Self Carriage
What it really is, and why it's never just about the horse.
Live only, there's no recording.
Can you let go?
Picture your horse in the posture you're proud of, and now imagine that you soften everything for four or five strides.
You give the rein, you take the leg off, and you do nothing at all. Be honest with yourself about what happens next, because with most horses something changes in those few strides.
If the picture falls apart the moment you stop holding it, then the posture was never his. You were the one carrying it, and that's worth knowing rather than worth feeling bad about, because you can work with it.
What is self carriage?
A horse without self carriage leans on your hand. A rider without self carriage leans on the horse, and when you're both propped against each other, there's nobody underneath at the moment you let go.
What we'll do
The real thing, and the look-alike
I'll tell you what self carriage actually is, in my own words rather than the ones you'd find in a textbook, and I'll show you how to tell the real thing from the version that only looks like it.
What it does to his posture
We'll go into what it does to a horse's body over the years, and into what it does to the conversation between the two of you, which is the part I hardly ever hear anyone talk about.
Your own self carriage
I'll turn the same question on you, because your own carriage decides more of this than most riders realise. You'll leave with one thing to try on your own horse this week, and with a way of reading what happens when you do.
I want to be honest about what one hour can and can't do. Your horse won't move differently on Wednesday because you watched me talk on Tuesday. What will change is what you see when you look at him, and everything you build afterwards starts there.
Who you'll be listening to
I'm Kelly de Geus, and I've had over a thousand horses in my hands. I train in hand, and I don't teach piaffe as a goal anymore, because a good piaffe is a consequence of a strong foundation.
A lot of my work looks basic on purpose. What I care about is whether a horse can organise himself, in his body and in his head, for what I'm asking, and if he can't then no exercise is going to fix that.
The details
Tuesday August 11, 5pm Amsterdam time. That's 4pm in the UK, 11am in New York, 8am in Los Angeles, and 1am Wednesday in Sydney.
Zoom. You'll get the link by email right after you sign up.
About 75 minutes, including time for questions.
Free.
There isn't one. This happens live, once, so bring a pen.
Is there a replay?
No, this is live only. I'd rather have a room full of people who are actually there than a recording that sits in someone's inbox, and if you can't make it there'll be another one next month.
Is this only about in-hand training?
No. This is about self carriage itself: what it is, how it comes about, what it looks like in the body, and the mental side of it, because posture and regulation have more to do with each other than most people think. Whether you ride, train in hand or both, you'll be able to use everything you see.
Will you be selling something?
At the end I'll tell you where this goes next and what I offer, because "how do I actually build this" has a real answer and it takes real work. The training stands on its own though.
Tuesday August 11, 5pm
One hour, live, and then it's gone. Bring a pen and the horse you've been wondering about.
