Classical vs. "Modern" Dressage
Tug of War: Classical versus “Modern” Dressage
Book by Gerd Heuschmann
This book is a regular “go to” of mine, because I always pick up new bits of information. It runs through:
Basic key anatomy to consider when training a horse;
How to identify a “back mover” versus a “leg mover”;
The best exercises to train your horses in a physiologically correct manner; and
It has some of the best diagrams to show how riding a horse in different frames affects their bodies, either positively or negatively.
When canvasing equestrian-related social media, it appears that draw-reins are quite fashionable again. And every “like” says “regression” rather than “retro.” After all, it has been 9 years since the publication of the controversial book Tug of War, by Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, confronted modern horse training and riding methods (specifically in dressage and including draw-reins), claiming they are often both incorrect and inhumane.
Dr. Heuschmann insists on the slow development of the horse via classical training methodology and calls out the trends of hyper-flexion, tight nosebands, and draw-reins as damaging to the body and psyche of the horse.
It seems that much attention has been paid to the subject of hyper-flexion in the past decade, and a new scientific study names crank nosebands as a leading cause of elevated stress levels in performance horses.
Many problems, such as poor rideability, resistance, and hind leg lameness, to name only a few, are often the result of tension-laden “backward riding” and the use of draw-reins.