Walter Zettl-A Critique of “Short and Deep”

             German-trained classical-dressage master, rider, lecturer and author Walter Zettl gives his unabashed opinion in a no-holds-barred article in the December 2001 issue of USDF Connection that is worth reading.

             Mr. Zettl got my attention at a clinic at the 2000 USDF Convention when he said: "ride up in heaven not down in hell". Obviously he would not prefer the over bent method. "Open the door! Open the door!" he kept saying when he saw how the riders were holding the horses in during extensions.  Being committed to the classical riding method myself, I agree with much of what Mr. Zettl has to say, though I would not be so bold as to express myself in his terms. I certainly do not place myself in the same company with the masters who strongly oppose the new modality of training that departs from the classical method. On the other hand, I can attest to the fact that after more than fifty years of riding and training horses, and after trying every conceivable training method, I have settled upon what I think is the best for me and my horses and students. For me the answer is The System.

            The horse’s natural balance is disturbed when he is fitted with a saddle, rider and you put a bit into his mouth to control him. According to Mr. Zettl, the horse’s “neck is of utmost importance in reestablishing his balance…If the horse’s head and neck are confined in a short and deep position, his sense of balance suffers and his way to freedom through the flight instinct is completely closed”, and may I add discouraged. According to Zettl, the younger horse needs to be ridden “long and low with his nose in front of the vertical.” Doing so, he says, allows the horse to develop his sensitive back muscles. What is really required is time and patience, a commodity that is costly to the trainer who wants to get the horse sold for a profit.  In his article Mr. Zettl is critical of the rush to advance the horse to the next level without taking the time required to develop the proper musculature which will enable the horse to perform the upper level movements properly.

            One of the foundation blocks of The System is to work on developing the proper strength and musculature of the horse; initially, the horse will go through what I call the “ugly” phase. To me, however, it is a thing of beauty because I know that as the caterpillar morphs into a beautiful butterfly, so my horse will eventually possess great beauty and strength, with freedom of movement, and feel as light a butterfly. I have ridden horses trained in the new modality and I do not feel the same lightness and responsiveness that I feel in my own horses.

            What the horse needs is a friend who understands. I totally agree with Mr. Zettl who compares a kindergarten child to the young horse and points out that to demand that such a child do first or second grade work, will cause anxiety and loss of interest and finally depression. If you have ridden as many horses as I have, or have observed them, then you know that there are some pretty sour horses in training. My goal is to see to it that my horses enjoy the work. I challenge them when I have to, but I never ask more of them than they can give.  My greatest reward is when my horse willingly offers me more than I ask. That is when I know he is ready to move up to the next level. Patience is what is required, patience and good riding. The System is not for everyone. Some riders I have tried to teach simply cannot do it. Unfortunately to train a horse properly you have to be an outstanding rider. My husband consoles me when I’m feeling badly about someone who has tried and failed, and who returns to some other method. He says that if anyone could learn to train horses, then there would be more Reiner Klimke’s around.

According to Zettl, the  “deep” which has been practiced by some successful Olympic riders is nothing new. It was well known and involved “breaking the horse’s will and initiative” by forcing the horse to give in.  Eventually that training method was abandoned and it’s proponents returned to the classical and natural training methods. Sadly, I went through the same experience and also abandoned the “bridge” and returned to riding the hindquarters by allowing the horse to use his head and neck and body like an accordion.  I’ve seen other riders trying to accomplish the same thing. It’s not simply riding the horse with his head up in the air. There are subtlies that make all the difference.  It has taken me a lifetime to achieve the results that I am now enjoying.

Force is wrong. In his article Zettl lists some opponents to the “deep” method citing: Louis Seeger (1798-1865) and Gustaf Steinbrecht; and in France including Count d’Aure, the chief trainer at Saumur. “All of these opponents of Baucher’s methods warned riders that using force to train a horse is the wrong way and does not have anything to do with the harmony between horse and rider. It enslaves the horses.”

“Short and deep” riding is counterproductive to the gymnastic development of the horse according to Zettl, and I completely agree from experience, been there, done that, and then moved on. Unfortunately I was impressed by the success that certain riders were having, which success was being attributed to their training methods. I attended many clinics where the same method was being touted.  At the time I didn’t really understand the classical method and although I thought I was doing it right, I now know what I was doing wrong, but it has taken me more than ten stubborn years of commitment to get to the point were I am now with The System.

“In the short and deep frame, the loosening of the musculature and joints is not possible.” I can feel my horses loosening when I am able to move their entire body like an accordion in total harmony. This is primarily what I think is missing in most of the training I’ve seen. The reason it’s missing I believe is that the horse can not do it, and he can not do it not because his is a cripple, he can’t do it because he has not been trained properly. I maintain that any horse can do it, as long as he is of sound mind and body and has not been abused or ruined by bad training.

“The young horse’s impulsion and desire to go forward is eliminated when he is forced to go in this short and deep frame.” Zettl goes on to say that: “In time, the gaits lose their expression and freedom and soon are made shorter-particularly the walk, which has no impulsion naturally. This is the reason that almost no clear four-beat walks are seen in modern Grand Prix dressage competitions. …What is intended to be a collected trot is actually working trot, because the rider knows that he must avoid a trot that is too passage-like because such a trot would be criticized. The canter is choppy from having been collected prematurely. The transitions are poorly done, and the horses’ necks are too short.” I say, amen to that.

One of the best tests to ask the rider to perform is to ask for a canter pirouette.  If the horse can not support his weight on his hindquarters and perform the movement without a rocking horse appearance with the head bobbing up and down, than the horse needs to be returned to proper basic training. The next thing I ask is to see how the horse can accelerate into an extended canter from a collected canter and then back again without loosing his balance, rhythm and engagement.

Read the following denunciation of the “short and deep” method by Walter Zettl:

“The horse is made a slave without a soul by this [deep] training. He produces exercises that are mechanical and totally lacking in expression and appeal. His shoulders are blocked by the short and deep frame. Despite increased driving aids, his hind legs cannot step under himself sufficiently to strengthen and supple his back, which has to carry the added weight of saddle and rider.”

“The horse’s hind legs, which are being driven forward, cannot step under his body in this short and deep frame and therefore must step higher or wider. The effect of the rider’s hands cannot be directed correctly back to the horse’s hind legs in this situation, every half-halt or full halt done when the horse’s neck is too short ‘escapes’ through the third vertebra in the neck. Every subsequent half-halt shortens the neck even more. In addition, this short and deep neck position restricts the horse’s freedom to breath. Horses ridden in this position become frightened and panicky and sometimes develop respiratory diseases.”