SAEquestris (2026)

29/04/2026

HISTORY – the first roping 🤠🏇

Much is claimed about the old history of the vaquero, either by outsiders or insiders. Even getting the 19th century straight is a challenge, leave alone the older history that emerged in America.
As such, the history of roping itself is a fascinating one! 🧵

From Lances to Ropes

It leaves little doubt that vaquero horsemanship was imported by the Spanish after the conquest of the Aztec Empire. Early herds were likely managed from horseback much like the ginetes villanos back in Spain. However, there was a major difference: back home, they managed cattle with a lance, the garrocha (pole), and the desjarretadera (a hock knife on a long stick). Using ropes like the lasso or reata wasn't even considered!

Innovation Born of Prohibition

In line with their ancestors, the first vaqueros in America used poles and hock knives. But by the late 16th century, the "Mesta" (authorities in New Spain) began forbidding the use of the desjarretadera. Vaqueros of indigenous or black descent (mestizos and mulattos) were even banned from owning one under penalty of heavy fines or corporal punishment. 🚫⚔️

At the same time, rodeos (cattle round-ups and inventories) became mandatory. Because a pole or a hock knife didn't allow for the fine manipulation needed to organize these events, the rope was born as a brilliant alternative.

Roping in its infancy Madrid, 1643

The scarcity of sources makes this hard to study, but we have a pivotal clue in an unexpected place: Spain.

📜In 1643, Gregorio de Tapia y Salcedo authored "Exercicios de la Gineta." While mostly about Spanish riding, he included a "New World" practice—showing the close ties between these styles in the 17th century. He describes black slaves owned by Creoles (American-born Spaniards) demonstrating a first form of roping.

The "Infant" Stage of Roping Tapia y Salcedo explains how they caught bulls using a lasso on the end of a stick. Interestingly, the other end of the rope was tied to the tail of the horse! 🐎 He noted how these strong work horses remained undisturbed no matter what the bull attempted. From this position, someone on foot could use the hock knife, or the horseman could ride around the bull to tie its legs together.

This demonstrates roping in its most infant stage—not just for catching, but for laying the animal down for branding. 🐂🔥

The Legacy

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, these practices continued to develop into the full roping we know today, eventually leading to the advanced skills of the vaqueros and buckaroos of the 19th century.

Check out these two depictions from the 1643 book of Tapia y Salcedo showing the "first roping"! 👇

08/04/2026

HISTORY - 'plagiarism' amongst old masters.

Recently, I saw a post highlighting how a particular instructor almost exactly duplicated a scematics on lateralised movements of another instructor, only changing the coloration of said scematics.

Highlighting such a plagiarism reminded me of the fact that many figures were often copied by many masters in their respective books as well. A most interesting case is that of Cesare Fiaschi, the noble master working at the court of Ferrarra and publishing his Trattatto dell imbrigliare in 1556. That was a mere six years after Grisone's famous Gli Ordine di Cavalcare, often considered the first work on dressage.

Nonetheless, the master of Ferrarra was clearly overshadowed by his Napolitan counterpart, as there are considerably less translations of his work when compared to Gli Ordine di Cavalcare's international succes. That said, Fiaschi did have a far greater impact than often thought and it has everything to do with the German tradition of dressage.

In 1566, Markus Fugger, member of the formidable Fugger banking clan, had his stable masters, Hans Frolich and Veit Tuft, translating the work of Federigo Grisone. These men, however, did more than just translate Grisone's work as they combined it with other sources as well, amongst which a tournamentbook and the fighbook of Antonius Rast.

With consideration of the equestrian part, it appears they found the work too blank and were in need of depictions to illustrate Grisone's often confusing and elaborate writing style. Although, some of the depictions appear to be authentic, they doubtlessly took some of the illustrations of Cesare Fiaschi, in this illustration the 'deceptive turns'.

From that point onwards, other masters and authors, such as Fayser and Schemel would actually do the same thing. Draw from Fiaschi's work for additional illustrations and fuse them with the text of Grisone. Strangely enough, not a word is said about the man, whilst Frolich & Tuft as well as Fayser extensively mention Grisone.

Nonetheless, this exercise and others would shape a formidable though silent legacy of Fiaschi in the early German dressage as many masters would take over this trend, including Von Hohenberg, Von Lohneysen and Reushelein. What is more, some of the exercises even made it back to Italy with the work of Galiberto being clearly inspired by the Ippokomike of Johan Fayser den Jungere, containing many of Fiaschi's depiction.

As such, the legacy of Fiaschi may not be as explicit as that of Grisone's, but it is certainly there.

04/02/2026

ONDERZOEKS NIEUWS - De biomechanische verschillen tussen types paarden

Het idee van typologische verschillen tussen paarden werd vaak bekritiseerd door collega instructeurs die beweerden dat ‘alle rassen hetzelfde zijn’ of dat ‘het om het paard gaat en niet om het ras’. Naar mijn mening nogal populistische standpunten. Natuurlijk heeft ieder paard zijn eigen variabiliteit, maar dat is niet het punt. Nieuw onderzoek van Gmel et al. (2025), getiteld “Upwards or Onwards?”, bewijst echter dat deze verschillen verankerd zijn in de biomechanica. Door de Franches Montagnes, Lusitano en Zwitserse Warmbloed te vergelijken, toont de studie aan dat deze typen niet alleen een kwestie van ‘stijl’ zijn, maar afzonderlijke evolutionaire trajecten die voortkomen uit historische behoeften. De Principal Component Analysis (PCA) die in het onderzoek werd gebruikt, laat zien dat deze verschillen het meest uitgesproken zijn in de draf, waar ze niet simpelweg kunnen worden afgedaan als ‘individuele variatie’.

De gegevens tonen aan dat Warmbloedtypen gebouwd zijn voor ‘Voorwaartse’ beweging: ze hebben grotere paslengtes en hogere beenfrequenties, geoptimaliseerd voor de snelheid die vereist werd door de cavalerie van de 18e eeuw. Daarentegen zijn de Barokke typen (zoals de Lusitano) biomechanisch duidelijk verschillend, met langere steunfasen en het ontbreken van een duidelijk ‘zweefmoment’ in de draf. De onderzoekers koppelen deze eigenschappen direct aan een verhoogd vermogen tot verzameling — een conclusie die overeenkomt met klassieke principes. Dit sluit aan bij biometrisch onderzoek: Warmbloeden hebben langere ledematen, wat leidt tot grotere passen, terwijl Barokpaarden kleinere gewrichtshoeken vertonen ter hoogte van de heup en specifieke femorale en coxale hellingen die het ‘opwaartse’ oprollen van de achterhand faciliteren. Dergelijke correlaties bieden interessante onderzoeksmogelijkheden binnen de archeologie, aangezien dergelijke biometrische analyses daar nog sterk ontbreken.

De evolutie tussen deze paardentypen is een duidelijk historisch proces, dat verder wordt bevestigd door recente genomische studies (bijv. Fages et al., 2019). We kunnen nu de introductie van Sassanidisch Perzische genen tijdens de Karolingische periode traceren, wat waarschijnlijk de genetische basis vormt voor de Barokke ‘verzamelende’ typen. Dit contrasteert sterk met de 17e eeuwse instroom van Oosterse (Arabische/Turkoman) genen, die de horizontale ‘snelheids’mechanica van de moderne Warmbloed vormden. Wanneer instructeurs deze verschillen betwisten, verzetten ze zich niet alleen tegen de traditie — ze verzetten zich tegen eeuwen van gedocumenteerde culturele selectie en tegen het genetische fundament van het paard zelf.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080625004228

04/02/2026

RESEARCH NEWS - Biomechanical differences in types of horses

The idea of typological differences between horses often fell under scrutiny from fellow instructors that 'all breeds are the same' or that 'it's about the horse not the breed'. Somewhat populistic stances in my opinion. Sure, each horse has its own variability, but that is not the point. However, brand-new research by Gmel et al. (2025) titled "Upwards or Onwards?" proves these differences are hard-wired into biomechanics. By comparing the Franches-Montagnes, Lusitano, and Swiss Warmblood, the study reveals that these types aren't just a matter of "style," but separate evolutionary trajectories driven by historical needs. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) used in the study demonstrates that these differences are most prominent in the trot, where they cannot simply be disregarded as "individual variation."

The data shows that Warmblood types are built for "Onwards" movement: they possess greater stride lengths and higher limb frequencies, optimized for the speed required by 18th-century cavalry. In contrast, the Baroque types (like the Lusitano) are biomechanically distinct, showing longer stance times and a lack of a clear "suspension moment" in the trot. The researchers link these traits directly to an increased capacity for collection—a conclusion that aligns with classical principles. This aligns with biometrical research: Warmblood types favour longer limbs resulting in greater strides, while Baroque horses exhibit smaller joint angles at the hip and specific femural and coxal inclinations that facilitate the "upward" coiling of the hindquarters. Such correlations offer interesting research opportunities within archaeology as such biometrical analyses are still greatly lacking.

The evolution between these types of horses is a distinctly historical one, which is further validated by recent genomic studies (e.g., Fages et al., 2019). We can now trace the introduction of Sassanian Persian genes during the Carolingian period, likely forming the genetic bedrock for the Baroque "collecting" types. This contrasts sharply with the 17th-century influx of eastern (Arabian/Turkoman) genes that prioritized the horizontal "speed" mechanics of the modern Warmblood. When instructors dispute these differences, they aren't just arguing against tradition—they are arguing against centuries of documented cultural selection and the very DNA of the horse.

source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080625004228

16/08/2025

Taking my students on the trail 🐎

25/06/2025

TRAINING - Das tumuln on the ground.

Tumuln was a central concept in the earliest works of German dressage written in the sixteenth century. Contrary to certain believes, or was not named after the more tumbling canter, but it means turning around regardless of the gait. In later times, it would be called a demi pirouette or in the words of the Italian masters of the time a ‘volta stretto’.

However, much opposed to the slow and static performance of pirouettes nowadays, the ealiest masters stressed speed. This is most clear in the work of Johan fayser who elaborates on the point of evolving from halbe zeit to Ganse Zeit.

The reasons are rather clear. The tumuln needed to function as a quick turn around or ‘Umkehrn’ which was one of the essential parts of the mounted martial arts of the medieval knight termed Rossfechten.

In this video, I transformed the ‘Buckarroo circle exercise’ by integrating more terre a terre or even corvette type movements in the turnarounds leading to an enhancement of the speed in the tumuln. Although this exercise is not described, it is interesting how combining different traditions of riding using similar principles render interesting results.

Little sidenote for the dressage nerds: notice how I use the voice in a similar way as suggested by cesare fiaschi.

17/06/2025

Doing some ‘cow work’ with a green horse. Although Geraldine had done some excellent work on the ground, she has not been riding to much. Hence, I wanted to check what the little girl has to offer. And it was quite a lot. Doing some cow work (albeit with a human), she demonstrated some refinement and lightness. Sure, there is still physical quality to devellop, but it is remarkable how much groundwork can prepare a horse even to a more complex task.

14/05/2025

IMPRESSION some starting sword play

10/05/2025

En nog een succesvolle les op buitenrit.
Goed gedaan Liezel.

And again a good lesson on the trail. Well done liezel

03/05/2025

IMPRESSIE - de duarte flow

Een van de flows die we in de verschillende gangen aanleren, is de Duarte flow. Deze is genaamd naar de Portugese koning Duarte die in de vroege vijftiende eeuw een werk over de middeleeuwse rijkunst en zijn toepassingen schreef. In dat werk beschreef hij onder meer de verschillende houwen die je te paard kan uitvoeren war leidde tot deze flow.

IMPRESSION - the duarte flow

One of the flows we perform in all the gairs is the Duarte flow. It is named after the Portuguese King Duarte who wrote a work on the medieval art of riding and its applications in the early fifteenth century. In that work, he described, among other things, the different haws that you can perform on horseback that led to this flow.

30/04/2025

ONZE JONGSTE STUDENTE NA
EEN JAAR

Nova Roos, pas acht jaar geworden, traint inmiddels een goed jaartje bij ons en het werd eens tijd om de lessen in een toepassing te brengen. Ze mocht voor het eerst zelfstandig op buitenrit.

En zoals je kan zien, geduldig trainen wordt beloond. Zonder stijgbeugels weet ze met nagenoeg perfecte zit en - misschien belangrijker nog - lichte hand Virtus in galop te voeren.

Nova toont hier waartoe goede horsemanship, op de grond en in het zadel, toewijding en wat geduld kunnen doen: een rijgedrag dat vele paardenliefhebbers vandaag ontbreken. Een rijgedrag waarbij het paard zonder overdadige druk, in alle rust en beheersing in galop openen buitenrit kan worden gevoerd.

Als een achtjarige kan, dan kan iedereen het! Niet ?

OUR YOUNGEST STUDENT AFTER

ONE YEAR

Nova Roos, who has just turned eight, has been training with us for a year now and it was time to bring the lessons into an a real practice. She was allowed to trailride independently for the first time.

And as you can see, patience is rewarded. Without stirrups, she knows how to carry Virtus at a gallop with a near perfect seat and - perhaps more importantly - light hand.

Nova shows here what good horsemanship, on the ground and in the saddle, dedication and some patience can do: a riding skill that many horse enthusiast lack today. A riding in which the horse can run outside without excessive pressure, in peace and cantering in control.

If an eight-year-old can do it, then everyone can do it! No?

SAEquestris

29/04/2026

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30/04/2025

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