International conference
Our President Rémy LARGILLIERE was selected for the international conference of the University of Extremadura, Spain.
Comparative research in equine traumatology, training techniques and teaching methods, Rémy Largillière,
Founding President of the French Federation of Artistic Dressage, France
As riders and dressage trainers, we observed systematic osteopathic problems in our pupils' horses at every level of competition.
Concerned to improve our pupils' performance, we first set out to see whether these conditions were linked to our riding practices.
Second, we looked for ways of remedying these injuries.
Third, we had to find teaching methods for this new way of riding.
Our research began in 2003 and was carried out in three stages.
We quickly established direct links between the techniques used by riders and physiological conditions in the horse (the best known being upper cervical and C7 problems, hind limb lameness, and so on).
We put forward the intuitive hypothesis that the horizontal movements produced by the rider in order to turn and to halt were at the origin of many dressage-related conditions.
We began by building a review of the literature, cross-referencing data from physiology, osteopathy and equine traumatology.
We also worked with veterinary surgeons and equine osteopaths. In parallel, we worked on establishing a way of riding that would allow us to reach the highest level of competition (Grand Prix Pro Elite) without disturbing the horse's locomotion. As we had no research laboratory, we had to find tools to validate our intuitive hypothesis. We equipped ourselves with thermal cameras and electronic reins to measure our results, and we checked stress markers in the horse.
At that point we had validated the first two stages of our study: certain conditions are directly linked to our riding practices (we noted horizontal movements of the hands and certain uses of the inside leg). Furthermore, it is possible to eliminate stress markers in the horse. Third, we had to develop new teaching techniques so that our pupils could get their horses performing without interfering movements, in order to bring out the dressage movements at their best. We then came up against problems of cognition in riders who remained attached to their own techniques. We had to work on understanding where these movements come from, in order to help riders towards the most controlled position possible, with the aim of making the rider's body interact with the horse's body while making as few interfering movements as possible. We set up cognition exercises for the rider's body in order to simplify learning. We wish to communicate our research in order to contribute to the cause of sport, to animal welfare, and to a progressive vision of the teaching of dressage.
The symposium website
