Editorial 

In the wild, horses owe their survival to their capacity for running faster and farther away than their predators. In order for a large body to achieve such a great speed combined with significant endurance a sophisticated mechanism of energy saving and recycling is required. The equine biomechanics is so efficient that NASA is currently studying a vehicle using comparable principles, small engines (muscles) creating optimum elastic recoil of long tendons.  

Until technology advances were able to measure the forces produced and absorbed by the limbs and vertebral column's structure, the perception of forces has often been interpreted as movements and vice versa. Science and equestrian education have always evolved in parallel. When scientific knowledge was elementary, the words describing our ancestors' ideas were imprecise. At the 16th century, the Marquis of Condorcet (1743-1794) believed that the study of anatomy was already completed. Dissection of cadavers exposed the point of attachment and insertion of different muscles and imagination deducted their logical function. Based on such simplistic approach, misconceptions were legion. In regard to progresses made in understanding the human physique, Condorset's naivety is charming. Less compelling is the thought that fundamental equestrian principles are based on simplistic anatomy and broad imagination.  

For instance, attachment and insertion of the abdominal muscles running under the rider's legs and known as "rectus abdominis," led our ancestors' mind to conclude that abdominal muscles were engaging the hind legs.

 

 

In fact, rectus abdominis muscles do not directly engage the hind limbs. The muscles help in breathing expulsing the air from the lungs. Unilateral contraction participates in the bending of the thoracolumbar spine and bilateral contraction assists longitudinal flexion.  

The relation between the touch of the rider's legs and the engagement of the horse's hind legs is not a simple case of stimulus/response as commonly emphasized. Rather, the relation is a typical Pavlov's conditioned reflex involving neurological patterns, memory and cortical decision.  Sensors are distributed all over the horse's skin. Some sensors are designed to feel temperature, other humidity. Specific sensors are specialized in the perception of touch. The contact of the rider's legs arouses these sensors which convey the stimulus to the brain. Memory recognizes the touch as indication of forward movement and the cerebral cortex decides the response, "go."  

On its way through the brain, the cortical decision is integrated into the body situation. Inherently, the horse shields morphological flaw or existing muscle imbalance or protective reflex contraction. The cortical decision is therefore adjusted to the body situation. If, for instance, the horse is carrying excessive weight on the forelegs to the point of feeling discomfort into the hoof capsule or the forelimbs' joints, the cortical decision may be nuanced into moderated propulsive activity of the hind legs. Doing so, the horse's brain avoids further loading of the front limbs' joints, tendons and ligaments.  

In respect to simplistic anatomy, the horse's reluctance to move forward may be interpreted as laziness. In light of more advanced knowledge, the horse's reluctance to move forward is a cry for help. The horse protects discomfort, pain, or morphological flaw. Analysis and solutions are beyond the scope of the horse's mental capacities. They are within the competence of the rider's intelligence.  

Understanding that the relation between the rider's legs and the activity of the horse's hind legs is about touching sensors that stimulate a complex mental processing induces a perspective quite removed from the thought that the rider's legs contract muscles that engage the hind legs. Stimulus/response theories corroborate the deepness of the horse hind legs' engagement to the strength of the rider's legs. By contrast, involvement of the horse's mental processing turns the focus on proper coordination of the horse's physique. From this perspective, lack of hind legs' activity results from a horse's physique improperly coordinated.  

Theories founded on simplistic anatomy and broad imagination, have hampered equine athletic performances for as long as equine athletic performances have existed. In many instances immature theories are compensated for by the riders' skill. The situation was already the trademark of equine athletic competitions shortly after World War II. "The officer who decides to prepare a horse for international dressage tests is going beyond the limits of his equestrian education." (General Decarpentry, 1949) In 1949, dressage shows were almost exclusively military events. It was only one Jury for the international competitions organized in Europe and Decarpentry was the president of this unique Jury.  

More recently, the regretfully decease Olympic champion, Dr. Reiner Klimke attributed progresses made in the Dressage field to the horses' talent. "Now we breed only Rembrandts and Gigolos, if we can- and therefore we have developed our sport. The riding has not become better." (Dr. Reiner Klimke, 1995) Klimke added to his remark that riders of the pre-World War II era were already very good, suggesting that his criticism was not about the riders' skill but rather about an equestrian education unable to evolve in proportion of the horses' talent.  

Even if all scientific studies were suddenly brought to a complete halt, the knowledge already available could greatly enhance the quality level of all equine athletic performances. Knowledge could also markedly reduce the problem of injuries. All need to be done is to move on. Respect for tradition is not about preserving a language of the past but rather restoring the true meaning of our ancestors' thoughts. None of our great predecessors ever pretended to be for ever true and irrevocable. James Rooney who fathered modern biomechanics introduces his first book as "a stop over along the way." Riding well and consequently training well is a work in transition. This was the message of Colonel Danloux when his "forward seat" was criticized by older riders who were used to jump leaning backward. "Respect for tradition should not exclude the love of progress." (Colonel Danloux, 1931)  

  As we were talking about the hind legs' forward swing, we simply have to look at the succession of events that occur as the hoof contacts the ground to realize that judging standards are hampering horses and riders' chance of success. At first sight, scientific measurements and equestrian education appear to agree stating that the hind legs provide both support and propulsion. The problem is that the equestrian education believe that the hind legs are doing both in the same time. According to the book, the alighting hind limb propels the horse's body upward and forward as soon as the hoof touches the ground. From this belief, the deeper the hind leg engages forward under the belly, the greater the production of upward vertical force and consequently balance control. Then scientific measurements drop a bombshell.
57% of the vertical impulse is in fact produced by the forelegs???
  "In horses, and most other mammalian quadrupeds, 57% of the vertical impulse is applied through the thoracic limbs, and only 43% through the hind limbs."  (H. W. Merkens, H. C. Schamhardt,G. J. van Osch, A. J. van den Bogert, 1993). The findings seriously question logic and efficiency of the theories rushing the horses on the fore hand in order to stimulate greater engagement of the hind legs.  

Could it be that all great riders and trainers before us were dead wrong? Not really; rather, they were able to compensate with their skill and their horses' talent, the drawbacks of inaccurate theories. The gifts of both, riders and horses deserve better than antiquated philosophy. Equine and therefore equestrian performances are built on physiology, rather than philosophy.

 

Here is what happens when one hind leg alights. First, the hoof exerts a force in the direction of the motion. Simultaneously, the joints of the limb flex absorbing impact forces. The supporting hind limb absorbs and resists the effect of gravity and inertia forces. This sequence last from impact until 45% of the time the hoof remains on the ground. This is the sequence of the stride referred to as the "braking phase." During this sequence of the stride, the hind leg on support resists accelerations of gravity and consequently is involved into balance control.  

After the "peak vertical," which is the instant where the hind leg is acting exactly vertically, the hoof exerts on the ground a force opposed to the direction of the movement. The hind leg is then propelling the horse's body forward. During this sequence, which is referred to as the pushing phase, the hind limb is no longer under but rather behind the horse's body and therefore the hind leg's net effect is a force in the direction of the motion. This explains why scientific measurements found that the hind legs were producing only 43% of the vertical impulse. 

If one thinks about the implications of these findings, there are many equestrian theories that need to be revised. For example, it does not help a horse to be asking for the piaff increasing the propulsive activity of the hind legs with a dressage whip. At the contrary during piaff, the task of the hind legs is to increase their braking activity in order to resist forward displacement of the body over the forelegs. "The hind legs have a considerable breaking activity to avoid forward movement of the body over the forelegs.(...) The  forelimbs have a larger propulsive activity."
((Eric Barrey, Sophie Biau, Locomotion of dressage horses Conference on Equine Sports Medicine and Science - 2002)
 
Conversely over the jump, it does not help the horse to hit the front legs with a bamboo pole in order to stimulate greater respect. In most instances, faults of the forelegs over the jump result from insufficient propulsive activity of the hind legs during the take off. "Knocking over an obstacle was significantly associated with lower hind limb acceleration peak at take-off." (E. Barrey and P. Galloux - 1997)  

Truly, it is not easy to comprehend forces when judging standards are confounding forces (dynamics) with movements (kinematics) and vice versa. Perhaps, the first step toward efficient riding and training techniques may be to differentiate force production and kinematics which is the geometry of movement.  "Kinematics is the geometry of movement, a graphical record of the initial, intermediate, and final positions of the various parts and pieces of the system. Dynamics, on the other hand, is concerned with the forces applied to and generated by the system and, therefore, includes acceleration, mass, potential and kinetic energy, momentum, etc." (James R. Rooney, Biomechanics of lameness in horse, 1969) 

Forces are difficult to see and consequently to comprehend. Fortunately the technology that permitted to distinguish force from movement is now helping to understand how movement produces force and force creates movement. Video technologies and computer programs are immensely helpful as they permit a constant back and for between how vertebral column and other components of the horse's biological structure function and how the horse's performance looks like when the biological structure is efficiently coordinated. The information became outstanding when the subject of the study is a horse who evolves from mediocre gaits to world class movement or from dramatic lameness to outstanding gaits.  

"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible." (Arthur C. Clarke)
The "Case Studies Program" ventures into the impossible. Beyond the limits of conventional views, there are solutions that conventional views ignore. The miraculous recoveries reported into the Case Studies' publications are everything but miraculous. They are the practical application of advances in scientific knowledge combined with an equestrian education adjusted to pertinent scientific discoveries. The horses' journey from lameness to greatness is one's most real and efficient education. Difficult recoveries address problems that everyone encounters in the daily life with horses. They also provide solutions beyond the limits of conventional views.  

The first video production of our Case Studies Program is the case of
"The Horse who could not Trot."
Through the horse's recovery, one learns about the interactions between lateral bending and transversal rotation of the vertebrae - the horse's natural cadence - how vertebral column dysfunction creates limbs abnormalities - how to correct back muscles imbalance - how the lowering of the neck influences vertebral rotations, etc., etc. 

The enthusiasm of riders, trainers and scientific personalities who watched the video prompted us to extend the benefice of these documents to our clinics program. Starting this fall, the Clinics Program is taking a new dimension offering the combination of clinics and symposiums.  
 

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A New Video
 
The Case Studies Program, 

is proud to present
The horse who could not trot
(Video, DVD) 

The Case Studies Program is about situations that cannot be resolved through conventional approaches. They introduce pertinent therapeutic techniques when the subject is soundness or training methods when the issue is performance.  

The cases resolved through this program are extreme but their successes give hope to horse owners, riders and trainer who are confronted to less dramatic but similar issues.  

The techniques applied in the case studies program are pertinent and sometime revolutionary. If they were not, they would not be able to resolve situations resulting from the limits of usual views. 

"The horse who could not trot"
The video is the story of a horse who could not trot carrying a rider. Neither conventional, nor alternative therapies could figure where the problem originated and never the less how to resolve it. The video shows the horse at different stages of his reeducation. He was sound after three months and become an extraordinary mover in eight months.  

The video gives hope and solutions to many horse's owners, riders and trainers confronted to problems that conventional thoughts cannot resolve. 

-  Idiopathic lameness, (the horse is lame but no one can figure why.)
- Difficulties to bend laterally on one side.
- Reluctance to move forward. (Laziness).
- Difficulty to pick up the trot or the canter
- Kinematics abnormalities of the hind and front legs
- Relation between lowering of the neck and rotations of the thoracolumbar vertebrae. 

The video explains with live examples, scientific references and computer animations, concepts rarely acknowledged in the equestrian education.  

- The concept of transversal rotation. "In the cervical and thoracic vertebral column, rotation is always coupled with lateroflexion and vice versa." (Jean Marie Denoix, Spinal biomechanics and functional anatomy, 1999). 

- The concept of the horse's natural cadence. "The horse selected speeds within each gait around the energetically optimal speed." (Donald F. Hayt & C. Richard Taylor, Gait and energetic of locomotion in horses, Nature Vol. 202 - 1981) 

- The relation between the biomechanics of the vertebral column and the kinematics of the hind and front legs. "The biomechanics of the vertebral column, although very complex, are of vital importance because they form the basis of all body's movements," (Leo B. Jeffcott, Natural rigidity of the horse's backbone - 1980 

- Dorso/ventral rotation of the pelvis, its relation with the quality of the gaits and how to enhance it. "The undulation of the pelvis was larger in the horses with a good trot and increased in passage." (M. Holmstr�m, Quantitative studies on conformation and trotting gaits in the Swedish Warmblood riding horse, 1994) 

 - Functional straight and sickle hocks. "Functional straight-leg may occur because the hoof contacts the ground too far back." (James R. Rooney, Biomechanics of lameness in horses. 1969)  

and 

The horse's mental processing.  

 

 

 Symposiums 

We have created three Symposiums which, in a relaxed and pleasant fashion, update riding and training principles to actual knowledge of the equine physiology.  

The first Symposium focuses on the practical application of pertinent scientific discoveries. The introductory video is poetry. The beauty of the work in hand is heightened by the deepness of the tale. The video relates the story of a horse who is asking to a man to rest one hand on his shoulder. Together, the horse and the man are walking through the emergence of the horse's intelligence. As the story develops, it is the horse who walks the man through greater wisdom.
 
The two other Symposiums demonstrate how the practical application of modern science furthers horses and riders' talent. One Symposium is about performances, the other is about soundness. 

The video introducing the Symposium about Performance shows the transformation of a mediocre mover into a world class athlete. The horse's "metamorphose" results from recent scientific discoveries relative to the kinematics of the hind and front limbs' kinematics and the factors which modify them. 

Tradition tells us that the hind legs are propelling the horse upward into balance control. Measurements demonstrate that at the contrary, the forelegs, (the thoracic limbs,) are producing the greatest amount of vertical impulse. "In horses, and most other mammalian quadrupeds, 57% of the vertical impulse is applied through the thoracic limbs, and only 43% through the hind limbs."  (H. W. Merkens, H. C. Schamhardt,G. J. van Osch, A. J. van den Bogert, 1993).  

   At the end of the Symposium one will fully understand the respective functions of the hind and front legs. Limbs actions are the source of balance control, gaits and performances. The horse's evolution from mediocre mover to world class athlete was achieved educating the biomechanical properties of the horse's vertebral column which is the factor influencing the hind and front legs' actions. "The biomechanics of the vertebral column, although very complex, are of vital importance because they form the basis of all body's movements," (Leo B. Jeffcott, Natural rigidity of the horse's backbone, 1980) 

The video introducing the Symposium about soundness is the now famous video "The Horse who could not Trot." You saw the horse limping in the middle of the ring. You exercised your eye trying to find the source of the lameness. You read our newsletter describing the horse's recovery. The video introduces a totally new dimension. At the end of the Symposium you will fully understand how lateral bending is always coupled with a movement of transversal rotation. You will be able to differentiate proper and inverted rotation. You will understand how inverted rotations hamper gaits and performances. You will know how to correct inverted rotation, etc.  

The horse's compensations and compensatory contractions were complex and his reeducation necessitated to address problems that are regularly encountered with other horses.  

Each Symposium can be organized in connection with a clinic.    

A full description of the three Symposiums is posted on our website, www.scienceofmotion.com. 

Each Symposium is a full day event, combining video presentations, live demonstration, interactive sessions, round table discussion and coffee brake and collations or lunch.  

As an example, a sample of our Introductory Symposium is presented below, (Symposium I).  

The Symposiums can be scheduled starting September first 2009. 

For complete details and price, contact Jeanluc@scienceofmotion.com 
 

Symposium I
"To discover something new, you must be willing to loosen your grip on the old." (Michael J. Gelb) 

Introduction to the Science of Motion
 
Introductory video,(1h. for example 9 to 10am)
"One Hand On His Shoulder" The Workshop commences with a work in hand presentation, (Video), which emphasizes how engaging the horses' intelligence does lead to outstanding performances.
 
Coffee break
 
Lecture, (50 minutes for example, 10,10 to 11am)
Kinematics of the hind and front legs. Explanation supported with spectacular video documents and computer animation.
Equestrian education is based on the belief that the hind leg exerts a propulsive force as soon as the hoof contacts the ground. The thought, which is erroneous, is due to the limited capacity of the human eye to register rapid movements. Modern technology unveils two consecutive phases that occur during the time the hoof is on the ground. This sequence of the stride, which is referred to as support or stance phase, is in fact composed of a braking activity immediately followed by a pushing action.
 
Practical Application, Approximately 50 minutes
Riding Demonstration. Riding a horse, Jean Luc educates your eye to distinguish the two consecutive phases that occur during the stance of the hind and front legs.
 
Focus is made on the feeling, how the rider perceives the kinematics of the hind and front legs.
 
The explanation also addresses how to lead the horse's brain to adjust the breaking or the pushing phase to the demand.
 
The conclusion introduces the subject of the second video presentation, which studies how the equine vertebral column convert the thrust generated by the hind legs into forward movement and balance control.
 
Lunch break
 
(Lecture, 50 minutes. For example, 1,10 to 2pm)
Biokinematics of the equine vertebral column. How the horse's vertebral column converts the thrust generated by the hind legs into forward movement (horizontal forces) and balance control (vertical forces).
 
During the workshops organized at the center in Florida, the presentation is enhanced with the spectacular display of an equine vertebral column suspended in the air.
 
The display is replaced by pictures, video segments and computer animations for the symposiums organized at different places.
 
 
(Practical application, Approximately 1 hour. For example, 2 to 3pm)
Riding demonstration. How the rider influences the biomechanical properties of the equine vertebral column.
 
Or
 
Introduction to the Work in Hand, Interactive session. How to access the biomechanical properties of the equine vertebral column while working in hand
 
Coffee or Tea Break
(Provide questions for the round table discussion at the     beginning of the break.)
 
Questions, answers period. (Approximately 1 hour.)
Round table discussion.
 
The schedule proposed here is only a sample that can be accommodated to specific needs.
 
 
 
 

Well Jean Luc did not exaggerate when he said I would need to change everything about my riding!! My riding has been turned inside out and upside down and I have never been happier!!
 
My first lesson was quite an eye opener. I really did need change many things, ok, nearly everything. Sure my position needed to change, but honestly, the biggest change was in my thought process and my approach to Celline. I needed to understand how Celline is programmed and how to communicate with her. I needed to realize how much she was protecting herself from pain or even the anticipation of pain. I needed to learn that I was the one responsible for showing her a better way. So while I needed to make adjustments in my riding position, I needed a complete and total overhaul in my brain!! This "complete overhaul" is beginning to take me on an amazing journey. A journey that approaches riding from a lovely and elegant use of the body. It often occurs to me as I go through this learning process that this refinement and elegance in communication is justly suited to the incredible grace that is the horse. They are such refined and gentle souls from the time they are born until they leave us. It also makes me sad that I have not, up until now, uncovered the communication tools needed to meet them at their level.