Contact

Contact is something I think about a lot.

It's something I should probably attempt to define for those of you who read but aren't horse-crazed individuals.

The dictionary-type definition of contact helps us understand what it means for the horse person.  Generally, contact is defined (relevantly) as "the state of physical touching" and "as a means by which to give and receive information" and "to communicate with".

In horseman's terms, the word contact is frequently used to describe the connection between the rider's hands, the reins, and the horse's mouth.

There are a lot of different types on contact, and their use and application varies widely based on the style of riding.

For example, hunter/jumpers tend to keep what's called "strong contact".  This loosely translates (sometimes incorrectly) as a "tight grip on tight reins".  Jumpers are notoriously very strong horses, and showjumping courses are timed and can be very technical--the speed and bravery needed to compete successfully can make for a very strong horse.  Here's an example of probably the most famous female rider showjumping team in recent memory:

Beezie Madden and Authentic make it look easy.  (Image © 

Randi Muster)

Western pleasure classes abhor contact of almost any kind.  They are said to be "riding on a loose rein", often a "draped rein", which means the bit is in a neutral position most of the time and signals are often passively imbued or given with mostly all seat/leg.  Here's an example of what's successful in high level Western Pleasure:

Katherine Fuller on One Jazzy Sheik, top 5 in Amateur Western

Pleasure at the 2009 AQHA World Show

 Personally, I respect both of these kinds of contact.  I understand that they have a totally different purpose, and that the training, equipment and end goals are completely different.  The amount of contact is appropriate for the discipline.  You wouldn't want those reins flopping around and getting caught as you try to clear a 6' jump, just as you wouldn't want to be putting a lot of contact pressure on the horse's mouth when he's wearing a large curb like the one in the Western Pleasure photo above.  Either would be equally disasterous.

Well, the jumping one might be worse.

But they would both be pretty bad.

One area that I think is constantly in a state of debate is Dressage.

My foundation is in basic Dressage, like a lot of riders.  I have heard many people tell me over the years that Dressage horses must be ridden in tight contact.  I have even heard, in books by masters, no less, that as the horse progresses into a larger bit, like the traditional Weymouth/Bridoon combination bridle (aka, the double bridle), that plenty of spur and leg must be used to compensate for the lack of forward produced by contact on a "sharp" bit.

Ahem...does this seem a bit crazy to any of you?

Just humor me here for a few minutes.

As you may have gathered from my post the other day, I love Dr. Reiner Klimke.  He won 6 Olympic gold metals over the course of his life.  Tragically the world lost him in 1999, when he succumbed to a heart attack at age 63.

Here's an image of Klimke and his "great love", the Trakehner Biotop.  

Look at that (lack of?) contact!  This is what I picture in 

my mind when I think of "perfect contact".

Dr. Klimke is considered by many to be one of the great masters of Dressage (I certainly feel that way!).  Look at Biotop: he is forward, free, happy, and not behind the vertical.  They both look absolutely wonderful.  He is riding off the snaffle rein much more than the curb rein, just as he should be.  There is a straight line from the snaffle rein to his hand, while the curb rein remains mostly inactive.

Biotop is in perfect elevation and is not being held up be the reins at all.  He has his nose just slightly ahead of the vertical, and he looks free up front and engaged behind.  He also looks happy.  And so does his rider.

By all accounts, Biotop was a challenging horse to ride, even for a master like Dr. Klimke.  Yet he warmed the great stallion up not in the double bridle, but a simple snaffle.  That was his philosophy.  And I think it's evident from the photo of Biotop that for him, contact was certainly not a means of force-controlling the horse.  It was there for precise communication only.

Unfortunately, I think this picture is becoming pretty rare in the Dressage world.

I know it is so fashionable to pick on the Dressage super star Anky Van Grunsven, but I just can't help myself.  She is a perfect example of how Rollkur, or "hyperflexion of the neck" is still winning at the highest levels of Dressage.  Here's an image of "Iron Hand Anky" riding a horse in full Rollkur:

Anky riding in contact so strong horse is forced to break over at the 3rd vertebrae, 

which can cause permanent musculo-skeletal damage

Here's another image of a horse being ridden in Rollkur.  Note the rolling eyes and whipped-eggwhite foam coming from a very unhappy mouth.  His crank noseband is on so tight it's even starting to asphyxiate him:

Lord save me from this bloody "contact"!

If you had that kind of "contact" on another human being, I think you'd be asking for some serious trouble!  In all honestly, I don't think ANYONE outside of the horse would would describe what is happening there with the reins as "contact".  I think it would more accurately be described as "brute force".

So when did "contact" go from light pressure to something that causes bone spurs in the horse's neck and mouth?  I don't know.  But it surely isn't the correct way of doing things.

Anyway, these are some pretty extreme examples.  If you want to read something truly scary, I encourage you to click on over to Sustainable Dressage's pages on Rollkur, where she describes in awesome detail about what it is and how it affects the horse:  http://sustainabledressage.net/rollkur/index.php

What do you consider to be appropriate riding contact?  Do you ride that way because people have told you to, because you have found it on your own, or because you fear what your horse will do to you if you don't?

What happens when you "throw the contact away"?  Does your horse not know what to do, fall on his face or take off with you?

If contact is for subtle communication, a light touch, and to give your horse an aid--can he feel it through all of your contact?

If you ride with almost no contact, how do you get your horse to come back to you?

Have people told you that the only way to control your horse is by moving up to a sharper bit?

I guess the point here isn't the point fingers and blame everyone, but rather to understand that contact doesn't have to mean pain.  It doesn't have to mean tight reins.  It only has to mean that you can feel your horse's mouth, and he can feel the signal that you're transmitting to him.  That can be done on all kinds of reins, and I think is independent of rein length, or rein tightness, to some degree at least.

What do you think?  I do read all comments and I love a discussion!