I've been thinking about circles & spirals lately. In our Dressage, we use circles to straighten the horse. Only by stretching the outside of the horse's body by bending him (evenly in each direction, never doing "more" to the stiff side), can we release his ability to stretch both sides as he swings his back and moves forward under the burden of our weight. It is by this reaching or stretching that his body can become "straight" in it's path. This also refers to being straight on a curving path - this means that his left hind hoof follows the path of the left fore hoof and the right hind follows the right fore! Work on "two tracks" (which is actually work on 3 or on 4 tracks in most cases!) or "lateral movements" are deliberate deviations from that "straight" path and are used to further stretch and strengthen (like YOGA) the horse's musculature, spine and topline. These improve balance, strength & suppleness! If someone thinks that Dressage is just "riding around on circles", they have missed the point of providing a foundation that is smooth and graceful rather than sharp and abrupt. Simply turning a horse's neck & head does not create stretch or softness - it does command submission. But Dressage asks for more than mere submission. For articles on Dressage and More, go to the Articles page at www.dharmahorse.com
