Riding with Yarn Connecting Reins to Bit

In response to my friend Jeremy Steinberg’s recent article in the Chronicle of the Horse, in which he described Dietrich Von Hopffgarten commenting that he was disappointed with the heaviness of modern dressage and that he would love to see some of these riders try to ride for five minutes with yarn connecting the reins and bridle, I conducted this small experiment to tease Jeremy. I rode for 40 minutes on this nine year old FEI mare with yarn intact, and took the clips you see here.