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... kind of trust would be exciting to have with any horse. I am working on that with the horse I have had for a while. If we are alone together he trusts me that much but as soon as someone else is around, especially a man, there is a limit to his trust. I read the story about Maestoso Bring and the singer, Maria Jeritza, who rode him in the opera The Girl of the Golden West (Podhajsky 65) in one of Margaret Henry's books The White Stallions. I thought that it was neat to see it again.
One of Podhajsky's horses, Otto, gave him some trouble when he was trying to teach him how to carry his head (Podhajsky 81). Otto liked to carry his head low but Podhajsky wanted it higher, Otto did not appreciate it (Podhajsky 81). Otto had been very willing but when he was asked to raise his head he would not want to go forward and when he got excited he would come above the bit or rear (Podhajsky 81). Podhajsky had to start all over with him, let him carry his head and neck long and low and use his haunches to carry him self (Podhajsky 82). Otto had a week back and Podhajsky had to wait until he was more developed physically and in his training by then Otto's back was rounded and he could be taught to raise his head by increasing the action of his hind quarters (Podhajsky 82). This reminds me of a horse and rider I used to watch.
The rider was training a fairly green Dressage horse. He was do really well he carried himself long and low but he used his hind quarters very well. The girl working with him decided that he was ready to start raising his head and started asking him to by increasing the action his hind quarters and doing circles and other figures. He was doing so well and I really enjoyed going out to watch them work together. Then an internationally know Dressage clinician came to the area and the girl decided to take the horse she had been working with. The clinician had her work more forcefully with the horse and instead of riding him up into the bridle, he had her set his head by holding it in place at the halt and then trying to ride him forward keeping it there.
This made the horse rather frustrated and mad. After the clinic the girl continued to ride the horse the way the clinician suggested to her. Some of us, her friends, suggested that she go back to the way she had been working with him because the poor horse was getting so frustrated but she didn't. The long-term result was that the poor horse decided that he would not do Dressage and there was not much the humans could do to tell him otherwise. Today he is a hunter / jumper and enjoying his new job because he does not have to carry himself so collectedly. I had a similar experience with my horse.
He came off the racetrack and did not understand why his job description should change at age 12. He liked to run around with his head and neck stretched out and most of his weight on his forehand. I tried to do a quick fix and force him into what I thought was the proper position and he rebelled, tossed his head, bolted and reared. I worked for a while patiently with him, even though I was forcing him into position.
My horse finally got discouraged because he wanted to be good but I was asking him for something that he was not able to give yet and the only way he could show me was through his naughty behavior. I finally got the hint and took a slower rate. I taught him to carry his weight over his hunches by doing a lot of transitions and eventually he held his head on the vertical too. I tried to turn him into a Dressage horse but he loved jumping too much so I let him keep jumping which has made him a very happy horse. Podhajsky tells about teaching his horse Nora how to do flying changes. He taught her by striking of into the right lead of canter then the left and shortening the intervals until she was going from one lead right into the next with out stopping.
I tried to teach my horse to do flying changes using simple changes through the trot but he always got all excited and strung out. Someone said that I needed to do it through the walk I tried that and I just got a couple rears when I asked him to walk and he would get behind my leg. I tried different things trying to find something that he understood and did not make him to excited or frustrated. I finally settled on the simple changes through the trot on a figure eight and then I came to college. He is doing well but of course I don't get to work with him much. Last time we worked we were down to two trot steps before picking up the other lead.
We can't go to many times around the figure eight before I give him a break to think about something else because he gets to excited. I wish we could do the changes going in a strait line but he can build a lot of speed in a open ten acre field (we don't have an arena) so I am keeping him on a circle until he is comfortable enough to go strait. I am thankful that he is intelligent enough that he does not forget anything and we can always pick up where we left off. Podhajsky had a horse that remembered well too.
Nero had very brittle hooves and they often had to lay off their training for a while to let a broken part of the hoof grow back out (Podhajsky 90). When he was ready to be ridden again he would still remember everything and they would be able to keep right on going (Podhajsky 90). Nero could not jump very much either because his hooves would break (Podhajsky 88). He was afraid to jump anything that he did not have a good chance to look at and watch another horse go over but he learned to trust Podhajsky.
He learned to trust him to the point that after not jumping for a year to protect his hooves for the Olympic Games he went over the jump that was necessary for the victory (Podhajsky 88). This trust was proven when after he was retired Nero would gallop ahead of the Lipizzaners with Podhajsky and jump what ever they came to (Podhajsky 88). The trust and friendship that Alois Podhajsky had with his horses is my goal with all the horses I work with. This book would be a great encouragement to any horse lover who rides Dressage or hunter / jumpers.
I believe that it could be helpful to Western and Saddle Seat riders too because anyone could benefit from Podhajsky's humble approach to everything he did with the horses. This is defiantly a book I will read more than once. Bibliography:
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