Baucher says: "Open your Laogong!"

I love getting the last word in: exiting on a killer line with a flick of the imaginary blond tresses. So deathbed sayings fascinate me.

Reading Racinet, talking about the great horseman Baucher, I came across Baucher's deathbed instructions to his friend General L'Hotte:

"Remember well, L'Hotte: always this (and he pressed L'Hotte's hand in his); never that (and he pulled L'Hotte's hand towards his chest)"

Well, maybe L'Hotte had heavy hands so it was important enough to remind him at the last. For me, Baucher, Racinet and co are developing my understanding of what I've been learning with James Shaw for the last few years. And one vital thing is the vexed question of "good hands".

One thing I know is that I don't have them naturally. I have a well built propensity to pull, hold fast, get rigid in the right hand, and a left hand that resembles Elvis's trembling hips, it's so out of control. 

One of the main teachings that James brings from Tai Chi is the understanding and use of energy gates in the body. He goes into this well in his book so look there for more detail. They are areas of the body where we classically hold tension and need to learn to consciously release them and then control them. For riders, the first block is usually at the small of the back, an energy gate known as the Ming Meng. Other typical spots are the back of the neck, known as the Upper Pass and the hands, known as the Laogong. Releasing these areas causes major changes in the horse as they release them and so can collect naturally, without any force or artificial aid. Learning to do it is both simple and hard!

When I open the Laogong in riding the feeling is of pressing into the rein, almost like giving someone a gentle connecting hand squeeze. Roisin softens, drops her head and chews. 

So I reckon Baucher was in touch with his inner Tai Chi master and knew well how to open his Laogong and probably, all his other gates too.

Thanks to Lynne Gerard for permission to use the book  illustration, which she designed. Her website journals the story of the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve and is really worth visiting.