. www.horse.com

The magazine Equus has good paper-based articles, I have only been to the site once so do not know what additonal material they have.

Comment by Laura Coffey on December 7, 2009 at 11:32am

You are correct. I believe my horse is "relaxed" when he "gives his back", or his back moves softly up and down as he moves. I achieve this on the lunge line and don't proceed to further work unless I get it. Laura

Comment by Helyn Marie Cornille on December 6, 2009 at 6:57pm

Hi Laura
The term relax has to be understood carefully. In French language there is the word "decontraction" which means absence of unnecessary contraction. The word is correct but cannot be translated in English. The closest English word is "relax." The problem with the word relax is that it can be understood as slackness that is not applicable to the horse. Even standing still, gravity is pulling the horse body's down and at least 20% of the horse's muscular energy is permanently used to resist gravity. The other problem is that principles of riding emphasize greater amplitude of the horse's vertebral column movement via relaxation but the reality is quite different. The vertebral column's overall range of movement is extremely limited in the dorso-ventral direction and the main function of the back muscles is to preserve the integrity of the vertebral column structure and hence to do not let the vertebral column move more than its possible range of motion. The third problem is that the muscles surrounding the vertebral column are stiffening the column in proportion to the speed. Yes it is necessary to educate first the biomechanical properties of the horse's vertebral column before increasing the forward motion but this education needs to be regarded as subtle orchestration of numerous and minuscule muscle contractions that are creating the different rotations of the vertebrae. Greater amplitude of the horse's strides cannot be achieved through greater amplitude of the horse's vertebral column movements but rather through better orchestration of very diversified but minuscule movements.
Jean Luc

Comment by Laura Coffey on December 6, 2009 at 12:55pm

Interesting... I was just reading Mike Schaffer on training approaches. He was discussing the merits of teaching relaxation, etc as opposed to putting "forward" at the top of the training pyramid. If I am hearing you correctly there are actually physical reason that a horse should be taught to bend and relax before they are taught to be truly forward.??
I'm not sure if the same is true for horses as for people but when we are in our functioning out of our flight or fight mechanism or amigdala learning is impaired. It certainly seems to make sense that a relaxed horse will learn better then one who is tense. Laura

Comment by Helyn Marie Cornille on December 2, 2009 at 9:45pm

Hi Laura

You obviously have made an adjustment in your training approach that rendered the horse more comfortable. Your next task is to identified what you did. The term stretching has to be understood clearly. There are approximately 344 articular surfaces in the horse's vertebral column. In the dorso-ventral direction, which can also be referred to as longitudinal flexion, the horse's vertebral column is moving only 2 inches and 1/4. In addition, the main function of the back muscles is to preserve the integrity of the vertebral column structure and therefore to resist any rider's attempt to increase the range of motion of the horse's vertebral column beyond its possible range of motion. The meaning of stretching is more about reducing unnecessary contractions in order to optimize the proper functioning of the vertebral column rather than increasing its overall range of motion. Perhaps for instance if you have slow down the cadence as you were practicing the exercises by comparison to the speed that you sustained during the warm up, you may have unconsciously "discovered" that the horse's vertebral column stiffens in proportion to the speed. Slowing the cadence may be the reason why the horse found greater comfort in his work. If that is the case you may consider the thought that the horse warm up should be done respecting the horse's natural cadence instead of rushing the horse fast forward as commonly emphasized.
Science Of Motion

Comment by Laura Coffey on December 2, 2009 at 1:19pm

I find this topic fascinating. I have a young horse who began having temper tantrums(rearing, bolting, trying to rub me off on the arena fences, and behaving in a manner that that made me wonder if I had made a grievous error in purchasing him.
All I know about the science of motion is what common sense dictates. Horses are athletes, if you abuse or over use them, they'll break . One of the differences between equine and human athletes is horses act-out in lieu of verbal communication. It is incumbent upon us, their owners, trainer etc, to recognize the their "communication" and re-mediate it. Long story short, I made two changes, one intentional, one accidental. First I purchased a saddle made by George Gullickson who knows a great deal about the bio-mechanics of horses, this helped the outright belligerence.
Then by accident one day I included additional time at the warm up on stretching exercises. I can't believe the difference in this horse! He's now supple and soft, by the time we are done warming up his tension is usually gone.
Is there more I should know?

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