WHAT IS CLASSICAL?

Classical riding is called ‘Classical’ because it has stood the the test of time and because it promotes a system of instruction. It has evolved initially from the works of Xenophon (400 BC), and re-appeared in the Renaissance in reaction against the cruelties that had been practised in the intervening years. François Robichon de la Guérinière was probably the first person to compile and write down a comprehensive system for the training of the horse and rider. These principles have been scrupulously followed by the Spanish Riding School (SRS) in Vienna for over 300 years.

The term 'Classical' refers to something being of the highest class, serving as a standard or model of its kind; adhering to an established set of principles and characterised by balance, regularity, harmony and beauty. It usually refers to art and music, but also has relevance in other areas such as architecture, writing, and of course, riding.

Nuno Oliveira riding piaffe

While dressage is unquestionably about control, in Classical riding this control is exercised through the use of skill and knowledge, not force. The concept of ‘no force’ incorporates lightness and having the horse ‘through’ (responding to the aids without resistance), and excludes the use of restraint on the horse’s mouth, head and neck.

Classical riding is about training the horse gymnastically. Initially to re-balance himself and then to collect himself, with the eventual aim (today) of performing the airs on the ground. These airs are the canter pirouette, the changes of hand, the passage and the piaffe.

The gymnastic aspect of Classical riding concentrates on building strength and suppleness in order to achieve balance and impulsion, which are the foundations of collection. De la Guérinière said that to collect a horse is to shorten the movements of its gait, to put it on its haunches. Since it is the hindquarters that provide strength and impulsion, dressage riders are said to ride ‘from back to front’.

Because Classical riding has lasted for centuries and every nuance has been subjected to the most rigorous of testing from masters through the years, it is the most risk-free method of training the horse. It is also the fastest way. When short cuts are used they will invariably result in problems surfacing at some later stage, which will then have to be addressed, thus entailing wasted time and effort. Often this means going back to the basics and virtually starting over again.

However, Classical riding is not only concerned with the horse — the rider, how he sits and aids, is equally important. In fact, Classical training is actually the training of the rider. He must acquire a classical seat — this is a balanced, deep and feeling seat and his aids should be so subtle that they serve to improve his communications, rather than being gross signals to the horse.

It is interesting that nowhere does Guérinière mention that the horse must be ‘on the bit’. The phrase’on the aids’ appears once, and he defines a perfectly trained horse as one who follows the hand, the legs and the spurs with ease and obedience. He refers to contact as being the sensation produced by the bridle on the hand of the rider, and conversely, the action which the rider's hand communicates to the bars of the horse. Correct contact, which produces the best mouth, is when the horse takes a definite, light and balanced tension on the reins: the important concept here is that the horse is the one to choose the degree of contact, not the rider.

Even though Guérinière promoted the idea of humaneness, his concept of non-violence was only a comparative one. It was revolutionary in its time, but still with the belief that the horse could often be an adversary and act in a malicious way, which would have to be overcome physically by the rider or trainer. Today, our knowledge of equestrian psychology and physiology has shown that it is possible to school a horse without punishment and without violence of any kind.

The first goal of classical riding is the restoration of the natural balance that the horse had before the rider mounted. Second to this is to improve upon nature by the development of the art. This second goal can be sought only when the first goal has been attained. It requires the development of a trusting partnership between the horse and rider.

Two notable 20th century masters were Reiner Klimke and Nuno Oliviera. These men elevated the practice of classical riding to an art in which force was never a consideration, and their sensitivity produced many exquisitely trained horses.

Klimke said: “Classical riding means that the horse must go: that is, the energy must come through and the horse reaches forward. The horse must go forward and he must be happy. If the horse is happy and he trusts you, then you can teach him. If you punish him, that is wrong.”

Reiner Klimke riding piaffe

And Oliviera said: “Equestrian art is the perfect understanding between the rider and his horse. This harmony allows the horse to work without any contraction in his joints or in his muscles, permitting him to carry out all movements with mental and physical enjoyment as well as with suppleness and rhythm.”

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