CLASSICAL DRESSAGE Foundations 03 of 10
- Isaac Ares
From the Convex Circle to Functional Bending
APPLIED BIOMECHANICS
Why does a beginner horse bend outward on the circle?
This is where the true art of horsemanship begins.
To understand it, we must first observe how a young or untrained horse behaves when we ask it to describe a circle.
Two opposing postures:
The beginner horse and the balanced horse.
The young or inexperienced horse tends to perform the circle with a convex posture.
The trained and balanced horse is able to perform it with a concave posture.
Let us see what this means and why it occurs.
The convex circle:
The beginner horse.
Imagine a banana with its belly facing toward the inside of the circle, while the head, shoulders, and quarters drift toward the outside.
This is how a beginner horse moves naturally.
This posture is not a mistake.
It is simply the easiest way for the horse to maintain balance with the body it has at that moment in its development.
In this situation:
The horse places a large portion of its weight on the inside forehand, that is, the inner side of the circle. To compensate for this imbalance, it projects the neck and head outward. As a result, the line of the bodyfrom the poll to the sacrum arches toward the outside of the circle.
This bodily organization is what we call the convex circle. It is an instinctive and primary balance strategy, the most efficient way for an inexperienced horse to turn without losing stability.
Observed from above:
The balance diagonal.
If we could observe the horse from the air, we would see that its body is not randomly “crooked.”In reality, it is aligning its body axis along a functional diagonal, connecting the outside forehand with the inside hind foot.
This is the gymnastic balance diagonal:
A motor solution that allows the horse to remain in motion without falling inward on the circle.
However, this organization is not ideal for classical dressage work.
It is a primary balance, comparable to a child learning to ride a bicycle with training wheels: effective for not falling, but limiting for the true development of movement.
The goal of training:
The concave circle .
Over time, and through progressive and coherent work, we teach the horse to discover a more efficient way of turning: the concave circle.
In this posture:
The horse bends its body in a soft and evenly distributed manner toward the inside of the circle.
The shoulders and quarters remain aligned with the line of travel.
The “banana” reverses: convexity disappears, and the body structure organizes itself from the inside outward.
The horse no longer needs to collapse onto the inside forehand.
It learns to redistribute the load toward the hindquarters, to use the back as an active element of support and transmission, and to turn with greater straightness, lightness, and control.
This change is neither artificial nor forced.
It is a natural evolution of the horse’s body when training respects its biomechanics and supports its maturational process.
Convex (banana outward)
Weight on the inside forehand, neck projected outward.
Instinctive balance
Trained
Concave (banana inward)
Uses the back, redistributes weight, turns with functional bending.
Functional balance
More to come soon
Isaac Ares
