Thoughts on Jaw Flexions

I surmise that it is because of my expérience of training with Nuno Oliveira and subsequent experience of training many horses that Sylvia asked me to write about my thoughts on the process of jaw flexions.

I was fortunate enough to spend four months with the great master of equitation Nuno Oliveira, training at his school in Portugal, just before his untimely death.

At that time NunoOliveira was probably in his most Baucherist period. This Baucherist methodology generated a lot of discussion amongst his pupils and created heated debate between Nuno Oliveira and his son Joao. Nuno Oliveira would advocate Baucher’s concept of lightness whereas Joao maintained that lightness did not require the process of jaw flexions. During the numerous clinics he gave in Germany Joao Oliveira had ridden many horses which were light whilst being trained more conventionnally.

It is generally accepted that there are two main approaches to training dressage horses: the first being the gymnastic approach exemplified by the Versailles School, which has been followed by all the subsequent cavalry schools, including of course the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.This approach is also pursued by many contemporary competition dressage trainers, who tend to place a greater emphasis on powerful movement.

The second approach is that of François Baucher, the French genius trainer of the 19th Century. Baucher deduced from long and conscientious observation that whatever the conformation faults that affected the distribution of the force within a horse, it was always in the neck that the immediate effect was felt. No resistance could occur without being preceded by a contraction in the neck, and the jaw is ultimately connected to the neck. Baucher further established that as the head and the neck were the two most important levers enabling a rider to place and steer the animal, it would be impossible to obtain control of the horse without total mastery of these areas.

Baucher invented a method to take complete control of the front end of the horse based on his now famous jaw flexions. A detailed explanation of this process is available in Hilda Nelson’s book “François Baucher, The Man And His Method". Explanations can also sourced Jean Claude Racinet’s book Another Horsemanship.There are of course many other books on the subject but mainly in French.

Where as the first approach the training is composed of very gradual gymnastic exercises designed to progressively increase the carrying capacity of the horse, develope muscle and supple the joints, Baucher’s method is based on a deconstruction and reconstruction of each individual part of the horse so as to make it fit the purpose more efficiently.

"- that the education of the horse consists in the complete subjection of his powers.That we can only make use of his powers at will by annuling all resistances and that these resistances have their source in the contractions occasioned by physical defects.” ( New Method of Horsemanship. François Baucher )

François Baucher detailed his training discoveries and progressions in several books, his writings reflect that while the principal of jaw flexions remained throughout, he did alter the process of application in later life.This was mainly due to a terrible accident which damaged his legs and deprived him of their considerable power.

In Bauchers first method the neck is maintained in a fairly low position during the training and the flexions are asked for in this position.The horse is at first worked in hand and taught to yield in his jaw by performing a swallowing movement, by the manipulation of the bit in the horse's mouth. As the tongue is connected to the poll area, the flexions, if correctly performed produce a relaxation of the poll which extends to the whole neck. Every transition preceded by a flexion, turns the flexion into a suppling tool which also creates impulsion, the horse is having to constantly balance to enable it to perform the demands of the trainer. Once the horse is able maintain a relaxed jaw whilst executing all transitions, moving away from the whip instantly and begining to mobilise, then the ridden work proceeds and goes through the same motions.

Bauchers second method differs in that the flexions are taught with the head and neck elevated to their highest possible position.The horse is then asked to yield in the jaw in that position only. In both methods considerable skill is required to maintain a proper functionning of the back as there is a tendency for the back to rigidify in the first method and hollow in the second. There are of course many advantadges to this approach in skilled hands, it is fast and enables the practitioner to train most if not all the Grand prix movements in one or two years. It creates a horse which is incredibly mobile laterally and able to link movements together in any order .Indeed it has been argued that the Grand Prix Special test is a Baucherist concept by some. Jean Claude Racinet also proposes that the flexions have another useful side effect in terms of their osteopathic value.

There are however several pitfalls. Baucherism, with the exception of its use by Nuno Oliveira and a few other exceptional trainers, tends to break down the paces of the horse. It can create diagonalised walks, trots which lack suspension and broken down albeit very slow canters. In some of the worst cases, if you shield your eyes from the body of the horse and rider and just watch the legs of the horse, it is often impossible to establish which pace the horse is working in.

The horse’s mouth is playing constantly with the bits of the double bridle (which is introduced very quickly after breaking in) and is usually indispensable in producing the movements. It is unfortunately a quite common occurence to find such horses are incapable of maintaining the same work in a snaffle bridle. The method also tends to produce very rigid and sore backs. However, this is not always apparent to the rider as jaw flexions tend to release endorphins in to the blood stream which also occurs in some forms of crib biting.

In the wrong or unskilled hands it is easy to break down the horse in unrelated sections which are very difficult to reunite subsequently. François Baucher aknowledges this problem and states:

"The flexions performed on foot, if prolongated without being properly performed can be dangerous.The neck becomes limp instead of yielding ;it becomes isolated from the body instead of being an integral part of it and loses its ability to influence the whole horse"
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As a result the Général L’Hotte (one of Bauchers most famous pupils) forbade its use at the French Cavalry School famous as the home of the Cadre Noir. While the General used Baucher’s methods on his own horses he considered that the skill required to apply these methods properly was beyond the reach of most officers of the Cadre Noir.

To my mind this is where the problem lies.The mechanism of flexions is an extremely powerful tool which requires an outstanding level of feel and understanding of the proper functioning of the horse’s back for it to actually benefit the training of the horse.
When used with a sophisticated level of skill, by a trainer who is able to maintain a perfect connection of the back into the neck allowing the wither to act as the connection box, it is almost magical in its ability to eliminate any contraction and therefore gain the ultimate goal of true lightnes. However, when used badly it can have quite disastrous effects.

I am of course well aware that this subject will cause a great deal of controversy and open a debate as to the interpretation of true lightness. Some Baucherists will argue for constant jaw flexions throughout, personally I prefer the aims of Général L’Hotte’ who avocated that the horse should only yield softly to the hand when asked.Tthe simple process of “descente de main” advocated by Monsieur de La Guérinière is in my opinion a safer and more harmonious way of achieving lightness. Nuno Oliveira trained horses using both methods, having personally ridden his horses I can assure you that they were equally light.

To conclude I believe that both Nuno and Joao Oliveira had a point. Lightness does not automatically require the use of François Baucher’s flexions but with some horses it is the only solution to solve specific training problems .In all cases the Baucherist approach requires considerable skill and feel which fortunately or unfortunately is rare at the level required. Not everyone can match the great master Nuno Oliveira.

Georges Dewez

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