Cheval en Main - a beginning!

The French concept Cheval en Main literally means “Horse in the Hand”. It is equivalent to the Australian concept of a horse which is “on the bit”. It is a goal towards which we should all aim 💖

It has variously been described as:

✨“the exquisite feeling of a mouth which is alive and friendly and that moulds perfectly to your hand” la Gueriniere

✨“this is a horse that releases its mouth softly and loyally accompanies the hand where ever it moves” P. Karl

✨“The horse “en main” has a mouth that releases the bit, attached to a neck that is always ready to bend, stretch or grow without resistance” P. Karl

To obtain a horse which is thought to be "well dressed", "in the hand" or "on the bit" it is important to know what the final result should be 🏆but also to understand the method and the steps to take. 

Mise en Main - Education to the Hand

The French concept Mise en Main describes the education of the horse to the meaning of the rider’s hand aids.

It describes the process in which the horse learns to become light to the hand, yield the mouth and flex at the poll, until he is eventually correctly on the bit with a flexed poll and supple lower jaw, the nose slightly in front of the vertical and the poll remaining the highest point. He can be left on parole, in self carriage,  to continue with the position until asked otherwise.

“Art is beautiful when the head, the heart and the hand work together” – J. Ruskin

🌟 A prerequisite is a rider who has an independent seat, not using their hands for balance, the hand belonging to the horse.

🌟The horse needs a gradual education to the hand and its effects, the rider balances and works his horse gymnastically by using the horses neck. 

🌟Submission to the reins must not come from a fight between the horse’s neck and the riders arms (or auxiliary reins - see my separate blog), which the horse loses, but from a dialog between the mouth and the hand.

🌟The first duty of the hand with a young or untrained horse is to accompany the mouth in all of its movements so that it does not force any attitude. The hand must be fixed in relation to the mouth at the start and can only begin to become fixed to the back when, with training progress and strengthening, the horse’s head is stabilised.

“The horse only does well what he does with pleasure” – Charles-Hubert Raabe

Stay tuned over the next few weeks to find out more about 🐴Cheval en Main.

Christine Mogensen

Principal - Blinkbonnie Equestrian Centre

References: "Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage", Philippe Karl