In this article I am attempting to draw a parallel between riding a set move named the Counter Canter and that of swinging a Near-Side Backhander. This brings together the two worlds of Dressage and Polo. When I was about fourteen years old I became very interested in dressage. On reflection I think it was because I found new ways to control the large thoroughbred horses that my parents used to get from the track. At least that’s where I think Happy Easter came from because she was a complete tear away. Control on her was a must if you wanted any kind of comfortable ride. I remember rides through the Grunewald, a huge forest in Berlin where my father was stationed, that went on for hours during which Happy Easter, my horse, would jig-jog and my instructor would say “just think walk” and I would think *@!# this my ass hurts! Eventually it turned out that Happy Easter had a severe back condition where, as I understood it there was one vertebra that was facing the wrong way and though it had fused it still caused pain. I learned to sit very still on that horse. However sitting still on her in the Dressage arena under the watchful eye of Mr Kreuzer was one thing. She could not stand the jarring of jumping and so one day she just ran from the pain, as a horse will sometimes do. I fell off when she fell, and the rest is history. But I learned to sit still and balanced and though my control gave in the end I also learned how to curb the horses want to flee from pain with gentleness and firmness form the saddle.
I have found that that there exist in polo some huge similarities between dressage and polo. I think that if one trains the horse at the same time we practice our shots, then the horse improves in balance and rhythm which are two of the pillars of training in dressage. The pursuit of a good shot and the advancement of ones riding skills and knowledge go hand in hand unless one chooses simply to ignore the horse. In a sport where it is generally accepted that the horse is 80 percent of the game then ignoring 80 percent of your game is foolish if you want to get better.
We truly want to be good to our horses and we provide for them with that in mind. If we then choose to ignore riding and make up for it with shavings and a blanket the horse will not appreciate us and in the end the horse will grow sour.
Think of a fishing boat hauling in it’s nets full of fish. It begins to “list” to the side of the extra weight, as in Lizt an Austrian composer or “Brahms and Lizt” two Austrian composers that together in Cockney rhyming slang mean “pissed” or “drunk”. Strikingly both the rhyme and the reasoning match, since in both cases, Brahms and Lizt in London or listing in your boat, one would be leaning one way or the other out of balance.
Balance when one is “Brahms and Lizt” is hard to restore but in the fishing boat some “ballast” will usually fix the problem.
When riding our ballast is in our upper body above the center of gravity of the horse and any time we move that mass out of kilter with that of the horse we change the trim of the horse. These signals when made intentionally are more often used to change direction, but can sometimes be used mistakenly to change leads.
It may be that when you change leads on your horse you change directions too. I have found that if I change direction at the same time as changing the lead I throw the horse onto his fore hand. Specifically his “inside foreleg” which has to grab for ground as I throw my weight to change the horse’s direction thereby unbalancing him.
Far greater advantages exist in being able to guide the horse around with your legs and only a slight assist from the reins.
First try separating the change of lead and the change of direction. A good exercise for me is to try hitting near side backhands with the horse on the left lead. You should find it hard to keep your horse in your right of way after having hit at the ball. Once you can keep the horse at the same speed with the head placed to the right but traveling on the left lead balanced, you have succeeded in hitting at the ball whilst performing a “Counter Canter.” You may just wish to hit the ball off the right lead but it is my contention that using the same lead as the side you hit on gets more power because of the timing of the swing with the rhythm dictated by the stride of the horse. I think this is true because we hit at the time of suspension for the horse at a canter or gallop.
It is here that I must draw your attention to my last essay where I talk about the beats of the canter. I was advised by my mother that:
“The canter in dressage has three beats.” (In the last essay I said it had four as in the walk.)
It does of course in polo too, surprise, surprise. However the moment of suspension is a moment in time that has to be counted, since it is when the power of the horse’s footfalls have been gathered up and unleashed as forward motion. Time to hit at the ball. In the walk we feel the four footfalls as a steady beat:
“1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4.” In the canter the fourth beat is not audible as it occurs at the time of suspension. Classically however I cannot claim the canter to have four beats, but I think you’ll agree that the quiet times are sometimes hard to discount! The gallop is another story.
Here is a quote from a military "Manual of Horsemastership, Equitation and Animal Transport” 1937. :
The "canter" is a pace of three time in which the leading fore leg and leading hind leg are on the same side. If a horse is leading on the off pair, the sequence of locomotion is as follows:
(a) Near hind
(b) Left diagonal (near fore and off hind)
(c) Off fore.
4. The slow gallop is useful for scouts and others who have to cover long distances at a fast pace.
Both the slow gallop and the gallop are four time in which the feet follow one another with a period of suspension between the coming down of the leading fore-foot and the opposite hind-foot. As in cantering, the leading fore-leg and leading hind-leg are on the same side."
If you find it impossible to keep your horse’s lead then you can go back one more step and explore the “Counter Canter” a term which comes from dressage. Now don’t worry no one’s going to force you to wear tails and a top hat here, it’s just that the moves we are asking for from our horses are trained and have been for centuries in dressage.
The counter canter is so called because the horse is bent in the opposite direction to it’s leading leg. So if it is bent around the inside leg of the rider then that leg is the one that is also holding the horse laterally. The exercise is also used to improve the horses balance and the strength of the riders seat and legs, since the rider must hold the animal in a bend counter to that which it would naturally take whilst on that lead. In polo the exercise helps both the horse and rider with balance and keeps one safe in plays where you need to “flatten out” before you come to the line of the ball. It also helps to remember that the placement of the horses head to the right when swinging a near side backhander on the left lead helps the rider get angle on the ball to the left as well as stay in his or her right of way.
One very important thing to remember is to do this exercise on both leads. You, just as your horse, have to be bilaterally supple and balanced. If any exercise is only done on one lead the horse will quickly lose its ability and more swiftly its desire to obey you, and then you will have to take up bicycle polo. In working the horse “variety is the spice of life”. In polo it is easy to find variety for the horse by subjecting oneself to some drills. Hitting each shot off each lead whilst maintaining a canter circle of any size is good for us all. Careful though, it may get you interested in dressage.
About the Author: Christian has been riding since before he can remember. He come from a riding family and claims to have hunted with hounds in Scotland Ireland and England. He broke his first horse at 14 years of age and achieved his pony club "A" test inNorthern Ireland. Christian has competed in combined training in Britain and Germany, and was trained in dressage by Hans Kruse in Berlin.
At the start of his polo career, about ten years ago, Christian trained for ClaireTomlinson (Beaufort Polo Club) who at that time employed Juni Crotto (9 goals) and Milo Fernandez Araujo(then 7 goals). Whilst his polo skills at
that time were dubious he rode and trained on made, high-goal ponies that were used to take the Los Locos team to the finals of the Queens Cup, an experience that has helped him to know the full potential of good polo ponies.
Since coming to this country in 1994, Christian has sold horses into all levels of polo and trained for Rege Ludwig and Bill Atkinson amongst others. He knows keep his own string of horses and only sell polo ponies on consignment. Christian's horse training skills are put to good use training Dressage and Show Jumping horses for sale.
He was recently asked to help the US Olympic Pentathlon team for Athens in 2004 with their riding and jumping by giving a 5 day clinic. Christian is available for lessons or clinics in any "English" equine discipline. For more information contact Christian Moon via e-mail: cmoon@dc.rr.com. Or click here to view his Player profile.
