The King and I
Nuno Oliveira (23 June 1925 – 2 February 1989) was a Portuguese equestrian, horse trainer and dressage instructor. His teachings have inspired riders and trainers all over the world to adopt the ‘baroque’ or ‘classical’ style of working with the horse; an art which goes back hundreds of years and encompasses the fundamentals which most ‘modern’ disciplines can be traced back to.
“Use your back like an accordion” Nuno Oliveira said.
He used the lower pelvic area to bring the haunches down, the midriff to lift the front end up to the hand and the shoulders to overload the hocks or release the hocks, depending upon which way he used his back.
So he used it in three parts and then he used it laterally to overload one side or the other to pivot the horse. He used his back diagonally to oppose a leg with an inside shoulder – the outside leg to the inside shoulder. Basically, he used his back like a clutch”.
“Contact is a private matter between the horse and the rider.”
People are always telling others what “contact” they should have with their horse. But the appropriate contact is a conversation that is constantly changing between the rider and the horse. I greatly appreciate the Nuno Oliveira believed it to be a private matter that only the horse and rider can decide.
“Contact is a private matter between the horse and the rider.”
People are always telling others what “contact” they should have with their horse. But the appropriate contact is a conversation that is constantly changing between the rider and the horse. I greatly appreciate the Nuno Oliveira believed it to be a private matter that only the horse and rider can decide.
“Take your reins like a flower, not like a stone. Take your horse by your waist and by your seat, not by your hand and never by force. If you do it by force, it is not the art of riding, it is something else.” ~ Nuno Oliveira
“Take your reins like a flower, not like a stone. Take your horse by your waist and by your seat, not by your hand and never by force. If you do it by force, it is not the art of riding, it is something else.” ~ Nuno Oliveira
Shoulder – In is the Aspirin of horseback riding – It’s cures everything. ~ Nuno Oliveira
Shoulder – In is the Aspirin of horseback riding – It’s cures everything.
Cowboy Dressage shoulder-in is ridden in the walk or jog with the horse’s hind legs on the line of travel and with the shoulders displaced to the inside. The legs should be on three tracks and this angle should be stable. In other words, the outside hind leg tracks along the wall, the inside hind leg and the outside front leg are on the same track parallel to the wall, and the inside front leg is on the inner track parallel to the wall. The line of travel can be the wall, which is the easiest place to begin, or another line off the track, such as the centerline. The horse should be bending in his body around the rider’s inside leg with the poll flexed to the inside, away from the direction of travel.
