From: Shelley Liddell
To: Craig Stevens

Shelley wrote:
1: What are your warm up methods.

Craig Stevens wrote:
I don't always warm up the same all the time and it depends on the level of the horse. With new horses in training or young horses I longe the horse first and then work in hand and then ride. If time is short I skip the ride. Sometimes I skip the in hand but I rarely skip the long with a new horse. If it is a horse I have been working for awhile I sometimes just start in hand for a minute of two and then ride. I use long and low at the walk and under saddle as the number on way to prepare for work and for also on the longe. I use no side reins or any artificial running reins or aids. I do on occasion use spurs but that is very rare and always carry a whip. Very interesting. I consider the warmup to be vital for a correct training of the horse afterwards. So that's why I was curious Liz Deen Sly's fiancee Gavin Scofield likes Liz to walk the horse round the school(Liz on foot) and then do a lap running beside the horse, he reckons that the horse warms up much easier without riders weight and also the rider is warmed up before getting on top. I see lots of people go round in circles for ages at a relentless fast trot with their horses on the forehand and call this warm up.

Shelley wrote:
2. Does your riding change when you ride different types of horses, i.e. I have always been told that you ride Iberians different to the way you should ride a warmblood, but personally I ride my WB like I used to ride my andy, no difference at all.

Craig Stevens wrote:
I agree with you. the tact is a little different but this is so from horse to horse any way. The "I ride the horse different school of thought" is a way of avoiding answering some of the results that the Iberian trainers achieve in such a short period IMHO. The would say of Nuno that his way didn't work on warmbloods-nonsense. It is an easy way to excuse styles that are not effective(such as the modern popular methods of training) also interesting as many people say that riding a Andalusian is very different from riding a WB. The only difference I have found is that its is much more comfortable to ride a Andy. I find that WB and TBs have great canters but very uncomfortable trots.

Shelley wrote:
3. Do you teach Spanish walk before passage or after? Here in Spain the bullfighters teach the passage after the Spanish walk. They then apply the Spanish walk aids in trot and get a type of passage (no it is not a Spanish Trot) This is what has me confused as the resulting passage would not come from collecting the trot as the traditional passage does. I am nowhere near passage at the moment, but it is something that has been tickling my curiosity why would they be doing it this way.

Craig Stevens wrote:
I don't as a matter of course teach the Spanish Walk or trot to all horses. I generally teach the passage from the piaffe, but I have also taught the passage first and then the piaffe. I think this is a decision based on the individual horse and the riders inclination. Which ever way you go you should get to the other way ASAP. I have not used the Spanish walk to teach the passage as I do not see a reason to do it this way. I would not say I would not do it but there must be a reason. I also tend to think of the Spanish walk as a trainers vanity much of the time. Sometimes it is very useful for a horse but many times it impresses the humans much more. I am not above doing a show off thing like that but then it is for me and no the horse. My current adventure is to teach the Spanish walk directly from the saddle and not start it on the ground. This is interesting. It does perfect the rein aids.

Shelley wrote:
What rein aids do you use, is it left rein for horse to raise left leg? I have taught my horses Spanish walk for fun, I taught it to my mare when she was pregnant to prove to the Spanish (who keep mares for breeding purposes only) that mares can also learn Spanish walk the same as stallions in fact she had a better Spanish walk than many stallions, the elevation of the front legs was very good and the walk rhythm (sp?) was regular. It took me lots of carrots and 3 days to teach her. I also have taught my WB again to prove that not only Andalusians can do it. He also has excellent elevation and regularity but with him I have only taught from the ground as I don't want him to ever do it in the show ring and he is the sort of horse that is a natural show off and would be capable of doing it by himself in the middle of a test. Here in Spain (as i imagine the same over there) the riders leg aids are diagonal, left leg on the horse raises horses right leg.

Shelley wrote:
4. You say you work mostly in snaffle, the "classical" bunch I thought mainly used to use curbs and rode with loose reins, do you ride in snaffle with a contact (like the Germans) or with a lighter contact.

Craig Stevens wrote:
IMHO the better trainers don't do this. The curb bit is not a necessary bit. The old masters did not use a snaffle but a cavesson and curb instead. I guess I am not that old yet though;-)

The loose rein thing is usually over done. I do it to show off sometimes for people who are intelligent enough to know that is what it is, but most of the time I use an demi-tension on the reins. That amounts two about the weight of the rein but the reins are not bagged. The idea of contact that most people use is much too heavy and so they train resistance into the horse. That is why flash nose band and such are necessary.

People use way too much hand and leg. The less force you use the more power you have over the horse. It also takes the training issues out the physical and into the mental where a human can win. Any use of force is poor when it is physical. Horses are stronger and faster they can always win on that level, but on the mental plane we kick their butts:-)

It is better to control the horses mind rather than his body. He can control his own body better then we can and so let a horse brain do the horses job. When you control his mind then you always get his body, but the opposite is not true.

Funny, the Spanish who call themselves high school trainers used to train their youngsters with a Curb and cavesson with a metal insert with a serrated edge (serreta), then they went on to do it with a snaffle and the serreta and now they are down to the plain old snaffle.

from another post by Shelly;

Shelley wrote:
I don't see that flash nosebands are a big problem if fitted properly. A cavesson can also be abused. I have seen cavessons shut so tight that horse has problems breathing. What about the saddle? What sort of saddle, conventional dressage saddle? or the sort that the Spanish and Austrian's School's use?

Craig Stevens wrote:
Flash nosebands are only necessary when you block the mouth. A loose nose band is what I prefer. I have no mouth problems with any of my horses. Anything can be misused even a snaffle. Longeing cavessons should be a little tight as they are stronger if loose.

I have no particular saddle preference. As long as the horse is comfortable. I like as little padding as possible. I use a Beloire saddle that I had custom made for me in France. I love it, but I ride in close contact saddles. Many of the dressage saddles I don't like because they are too padded and hold you in a position and many sit you a little too far back.

Comfort of the horse is first then the rider... if the saddle works for both no problem. I think people make too much of a big deal about tack. It keep the tack shops busy though.

You also had asked about spurs.... I agree they are to refine the aids. My biggest objection to them is that the people who wear them know little or nothing about their use. There is nothing written about the spurs in English that would inform them about how they are used. Spurs are for stopping, suppling and collecting a horse not to make them go...

Shelley wrote:
Yes, on stopping I only have to slightly touch my horse with the spurs and he will stop. In fact I have been experimenting lately with different types and lengths of spurs (over the years and 3 different horses I have collected a few different varieties, long, short, average length, with blunt rowels and with a plain wheel). And have found that average length spurs with no rowel were what works best. I suppose every horse is different.

Craig Stevens wrote:
If they really made a horse go then the would be worn by every jockey at the track. The fact is that a whip makes a horse go far better than the spur. Is that why whips are banned from the competition arena (they are in Spain). In teaching I always immediately de-spur any rider. I were my spurs in the Iberian fashion when I wear them.

Excuse me, what is Iberian fashion? Here the Spanish spur does not look like a European Spur, it is larger and longer.

Craig Stevens wrote:
The other way makes no sense to me. They seem more a fashion than a practical thing.... with correct use of the natural aid there just is no purpose for them.(ed. note: Iberian fashion is when the spurs are worn low on the heel rather than on the traditional spur rest which is above the ankle of the rider)

Originally published and Copyrighted© 1997 NSAE News.
Published here with permission of the editor.

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