THE BENTLEY
TECHNIQUE in
action.
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SESSION ONE.
Leo’s back is dropped. His quarters are out behind. His spine is
vulnerable to wear and tear. |
AT THE END OF
SESSION ONE. Leo has more lift and strength in his spine. His hind legs are starting
to step further under. His forehand is lifting. |
AFTER 3 MONTHS. Leo is sitting more behind elevating his forehand higher. His hind legs
are stepping further underneath his body. His spine is more protected
from wear and tear. |
It takes at
least six months to straighten, repair and strengthen twisted, weakened posture
like this. We could work like the “pull um in kick um on” school and disguise
his structural weakness by forcing him into a shape, but, in doing so we would
only succeed in covering up rather than curing his deep routed problem.
One-sidedness, built up by left or right hind dominance, twists the horse’s
spine and pelvis, stressing the muscular skeletal system. See photo 1. Over
time, this affects the nerve and blood supply to the horse’s organs, leading to
crookedness, back pain and behavioral problems.
MERIDIANS.
When we
become aware of the meridian lines within our own and our horse’s bodies, we
begin to see the importance of straightness in both horse and rider.
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The
area of the back where the rider’s left kidney lies represents water-
Yin energy – the area of the right kidney represents fire – yang energy.
When the back is healthy - straight and balanced - the ‘water’ and
‘fire’ elements of yin and yang produce steam, which flows up the spine
and creates Chi, or impulsion.
If
the rider is crooked, (or made crooked by the horse’s way of going) this
kidney energy is compromised. In the illustration opposite, you can see
that the left kidney area is squashed. This compression suppresses the
yin energy flow, which affects the production of steam that naturally
occurs by the natural interaction of yin and yang combining together.
The same is also true in the horse. |
ARE YOU
SITTING SQUIFFY?
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Photo 4 |
Photo 5 |
One-sidedness, built up by left or right hind dominance, not only twists the
horse’s spine and pelvis, stressing the muscular skeletal system, it forces the
rider to sit crookedly. Look at photo 4; the rider is being propelled to the
right by her left hind driving horse. This picture is very common to see. If you
think I am exaggerating go and watch some riders from behind! Andy, on the other
hand, being an experienced rider, remains centrally over his horse, even thought
Leo’s trunk is weaker on the right side leaving him little support! Photo 5.
One would
expect that if the rider is, “trained” to sit straight, this would have a knock
on effect on the horse’s way-of-going. Nice thought, but in reality they don’t
have enough weight, or strength, to counteract the weight and strength of a
horse.
Andy came to
me because he knew there was something wrong with Leo’s way-of-going and
conventional training wasn’t giving him the solutions he needed to resolve the
problem. “Leo was
handed to me after things had gone wrong for him when eventing. He had become
too hot and headstrong,” explains Andy. “However, Joni’s training methods are
really changing his character and way of going. Joni pinpointed his problem
quickly. His one-sidedness was leading to a spinal twist and scoliosis which was
further being stressed through the pressure of eventing.”
Why trying to mould a crooked horse and rider
into a, “desired outline” creates more problems than it solves.
It seems
absurd to me to try to improve the rider’s position on a one-sided horse! It’s
like me trying to give a student an Alexander Lesson whilst sitting on a chair
with one short leg.
Most
training works on molding the rider into the “perfect position.” But it doesn’t
stick! It’s like trying to build a nice new house, on crooked, rocky foundations
by reslating the roof and cleaning the windows. It doesn’t help the subsidence!
Our bodies are designed to work as a harmonious whole, with an equal interflow
of yin and yang. “Fixing” the rider into a “position” – shoulders back, neck
into back of collar, heels down, sit up straight- increases rigidity and also
interferes with the Kidney energy. The hard yang energy, without the soft
balance of the yin energy, increases rigidity. Tension and muscle spasm follow.
The spine contracts irritating the nerve roots, which reduces blood and nerve
supply to the internal organs.
The
Bentley technique. It was my
disillusionment with a training system that gave me:
- More
pain than pleasure
- More
wrong than right
- More
helplessness than wisdom
- More
confusion than clarity
- More
failure than success
- More
demands than explanations
- No time
to feel how my horse responded to my actions and aids.
- No time
to work out what my body was doing in reaction to my horse’s.
- No
focus on how to find solutions when the training goes wrong.
- No
sense of fun and excitement during training.
- A way
of
copying the great horse masters legacy without embodying their skills and
experience.
That led me to spend 25 years
developing a fun, easy, clear, kind, successful and scientific way of training
both horse and rider as a partnership. I wanted riding to make sense. I wanted
the horse to enjoy the process. And I wanted results that felt great to both
myself and the horse while improving our competition scores. My exploration
involved:
- Finding out where my
own and my horses weak spots were, in order
to find a cure, rather than trying than cover
up.
- Keeping it simple
and fun.
- Going deeper into
the anatomy of riding.
- Acting as my
horse’s, “body worker,” and friend.
- Curing my own and
my horse's crookedness organically.
-
Having
time and space to feel, be and flow with my
horse.
Result I discovered the Bentley
Technique: how the bodies beautifully designed structure naturally springs into
action without stress or strain. See photo 6 and 7 below.
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photo 6 |
photo 7 |
These
photos clearly show how Leo’s beautifully designed structure has naturally
sprung into action after only 3 months of using the Bentley Technique. Now he is
calm, straight and forward, we are starting to introduce lateral work.
Andy’s quote:
“The Bentley technique is so easy and
different to any training I have ever come across and I believe it will
revolutionise training in the future. It has resolved so many issues for me.
It gives the most careful consideration to all the different factors
involved in crookedness. It then shows you through simple exercises how, by
“unfixing” rather than “fixing” horse and rider, crookedness gradually
crystallizes out more and more up to a point where it dissolves and solves
itself.”
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