GYMNASTIC STRAIGHTNESS V. MECHANICAL STRAIGHTNESS

What is straightness anyway?  It is certainly not a forced or rigidly held position; neither our bodies or our horses' bodies are structurally symmetrical, and could never really be so. Here, straightness means that through unwinding negative tension patterns causing postural deviations and possibly discomfort, and developing flexibility and graceful controlled movement and balance as equally as we can to the right and to the left, front and back, inside and outside, straightness evolves, along with grace, fluidity and poise. 

RIDER

The difference between a mechanically straightened rider and a gymnastically straightened rider is that the rider who has had only external realignment by perhaps an osteopath or chiropractor will probably not be aware of their inherent postural imbalances and will therefore not do the necessary strengthening work to support the corrections.  As soon as they start to ride their horse (who is still moving in the crooked pattern) although there may be an initial improvement it will probably gradually start to decline as the rider is drawn back into the crookedness.  The original muscular imbalance returns.

The gymnastically straightened rider (which may also involve chiropractic treatment or osteopathy) is aware of their own postural imbalances and strives to correct them at all times.  When riding a horse, they are able to feel where the horse is crooked as they strart in a neutral position and are able to prevent themselves from being drawn into the horse's pattern and instead invite the horse to join their own, straight and balanced pattern of moving.  From this point, the process of gymnastically straightening the horse may begin.  Your horse (and yourself) will then require far less mechanical adjustment as gymnastic training develops correct muscle balance. 

Therefore, self-awareness and self-correction are a vital part of improving your horse's performance and will facilitate the start of the gymnastic re-alignment process for him.  He too needs to work through specific exercises targeted at stretching his strong/short/tight muscles and strengthening his weak/long/underworking ones.

HORSE

Strong/weak muscles which result in a horse being 'quarters in on the left rein and falling out through shoulder' at a basic level, unless correctly stretched/strengthened, will continue working in this pattern all the way up the levels, later on manifesting as the more subtle 'on right shoulder' or 'left hind lacking engagement' in shoulder-in, half-pass, pirouettes- even through to piaffe and passage.  Yes, it is possible to train your horse without addressing crookedness issues and without true engagement all the way to Grand Prix, but the extra few per cent which you would otherwise have had will elude you, and marks are too expensive to lose at international level!  Practising these movements in isolation over and over again without correcting asymmetric working patterns will not genuinely improve way of going or the movement itself- it will simply confirm the fault within the exercise. 

However, recognising your horse's working patterns and training him to develop his muscles correctly will result in an athlete who is an improved and enhanced version of himself.  It is of paramount importance to take time and patience to train the young horse in this way and resist temptation, particularly with the talented horse, to rush his development.  Although clearly having a 'purpose built dressage machine' with excellent conformation, wonderful temperament and naturally fabulous paces to begin with can make the process much more straighforward, it is an incredibly rewarding journey to work with a horse with less than perfect conformation, weak topline and ordinary or even poor movement.  Thoughtful and intelligent training transforms these horses  to such an extent that their physique and paces exude a strength and brilliance one may never have thought possible.