When an article hits home - "No impulsion - no horse"

 Today was one of those few times when I felt like "I can do this". Sounds strange, I know, but as riders (especially dressage riders) we always search for that perfect harmony and "one-ness". Today things just clicked, and Remy felt amazing. I was not only "riding the wave", to quote Vanessa, Remy and I were together. So when things go south (which they invariably will) I can draw on those moments and know: Yes, we can do do this! 

I follow Col. Christian Carde (former chief rider at the Cadre Noir in Saumur, and former national dressage coach in France) on FB. Today I read a post that really hit home as Remy and I recently have come close to Col. Carde's definition of impulsion:

"No Impulsion, No Horse Impulsion starts with the inner attitude of the horse to listen to the rider. In this early phase of retraining the feeling of the rider is of exceptional importance: He has to listen to his horse and only focus on the quality of the reaction and the forward going.

In equitation the development and cultivation of impulsion is the most important thing which a rider has to achieve. „No impulsion, no horse“, recognized one of my most famous predecessors at the Cadre Noir, General Alexis L’Hotte, in his legendary opus „Questions Equestres“ which had first been published in 1906 and is part of the French doctrine .

I want to define this term which many riders correlate only with the physical procedure of the forwards-upwards stepping hindquarters more precisely. In the equestrian tradition of my country impulsion begins with the inner attitude of the horse to listen to his rider and to react promptly and willingly to his rider's requests. This intrinsic motivation to provide his forces to the rider then leads to this energy which the hind-legs generate. For that reason I prefer speaking of „activity“ instead of „impulsion“ because this term includes the mental as well as the physical procedure within the horse." 

The entire article was first published in KAVALLO magazine, Switzerland, issue 10/2017, page 48-52.