This system, repeated daily, consists of the following conceptual, qualitative elements:

Relaxation is indispensable to any further achievement. It must be both physical and mental. With a green horse, this goal must become the rider’s consuming task for the entire riding period. As the horse shows an absence of tension, transmits the propelling energy originating in his haunches through a relaxed musculature, his impact on the ground will soften and the rider will need to spend less and less time and effort on relaxation. He will be free to go on to more complex and sophisticated goals. Without relaxation, the horse cannot render himself attentive to the rider’s aids, accept the bid, and listen to correct guidance concerning his haunches. Without mental relaxation and trust in the rider, the horse cannot achieve substantial physical relaxation.

Balance can only be achieved when the horse has a relaxed musculature and when he carries the rider with a swinging, articulating back that is stretched and elevated. A balanced horse will be able to keep identical strides through straight and bent paths and will make transitions that are distinct, with demarcation, yet without impure steps. Longitudinal balance is completely dependent on regularity and evenness of rhythm. Lateral balance, in addition to the above-mentioned needs, depends on the perfection in the evenness of the horse’s lateral (spinal) bending.

Rhythm is born of the composite success of relaxation and balance at work. The horse moves with absolutely even rhythmic strides in all three gaits both on straight and curved patterns and remains fully attentive to the rider’s guidance of lateral bending. His gaits will improve in purity and gain expression. The clarity of rhythm is indispensable to correct gymnasticizing of a horse because his evasions to the rider’s aids can only be by changing rhythm or becoming crooked. The rider cannot be careful enough as a guardian of rhythm. He should be able to adjust it immediately upon the horse’s changing it. Both slowing and speeding are equally detrimental evasions to the rider’s aids. Horses that are allowed to use rhythm changes for evasions will lack impulsion and engagement.

Elasticity occurs when the horse can stretch and contract various muscles in his body. Consequently, he can move his joints with greater articulation. As a result, depending on his development, he can show proficiency in stretching or contracting his body, thereby also lengthening or elevating his strides. Thus, he can show modulation in his gaits and perform more extended and more collected movements. An elastic horse shows extension and collection without altering the rhythm of his strides.

Impulsion is controlled energy. Impulsion is the correct propellant energy emitted from the haunches. It is expressed by flexibility of the joints, causing increased articulation, particularly rotation. Impulsion depends on the equal and proper utilization of flexion in all the joints, rather than one joint overworking to save efforts in others. A horse in correct impulsion will not appear hasty. Rushing is the enemy of impulsion. To be sure, impulsion is born of the horse’s natural instinct for flight. Swift movement is the instinctive potential for impulsion. Yet only when that instinct is tamed, controlled, and educated will impulsion occur. Impulsion is manifested by the horse’s ability to increase the activity in his joints, yet decrease his tempo. It is realized by slower, yet more articulate, flexibility and rotation in the joints. Born of the horse’s instinct to flight, impulsion is the sophisticated, gradual controlling of the flight instinct into brilliant, yet majestically slow, activity. Instead of headlong speeding ahead with stiff, rapid, small strides, the horse achieves a schooled way of moving by economy of speed in a gracefully coordinated carriage. Thus, the horse’s natural tendency to run, to move with joy and alertness, are tamed gradually and by careful, gentle control. Impulsion must be based on the preceding developmental stages.

Suppleness is three-dimensional: longitudinal, vertical, and lateral. A horse properly connected from the haunches to the bit is longitudinally supple. This must include the feeling of muscular “liquidity” that allows the horse’s impaction on the ground to blanket him softly, dispersing any stress, trauma, or shock to his system. Longitudinal flexion must be in self-carriage, terminating on a contact with the bit so light that the rider feels only the combined, actual weight of the reins and bit hanging in the horse’s mouth. There should never be a feeling of connection with weight exceeding that of the equipment. The horse must remain moving on his four legs, rather than being pushed into and “nailed onto” the “fifth leg” of the bit. Vertical suppleness is commensurate with the horse’s ability to flex his strengthened joints so as to press his pelvis forward, lower his croup, and increase the vertical, lifting articulation in his joints. When vertically supple, the horse will not only lift his limbs higher with increased flexion at the joints, but also will sink softly down on them when contacting the ground. The importance of this distinguishing characteristic of the horse softly sinking on supple, strong joints at the time he is impacting the ground is the crowning effect of vertical suppling. The softness of the vertically supple horse’s movement allows the rider to sit on motion so soft and elastic that his perceptions of the horse’s haunches can be exquisitely accurate. The lateral suppleness of the horse is based on his spinal alignment being even and exactly parallel with the pattern of his progression. The horse’s ability to bend evenly ensures that his hind legs can continue moving in the direction of the forehand on the corresponding side. When a horse evades lateral bending by pushing out or cutting in with his shoulder, or by skidding out or curling inward with his haunches, he refuses to stride correctly forward. The correctly bent horse, however, is moving with his “shock absorbers.” Lateral suppleness is very important because that is the primary source for the horse absorbing the shocks from ground contact when moving on an arc. Without bending, nature’s shock absorber, the horse will be traumatized by his impact on the ground and gradually be damaged. Riding skills should emphasize the skills for bending the horse, because riders who cannot bend the horse’s spine also cannot straighten it. Longitudinal, vertical, and lateral suppling are totally interdependent. It is inconceivable to develop one beyond the others. They interdepend even regarding the extent to which they develop. Riders, therefore, must see to it that the horse is always correctly aligned, between all aids, in self-carriage and with maximum lifting functions of his joints. Suppleness allows a feline movement of utter softness, as if floating over rather than hammering into the ground.

Collection is based on impulsion. It is the horse’s ability to shift his center of gravity more toward his haunches. Collection refers to an increased assumption of weight by the haunches. It is not a shortening of the neck by a pulling rider. Increased weight assumption in the haunches develops from increased articulation of the joints, including the lumbosacral joint, which is pushed downward by the horse’s lumbar back muscles. That causes the important tilting of the horse’s pelvis more forward and under. The result of true collection, by definition, includes the lightening of the forehand. This is manifested not only by the obvious grace with which the forearms can float from liberated shoulders, but also by the absence of leaning on the shoulders, allowing the horse to bounce higher at the withers. A collected horse’s movement feels and looks as if he is progressing both upward and forward.

Posted by andy in Articles

Bringing the horse to the aids is done primarily by driving leg aids and only secondarily with the concurring seat and derivative hand aids, as they all work together in a system. The horse cannot be engaged through the hands, not because I think it is wrong, but because it is physiologically impossible. This is not a matter of style, emphasis, method, or taste. It is a fact of objective physiological data.

When the horse is properly on the aids, the neck coincidentally arches and the poll flexes as part of the total longitudinal flexion. On top of the spinal column of the horse, following its entire length, runs the cervical ligament. At all times, this ligament should be fully stretched. When it is fully stretched, not only does its elasticity and resultant swinging activity increase, but it also will elevate the horse’s back. To elevate the back, a rider ought to lower the cervical ligament at both of its ends; that is, have the horse “tuck his haunches under” and stretch his neck forward and down simultaneously.

That is why just “showing the ground” to the horse, effectively lowering his head, is not enough. One must also simultaneously drive his haunches farther under him. The cervical ligament, and the back, will fully stretch and elevate only when both ends of the ligament are approaching the ground!

When the haunches engage more, then the biceps femoris muscles perform a major function and visibly press the stifle farther forward and upward while lifting hocks higher in their rotation, a lesser function. These muscles, running on the back side of the horse’s rump, are observable at the walk, trot, or canter as they “tuck the haunches under,” that is, they pull the back end of the ligament tight. The front of the ligament is attached to the horse’s skull and can be stretched by riding the horse’s head forward and down while engaging the haunches and tucking the pelvis. Without this activity, the horse is physiologically incapable of carrying the rider properly and developing gymnastically.

Once the back has been elevated, then the horse can balance himself. Thus, the correctly stretched horse, driven correctly by the rider, will “hang his head” from the muscles at the top of his neck just below the crest, the splenius primarily and the scmispinalis capitis secondarily. The horse does not need to support his head carriage by “shelving it up” with the brachiocephalic muscle of the chest. On the longitudinally flexed horse, regrettably referred to as being “on the bit,” all other muscles also automatically relax and move with a great deal of flexion or stretching to create ample, loose, effortless locomotion. These relaxed muscles can be observed “playing” in ripples under the fine summer coat of a correctly moving horse.

The greatest hindrance to driving the horse properly comes from riders stiffening their legs. Gripping the horse with tight legs, pinching heels pressing on his ribs, or banging legs are incorrect leg positions and deny aiding. Riding with the seam of the boots in contact with the horse’s side is a bad habit held over from the “beginner stage” when the rider needed to grip in order to balance himself to stay on. Often quietly elegant legs are confused with tight, gripping legs. The horse cannot monitor tight legs as aids and will sour to the pressure, which he will interpret as a meaningless second girth.

Weight on the horse’s sides will be tolerated much as he tolerates the weight in the saddle, but gripping legs cannot modulate and therefore never “converse.” In human terms, tight gloves do not communicate what gently squeezing hands can. Tight legs also create pain and discomfort much like tight shoes. In fact, with the passing of time, the pain induced by both tight shoes for humans and tightly gripping legs for horses sharply increases and gradually approaches the intolerable level.

Much has been written about the incorrect use of the rider’s legs, including the rhythmic upward “scratching” of the horse’s sides by rocking the toes down on the stirrup irons and scratching or digging the horse with the heels upward. The correct pushing aids depend on correctly placed, stretched, and draped legs that are hanging in relaxed yet continuous contact with the horse. Such a leg position can only be maintained if the ankles are relaxed, flexed, and can rotate to absorb the horse’s motion.

Rhythmically repetitious, yet not visibly obvious, forward-driving aids are the only legitimate driving aids. Of course, they must coordinate with the properly anchored seat. While learning correct driving aids or while teaching them to the horse, the frequent and light use of the whip is necessary. The horse must react to these rhythmically light and harmonious aids and if he “forgets” to react, a rider must remind him with a touch of the whip. The whip serves as a conduit from the rider’s mind and will to his horse’s mind and helps to create submission of the haunches. It is much better to insist on the horse’s attention to the aids early than to nag at him for years!

Effective aids are not exhausting to the rider and not souring to the horse. The horse is capable of flicking a fly off his skin and therefore can tune to the lightest aids if that is what you teach him. The horse can and should always pay attention to the rider while working, and should also be given frequent rest periods. The horse’s ears should not point forward but should be relaxed and slightly slackened back—a position indicative of attention to his rider. The horse’s eyes should not stare forward or roll sideways as if observing objects but rather look as if in a daze with an inward vision. As soon as the horse goes off the aids, tune him back with a stronger application of seat and leg aids.

We can ride neither forward nor sideways by physically displacing horses with force. That is, we cannot push them around. Regardless of how much power a rider may use, he cannot force the horse to do anything. No amount of strength can compel the horse to do anything. The simple reason is that the rider is not on the ground. Being seated on the horse, the rider becomes analogous to the horse’s own body parts. Therefore, a rider is as helpless in influencing the horse’s direction or impulsion by muscle power as his own earlobe is in determining where he should go and at what speed. Thus, muscle power and force will not ride the horse. Schooled aids will, and they might as well be light and harmonious. Since the horse has the neurological aptitude to react to very slight stimuli, he has the mental aptitude to perceive mild stimuli and differentiate between them for a sustained period of time. He has an excellent memory. Use of force and power will only stiffen the rider and horse. Sensitive aids will result in exquisite communications. If a horse pulls, remember that it takes two to pull! If the rider unpulls by yielding one rein at a time, the horse cannot and will not pull. Horses will learn anything. They will learn to gymnasticize on light communications just as easily as they will learn to do the same by harsh and heavy communications.

To increase the horse’s attention to the leg aids, two-track exercises are the most valuable. Two-track movements have terrific gymnastic value. Nothing else “brings the horse into the aids” more firmly than obedience to the complex two-track aids.

To build the horse from the hindquarters forward is not lightheaded idealism. It is a physiologically predetermined, compulsory training commitment. The effort begins as soon as one succeeds in gaining the horse’s attention to the forward driving aids. As soon as the horse accepts the legs without rushing, on the lightest aids he should produce the result of slower but greater rotation of the joints in the haunches. Nothing good can be developed from the horse’s mouth backward. The way is forward and upward in a slow rhythm in order to finally create a tall carriage.

Another method for collection is through “longitudinal engagement activity.” First of all, a rider must feel the gait of the horse and harmonize with it. This is easiest in the trot, but the same applies to the walk or canter. This activity provides a short diagnostic period during which the rider is a listener monitoring what the horse offers. Awareness of relaxation, submission to the aids, balance, rhythm, and impulsion allow a rider to produce desirable change.

The goal of aiding is always the “disturbance” of the status quo. A rider cannot disturb something he does not monitor and understand. He should ask for a change only according to need. Often, improved impulsion or regularity of rhythm may be the most important needs. A rider must begin to ask for longer or higher steps than those the horse volunteers. That is, a rider should lengthen or shorten the horse’s base by extending and collecting the strides.

Work on improving the gaits by lengthening and shortening the base, and alternate between the two modes. Extend the strides to the utmost that the horse can offer in pure rhythm and then collect as much as you can, without slowing the rhythm. It is important that the horse move forward fully stretched and instantly when asked. He should increase the amount of weight assumed by his haunches to “come back” when half-halted into collection. Gradual transitions in these exercises of going from extension to collection can weaken, while crisp ones with demarcation can increase their gymnastic value. Use hands, only in passive resistance, well connected to the rider’s pelvic structure and with the perpendicular torso pressing down to balance the horse back into collection. With every repetition, the aids should become much more refined because the horse’s understanding must be verified and rewarded. The horse will learn to respond quickly and to add longer periods of suspension to the gaits.

Further schooling of collection and resultant extension can be done on a circle 20 meters in diameter. This circle is one of the most important patterns on the way to Grand Prix. Incidentally, if one had to, one could train a horse in an arena that is a 20-meter circle. I am not recommending that type of confinement; however, in the nineteenth century, the Empress Elizabeth of Austria rode in a 20-meter diameter circular blue tent and achieved sophisticated results.

When riding a medium trot, the horse’s hind legs must pass over the hoofprints left by his forelegs. In that sense, the medium trot is an extended trot with modifications. In the medium trot, in contrast to the extended, the horse is not allowed to stretch his topline to full length and therefore some of the shoulder action of the horse is kept in reserve. The horse is not allowed to fully extend in the shoulders. Thus, the medium trot is ample in length but not fully extended to the horse’s utmost stretching ability. In the medium trot, the taller neck position and the higher but shorter use of shoulder action “compose” the horse into a very energetic and elegant movement. His haunches are well engaged but produce higher steps and a distinct lightening of the forehand, bouncing the withers up and lifting the knees higher. The medium trot is the bread-and-butter exercise on the way to Grand Prix. Without the medium gaits, the proper muscular development that produces the proper skeletal rotation just does not develop. The Grand Prix is born of development in the medium gaits. They build a strong, athletic body. The 20-meter circle is a wonderful gymnastic tool that, being a continuous line, allows the perpetual flow of motion. Riding the medium trot on the circle can give the trot special significance in furthering the improvement of balance.

For the development of medium gaits, a sense of “perpetual motion” is highly important. Riders feel that working often in medium gaits is detrimental, hard work. Remember that just a century ago in Paris, London, and Vienna and in the world’s other metropolises, horses were driven in medium trot across cities, pulling their passengers in carriages to dinners, dentists, theaters, and shopping—maintaining the tempo for miles, clock even, and on pavement.

The medium trot has the distinct signature of great engagement and impulsion in the quarters, combined with a slow and elevated motion of the forehand that “waits” for the arrival of the haunches. That relative restraint in the forehand, in relation to the reach of the haunches, defines that wonderful forward yet upward bouncing motion that gives the feeling of a horse rising in front of the rider’s thighs and sinking behind his seat bones.

The passage is born out of the medium trot. Both the strength and the skills needed by the horse for passage develop from medium trot work. Once the horse is ready for it, a bold half-halt during a medium trot can make the horse collect into passage. Medium gaits discourage speed or shifting the weight onto the forehand.

I hope that riders will engage their horse by using the three fundamental methods I have recommended here: put the horse on the aids, teach him the meaning of light legs, and use bending and two-track exercises. To increase his impulsion and confirm his balance, use transitions from longer to shorter strides. To stabilize the rhythm and build overall athletic and muscular development with skeletal proficiency, ride the medium trot on a circle.

Posted by andy in Articles

The Freestyle may be the king of dressage competitions provided the correct gymnasticizing of horses is not compromised. Judging it should be a pleasure. The element of novelty, the ingenuity manifested in composition, the thrill of the unexpected, all contribute to that feeling of evaluating something that is now “world premiered.” The Freestyle Test lets the rider emerge not only as a performing artist, but also as a composer/creator of art as well. Watching a brilliant Freestyle Test may give us a thrill similar to what audiences must have felt when Rachmaninoff played his own piano compositions in concert. Perhaps even more so, for often a Freestyle Test is seen for the first time, while Rachmaninoff’s works may have been heard before his performing them.

Riders earn scores by the propriety and ingenuity of their composition on the one hand and the level of technical perfection of performance on the other. The propriety of the Freestyle Test demands that the rider display all the gaits and movements appropriate to the level of development required by a standard test.

The ingenuity of the Freestyle Test depends on the rider’s artistic creativity, sense of proportion, and thorough knowledge of how to display his particular horse to his best advantage.

Composing a Freestyle Test
The test should appear fluent in composition and in movement. Movements should flow easily from one to another and offer a sense of gymnastic logic: progressing from simpler toward the more complex. Part of fluency is a vigorous beginning and crescendo ending, not unlike symphonies, which usually begin with lively, attractive passages and have an impressive finale.

When composing an impressive beginning to a musical freestyle, keep in mind that a rider ought to top the entrance by a magnificent ending. For instance, in a Grand Prix Freestyle Test, entering with a passage would leave diminished choices for an ending.

Here are some examples for building from simple to complex exercises:
In patterns, larger patterns such as large circles to smaller ones. Commonly used, familiar patterns are easier, such as riding on the center line, as opposed to riding on less frequently used patterns such as a quarter line. Or riding a serpentine limited in size to only one-half of the arena is more difficult to ride than one from wall to wall. While using new patterns can add interest and novelty to the test, making transitions at rarely used or not designated points (letters) can cause confusion and detract from the value of the design.

Transitions should also become more complex as the Freestyle progresses. In an old version of the Grand Prix test, there used to be complex and sophisticated transitions in the movement number 34: down center line at collected canter to halt at L. Followed by a rein-back of four steps, and then proceed directly in passage! A rider should provide such transitional feats later rather than at the beginning of a Freestyle Test.

Gaits can also be shown from simple to complex. Obviously, a working or medium gait is simpler than an extended or collected trot. Also, exercises at the walk are simpler than those at the canter. Think particularly of the pirouette.

The symmetry of the patterns is important. Not only is a symmetrical test aesthetically more beautiful, but also riding logic expects it. After all, the horse has two equally important sides that should be evenly gymnasticized. However, even the symmetry of a test’s design can progress from simpler to more complex expressions of symmetry. When the symmetry is simple, then an exercise performed on one rein is immediately repeated on the other rein. The figure eight is an example of this. An intricately sequenced pattern can include symmetry by several transitions repeated and its mirror image on the other rein delayed. A balanced test design gives an equitable distribution of effort to display all three basic gaits.

A rider may show more at his best gaits and much less at the weaker ones. He can do that without compromising the balance of the test by showing weaker gaits in a more novel pattern and at unexpected locations. Show the slow walk on short patterns. Show bold gaits on longer lines and for longer duration. This is gymnastically logical and also gives the impression of a bold, forward-thinking performance.

A Freestyle Test is artistic when it is logical rather than ambitiously confusing. When composing one, scrutinize it as to its fluency, complexity, symmetry, and balance. Ride it, to feel the performance quality, and have the courage to alter it when needed. Freestyle Tests should reflect perfect riding logic and the best performance of a given horse. Musical accompaniment is very important. Therefore, its quality and appropriateness strongly influence the rewards it may earn in the scoring.

Posted by andy in Articles

Offset stirrup irons are inappropriate for dressage! Their construction mechanically prevents the correct position of the rider’s leg, stiffens the ankle, and prevents the use of the pushing aids. For many riders, the most difficult area to relax while riding is the ankle. The offset stirrup, instead of contributing to relaxation, forces the rider to immobilize his ankle, and so, instead of contributing to a correctly hanging leg position, it makes the rider a prisoner locked into one set position by his stirrup irons.

Stiffness anywhere in a rider will spread from the stiff area and eventually affect most of the rider’s body. That is why suppleness in the ankle is particularly important.

The primary purpose of the rider’s leg aids is to create impulsion (forward locomotion, energy) and secondarily to create and maintain proper bending. In essence, all riding depends on the appropriate use of the legs because all gymnastic progress is based on the control of the horse’s hindquarters. Therefore, the correct position and effective use of the rider’s legs are greatly important, which is why offset stirrups are inappropriate.

Use a heavy stirrup iron for better feel, as well as for the occasion when you may lose contact with it. A heavy stirrup soon comes to rest at a vertical hanging position and therefore will be easier to regain. The rider’s foot should rest on the stirrup so as to touch the outside edge of the iron with the outside rim of the boot. The stirrup is a resting place for the foot and not an area for gripping or support. There is no need to press down onto the stirrups in order to remain in contact with them. Supplely rotating ankles, belonging to hanging and draped legs, will always accommodate the gentle swinging of the stirrups. Correctly placed and supple legs will not be ejected by the stirrup’s jarring. Instead, such legs will move the irons in harmony and rhythm with the horse’s motion. The more foot length available by contacting the stirrup close to the toes, the easier it is to push the heel down behind a flexible ankle. The lowering of the heels is a result of lifting the toes upward and stretching the calf muscles. Keep the toes turned inward and nearly parallel to the horse’s side with the help of supple ankles. Without this position, the calves cannot stretch and drape along the horse’s barrel for the soft, perpetual contact that is necessary for driving in rhythm and controlling the haunches.

Initially, adjust the stirrups short enough to encourage the stretching of the thigh and calf muscles. As these muscles stretch, a deep seat and longer leg position will earn the incremental lengthening of the stirrup leather. One earns longer stirrup leathers gradually by stretching the limbs while retaining their correct angularity and positions at the ankles, knees, and hips. Do not arbitrarily lengthen the stirrup leathers to seek the appearance of a deep seat without actually possessing deeply stretched calves and thighs. More than two hundred years ago the stirrups were shortened on the advice of de la Gueriniere because he realized that riding improves by a perpetual contact with the horse’s sides. The shorter stirrup enables the rider to keep his legs folded and draped around the horse’s rounded rib cage. Shorter than necessary stirrups initially may assist in stretching the rider’s leg muscles and eventually enable him to earn the much-coveted long stirrup leathers. Looking at the old engravings predating de la Gueriniere’s teachings, we can observe that riders’ legs were not in contact with their horses’ sides. Contact, in fact, is denied by having too long a stirrup leather, which causes the legs to dangle forward and away from the horse’s sides.

The rider’s legs act, move, accompany, harmonize, and aid differently in the three different gaits. Yet, in all three gaits, their activities and their effectiveness depend upon supple ankles, well-stretched thighs keeping the knees in a deep position, and well-stretched calves keeping the heels in a deep position. Without such leg position, there can be no effective control over the horse’s haunches.

Posted by andy in Articles

If saddles were not extremely important for increasing the rider’s effectiveness and the horse’s comfort, we would still be riding bareback. Horsemen recognized centuries ago, however, that saddles are necessary. The importance of riding in a suitable saddle cannot be emphasized enough. The best rider on the finest horse can lose much of his effectiveness as a master of the art because of a bad saddle.

All equipment should be safe and painless to both horse and rider. Safe and painless equipment depends on its appropriateness and quality. Equipment should be correctly sized, placed, and adjusted. All equipment should be well maintained and looked over often to check its durability and condition.

Beyond suitability and propriety of equipment, rider safety also depends on knowing the horse and dealing with him knowledgeably and lovingly. Rudeness, brutality, and carelessness can become dangerous for the rider. The horse is a placid, phlegmatic, grazing animal. Yet, he has genetically coded instincts for his defense and survival. He uses his defenses instinctively and indiscriminately. Nature provides no time for its creatures to think things over and make decisions based on careful analysis. The kick, the flight, the spin, the strike, the nip, and the bite, all come with the horse and belong in his survival kit. He can mete them all out to his rider without any feeling of malice. The horse cannot change his instincts, which do not include looking after the rider’s needs and welfare. The rider must remain alert, circumspect, cautious, and exercise all precautions to avoid injuries and even death.

Posted by andy in Articles