One of our world's greatest rider's once said that dressage is all about repetition. That is not to say that you should go around and around hour upon hour. It means that we must do, reflect, correct, and repeat, until we feel we have perfected or at the very least slightly improved upon the time before.
A horse is not a machine and he will not last forever, nor can his legs cope with going around and around for hours, so we must aim to do the most effective training we possibly can do with the least amount of leg time.
Today I began on my 7-year old stallion. Ideally, if you can, you should aim to start every horse with a loose walk. However, Batialo usually begins a little boisterous and over excited, so I must start with quite a firm contact on small trot circles and gradually begin to relax him more with big serpentines, and leg yields. Once I feel that he has settled and is listening, I gradually let his neck out, centimeter by centimeter, allowing room in front so that his back can swing.
To get more engagement I start transitions within the gait, ie. going on and coming back, not strong but subtle transitions that someone watching may not be able to pinpoint, but just enough so that he has to use himself and carry more weight behind. Once I can feel he is starting to use himself and I feel safe enough that he is listening to me, I do a canter warm-up, big circle in loose open canter to really loosen up his body. As soon as I feel that he is totally relaxed I give him a short free walk period to allow him to really stretch out, before getting into the more collected stuff.
When I take up the reins I am very careful not to shorten the walk but keep the freedom I felt in the loose rein walk and very gently take up the contact. The walk must not change in the rhythm and I must be very careful not to go to trot or canter, even, if I do not first have him stepping up into a balanced even walk on a good contact. I start then the transitions, trot/walk, trot/canter, canter/ trot, making sure that the transitions flow smoothly.
Data Collection Point: when I make the transitions, what is the first stride of the new gait like? Does he do one just on the spot? Does he come off the contact? If so, perhaps he is trotting into the shoulders? Perhaps I have too much weight in one shoulder, or he is falling out?
When I feel that he is making forward, engaged transitions, I test the balance and weight distribution with lateral exercises. Beginning on the long side, I move from shoulder-in to travers, and then back again, gymnastically motivating him to use more of his body.
Data Collection Point: Is the rhythm changing as I enter the lateral work? Does he fall off the wall in the Shoulder-in? In the travers does he lose the bend, or lose the quality of the trot?
Once I feel that he is beginning to collect more in the trot, I start the collected canter. I feel with Batialo that beginning with the collected canter makes him more forward and engaged in the trot, so I like to start with that. I begin more canter walk transitions, going on and coming back within the canter.
Then I will do some counter canter, and coming back on the wall in counter canter, as this really helps to check that he is staying straight into the downward transition. Currently aiming to improve my canter half pass, I will try one, and then walk.
Data Collection Point: Is he moving off my leg? Was it good or bad and why? Was he resisting stepping through with his inside hind? Or losing the bend?
If, was good, pat, don't do it again! If not wanted to step across with inside hind, begin travers on the long side, and into a big circle at the top, helping him to engage that leg, and also loosen it up for the half pass. If not bending, shoulder-fore in canter up long side, testing that he maintains the rhythm, balance and collection of the canter.
Data Collection Point: was it better? How did the exercise improve? If it didn't improve maybe I am tight in my shoulders, or my hips, or I'm pulling too much on the rein? Do I need to open up more my inside shoulder, or drop my inside hip?
When you feel like the half pass has improved, pat, relax rein, walk, Try again tomorrow for more angle, more bend, more freedom.
Trot exercises, usually try to keep it short, bring him up into collected frame and focus on one thing. Shoulder in, for example, moving into it, the transitions in and out, my position.
Data Collection Point: Did he keep the trot, did I get the bend, where was my leg, did I maintain the contact?
Once I get a good one, or a better one, trot stretch. Continue in rising trot letting him flow forward.
Data Collection Point: When I let him stretch his neck at the end did he take the contact? did he fall on his nose? Did the rhythm speed up or slow down?
The goal is to move into a rising working trot and have the horse gently ease the contact out letting his neck stretch longitudinally without changing the rhythm, losing the swing in his back, coming off the contact, or stiffening so that you cannot still perform slight flexions to either side with a gentle squeeze of the rein.
Free walk, sugar lump (treat of choice), and home!
This is not to tell you what to do with your horses. Every horse is different, and we all must find our own way to get the best out of them. This is to make you think. Sometimes we get comfortable in our routine of going to the stables and riding around looking pretty, and putting the horse away, and forget to set goals, dreams, strategies.
I'm not just talking about "I want to make it to Grand Prix." I'm talking about, today I want to make one perfect circle, or this week I want to really focus on the rhythm and the looseness of my hips. Data collection should be constant, if something feels off, or isn't working, stop-free walk, and think!
Why today, every time I go to the right, I can't do a good transition into the canter? Perhaps he is a little stiff on the left today? Perhaps I am dropping my inside rein as I go into the transition? Collect the data, analyze, repeat, solve the problem!
by Sarah Warne for Eurodressage
Related Link
Sarah Warne's Classical Training Articles