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QUOTES BY KURT ALBRECHT
on the Rider's Aids
"The “aids” that have become a technical term in horsemanship are no real help for the horse, as long as he perceives them clearly as interference from the outside. They only deserve to be called “aids” when they blend into the horse’s movement so seamlessly that the horse’s desired response becomes “instinctual” and that the rider’s “orders” direct the horse without him perceiving it this way. The observer on the outside will therefore always have to get the impression that “the rider thinks and the horse carries out on his own.”
(1996; translation: T. Ritter)
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"Reins and legs can never compensate for an incorrect placement of the rider’s weight!”
(1996; translation: T. Ritter)
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"True harmony between rider and horse that determines the “expression” and hence the “impression” of a performance can therefore only exist when the rider can harmonize his aids so finely with the horse’s movements that they have a truly aiding, not interfering effect.”
(1996; translation: T. Ritter)
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"The quality of the seat determines whether we can even speak of “riding”, or whether the horse simply has to “deal with” the load on his back.”
(1996; translation: T. Ritter)
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"The next, also very dangerous source of mistakes is located in the shoulders and the upper arms. A “round back”, the external sign of shoulder blades and upper arms that are collapsing forward, reduces the effectiveness of the seat more than a poor or noisy head carriage can. It originates in the shoulder joint coming forward, including the upper arms that are attached to it (usually caused by a poor overall posture), and results in an abandonment of the vertical position of the pelvis.
This “round back” takes away a part of the stability of the spine. It creates a disadvantageous tension in the shoulders and prevents the chest from lifting forward-upward.
Upper arms that don’t drop back out of a relaxed shoulder joint lose their necessary connection with the torso at every opportunity, thus losing the crucial ability to help draw torso and midsection deeper into the saddle during unexpected movements of the horse. Upper arms that go forward in these cases automatically take the entire torso with them and furthermore cause the midsection to detach from the saddle (the rider thus becomes powerless!).
An upper arm that is stretched forward is usually continued by the forearm in a straight line. The upper arm is thus already lacking the very important connection with the torso. The forearm also loses some stability due to the absence of a, however light, connection with the midsection (pelvis-thigh).
Only a pro with an imperturbable seat will be able to “tame” a free-floating upper arm-forearm. In most cases, however, it forms the starting point for countless guidance and posture mistakes of horse and rider.”
(1996; translation: T. Ritter)
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"The influence of the rider’s midsection (German: Kreuz) on the horse’s locomotive mechanism is the most powerful aid the rider has at his disposal. It is no coincidence that it is said: The rider who possesses “Kreuz” possesses the most important key for the horse’s training.
No leg, much less the spur, can replace this “Kreuz”. Without a connection to the Kreuz, these two create unharmonious changes in the rhythm and tact of the footfall sequence, thus becoming the source of a “disturbed overall expression” of any equestrian presentation. (A “squeezing” or “tapping” leg is always out of sync with the horse’s motion and therefore not an “aid” but an irritating “source of confusion” that the horse has to put up with).”
(1996; translation: T. Ritter)
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"Just as the gripping, i.e. never changing calf pressure is not a true aid for the horse, because it makes him more and more insensitive for the rider’s more subtle wishes, the “ambushing” calf that startles the horse cannot fulfill its purpose.”
(1996; translation: T. Ritter)
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"Leg shyness belongs here as well. Initially, very conservative calf aids (with a deep knee and quietly hanging leg) are necessary, but one should be careful not to remove the leg immediately if the horse reacts hyper-sensitively. It is important in such cases to keep the calf contact as consistent as possible, and not to change it in each transition between the gaits.”
(1996; translation: T. Ritter)
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Last Update: January 13, 2007