II · Horse & Rider

The Working Equitation Horse and Rider

The training and development of horse and rider: the Structural Training Scale, the Core Riding Skills, position, and tack.

Horse and rider working together rounding the barrels — II

Working Equitation asks two things to develop together. The horse has to become able to carry itself, turn, wait and go forward again without needing to be held together. The rider has to become able to ask for all of that from the seat and leg, with one hand kept for the work.

This part of the Library covers both, and the equipment that sits between them.

I · The Horse¶

The sport is open to every breed. What it selects for is functional: a horse that can carry more weight behind, rebalance quickly, and repeat that all day without losing its willingness.

You see Lusitanos and Andalusians more than anything else, and there is a practical reason. Both were bred in cattle country for exactly this work. Neither is a requirement.

Read next The Working Equitation horse · The paces

II · How the Horse Is Developed¶

Alvará teaches the horse's development through the Structural Training Scale, a six-stage framework: Forward Tendency, Symmetrical Alignment, Four-Point Balance, Hindquarter Engagement, Forehand Elevation and Collection.

The order describes dependency. Each stage establishes the conditions the next one needs, and every stage has to stay present as the work gets harder. A collected horse still has to go forward.

Read next The Structural Training Scale · Impulsion

III · The Rider¶

The rider's body is organised so that each aid can act without disturbing the others, and so that the horse meets the same rider at every task.

Alvará sets out the rider's development through seven Core Riding Skills, in the order they depend on one another: Position, Independence, Balance, Seat, Leg, Hand, Feel.

IV · Four Saddles, One Seat¶

Each founding country built the saddle its work required, and the four look nothing like one another.

Portugal brought the sela portuguesa, deep and high-cantled, from the estates of the Alentejo and the Ribatejo and from the mounted bullfight. Spain brought the silla vaquera, the everyday saddle of the vaquero across the dehesas. France brought the selle gardiane, whose high pommel and cantle close around the rider and whose stirrups are shut at the front so the foot cannot slip through if the horse moves suddenly. Italy brought the bardella of Lazio and the scafarda of the Tuscan Maremma, wide and padded for a day that starts before first light.

Despite their different construction, all four place the rider deep and secure, with a long leg and the weight carried low over the horse's back.

V · Four Bridles, One Rein¶

The bridles developed differently as well. Portugal's cabeçada, Spain's cabezada vaquera with its bocado and mosquero, the plain Camargue headpiece and the butteri bridle worn over a sisal halter are four different forms. At the senior standard, each uses the curb on a light contact.

At the senior standard the reins are carried in one hand, on the curb rein.

Read next The bridle and the bit

VI · The Dress¶

Riders compete in the working dress of their own country, and the international rules require it. Each nation sends WAWE a written description of its dress and tack in advance.

Read next Dress and turnout

VII · The Movement Comes Second¶

What we see in the arena is movement. What produces it starts earlier.

A horse turns, shortens, lengthens, changes balance and carries the rider through the work. For College Members, Branch Two begins underneath those visible results, with how the horse is organised to produce them.

The principle is simple: the body comes first. Training develops the organisation of the horse, and the movements reveal what that organisation has produced.

That puts the subjects in this part of the Library into a different relationship. The Structural Training Scale describes the horse's development. The Core Riding Skills describe the rider. Saddles, bridles and the traditions around them influence how the two work together.

Inside the Member curriculum, those subjects begin to meet.

The movement in front of you becomes evidence of what has already happened underneath it. As the study develops, Members learn to read that organisation first, then understand how the riding develops it.

11 articles in Horse & Rider.

01 Horse Riding Position The correct horse riding position, what each part of it allows the rider to do, and why alignment decides how clearly the horse can read you. With a labelled diagram. Read article → 02 What is Impulsion? Impulsion is controlled energy from the hindquarters carried into the horse's movement. What it is, how it differs from speed, how it is judged, and where it sits in the Alvará training scale. Read article → 03 The Structural Training Scale Forward Tendency, Symmetrical Alignment, Four-Point Balance, Hindquarter Engagement, Forehand Elevation and Collection. What each stage means, what proves it, and how it compares with the classical dressage training scale. Read article → 04 The Vaquera Saddle The silla vaquera is the working saddle of the Spanish vaquero. How it is built, why rye straw and hair panels matter, what the mixta form changes, and how it compares with the other three Working Equitation saddles. Read article → 05 What Breed is Best for Working Equitation? Working Equitation is open to every breed. What the sport actually asks of a horse, why Iberian horses dominate without being required, and what to look for. Read article → 06 The Seven Core Riding Skills Position, Independence, Balance, Seat, Leg, Hand and Feel - the seven Core Riding Skills, in the order they depend on one another, and what each one does. Read article → 07 The Paces The three paces and what each one reveals. Suspension, diagonal symmetry, the weaker diagonal, and what happens when a canter is shortened beyond what the horse can carry. Read article → 08 One-Handed Riding in Working Equitation At the senior standard the reins are carried in one hand. What that changes, why it is not neck-reining, how the levels introduce it, and what it proves about the horse. Read article → 09 The Portuguese Saddle The sela portuguesa is the deep, high-cantled saddle of the Portuguese working estates and the mounted bullfight. What it is, what shaped it, and how it sits the rider. Read article → 10 Bridles and Bits in Working Equitation Which bits are allowed in Working Equitation, why the sport rides in a curb, how a curb differs from a snaffle, and the four national bridles. With the current WAWE tack rules. Read article → 11 Working Equitation Dress and Turnout What riders wear in Working Equitation, the four national traditions, the dress rules at international and national level, and what you need at your first competition. Read article →

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