Product Description
Publisher’s Introduction
We are delighted to bring Gerd Heuschmann’s important work back to print!
Our publishing goals for this book are 1. to make this important book accessible again in a lasting format that will stand up over time and 2. to return more closely to the meaning in the author’s original manuscript conceived in the German language. Taking nothing away from the first English edition, we return to the exact translation of the German title: Die Anatomie un Biomechanick von Stellung und Biegung which literally translates to: The Anatomy and Bio-mechanics of Position and Bend.
The word “Positioning” is not used nor widely understood enough in the English language. In this edition we hope to explain the meaning of this vital concept to developing, bend, collection and straightness. As Dr. Heuschmann will explain, the horse’s poll is an elliptical joint which can be flexed both in the longitudinal and lateral axes. Positioning refers to the delicate co-ordinated, subtle and perfect combination of lateral and longitudinal flexion at the poll. It is a very refined position in a living organism moving through space. This is why we are using the gerund form of the word “position” and therefore chose “positioning” implying a dynamic state.
Adverse “training” approaches have tied themselves to the term “flexion” – which is an incorrect translation of the German word, stellung – such as “hyper-flexion,” “over-flexion” or to “flex the horse left and right by over-bending of the neck alternately.” All of these contorting techniques are condemnable and have no place in the sane treatment of horses, nor in classical training. By explaining the German term stellung (positioning) as it relates to bend and increased flexion of the hind leg joints, we hope to unpack one of the illusive concepts vital to successful training. So the question posed in the first English edition title: Collection or Contortion? is a no contest question. Of course, all roads of correct training lead to collection: the increased weight bearing capacity of the haunches.
Dr. Heuschmann unpacks this key puzzle piece that Gustav Steinbrecht dedicated 127 pages to in his Gymnasium of the Horse. We will learn how, through correct bending and positioning we can strengthen and condition the horse’s haunches to bear more weight and alleviate and lighten the load on the forehand, thus preserving it, and protecting the delicate front legs from injury.
Riding and training horses is arguably a four or even five dimensional process as we ask the living, breathing horse to carry us three dimensionally through space and time. Teaching the horse the dynamic body posture that is the least damaging and is proven to preserve the well-being of the equine athlete is what we owe to our movement partners that bring us so much joy.
This book will help you understand the multi-dimensional, functional way the horse can best carry us.
The well-known veterinarian, trainer and author of bestsellers Tug of War and Balancing Act, Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, in his new work, devotes himself to a topic that is so important in the training of horses and riders and shows why there can be no true collection without correct positioning and bending. The only way to go from a horse in horizontal balance to a gathered (collected) horse is through the path of correct bending. The anatomical and bio-mechanical background of this important training component is explained here for the first time, and takes into account the horse’s anatomy and the science of movement.
The necessity of riding in a specific and correct way, and the corresponding development have been known since the 19th century, however, the reasons “WHY we must use this method” has not been explained in depth, until now.
This work includes the following topics:
Why halt a horse, why bend it?
Position and bending in classical equestrian literature
The horse’s natural crookedness
The correct positioning of the horse – another requirement for correct bending
The biomechanics of position and bending
Side passages
A must have for every trainer and rider!
Though previously known as Collection or Contortion, Xenophon Press, with this new edition, returns to the original German concept conceived by the author.
Dr. Gerd Heuschmann is a founding member of Xenophon, an organization dedicated to fighting against serious mistakes in equestrian sport.
Dr. Gerd Heuschmann trained as a Bereiter (master rider) in Germany before attending veterinary school at Munich University. There he specialized in equine orthopedics for two years before accepting a post as the head of the breeding department at the German FN, which he eventually left to start his own practice in Warendorf.
He has been an active member of the hyperflexion (Rollkur) debate, weighing in at numerous symposiums and workshops around the world, as well as writing the bestselling books Tug of War, Balancing Act and creating the DVD If Horses Could Speak. Gerd and Kurd Albrecht von Ziegner have a NEW book with Xenophon Press: H. Dv. 12 with Commentary expected in late 2024.
Along with Klaus Balkenhol and other prominent figures in the dressage community, Dr. Heuschmann is a founding member of Xenophon, an organization dedicated to fighting against serious mistakes in equestrian sport.
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