Complete Accord

Interessado and Encantara

I only very rarely seek out one of the many books on equitation in my private library, because for the most part, my interest in riding comes from an entirely different place now. I have acquired a mindset that no longer feels it is appropriate for me to place a bit in a horse's mouth or strap on a bridle or cavesson so that I can restrict the movements of her head and neck.

Coming from a background of first competitive dressage and later French Classical Dressage, I feel I have a thorough understanding of both the punitive and refined capacities of the bit and bridle as training tools. I have personally felt the delicate communication that is possible when riding a horse who has been trained to "accept" the bit in lightness and it can be exquisite--but the fact that a horse first has to be trained to accept the bit, bridle and reins and that this training necessarily entails initial discomfort, even pain and in many cases results in extreme physiological and psychological damage--well these elements no longer fit in with the feelings I have about my relationship to horses. Yes, the bit and reins can be used with finesse and articulate a dialogue with a horse for the purpose of guiding while being ridden, but once you begin to realize that you can communicate even more subtly with a horse without recourse to using its mouth as a translator for your thoughts, but instead develop your relationship to such a degree that your minds and bodies flow together in "complete accord", then the now obvious crudities of bits and bridles soon leads one to abandon them along with the traditional training that imposes the human's will over the horse's.

Encantara

For today's journal entry, however, I did dust off one of my equitation books because I remembered a quote I wanted to share to illustrate that even at the master level of equitation, it is revealed that more often than not is is the harmony of the most simple movements that are most deeply moving to the rider.

In the past;, Baucher once said to L'Hotte, 'I often opted for movements that were complicated. Today it takes me six months just to get my horses to walk straight and turn well...When total lightness is achieved by making a horse walk straight and become well-balanced, the feeling that the rider gets is the sense of complete accord with the horse's strength. One then hesitates to pass on to any other movement which will modify the combination of forces and destroy this feeling of harmony.' (pg. 50 Alexi-Francois L'Hotte/The Quest For Lightness in Equitation by Hilda Nelson, pub. J.A. Allen 1997)

I'm using this quote of Baucher's as a springboard for a very simplistic, yet profound bit of riding that I have recently engaged in.

Archived entries of the Journal of Ravenseyrie, discuss the type of communication with equines I have been devoting myself to. It is extremely subtle, based on mindful intention and arises from a "heart connection", a term used by Carolyn Resnick which describes a magnetic entrainment of two beings--a very real phenomenon thoroughly researched by Stephen Harrod Buhner in his book, The Secret Teachings of Plants. I describe some of the ways I engage this form of communication in earlier journal entries which feature Doll (twice), Jerry, Bella and Encantara.

I have taken in the past few days some video footage which, while extremely clumsy, nevertheless demonstrates the type of interactions in which I find some of the "complete accord" mentioned by Baucher.

Before getting to these videos, I first feel it is important to talk a little bit about how conscientious we humans need to be regarding the placement of our weight upon the back of a horse (or mule). Though a mature, robust equine back looks like the perfect place for a human to sit, the physical structure of a horse is not designed to bear weight from above. Open any book on equitation and you will find discussion regarding how to minimize the deleterious effect of our weight upon the equine back. Likewise, stroll through any tack shop and you'll see an entire industry of specialized pads are available to deceptively lure us into thinking we are not causing damage while riding.

For myself, I feel that with a well muscled horse, very brief reprises of riding are not damaging if there is a complete willingness of the horse to accept such an activity and the horse takes pleasure in being ridden.

For the deep thinking human, who looks upon horses with egalitarianism and friendship, a determination against riding is something that should be decided not just by the human, but by the horse as well. Some structurally weak horses should definitely not be ridden, even if they appear to be accepting of it--and some horses that have the most robust bodies which could physiologically support a little judicious riding, should definitely not be ridden because psychologically they do not take any pleasure from a human sitting on their backs.

Doll

Questions I have come to ask myself are:

--Of what benefit is it to my horse for me to ride it?

--What are my intentions for riding?

--Is the act of riding something I do only for my own pleasure, or is it, from the very first, an activity that the horse enjoys as well?

--How will I know if my horse is simply obeying a request she feels she cannot refuse or if she genuinely is accepting of my riding her?

--How will I know if my weight upon the horse's back is damaging?

--Is my horse psychologically diminished by my presence on her back or enhanced by it?

Doll

The topic of the harm of riding is not the main point of today's journal entry, so I will not address it any further, but save greater scrutiny for a future entry.

I think it is important to place the videos I'll be sharing in the context of which they arose...

In October, here in Canada, a Nevzorov Haute Ecole International Seminar has been scheduled, and several individuals I became dear friends with (during my time within the NHE online school) decided that it would be a great time to meet in person. While none of us are any longer part of the NHE school, we each maintain respect for many of the people involved and appreciate the worldwide efforts NHE makes to provoke a perceptional shift in how we view our interactions with horses.

While we were making arrangements to attend the seminar, we became aware that a statement had been released that further refined the restrictions placed on an NHE student with regard to riding. This prompted a dialogue between us regarding the issue of riding and the damage that a horse's body (and mind) can sustain from it. It is a discussion we four have had many times, each of us holding opinions that differ depending on the many variables involved with each horse and rider combination and the situation of each new day. Because of our differences of opinion and knowing, once again, that my views regarding the minimal riding I engage in with the equines here at Ravenseyrie are not acceptable to followers of NHE, I decided it would be inappropriate for me to participate in the seminar, and instead I would wait for a more neutral venue for the merry gathering of friends.

Mistral and Fada

Having canceled my plans to attend, I was in need of a walk, so went out to the north west sector to look for Altamiro and the family band with my thoughts very deep on the subject of riding and questioning whether I was deceiving myself that on those rare occasions when I mount up it was as much a suggestion put to me by the horses (or mules) as something I ask of them. I also reflected on the sensation that there was truly mutual pleasure from these "rides"...and, of course, I contemplated whether these rare rides were damaging their bodies.

As I was crossing into the northwest sector I was surprised to find Doll there, all by herself, quietly grazing! To my knowledge, none of Mistral's group has ventured this far into Altamiro's "territory" in over a year, and I figured she was there because she was in heat again and looking for Altamiro, too.

Even though I take these hikes without horse treats in my pocket, Doll hooked into me right away and without much thought, I put down my camera bag and went over to stand on a rock. Doll came right up, offering me her back, so I got on her and gave her at least five to eight minutes of really excellent itches. Then I asked if she would take me for a few strides of a walk to the right, and she did, so I stopped and gave her another round of itches from my mounted position. Then I got off. I probably was up there ten, maybe twelve minutes. I gave her some under the belly and buttocks itches and then turned to go back to get my camera back with the idea to resume my looking for the family band. Instead of going back to grazing, Doll followed...then the idea came to me to see how much of a mounted itch session I might be able to get on video. As mentioned above, the results are very clumsy but I think they reveal the harmony of the moment and the "complete accord" between us. While viewing it, I hope you can see, hear and feel the subtle communication between Doll and I:

This type of riding is a very intimate thing, and certainly the intrusion of the camera, (especially because I was holding it and trying to interact with Doll while also hoping I was keeping the view finder in a good position), impacted the quality of the itches I would normally give. I made up for this once I got off and put the camera away and then Doll went back to grazing.

Doll

Lest readers think this teenage mule will let just anyone climb aboard because she might appear to be a slow-moving dullard, I'm sharing footage of what happen after I left Doll and found Altamiro's family band:

Though Doll would like the affection of this rock-star-bird-chasing stallion, he doesn't share the same feelings as she does and promptly drove her out of his territory, during which time she demonstrated just how agile and quick a draft mule can be!

I found myself recognizing the synchronisity of Doll being there in that particular moment just as I was reflecting upon whether or not my mounted itches and simplistic riding were things that perhaps I should turn away from. When I mounted the rock for the first time, it was a sort of test, I suppose...if Doll had not come over and positioned herself for mounted itches, I would surely have taken it as a "sign" that indeed this silly game of ours was something that only I appreciated and I should refrain from it in the future. Doll gave me a very clear answer, or so it seems to me. If Doll didn't want me up on top, being tackless, at liberty, in the big wide open, she certainly could have avoided me to begin with, or rid herself of me once I was on top...but she did not, in fact, she came back for more, which is what prompted me to video tape it for you to see.

A day later, I went down to the beach to be with Mistral's group. Everyone was in nap mode, so I just let the sound of the waves and the wind and the birds and the grasses bring me into a very mellow state of being. I took out my camera and began taking photos of the horses and mules, then I went over to stand upon a rock and simply admire them all. Here is what happened next:

What is remarkable about this bit of footage is that I did not call Jerry to me, or ask him if he would like mounted itches. I did not want to interrupt the comfortable position he and Dee were in for their companion napping.

Jerry and Dee

It was Jerry who took note of me standing on the rock and decided to take leave of his nap to come for a visit. Remember, I do not take treats for the horses when I go out on these hikes--he is not coming to me for treats, nor did he come to me when I was on the ground taking photos. But, when I was standing on the rock, just hanging out, he made his own choice to come over and see if he could get me to participate in a mounted itching session. Again, the presence of the camera severely impacted the quality of the itches I could give, and also the rock strewn terrain made it tricky to have him take me around in a circle as was my intention, so in the end I asked him to take me over to a good place for me to dismount, which he did perfectly, and before dismounting, I turned the camera off, slung it around to my back and then gave him all the great mounted itches he has come to appreciate so well.

Interessado and Encantara

To close, I will leave readers with several quotes by Carolyn Resnick from her book, Naked Liberty published in 2005 by Amigo Publications. It was Carolyn's experiences relayed in this book that prompted me to recognize if one has a relationship with horses built upon a magnetic heart connection, and the moment is right, riding at liberty in the big wide open is not only possible it is a rewarding feeling that both partners share. Though very rustic, very "untrained" and very simplistic, the riding shown in these videos is for me much more sublime than any haute ecole movement I use to perform with a bridle in an indoor arena.

"Why is it that some people can use a small gesture and get a favorable response from a horse, while others make the same gesture and get no response at all? It comes from a strong bond shared between horse and human, and from an innate ability to emote the kind of feeling that will influence a horse's behavior in a positive way. The naivety of a child lends great insight into how to connect with horses. Our childhood memories can return to us in the indelible connection of the heart." (pg. 153)

"My dad said, 'If there is unity in the moment with the horse, you can direct his next movement with aids almost as light as a thought, like geese flying in formation. Do geese practice how to be united? No! They just are. It comes naturally from the bond they share together.' He went on to say that harmonious acts seldom lead to trouble." (pg. 227)


"Her invitation [she refers to a wild mare named Moonlight--lg], convinced me that horses do have a desire to be ridden without domination, capture or restraint. If these methods were the only means to riding horses, I would have given up riding." (pg. 228)

"Everyone has experienced moments when everything feels right or safe, a moment that makes you feel you will live forever. These moments I have no name for, but they can be trusted. They are all around us every minute. The trick is to recognize these moments and act upon them." (pg.230)

What makes these simplistic rides I've shared with you especially meaningful is that Doll, Jerry and me engaged in them together, in complete accord, and this harmony in riding came at a time when I was reflecting on whether or not riding in this context was something that is harmful and for my pleasure only. I'm satisfied that the pleasure is not mine alone and that no damage results from these rides, even if others might hold a different opinion.

Jerry

Jean-Claude Racinet / Homage to a Man of Knowledge and Feel

Jean-Claude Racinet

While browsing online, I chanced upon the news that a man who had played a vital role in my life had passed away this past Saturday.

Jean-Claude Racinet is the man who inspired me to learn all I could about Francois Baucher and to make the quest for Légèreté part of my equestrian journey. Jean-Claude was passionate, driven, gifted and very generous with his knowledge. France's loss was America's gain, and I know that after immigrating to the United States, Jean-Claude touched the lives of many equestrians who had never before been exposed to Classical French Equitation.

It was through Ivan Bezugloff's monthly publication of Dressage & CT back in the 1990's when I first experienced the phenomenal authorship of Jean-Claude Racinet. Profound in its depth of details, exquisitely visual with its capacity to relay personal anecdotes and vibrating with incorrigible French wit, Jean-Claude's writing captivated me from the beginning of each article to the end. So moved was I by Jean-Claude's descriptions of riding horses in collection on a loose rein versus a taut one, I wrote to him personally to ask if this was something that happened only occasionally or if it was the norm for this type of equitation. I received a very earnest reply which evolved into many years of learning and friendship with Jean-Claude, as well as his extremely capable wife, Susan.

I first met Jean-Claude in person at a clinic in Traverse City, Michigan. Kevin and I brought our two Polish Arabian geldings for two days of lessons. Mistral and Jean-Claude did not get on to well together, but he really liked Kevin's horse Phoenix and after riding him in a demonstration for one of Kevin's lessons, he remarked with satisfaction, "This is a good horse!"

I watched Jean-Claude ride several horses during this clinic--I think it was of utmost importance for his understanding of the horse to "feel" him from the saddle. Jean-Claude had a spectacular seat, a perfect example of position by balance rather than position by muscular might as I had been taught by my previous dressage instructor. This "feel" was a dialogue between Jean-Claude and the horse: mouth-tongue-bit-rein speaking to fingers and arms... upper body-stomach-lower lumbar-seat-legs sensing the hindquarter engagement, hoof-placement, breathing and muscle responses of the horses body.

One horse he rode displeased me greatly, the dialogue during work on flying changes of lead was more brusque and punitive than I would have expected Jean-Claude to engage in. (Such is the bane of a traveling clinician--often expected to produce on the spot results which compromise occasionally on time-honored finesse.) But the others, were like watching a sculptor at work with fine tools instead of the chisel and hammer of the first example. One overweight Paso Fino remains etched in my mind. This horse was a trail horse. His owner had brought him to Jean-Claude to have some osetopathic bodywork done. This horse had never had a dressage lesson and didn't look at all capable of elegant movement even if he had. After palpating and working on the trouble spots of this horse's spine, Jean-Claude asked if he could ride the gelding to feel if his manipulations had helped. At first, I had no clue what I was seeing--so different it was from the type of dressage riding I had training in by other instructors. Instead of using incessant leg aids to drive the horse on to a steady contact with the bit and attempting to soften and collect via endlessly trotting in circles, Jean-Claude allowed the horse to be temporarily "inverted"--with a high head, low withers, hollow back and disengaged hindquarters. And to add to this ugly "frame", he went about in brief reprises of mincing walk, halt and reinback. The reins were long, the reins were short, the reins were high, the reins were dropped on the neck, the reins were all over the place! Jean-Claude's heels tap-tapped now, and not now, and his whip was tapping on the horse's croup now, and not now. I was just about to think that our studying with Jean-Claude was a mistake when something amazing happened. This chubby little horse, looking all awkward and ugly simply melted into the image of a baroque haute école destrier. His jaw softened, his withers lifted, his neck rounded, his poll flexed, his hindquarters tilted under, his rear legs stepped under his body and all his joints became fluid springs--the mincing steps were replaced by elevated dancing. I had just witnessed the very best of Baucher's "second manner". No one looked more pleased about the transformation than the horse himself, who likely didn't realize he could use his body in such a powerfully united and graceful way.

In addition to his devotion to redeeming the work of Baucher, Jean-Claude also came to be an adept of equine osteopathy. Working in close communication with Dr. Dominique Giniaux in France, Jean-Claude became so excited about the correlations between Baucher's flexions and their similarity to osteopathic manipulations that he translated two of Dr. Giniaux's books into English and wrote a book titled Total Horsemanship demonstrating the curative aspect of Baucher's methods and their harmony with osteopathic concepts.

I have had the pleasure of working with Jean-Claude on cover art which he incorporated into his books Racinet Explains Baucher and Total Horsemanship, published by Xenophon Press.

When I was asked to come up with a painting which could be used on the cover of Racinet Explains Baucher, it was suggested that perhaps an image of Baucher in sepia colored tones could be included. Accustomed to painting animals and landscapes, the thought of rendering an image of a human was off-putting. If not for the positive encouragement of Susan Racinet, I believe I would have asked them to seek a professional portrait artist for this job instead. But Susan had confidence in my ability to try something new and was sure that she would be happy with the results. In the end, I decided to at least give it a try.

I had several photos taken from the Traverse City clinic which showed Jean-Claude discussing concepts with me. I was intrigued by the expressiveness of his gesticulating hands, whose activity did so much to "explain Baucher". It was then I decided that I would paint Jean-Claude himself as the focal point of the cover and paint smaller images of Baucher to overlay on the main painting. I had wanted to include in this journal entry the very photograph of Jean-Claude which I used as reference, but after tearing apart my archives (this was before digital cameras were the norm), I could not locate this photograph! However I did find one taken a few seconds before and have scanned it and pasted it in below.

Me and Mistral receiving instruction from Jean-Claude Racinet
at a 1995(?) clinic in Traverse City, Michigan

I worked on several versions of the layout of the painting beginning with a pencil drawing from my sketch book:

and then worked up some watercolor washes to establish a sense of where I wanted to enhance depth and value using just the color sepia, loosely painting over a series of xeroxed copies of a pencil sketch, one of which looked like this:


When I sent the finished artwork to Susan, she was indeed pleased with it, so much so she asked if she could keep it, relaying that I had captured the essence of his remarkable hands in a way that moved her greatly.

And the finished cover, with the overlaid watercolor vignettes of Baucher turned out like this:

For his part, Jean-Claude thought I made him look too old, but he, too, was pleased with the cover art and wrote me this inscription inside the cover of the book which he sent to me shortly after the book was published:


A few years later, when Jean-Claude was working on the manuscript for Total Horsemanship, he asked if I would like to once again come up with a painting for the cover art. Of course, my answer was yes! Jean-Claude thought an image of a horse in piaffe would be nice, but could I include a bit of the horse's skeleton showing through. Heavens! How would I manage this? Susan was worried that it would end up looking too macabre to be suited for the cover of a book. But once again, I accepted the challenge and after consulting numerous scientific texts came up with this painting:

Prior to darkening the lines of the skeleton, I emailed JC a scanned version of the painting just to make sure it looked right to him. I don't recall which one of the bones it was (the femur maybe?) but it wasn't quite at the right angle according to Jean-Claude, and thankfully I was able to correct the error. When Jean-Claude and Susan received the original painting, JC left a message on our telephone answering machine which was so enthusiastic, like a school girl receiving praise from a favorite teacher, I played the message over and over until Kevin suggested I might wear out the machine if I didn't cease.

The finished cover looked like this and was later republished in French for the European market:


During the years of an active relationship with Jean-Claude and Susan, I was able to spend time learning from Jean-Claude at his home and at ours. It was a marvelous opportunity to get to know and appreciate them as friends and experience a bit of each other's worlds. I remember watching Jean-Claude lose himself in playing the piano, while his young son, Jean-Francois, entertained kittens on the floor nearby. I remember Kevin and I driving Jean-Claude to Oxford, Michigan for a meeting with Major Robert Borg (reader's of the old Dressage & CT articles will remember this unique and unlikely Baucheriste and his role with the U.S. Olympic Equestrian team in the late 1940's and early 1950's). On this several hour drive, we listened to the symphonies of Schubert and Schuman and talked about Jean-Claude's time in French army as well as Kevin's studies into the absurdity of the "war on drugs", during which time Jean-Claude's head bobbed downward in slumber. We had a lovely dinner with the quite elderly Major Borg and Jean-Claude presented him with a copy of Racinet Explains Baucher.

Jean-Claude gives Kevin a private lesson in our unfinished manege while
visiting us at our Michigan farm back in the late 1990's.
Kevin used to ride back then and it must have been very humorous for JC to give a lesson to a rider wearing overalls!

Jean-Claude having a delicate, "feeling" dialogue with Phoenix

When the Racinet's were preparing to move from South Carolina to Virginia, we were the fortunate recipients of one of Jean-Claude's personal horses, a large-bodied beautiful, tall, bay Morgan gelding named, Kilarney. Killer, they called him, because he just couldn't seem to get along with other horses and at 20 years old and trained a la Baucher, he was not a horse to sell, so he came to live with our cows and mules (we were still on our Michigan farm). Before dying from a tragic colic episode 18 months later, Kilarney taught me the splendor of passage, to which he was so well trained just an arching of my lower lumbar "forwarding the stomach to the hands" brought him into exquisite collection and springy, lofty dance steps.

There are many good stories--more than what I can relay in this entry--many wonderful conversations and times shared...many treasured memories.

Somewhere along the way, Jean-Claude and I drifted apart in our approach to horses and our correspondence dwindled and ended. Shortly before immigrating to Canada, Susan called me and we had a nice conversation, but that is the last we've communicated, though I have sent a few cards since our immigration to Canada. Time moves on, people explore new things, but always warm thoughts remain.

My journey with horses is so far away now from those days of Baucher and riding with a bits, bridles and coercing the horse to yield to the whims of humans, and yet there is so much of what Jean-Claude taught me that still has great meaning for where I am today and where I will be tomorrow. To quote from his first book, ANOTHER HORSEMANSHIP, "You perhaps think that you need a teacher. Now this can be taken care of, since you have not one, but two teachers at hand - your horse first, and...yourself, to boot."

For students who are suddenly feeling lost without this great riding master to mentor you on your journey, I wish for you these words to become a great comfort. Susan, if you happen to read this journal entry, know that my thoughts are with you and your family. I will send you something in the mail very soon.

Update: Thanks to the sensitive and very capable editing of Jean-Claude's longtime friend and colleague, Christian Kristen von Stetten, the last book authored by JCR has reached publication and is now available for purchase. Falling for Fallacies. Misleading Commonplace Notions of Dressage Riding is an attractive, thought provoking book which should be read by any student of collection.