The Gogue is a piece of horse tack used for training purposes, and is very popular in Europe, with a similar place in training regimes as side reins. Its purpose is to encourage the horse to raise the neck, free the shoulders and engage the hocks, so that he may develop the correct muscles for a rounded topline.
Tack refers to equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates are all forms of horse tack. Equipping a horse is often referred to as tacking up. A room to store such equipment, usually near or in a stable, is a tack room.
Side reins are equipment used when longeing a horse, running from the bit of the bridle to the saddle or surcingle. As a horse training tool, they encourage flexion and softness in the horse's mouth. For longe line work with a rider up who does not carry ordinary riding reins, they help calm and settle the animal. However, they are a tool best used by experienced handlers; used improperly they may unduly restrict the horse's movement or cause an accident.
A chambon is a piece of horse tack. It is a strap that runs forward from the bottom of the girth or surcingle, and forks. The forks continue to a ring on either side of the bridle or halter, at the base of the crownpiece. Running through those rings, the forks follow the cheekpieces to the bit. They may attach to the bit or pass through the bit rings and attach to themselves below the horse's neck.
A martingale is any of several designs of tack that are used on horses to control head carriage. Martingales may be seen in a wide variety of equestrian disciplines, both riding and driving. Rules for their use vary widely; in some disciplines they are never used, others allow them for schooling but not in judged performance, and some organizations allow certain designs in competition.
History
The Gogue was developed by the French horseman René Gogue (1903-1988), who graduated from the French Military Academy of Saumur. René Gogue invented his rein in 1948 and immediately became an adviser of famous European riders. He theorized that poorly or unschooled horses had three points of resistance: the poll, the mouth, and the base of the neck. The triangular system was designed to release that tension.
Fittings of the Gogue
The Gogue has two fittings: the independent and the command.
The Independent Fitting
This is used for longeing or free-schooling the horse, when the trainer is dismounted, and some trainers also begin early mounted schooling in the Gogue. The Gogue is made a leather piece with cords attached. These cords fork at the horse's chest and each run through one of the bit rings. The cord then follows the cheekpiece of the bridle up to a ring or pulley at the side of the browband, before going back down to snap to the leather piece near the chest. The leather extends so that it can attach to the girth.
A girth, sometimes called a cinch, is a piece of equipment used to keep the saddle in place on a horse or other animal. It passes under the barrel of the equine, usually attached to the saddle on both sides by two or three leather straps called billets. Girths are used on Australian and English saddles, while western saddles and many pack saddles have a cinch, which is fastened to the saddle by a single wide leather strap on each side, called a latigo.
The horse is therefore "in control" of the action of the Gogue: when he keeps his head in the acceptable position, the Gogue has no effect. When he sticks his nose out or raises his head, the Gogue comes into action, raising the bit in his mouth and applying slight pressure to the poll.
The Command Fitting
This is for use during mounted work. The leather piece of the Gogue is attached to the girth, and it forks near the chest into two cords. The cords are then run to the rings or pulley at the browband, down the cheekpieces, and through the bit ring. From the bit ring they go toward the rider's hands, and snap onto shortened Gogue reins (which have metal rings at the end specifically for this purpose).
The rider should also ride with reins attached in the "normal" position to the bit, so he may use the Gogue rein as needed. Additionally, it can be jumped in (it has been used in competition) or ridden in cross-country.
Warnings on Use
The Gogue is a tool that is best used by advanced trainers that understand its application and have been trained to use it. The horse must go actively forward when the Gogue is in use. The Gogue may be adjusted extremely short as a device for rollkur, and opponents of rollkur consider this to be abuse of the horse. Additionally, novice riders should not use a Gogue when schooling, and more experienced riders are best to use it under the supervision of an instructor.
Rollkur or hyperflexion of the horse's neck is an illegal practice in equestrianism defined as "flexion of the horse's neck achieved through aggressive force" and is banned by the world governing body, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). The FEI recognises a distinction between rollkur and the riding of the horse in a deep outline not achieved by force.
Books
René Gogue, Le cheval dans le bon sens, Maloine Paris, 1979 René Gogue, "Problèmes équestres", Maloine Paris, 1996 René Gogue, Les voies du succès, principes équestres pour tous, Jean-Michel-Place Paris, 2002
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Related Research Articles
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