Maestro Nuno Oliveira Quotes
"Equestrian tact is not only the subtlety of the aids but also the feeling for the choice of
the aids that have to be applied, and it is the velvet softness in the coordination."
N.Oliveira (1998, 16f.).
"Proceed so that the horse finds himself willingly into the exercise, and not by force."
N.Oliveira (1998, 17).
"Never use force except if the horse sucks back."
N.Oliveira (1998, 17).
"Look for the purity of the three gaits. The rest will follow easily."
N.Oliveira (1998, 17).
"Make it a habit to praise when the horse yields."
N.Oliveira (1998, 17).
"When a horse gets nervous during a new exercise, one has to calm him down during
the exercise. Otherwise he will get nervous every time we ask something more or
something new from him."
N.Oliveira (1998, 17).
"Don't play the master all the time. The difficulty is to feel to what extent one has to
intervene."
N.Oliveira (1998, 17).
"In the trot, the hip has to trot, not the hand."
N.Oliveira (1998, 25).
"Maintain heavy buttocks and a supple back, not the opposite."
N.Oliveira (1998, 25).
"The secret in riding is to do few things right. The more one does, the less one succeeds.
The less one does, the more one succeeds."
N.Oliveira (1998, 29).
"I don't want riders who work physically hard. Work by thinking."
N.Oliveira (1998, 29).
"Adjusting the reins means establishing a soft contact."
N.Oliveira (1998, 29).
"One has to have an immobile hand with mobile fingers."
N.Oliveira (1998, 29).
This is the exact same principle as Neindorff's "The hand stands still, and yet it moves."
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html
"The hands have to be like concrete when the horse resists and like butter when he
yields."
N.Oliveira (1998, 29).
"The descente de main is not a gesture, but it is simply a means to cease using the hand
actively."
N.Oliveira (1998, 29).
"Descente de main: the rider opens his fingers and the horse has to maintain the same
gait, the same posture, and the same cadence."
N.Oliveira (1998, 30).
"Every rein aid must be preceded by an action of the torso. Otherwise you only address
the horse's head."
N.Oliveira (1998, 30).
"Don't let the horse fall asleep on the hand. Don't have a dead hand."
N.Oliveira (1998, 30).
This is another line that reminds me vividly of lessons with Egon von Neindorff, who
often reminds his students not to let the hand become dead.
"The hand should be a filter, not a plug or an open faucet."
N.Oliveira (1998, 30).
Neindorff also uses the comparison of the hand with a filter in his lessons.
"It is always better to risk losing the contact a little, than not to yield at all."
N.Oliveira (1998, 30).
"When your legs are hard, you risk a horse that is hard in your hand."
N.Oliveira (1998, 31).
"If you continuously act with your legs, you don't give the horse a chance to go
completely on his own. And you could squander an advantage resulting in a lack of
sensitivity and a waste of aids."
N.Oliveira (1998, 31).
"The strongest attack, even with the spur, has to come out of a soft leg. If one touches
with stiff legs, the horse resists."
N.Oliveira (1998, 31).
"The legs have to give and take, just like the hands."
N.Oliveira (1998, 33).
"Mistakes of the legs show up in the mouth."
N.Oliveira (1998, 33).
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html
"Don't lose sight of the fact that hip and legs drive the horse forward and the hands
merely channel this power by gentle rein aids."
N.Oliveira (1998, 33).
"Follow the horse's mouth by means of a supple back."
N.Oliveira (1998, 33).
"If you want to accompany the young horse's walk, do it with the lumbar back and not
with the hand."
N.Oliveira (1998, 35).
"The rider controls his horse with his hip."
N.Oliveira (1998, 33).
"Use hands and legs sparingly, and maintain balance through the seat."
N.Oliveira (1998, 33).
"Discontinuing the aids does not mean abandoning the horse, but to maintain the contact
and to do as little as possible."
N.Oliveira (1998, 33).
"When the horse resists the left rein, try to replace the left rein aid with the left leg."
N.Oliveira (1998, 35).
"One must not begin riding by learning the rein aids, but by learning how to feel."
N.Oliveira (1998, 35).
"It is easier to accomplish something than to maintain it."
N.Oliveira (1998, 36).
"Try to awaken curiosity by the tenderness of your aids."
N.Oliveira (1998, 36).
"When riders give excessive aids, it is often because they apply to aids too late instead
of at the right moment."
N.Oliveira (1998, 36).
"Impulsion is a mental and physical state of the horse to obey the rider's demands as fast
as possible, to move forward, and to maintain his forward impulsion without support
from the aids."
N.Oliveira (1998, 39).
"A horse who is endowed with impulsion is one who maintains the same posture, the
same cadence, and the same amount of energy in the demanded gait without being
"carried" by the rider."
N.Oliveira (1998, 39).
"Impulsion means a small vibration in the horse, not running. However, in certain
horses who are little inclined to be given impulsion, it is necessary to drive and
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html
sometimes even to speed up a little bit."
N.Oliveira (1998, 39).
"Impulsion means to maintain the energy within the cadence."
N.Oliveira (1998, 39).
"The more one reduces the extension and speed of the gait, the more surely one
increases the impulsion."
N.Oliveira (1998, 39).
"As long as the horse goes forward, he does not have time to think of evasions."
N.Oliveira (1998, 40).
"The difficulty is to maintain impulsion without force."
N.Oliveira (1998, 40).
"No impulsion without cadence and no cadence without impulsion."
N.Oliveira (1998, 40).
"A cadenced horse is not a sleepy horse. It is a horse on whom one can rest, but who
remains powerful."
N.Oliveira (1998, 40).
"In order to achieve cadence, you impart good impulsion, and then you are as little
active as possible. Now the horse will cadence himself."
N.Oliveira (1998, 41).
"It is very important to maintain a regular cadence. Without it the horse cannot be calm,
because his breathing rhythm is constantly interrupted."
N.Oliveira (1998, 41).
"Without cadence there is no useful riding."
N.Oliveira (1998, 41).
"Every time the rider forgets to regulate the cadence, the horse begins to take control."
N.Oliveira (1998, 41).
"The horse will become supple when it is cadenced, stiff when it rushes."
N.Oliveira (1998, 41).
"The good trot cadence is the one in which the horse is the most supple, the most
relaxed, and the lightest."
N.Oliveira (1998, 41).
"Poll flexion has to be proportionate to the degree of activity of the hindquarters and
inversely proportionate to the speed."
N.Oliveira (1998, 41).
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html
"It is a mistake to keep the horse on the bit for too long. He must be relaxed at the walk
on the long rein regularly and afterwards he must be carefully put back together again."
N.Oliveira (1998, 42).
"The horse must seek the contact by impulsion and the use of the hindquarters."
N.Oliveira (1998, 42).
"Putting the horse on the bit means:
feeling that the poll flexes,
the back rises,
the haunches become active."
N.Oliveira (1998, 42f.).
"The relaxation of the mouth alone is not enough. It can be deceptive, because it does
not necessarily lead to lightness. It has to be accompanied by the relaxation of the entire
horse. When he relaxes the back, it will definitely have repercussions in the mouth."
N.Oliveira (1998, 43).
"Lightness is the consequence of impulsion and collection."
N.Oliveira (1998, 43).
"One of the foundations of dressage is the regularity of the gait. - Always think of that. "
N.Oliveira (1998, 49).
"The quality of the following gait depends on the quality of the present one."
N.Oliveira (1998, 49).
"In the calmness of the walk, horse and rider can find the time to think and to prepare
the quality of the following trot and canter."
N.Oliveira (1998, 49).
"The walk is good when you hear four even beats, and when you feel the back move
with the limbs."
N.Oliveira (1998, 49).
"Try to obtain a trot that is detached from the ground, and not fast."
N.Oliveira (1998, 49).
"The arena is a patterned paper and the horse is a circle that draws patterns on it. Pay
attention to the geometry of the patterns."
N.Oliveira (1998, 54).
"For the transition from walk to trot, all books recommend that the horse should keep
the poll at the same level, but I want more. I want the horse to maintain the same spirit
during such a transition."
N.Oliveira (1998, 57).
"If your horse goes from walk to trot without changing the head and neck position, the
walk had good impulsion."
N.Oliveira (1998, 57).
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html
"For the transitions between the different trot variations, observe:
- Stable neck position,
maintenance of the cadence,
obtaining the transitions with the midsection and not the hands."
N.Oliveira (1998, 57f.).
"If you drive during the extensions, you lose the cadence. You have to drive
beforehand."
N.Oliveira (1998, 59).
"Corner, volte, and shoulder-in are a man ège à trois."
N.Oliveira (1998, 63).
"Shoulder-in is a passing of the corner which continues until the end of the long side of
the arena."
N.Oliveira (1998, 63).
"In the shoulder-in hold your body against your outside elbow."
N.Oliveira (1998, 67).
"One of the advantages of the half pass is to mobilize the haunches that have to push the
mass."
N.Oliveira (1998, 71).
"It's difficult to improve a half pass. Success depends above all on the conditions under
which the half pass was started."
N.Oliveira (1998, 71).
"Begin the half pass with an impulsion that allows you to maintain the same cadence
without slowing down or speeding up."
N.Oliveira (1998, 71).
"Don't begin a half pass if the horse is not energetic in his gait."
N.Oliveira (1998, 71).
"Riding a half pass does not mean rushing sideways, which would be a sort of defense,
but it means to go supple-ly sideways."
N.Oliveira (1998, 71).
"Demanding the shoulder-in means controlling the outside much rather than driving the
inside."
N.Oliveira (1998, 63).
"When the half pass is well prepared, you only have to watch the forward-sideways
motion."
N.Oliveira (1998, 71).
"In the half pass the horse has to make contact with the inside hand."
N.Oliveira (1998, 71).
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html
"In the half pass you should feel that the outside hind leg is carrying the load forward."
N.Oliveira (1998, 73).
"Bring your hip and your torso towards your inside elbow in the half pass, which will
often replace the aid of the inside leg."
N.Oliveira (1998, 73).
"Invite the horse to accept the inside rein. If the forehand does not work enough, drive
with the outside hand."
N.Oliveira (1998, 73).
"Don't exaggerate the bend in the half pass. Otherwise you block the inside shoulder."
N.Oliveira (1998, 73).
"Before you begin the half pass, ensure good impulsion in order not to drive
continuously throughout the half pass."
N.Oliveira (1998, 75).
"The inside leg is the most important one in the half pass. It receives the horse,
maintains the bend, and, if necessary, the impulsion."
N.Oliveira (1998, 75).
"Regulate your half pass problems with the outside rein."
N.Oliveira (1998, 75).
"Apply the rule in the half pass as well that you cease your activity once the movement
is initiated. It is a matter of psychology, rewarding the obedience."
N.Oliveira (1998, 75).
"Bring the horse into the half pass position, and, once begun, try merely to accompany
him with the seat."
N.Oliveira (1998, 75).
"Rather than force a flying lead change, or any number of things in the canter, pay
attention to the purity of the gait. The rest is a small matter."
N.Oliveira (1998, 79).
"Breathe deeply and calmly in the canter. Expand your rib cage."
N.Oliveira (1998, 79).
"The upper body should not move back and forth in the canter. Instead, the lumbar back
should become supple."
N.Oliveira (1998, 79).
"Don't be content with just any canter depart. Improving the canter depart will improve
the quality of the canter."
N.Oliveira (1998, 79).
"Maintain the seat in the canter. - That's all."
N.Oliveira (1998, 79).
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html
"The more the horse slows down the canter, the more impulsion he needs."
N.Oliveira (1998, 80).
"The less the rider moves, the better cadenced the horse is in the canter."
N.Oliveira (1998, 80).
"Canter in such a way that the horse does not speed up when you release the reins. That
requires a relaxed canter with bascule."
N.Oliveira (1998, 80f.).
"One must not canter the horse until he carries himself well in the trot."
N.Oliveira (1998, 81).
"The outside rein straightens the horse by placing the shoulders in front of the
haunches."
N.Oliveira (1998, 81).
"When you ride laps in the arena, consider each of the four corners as a little piece of
shoulder-in. That's one of the secrets of success for the flying changes on the diagonal."
N.Oliveira (1998, 81).
"In order to keep the horse straight, use your hands as little as possible in the canter."
N.Oliveira (1998, 83).
"Sometimes it is helpful to raise the hands a little in order to slow the canter down and
make the horse sit."
N.Oliveira (1998, 83).
"When the horse executes the transitions from canter to walk calmly and strikes off
equally well anywhere in the arena, he is ready for the flying changes."
N.Oliveira (1998, 87).
"To get a good flying change, one has to perfect the original canter above all."
N.Oliveira (1998, 87).
"In order for the flying changes to be good, one needs a springy canter. One has to feel
that the horse has bascule."
N.Oliveira (1998, 87).
"One of the secrets of the flying changes is to have the horse's shoulders on the same
line as the haunches. Many riders start it with the haunches coming in."
N.Oliveira (1998, 87).
"In the flying change, for example from right to left, it is helpful to let the right seat
bone slide over to the left, which corresponds to bringing the shoulder back."
N.Oliveira (1998, 89).
"Don't allow the horse to run away after the flying change."
N.Oliveira (1998, 89).
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html
"When you ask for a flying change on the long side, make sure you have a little more
contact on the wall side. Otherwise you throw the shoulders against the wall."
N.Oliveira (1998, 89).
"With certain horses whose haunches are not strong enough, it is advantageous to
execute the early piaffes with a smewhat low head position."
N.Oliveira (1998, 93f.).
"In the piaffe training, one has to stop frequently and let the horse calm down and
stretch his neck."
N.Oliveira (1998, 94).
"Baucher was right: In the piaffe a little balancing with the hand from left to right and
from right to left helps to correct and to cadence the horse."
N.Oliveira (1998, 94).
"Piaffe at the long rein can be very beneficial for the impulsion and correctness."
N.Oliveira (1998, 95).
"Starting the passage too early is risky. The novice tends to flatten the trot under saddle
and profits from that when he brings his horse into the passage - which is, by the way,
not a collected passage, but a gazelle-passage - and goes down a wrong path in ruining
his horse's trot."
N.Oliveira (1998, 95).
"In the beginning of the passage some horses raise one diagonal more than the other.
Find out first whether it is the haunches that are not active enough or whether it is the
shoulder that has trouble rising. In the first case, the leg opposite that diagonal must be
used more intensively at the right moment. In the second case, it is good to bend the
horse towards the more active side so that the shoulder of the weaker side is more open,
which facilitates the raising of the shoulder."
N.Oliveira (1998, 95f.).
"Don't demand passage-piaffe transitions before the horse is confirmed in the passage
on circles, figures of eight, and in all movements."
N.Oliveira (1998, 97).
"On a sensitive and well trained horse, the midsection brings about the piaffe-passage
and the passage-piaffe transition. The rider's midsection must be very relaxed and his
back must feel the horse's back."
N.Oliveira (1998, 97).
"In order for the horse to show the full radiance he possesses as a whole in the piaffe
and passage, the lightness must be constant, and the rider's legs should be draped. The
horse now perks his ears forward, grows bigger in front as a result of the activity of the
haunches, and shows himself full of pride in his posture."
N.Oliveira (1998, 97f.).
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html
"When the rider demands the piaffe, he has to halt the horse a few strides before the
latter wants to stop of his own accord."
N.Oliveira (1998, 93).
Source: http://www.artisticdressage.com/oliveira-quotes.html