Relaxation and Tension

Anyone who has ever ridden the passage knows that the horse that is performing this incredible gravity defying feat is anything but relaxed! His body is employed in a special tension that seems to help him remain suspended as if from a cloud.
Similarly, any ballet dancer who has performed leaps into the air knows that he is anything but relaxed when doing so. Then why is it that we use this word 'relaxation' so often in riding? More than one of my riding masters of the past have told me to stop trying to relax....that's something you do when you are home in bed!
So then why do we still keep hearing people shout "relax" and talk about relaxing the horse as well? I think the answer is in the poverty of description. What I think people are seeking is calm and ease....not to be confused with 'easy'!!!
Someone who is calm and at ease might be so relaxed that both he and his horse are nearly asleep. If that same person were to switch on some body tone and change himself into a state of readiness or poise, the possibilities for the horse would also change. Poise carries a special quality of tension. Why people confuse relaxation with poise is because they have not understood what specific quality of relaxation they were after and what specific quality of tension they should steer away from.
I see it like this: the rider must have the complete ability to control the energy flowing through his own body. We are not well designed to be in a state of relaxation all day long but we are designed for outstanding energy flow. So what is the point we must focus our attention on? It is the opening up of cramped joints, loosening of fascia around muscle and organs and the quieting of the mind to remain on task to direct the body and the complete surrender of the body to the direction of the mind.
When the mind of the rider is separated from its task the body begins to develop many little minds that operate on their own. I recently heard Bettina Drummond jokingly tell riders to talk to their bodies...."bad hand! Stop doing that! You bad bad hand!!" The humor of her comments was so refreshingly realistic to exactly what one must do with oneself daily to bring wayward parts of one's own body into submission to the mind. Without awareness of what we are doing, without the humility to realize we need constant self-supervision and without the will to recapture ourselves we are forever going to romance that 'relaxation' is the panacea for our problems!
If we have a tight elbow, we need to find out why it is tight! It might be the improper placement too close to the body that is causing this. Or it might be that the elbow is held too far from the body. It might be a muscle in the wrist that is blocking the elbow. It might be your clothing is too snug or one tiny sinew in the elbow joint that you have not accessed and commanded to let go. You may have inflammation in the elbow from an injury or the elbow may simply be tired from overwork! Whatever it is, you must fix it!
So the state we are after is free access to all our parts and the ability to learn how to coordinate parts without losing access to any of them. Tension can be created in this state to great benefit!
Interestingly, this is exactly what we want for the horse! We do not want him to be like a sack of flour. We want him to carry himself with poise and form....to be in control of himself and yet....willing and able to work with us and respond to our requests. The horse is by nature enormously strong. Continuously trying to either strengthen or relax him is not the objective. What we are after, however, is the ability to organize his strength in a way that preserves and fosters calmness and ease. So opening and accessing the appropriate parts of both horse and rider bodies to render energy flow complete is the real relaxation and the real tension we should seek.