Impulsion - Misunderstanding - Misinformation

The misunderstanding of only one concept will result in the misunderstanding of the entire process of riding. The misunderstanding of the so-called round-back, or rounded back in riding, referring to the horse's back when under rider, leads of course to the misunderstanding of impulsion and other terms and concepts. It is recommended for better understanding of this article that you also click here for more about the term "rounded back".

The above misunderstanding leads to the below misunderstanding.

The most preposterous and absurd depiction of the impulsion in horses I have ever seen, obtained from where else, but Wikipedia.

Remember that the impulsion in riding horses is primarily the energy that is propelling the horses forward, which in this case ends at the highest point of the spine (in relevance to the poll) in the place as the arrow points out, hence it is broken, instead of ending at the poll as by the horses in the pictures a and b. A rider familiar with fishing could compare this to fishing with a broken fishing rod when riding horses like this. It simply could not get more annoying to any decent rider, hence you will not seen them in any dressage these days.

When the propelling energy forward is broken, as in the above demonstrations, it simply results in what I call "constipated" (restrained) movement of the horse, which is usually accomplished by asking the horse to go more forward, or as the fools referred to, driving the horse into the bit. This is nothing more but asking the horse forward and then restraining the animal from doing so via the bit pressure that curbs this movement, hence the curb bit is more effective, obviously, because of the lever mechanics that it delivers, and so in the so-called higher levels of dressage they accomplished a higher level of constipation, literally.
And so one can in realty "lightly" hold the horse back, while crushing its lower jaw via the curb bit. In the process the horse is trying to avoid the pressure and discomfort of the bit, often ending up putting his head below the impulsion line, while flexing in his neck. Riders like these are literally breaking the horse in half. It is a genuine abuse, because this is done day after day. If and when a horse gets hurt in performance as a result of misstep or related accidents that is hardly abuse, since it is not done every day to the same animal. This type of riding is a genuine torture of horses lasting years or until the horse can go no more.

This type of riding of course results in over supply of energy generated by the hind legs, usually in response to the spurs or whips, which then produces the elevation of the hind quarters, by horses off balance and on the forehand, which then push the loins more up than forward since the horse is off balance, and so the back of the horse is actually lifting constantly the rider out of the saddle. For this latter reason most riders end up making motions with their hip as if fucking something, literally, hence it looks so grotesque, especially by women who for most part look serious when doing it, hence the term used by me, humping on horses, or the humping seat. Now one really has to crack up when women call this riding also the "horse ballet". It is not surprising though, in this modern world, since most folks these days dance as if they want to fuck someone, hence "it is in" when riding the horse, hence dancing/ballet I guess, really? Elvis Presley was at one time banned from the stage when doing similar motions with his hips. I have to use vulgarity to point out the vulgarity and absurdity of this shit they call dressage these days, because it is more vulgar in relevance to nature than any sexual profanity or depravity could be.

Now we can understand where all this shit is born, like this crap about some "centered riding". I just look at the book cover and wonder how anyone can be so stupid and ignorant to buy this crap just by looking at that "instructor" that sort of resembles a woman that wish that she has a dick or something. Who to hell can sit on the horse like that and ride, which she is obviously demonstrating? The right question here should be asked "Why women cannot sit on the horse the same way as men?" (People knew the answer to this question for millennia, hence carriages and side saddles for women ). Well, you can also go and find out, though all men riders that can actually sit in the deep seat (and known a woman) should be able to answer that question fairly easily. Please read the article on the seat, which will point out a simple fact, "You sit on the horse the way you stand or walk" who to hell walks in posture like the above "instructor" that is presenting what appears to be some crippling attempt to adjust one's body to sit on the horse. No wonder that they all sit as if the wetted their pants and do not want to sit on their crouch, hence sitting on their asses as if on a chair.

The proper and normal posture of a rider can be seen in the picture b., where the guy hardly resembles a woman in labor as the above "centered riding" instructor does.

Pic c. All downhill so-to speak. Here is the infamous "Iron Hand Anky" presenting this crap called dressage these days. Please note the hunched back of the horse which is in reality working against the rider's weight, which commonly results in the rider leaning back every time the front lands in the gallop. The leaning back in this pic is also attributed to her excessive pulling on the curb which is literally lifting her from the saddle, hence the additional need for leaning back. It just could not get more grotesque than this. Now just look below what a free horse looks like in gallop. This woman can wore down even the patience of a dull warm-blood, the farmer's horse. That is not even bucking on that clip, it is only called crow-hoping that any greenhorn should be able to sit, which only shows how stiff she is on horses, and that she simply cannot sit on a horse, let alone ride one, but wins Olympic games.

Pic. a. A beautiful demonstration of the propelling energy forward, and up, the impulsion, by this free, and obviously willing horse in the gallop. This is a genuine model of well balanced and well collected free running horse, which should serve as a model for riding horses, because the intent of educating a riding horse for the rider is to have the horse move as close to its natural balance in the least, and in the more advanced stage of balance where all four legs are equally burdened by the weight of the rider and the horse, hence it is referred to as "artificial balance", or a riding balance. Therefore there is nothing natural about riding or training horses, but rather all is unnatural, especially when burdened by the rider.

When riding horses like this it feels like sitting on a cloud (providing one has a decent seat and knows where and how to sit in gallop), as there is hardly any motion of up and down, but rather it feels and looks as if in flight. No humping like in dressage, which is caused by the break of the impulsion line due to the forcing of the horse's head below the energy level.

Pic. b. Some lost of collection, resulting in insufficient impulsion during extended trot, which is very difficult even for the best to maintain in balance during the cruising phase.

This can be seen in the somewhat flattened or concaved back by the horse. You will hardly find a rider these days that can keep it at least in this level. This was acceptable even in higher levels of dressage as long as the impulsion line in relevance to the horse's jaw is at no place pointing to the ground starting from the hind hoof of the horse, going through the hip, then through the spine, ending in the horse's lower jaw. The impulsion, or better said the forward propelling energy can be managed by the rider only through a supple lower jaw of the horse via the bit. And therefore there is no such thing as riding a horse without a bit, though one can ride on a horse without a bit, which is not recommended, obviously, since only fools do that, or people seeking some attention for one reason or other, or people that got such bad hands that their horses go for them better than with a bit.

     Of course one of the biggest distributors of misinformation, especially when it comes to the equine activities, is Wikipedia, which will become one of my targets because it is so popular among the so-called internet "researchers".

     Why do people resort to internet research? Because they lack knowledge. How does the researcher recognizes truth from a lie since he lacks the knowledge for which he is searching? He can't! He subjects the findings to his reason, and that which sounds more reasonable and making more sense to him or her, he or she accepts as truth, while ignoring the fact that one's ability to reason rests on one's ability to see things as they are, hence one has to live the life that he wish to understand or have the knowledge of.

    Let's look at the word impulsion:
    1. a force that moves something along
    2. the act of applying force suddenly

     In short, as much as the definition states so it is the same with horses, in which case it simply refers to the energy of the horse needed to propel itself into some motion, and not only forward, as mistakenly explained by many. For example if the horse rears up, it presents no motion forward, and all the energy is concentrated to the upward motion, of which most is exerted by the back (loins) and less by the closing and opening of the hind legs joint. Horses simply cannot move up or forward without having impulsion, obviously.
    And so when we are speaking of impulsion in riding horses we are not talking about the horse having impulsion but rather having a sufficient impulsion; a sufficient impulsion so the horse stays sound and performs its work under rider safely not only for the rider, but also for its own sake. As all greenhorns know, horses by nature instinctively reserve energy, which sometime is referred to as being "lazy". This so-called "laziness" of the horse is merely tied to the core instinct of self-preservation enabling the horse to have sufficient impulsion (energy) to escape danger if and when it presents itself. It is all very simple and no science needed as all can be easily observed by any perceptive human being.

   Now, the word collection in riding horses is simply referring to the level of energy collected by the horse in its hind legs, which is done by the lowering (closing of the angles of the horse's hind legs joints) of the hind end, as well as the degree at which the hind legs set themselves under the horse, which is relevant to what we call balance. In short, the horse has to balance the two simple factors, its energy output in relevance to the motion forward and up, as well as, its stability in relevance to gravity when carrying the rider.

    All horses when not burdened by the rider (pic a.), and not messed up by some senseless and useless riding or training, move in sufficient impulsion, hence collected and of course balanced. Once the rider gets on top, all of these factors are off set and put out of balance, hence the need for educating - training - conditioning of the horse to adapt to the burden of the rider and move as close to its natural way of moving when with rider, so the riding of the horse is not only safe for the rider and the horse alike, but also improves the horse's work output as well as its reliability at work. There is nothing fancy or artistic in that. It is all as simple as that, no science or genius minds needed here. Any half-ass rider should feel and be aware of when these are of balance and/or aware of the lack of impulsion.

    Now some extraction from Wiki page on impulsion:

    Wiki 1. "In competitive dressage circles, impulsion is defined by the German Training Scale, which states that impulsion is only possible in gaits having a moment of suspension, such as the trot and canter, but not the walk."

    How many times do you have to read the above to see the stupidity in the words alone? What they are referring to as impulsion is called suspension, as in being suspended in the air in the faster gaits like the trot and the gallop. Now the level of the suspension is determined mainly by the level of the impulsion, . These people in dressage could not get anymore stupid if they would try. Now just read their version several times so it is branded in your mind, and go watch their thingy they call the "dressage", and classical at that.
    The passage in nature is usually done by an excited horse or it is a playful display usually to attract the attention of other horses. The natural passage presents the horse with the maximum impulsion output at the trot, which results in obvious and long lasting suspension, as in being suspended almost motionless in the air as in flight. Since the impulsion is so strong that the horse is lifted so high in the air and when the legs, the fronts and the hind legs alike, are set for the landing the horse is simply out of the reach of the ground, and so the legs, as well as, the motion of them stops (is suspended) until the legs hit the ground, hence the landing in genuine passage is fairly stiff (depending on the suspension mechanism of the individual horse, which is fairly poor in most warm-bloods, while the cold-bloods have very poor one, hence unsuitable for riding purposes of any kind), especially by the front legs where only the muscles of the shoulders (to very little extent), and primarily the ankle and the pastern joint, and related tendons and ligaments, absorb the impact.

   The word suspension relevant to motion of the horse and the mechanics:
   1. A time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something (in the equine case referring to the movement of the legs, specifically in passage, more details in the below paragraph)
   2. Temporary cessation or suspension (same as the above)
   3. The act of suspending something (in the case of the equine the time when the horse's legs are not touching the ground, which is present at the trot or gallop, but not at the walk)
                                          Click here for better clarification of the word suspension.

    And so, in the natural passage it is not about how high the horse lifts its legs (that is action), but is about how high it lifts its body, no science needed. On the other hand in this crap called dressage, it is not about how high the horse lifts itself off the ground, but rather how high it lifts its legs, which is the greenhorn and genuine amateur concept of passage.
   Please note in this crap called dressage today how little impulsion these horses present, while lifting their legs as if trotting on a hot coals. These dressage riders simply cannot present their horses in a genuine passage, or at least in some form that would at least resemble the natural passage, because only willing horses will do it, or better said horses feeling good enough and fit enough to exert this energy. You cannot make them or force them to do it!
   Needless to say that if the passage would even remotely resemble the natural passage most of these riders could not stay on these horse, at least not good enough without bouncing like on some donkey, hence looking preposterous, and so they do what they do so they look as if they know something. (As I have mentioned in other articles, one of the main concerns of a greenhorn is the bouncing on the horse, especially in the trot, let alone in extended trot or genuine passage) And so I say, it is always about the looks today and of course the money and nothing else, and least of all it is about the horse, obviously, hence they injure so many in the very thing that is supposed to prevent injuries in riding horses, the dressage.

   Wiki 2. "The classical dressage trainer Nuno Oliveira described impulsion as, "...a mental and physical state of the horse to obey the rider's demands as fast as possible, to move forward, and to maintain his forward impulsion without support from the aids..." and ""Impulsion means to maintain the energy within the cadence."

   This is not remotely as bad as the previous, and in reality it is not much off base. The first part of this definition is in reality describing to some extent the purpose of dressage, which could be summed with his: "...a mental and physical state of the horse to obey the rider's demands as fast as possible, to move forward, and to maintain his forward impulsion without support from the aids...". Some folks refer to this as "self-carriage", which is accomplished by the repetitive conditioning of the horse through riding higher levels (higher collection = higher impulsion) of dressage. In short, the horse is trained and conditioned so it becomes its nature to move in the so-called "campagne" level of balance without the request of the rider or the ride's constant reminders, that is all there is to it.
    "Impulsion means to maintain the energy within the cadence." This second part of  Oliveira's definition is right on the money to a well trained horse, hence I am presenting the picture (b) where the partial failure of maintaining impulsion in the relevant cadence is obvious in the concaved back. This of course does not mean that a hunched-back horse like the first top pic shows, actually have sufficient impulsion, not to mention total lack of riding balance.  

     The second definition is accurate in relevance to the motion forward, because in riding horses the motion forward is the riding part, as opposed to any motion of the horse backwards is for most part a refusal, and hence when starting young horses it is all about going forward, and only fools teach their young horses to back up, as when horses refuse they rear up, go backwards, stop suddenly and such. These are motions that all horses know well, and it is not something we want the young horses to remind of when riding it, for obvious reasons. As it is, most fools want the young horse to learn to stop, for obvious reasons (fear), hence the "whoa" is often taught first by the frightened and scare people.
    And so according to this man, whose books I did not read, nor I care to, the definition of impulsion in relevance to the dressage is: "Impulsion means to maintain the energy within the cadence", (which should actually be the definition for "sufficient impulsion".) Needless to say this is exactly what is lacking in today's dressage and is nowhere to be seen, because it is fairly difficult which I am pointing out in other articles, specifically referring to the extended gaits, like the trot or gallop, where the cruising phase is the most difficult because horses tend to lose the impulsion during this phase and as we commonly called it "fall apart", since as a result of not having sufficient collection they lose with it the impulsion, often seen in the collapse of the back of the horse. (Some also used to call it "losing the ass", referring to the horse, obviously).

     And so, what do the women (suffering from intellectual inferiority complex) do if they cannot do the same things as men? They change things, rename things or change the meaning of words to their liking, which can be seen clearly now in the dressage world of horses, or better said in the world of horses, as women like these literally took over, and the only men remaining are those that exploit this situation and the silly women in the process.

   Wiki 1. and 2. In competitive dressage circles, impulsion is defined by the German Training Scale, which states that impulsion is only possible in gaits having a moment of suspension, such as the trot and canter, but not the walk. [3] This is the current position of the USDF. Others differ, however. Oliveira described impulsion as necessary at all paces: "If your horse goes from walk to trot without changing the head and neck position, the walk had good impulsion."

    And so now you may understand what the impulsion article means on this website as according to Olivera, whose book I of course did not read (I do not read any books on riding, obviously), " Oliveira described impulsion (energy)as necessary at all paces : "If your horse goes from walk to trot without changing the head and neck position, the walk had good impulsion." (Commonly the head, if free - not restrained, pops up due to insufficient impulsion, hence the need for various restrains in the modern dressage and other riding to prevent the freedom of movement of the horse's head. When the horse's head is forced down the horse simply cannot throw its head up during the "upward" transition, and so this impulsion deficiency is thus masked to the eyes of greenhorns. Leave it to women they are good in covering deficiencies up, as they are experts on make ups-cosmetics.)
   Needless to say that impulsion is within the collection, because the horse has to collect the energy first in order to release it, . Hence sufficient collection is needed in all gaits as I have pointed out in many articles. (The genuine riding of a horse is about the management of the horse's energy, which will be a separate article. Anything less is mere riding on a horse while steering it, while using the so-called cues, or even voice commands, to get the animal change gaits, speeds, direction etc. One can do all that from the cart in driving horses.)

     I guess all this should be fairly sufficient in explaining the word impulsion and all the predominantly feminine nonsense of this pussy whipped world. Of course now you may also understand the so-called imaginary impulsion line presented here, where most incompetent folks claim that no such thing exists, while the so-called riding master all knew and supported and understood, and in most cases it was given and was a knowledge obtained by most greenhorns during their first year of riding. And so, for these reasons it was not published as it was presumed one should know as much before reading any books on riding.
   Only genuine idiots ride horses below the impulsion line, which needless to say is most of the dressage riders today, and since women now infiltrated also the famous riding schools and farms it is also starting to appear in those places as well. Of course we cannot kick these women out because it is politically incorrect, as well as very impractical from the business perspective, and so any decent horseman simply leaves and walks away from it. In most cases he does not find it worthy to debate riding, let alone some simple things like collection, balance, least of all impulsion, and he leaves it to women, who end up confusing each other, and so we say "harm to women comes from women". In addition to that any decent man knows better than to argue with a woman.

     Another Wiki definition, which could not be more preposterous if one would try:

    "Impulsion is the pushing power (thrust) of a horse, which comes from his desire to move powerfully forward with energy. However, speed does not create impulsion, and a rushing horse is more likely to be "flat" than impulsive. A horse can only have impulsion if his hind legs are engaged and his elastic back allows the power to come through".

     Please note the words powerful and desire (words hardly used by horsemen in anything in relevance to horses, except the latter in relevance to food), typically feminine, - women desire horses for their power and "beauty" - big horses are desired in the feminine world of horses, as it is self-evident. (All the weak men and women have the desire for power.)

    Let's slice it, because I could not put more nonsense in one sentence if I would try.
   "Impulsion is the pushing power (thrust) of a horse, which comes from his desire to move powerfully forward with energy"
    Who else but a woman could put the word "desire" in the biomechanics, or the mechanics of motion, and by the way horses often move forward with a lot of impulsion without any "desire", or normally said without "intent", just look at one when the animal spooks, in which case it is often not only instinctive in nature, as all movements of the horse are, but in many cases purely reflexive, especially when startled when sleeping. One could however say that " Impulsion is the pushing power (thrust) of a woman, which comes from her desire to move powerfully forward with energy, which now would make sense, hence the "impulsive behavior".

   Next nonsense:
   "However, speed does not create impulsion, and a rushing horse is more likely to be "flat" than impulsive."
    As I have pointed out people see things backwards and upside down, and the more they think the more nonsense they create on account of that. Speed does not create impulsion, nor I was ever aware that they are actually fools that would even think such nonsense, as any fools knows that the speed is created by the impulsion, as without impulsion horse simply cannot move, .

   I do not know which nonsense is bigger than the next, but here is the final one:
   "A horse can only have impulsion if his hind legs are engaged and his elastic back allows the power to come through".
   Let me sum this up "horse can only move if he moves" or "horse cannot move if he does not move". Now, you have to go to the equine college or study the "art" of riding to come up with this.

   Who else could come up with a term "elastic back" except a woman of the modern plastic society? 

    And of course the ever so popular word in the feminine dressage the word "engage ". Every time I hear a woman say that word in relevance to riding, I usually find it necessary to turn around so she does not see the grin on my face. Usually a sign for me to leave the conversation, as there is no reasoning with fools.

   Let me just add the definition of the word engage:
   Verb engage: In relevance to riding horses:
   1. Carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in.

   And so can a horse move forward at all without engaging his rear legs? NO! . If he does not engage its hind legs can it have impulsion? NO! . In short their ridiculous definition of impulsion states: "A horse cannot move forward if it does not move forward".
   This is how women can fuck their brains up all by themselves by thinking about things instead of just observing and listening. The more scientific they become the more dumb shit they come up with, the more education they get the dumber they get, which is obviously self-evident not only in their deeds but in the words they speak.
   Unfortunately in this world they are being exploited to become that way, and not only women, but through such women also the men become like this, believing that their reason will lead them out of the darkness they live in.
   It is not one's reason that leads one out of darkness, but it is the sight (or light if you will), you need to wake up! Your thinking is only as good as the "data" input, and who has put the data in your brain, and mainly why? Who wants you to think what you think? Answers to these question you will not find on the Internet but in your life.

    Ask yourself a simple question: "Is it in the interest of any ruling power of any age to have its population educated? Why weren't the slaves allowed to read?" Of course we all know that, and so it is in the interest of any ruling power to deprive you of education, or better said "knowledge", but in such way so you do not become aware of it. And so they feed you in the schools, and mainly the media (TV, Magazines and what not) a genuine bullshit and lies, and the fools trust the system. Now you may finally realize why you are so stupid, at least I hope so, and so open your eyes and see where you are and what is going on and what is happening to you. Stupid is as stupid does and ignorance is bliss, and naturally the truth brings unhappiness to the fools and the deceived.

   Further nonsense:
   "Good riding is needed to create impulsion in any horse"
   Just how dumb can this get? The horse is the one that "creates" (produces) the impulsion and decent riding and training/conditioning is needed to motivate the horse to produce the sufficient impulsion via sufficient collection, which gets done not only by training/riding, but mainly by mentally and physically conditioning of the horse to be willing (motivated) to exert needed (sufficient) energy to travel with the rider. This feminine definition of course does not surprise me as people like this, majority of women, totally unaware of realties or of anything they are doing, often say: "I am going to take my horse for a ride". For a ride? In a car or truck?