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“Many peoples die at twenty-five and aren’t buried until they are seventy-five.” (Benjamin Franklin)

Often, when we publish a pertinent study, the ones who refuses to evolve, argue. No explanation, no factual documentation; just empty opinion. When we ask for references, the usual response is, “I train horses for 45 years.”  Interestingly, it is always 45 years. Therefore, according to Benjamin Franklin, their thirst for knowledge died at 30 and they spent 45 years repeating the same thing. 

Many horses die mentally at four or five, when they are submitted into performances for which their physique is not properly educated and coordinated. They shut off because there is no meaning in their life and their body survives one or two decades until their physique cans no longer take the abuse. They go through a life of dysfunction, mental blankness and physical pain, because traditional education does not upgrade equitation to actual scientific knowledge.

Benjamin Frankly saw a tragedy in the late evolution of wisdom. “Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.”  Others find pragmatic advantages. “There are advantages and disadvantages in reaching the fifties. We can no longer see the letters from close, but we can spot the jerks from far away.”  Michael Jordan, commented on the ability to compensate muscle loss with grey matter. When asked, coming back from his first retirement, how he will deal with younger, faster and more powerful athletes, Michael Jordan said, ”I will outsmart them.”

A pertinent application of advanced scientific knowledge is the capacity to outsmart lameness. Lameness commences with a compromise that the horse figures executing the move while protecting morphological flaw or actual muscle imbalance. The kinematics abnormality is there first and it is the repetition of the kinematics abnormality that induces pathological changes and consequent lameness. Actual understanding of equine biomechanics permits avoiding the development of aberrant kinematics understanding how the horse physique needs to be coordinated for the athletic demand of the performance. Equine education can evolve from teaching the move, which is the classical approach, to developing, educating and coordinating the horse physique for the athletic demand of the move, which is the science of motion. Unfortunately, sciences often succumb to marketing; instead of being used to upgrade equitation to actual knowledge, science is downgraded to accredit actual equitation. There is a new term for this misused of knowledge; “Pathomechanics” describes fake biomechanics leading the horse to pathological changes and consequent lameness.

“To be scientifically literate is to empower yourself to know when someone else is full of shit.” (Neil deGrasse Tyson) In a world where antiquated theories are often dressed in fake clothing, one needs to upgrade one’s equitation to actual knowledge. Fake clothing promises, for instance, that half halt teaches balance control shifting the weight backward over the haunches. Reality exposes the naivety of the theory. Balance is not achieved shifting the weight backward but instead converting the thrust generated by the hind legs and traveling forward through the thoracolumbar spine, into greater upward forces. Talking about the concept of backward weight transfer, Sophie Biau wrote in her PhD thesis, “This notion that still in use today does not have any scientific meaning from the perspective of the equine biological mechanism” (Sophie Biau – 2002).  

“I no longer look for the good in peoples. I search for the real…because while good is often dressed in fake clothing, real is naked and proud no matter the scars.” (Chishala Lishmwa) Fake clothing is what equine science does when used to accredit actual equitation. Reality is what equine science does when actual knowledge is used to upgrade riding and training techniques to actual knowledge. If one looks at the good, one can see advantages in working the horse over cavalettis, Apparently, the exercise creates Greater action of the hock and stifle joints. If one looks at the real, the forward swing of the hind limbs is for a great part the elastic recoil of a strain energy stored in the ligaments, tendons, muscles, aponeurosis and even some fascia during the stance. The swing occurs low on the ground. When a pole is on the way, the horse has to lift the limb using gastrocnemian and other muscles modifying the kinematics of the limbs. As there is an inward rotation within the fetlock, hock and stifle joint that is related to the flexion and extension of the joints. Altered kinematics disrupt the proper synchronization of the inward rotations inducing static or sliding frictions into the joints. This is explained in details in the science of motion lecture entitled “hind leg.”  For this reason, we prefer exercise over jumps which provide efficient gymnastic without creating aberrant kinematics and consequent pathology.

A horse can remain mentally alive and active partner, until his body dies. When the development of the horse intelligence became the foundation of the horse education, the horse active life last many more years. Developing and coordinating the horse physique for the athletic demand of the performance, demands active engagement of the horse intelligence. Even at superficial level such as considering the metameric structure of the vertebral column, there is no neck posture or naïve theories such as the back being a bow flexed by the tension of the string, the “core”, pectoral and abdominal muscles, that is going to efficiently coordinate the minute movements of 186 synovial articulations. The orchestration of the back muscles is a subtle education furthering the control of the horse brain over the horse back.

Terms such as “collection, impulsion, straightness,” are used resuming equitation to formulas. “Generally these terms are not very well defined and the knowledge of the underlying biokinematics factors is limited.” (Mikael Holmström, Dissertation, Upsalla, 1994) The knowledge of the underlying biomechanics factors is precisely what gives a meaning to the horse life. Instead of performing with a dysfunctional physique until the body can no longer takes the abuse, knowledge of the underlying biomechanics factors concentrates the education on the development and coordination of the main muscles group and structures involved in the athletic demand of the performance.

“I guessed what my rider’s gestures were supposed to mean. When I was right, I was rewarded and when I was wrong, I was punished. The problem with these so- called aids, is that I never learned how to properly coordinate and use my body. I jumped big jumps because I was powerful and courageous but I became lame because my rider never understood that my back muscles’ imbalance redirected more weight on my left front leg. I developed arthritis between my second phalange and my coffin bone. I became lame because my rider believed in what he was taught to believe. He integrated science to actual principles of equitation. I regained soundness because the science of motion upgraded my education to actual scientific knowledge. It was too late to repair the pathologies developed within my joint and I needed the help of veterinary science. Full soundness was restored through the education of my back muscles allowing greater conversion of the thrust generated by my hind legs into upward force and consequently great reduction of the intensity of the forces loading my forelegs. Correcting the imbalance between right and left side of my back muscles, the science of motion corrected the direction of the forces loading my left front limb.” (Caesar, Selle Français).

“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius” (Arthur Conan Doyle). A talented horse instantly recognizes brilliance when skill is used guiding his brain toward sophisticated coordination of his physique. Mediocrity know nothing higher than teaching the move and teaching the move without guiding the horse brain toward appropriated coordination of the horse physique knows nothing higher than exploiting natural reflexes. Genius is furthering the horse education until his brain conceive reflexes combinations more sophisticated than “natural reflexes” and precisely adapted to the athletic demand of the performances. This is where science liberated the horses; genius. Horses are capable of orchestrating the deeper systems of their body for greater ease and effortlessness. Edsger Dijkstra wondered, "Why has elegance found so little following?" Elegance is rarely part of performance because the full expression of the horse talent demands deep orchestration of the horse physique and a mind focusing on greater ease and effortlessness and consequently efficiency. This can be taught updating equitation to actual science. This can be talked about but not achieves, adapting science to actual equitation.   Jean Luc Cornille