EB85
EQUITATION SCIENCE by Paul McGreevy and Andrew McLean. Published by
Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, paperback, 314 pages. ISBN 978-1-4051-8905-7. Illustrated by
colour and black and white photos and graphics. £29.99.
In our last issue, our Editor, Alison, gave an excellent review of this book from the viewpoint
of someone who is both a horsewoman and owner and also a scientist. My follow-up review
is from the viewpoint of someone who has a good working knowledge of the science involved
but is not a ‘proper’ scientist. I am coming at it mainly from the rider/teacher/trainer angle,
having experienced several different methods of riding throughout my life. In the 1980s, it
was my great good fortune to meet Capt. Desi Lorent, a student and friend of probably the
greatest classical horseman of the 20th century, Nuno Oliveira, who taught his methods –
basically old French - exclusively, and I studied with him, very part-time, over a period of
two years.
I first heard of equitation science a few years ago when Dr Andrew McLean’s book, The
Truth About Horses, was published here in the UK, and was immediately struck by the
similarity of the techniques described to the old French method of classical riding which I
teach. Points which rang loud bells were ‘legs without hands, hands without legs’ (in other
words, don’t use your legs and your hands at the same time), don’t keep asking/giving aids
when the horse is already doing what you want, instantly release the aid when you get your
response so that the horse knows he has done the right thing, and many other points crucial to
effective, humane horsemanship through equine understanding.
There were parts of The Truth About Horses which I found hard to absorb at first but, as with
many unusual books, a second reading saw it all fall into place, and I gradually started to
incorporate the principles of equitation science and equine learning theory into my riding,
training and teaching.
Before Equitation Science was published, I bought from the Australian Equine Behaviour
Centre their study pack, Academic Horse Training, comprising a large book and three DVDs very much a how-to-do-it pack combined with the theoretical basis of the techniques. Finally,
for now only, I am sure, Equitation Science became available which is largely theory
illustrated with many photos, graphics and tables. (One of its authors, Dr Paul McGreevy, is
the EBF Australasian Correspondent and the other, Dr Andrew McLean, is speaking at our
spring scientific symposium in Cirencester. Don’t miss it!)
Equitation Science is a painstakingly-written and illustrated book which demonstrates clearly
the desire of the authors to promote ethical horsemanship. As Alison pointed out in her
review in the last issue, the authors have no intention of destroying our relationships with our
horses, our bonds with them, by paring everything down to bare, emotionless science. Rather,
by acquiring accurate scientific knowledge proved by research and practice, we can deepen
those relationships by giving our horses psychological security and confidence and creating
for ourselves virtually problem-free horses, either from scratch or through rehabilitation.
Equitation science in practice is certainly the best development in equestrianism for many,
many years. Not many people are practising it yet, but the numbers are increasing, accredited
courses are soon to become available in the UK, a few colleges are already teaching it in their
Equine Departments and Dr McLean has been invited to be the presenter at this year’s British
Horse Society National Coaching Convention on 24th May, two days after the EBF
symposium – a major step forward for ethical horsemanship and one which is badly needed.
So, how do I find ES in practice? As far as the horses are concerned, I have had no failures
and what appeared to onlookers to be a couple of miracles but were simply the effects of the
system in action. One involved a 2-year-old pony who had broken his owner’s arm twice by
regularly rearing and coming down on top of her: after two sessions, of 45 minutes and, an
hour later, 20 minutes, he was leading quietly and lightly all around the premises, stopping,
backing a little, going forward, turning his forehand and hindquarters, all when requested and
not unless. The next week, after clearly correct application of the principles by the owner, we
‘shaped’ (progressed) his understanding and performance so that he could be led out to the
field, turned round and let loose, and later be caught by his coming up to the owner and
standing quietly for his headcollar to be put on, waiting quietly for the gate to be opened and
closed, and leading obediently to his box.
A second involved a horse who pulled hard and constantly hung to the left. After two riding
lessons incorporating ES techniques, the horse stopped hanging left and was very much
lighter. The lesson the following week (the owner having done little with the horse in the
meantime) involved repeating the work and continuing on with it in two separate 30-minute
sessions, the end result being that he could perform 15metre circles under saddle, stop within
three strides of a bit signal (aid) to do so, shorten and lengthen stride, carry himself much
better and do this calmly without ‘arguing’ or ‘evading’ signals. The owner understood the
basics of the system and acquired reading material on it and, so far as I know, the
improvement has continued.
In a book review, it is not possible to give a full description of the techniques but the very
basics involve teaching the horse to obey increasingly light signals to slow, stop or back, to
go forward and to turn the forehand (by means of rein aids) and the hindquarters (by means of
leg aids). It is best, I find, to show the horse in hand, before he is ridden, what we want, by
putting pressure on the headcollar noseband straight back towards his neck and quickly
tapping his front cannon with a schooling whip, keeping up the pressure and tapping till he
actually moves a foot backwards, not simply lifting it and putting it down again. Then the
signals must stop immediately to reinforce the response. The horse realises that the way to get
rid of this particular irritation is to move back.
Because of the way the horse’s brain functions, he cannot cope with more than one signal at
the same time, and needs the signal/s to be consistent and the release (cessation of them) to be
immediate. He will respond to whatever was happening to him immediately before his
response, so not stopping the signals quickly enough will result in confusion, and this is what
most conventional riders and trainers do – they ‘keep asking for the salt when they’ve already
got it’, in the words of Desi Lorent.
These same principles apply to all the basic movements – the pressure motivates and the
response/release teaches, but only if the signal is correct, clear and consistent and the release
immediate upon the desired response.
The ability to focus and think like lightning is essential, which is why the system is, as stated
by Andrew McLean, one for ‘thinking’ riders. In practice, this is what I find causes most
difficulty when teaching people to use it. They often tend not to give identical, clear signals
every time and not to release quickly enough. Some, I am afraid, will clearly never do this,
but others do, much to their delight and their horses’ great relief, or so it seems. It is definitely
the case that previously nervous and highly-strung animals calm down greatly and quickly
once they are trained in the correct ES manner, and not only during work but in the stable and
even in the field with other horses. They seem to acquire a self-confidence and sense of
security and safety they did not have before. They engage in their work with what seems like
great interest and enjoyment, they stop spooking and the myriad other conflict/escape
behaviours previously termed bad behaviour and evasive. It has even been reported that
stereotypies lessen.
Although this has not been a review of the book Equitation Science, it has been a report of
sorts on equitation science in practice. It gels perfectly with old French classical equitation
because it encompasses many of the same principles. Because horses are taught and allowed
to go in self-carriage from the start, they feel more in control of themselves even when
effectively under human control, they develop the correct musculature without any gadgets or
coercion if trained by the techniques described in all the ES literature and they are just Happy,
in my take on it.
I cannot recommend highly enough not only Equitation Science but also the other items given
here. Many people say, when I teach them, that it is certainly different and they need to think
about it and practise it. Of course. Anything new feels strange at first, especially when you
have been doing something else all your life. The beauty of it is that ES principles can be
applied to any equestrian discipline, including racing. The way many sport horses are handled
and ridden is undeniably abusive: the application of ES to the training of all horses would
create, in the words of Nuno Oliveira, ‘the Heaven of Horsemanship on earth’.
Gillian Cooper