Watching Charlotte Dujardin perform recently at the Dressage Convention in the UK, my mum and I were taken with not just her obvious talent, but by the degree of control she maintains constantly. I was finally able to see first hand what my trainer is talking about when he says for me to "control every step."
Not only is Charlotte aware of every muscle of the horse and how it is working, but she is also aware of how those muscles interact with her own. She seems to know to what degree she can alter the horse or engage him or balance him without losing, for even a single second, the control of any element of the horse and of herself.
This is not simply a matter of being aware of the horse's body and how he places himself, it is also determined by our own self awareness.While Charlotte spends 5 days per week in the gym working on core strength, I would guess that some of this time is also dedicated to her mind muscle connection, i.e. the ability to connect the thought to move a muscle with the correct movement and placement of the muscle we intended to move. She must be in control of her ability to understand how a shift in her position relates to a shift in other aspects of her posture and balance on the horse. A top rider will know what other shifts or alterations are made, even if only slight, when they ask an aid.
If we are told to put our outside leg back to ask for canter, typically we may fall a little forward, shift our weight onto the inside seat bone, possibly allow the horse to fall a little in front or lose our connection on the inside rein. All of this happens in the blink of an eye and usually without our full awareness of what went on. In that blink of an eye we have lost control of the horse, lost control of ourselves, and possibly stuffed up the transition.
When a top rider puts his outside leg back, he will know to keep the rest of his body stable and without even thinking he will rearrange himself and the horse underneath him to ensure that no control, however small, is lost during the change in balance.
When we first think of controlling every step, we often think this means slowing the rhythm andperhaps in the beginning we may need to slow down and balance ourselves and the horse, but once we have control at a low speed, we also need to maintain that control as we speed up and slow down, when we go sideways, when we make a transition. We should be asking ourselves all the time, “did I ask for that, or did he dictate it?”, “am I in charge of my own body, or am I being ruled by the horse underneath me?”, and "was that transition on my terms or his?”
If you believe that you have the control over the stride and the balance of the horse, the more difficult aspect to gain control of is the contact. Often we see riders who seem to have control over the horse's mouth, when in actual fact the horse is behind the bit and so the rider is forced to pull back the rein to re-establish a firm contact. This is of course not correct and just because the reins aren’t slack does not in any way mean the horse is through to the bridle. A horse through to the bridle will have a rider who has established this contact from the back to the front of the horse,and then maintain that solid and even connection through constant monitoring and control of the elastic connection from the horse's mouth to the rider's hand.
I love articles that say “and then you just push the horse into the contact”, as if it’s like pushing a button and hey presto you have the horse in the right frame. Unfortunately, an even and constant connection with the horse's mouth is something that takes a great deal of feeling and control to establish, and while we may think we have a good connection, a lot of the time we are holding or stuck.
I often find myself thinking, "wow a forward swinging active trot, with elastic feeling in my hands, and a loose feeling through my horses body, and so" and I get stuck, thinking that if I freeze in that position I will maintain it. Wrong! The concept of constant control is about keeping one step ahead of the horse and constantly shifting the balance, with tiny, unseen, checks, so that you have the horse in your control.
My trainer says that when you get that good feeling, instead of just sitting like a stunned mullet on top, test it. Can I go forward, can I bring the horse back, can I flex a little to the outside, and back to the inside without losing that connection?!
The top riders are all the time telling the horse subtle but different requests to keep him always on the aids and they can therefore know when the horse is not listening, whether the horse is in balance, and when they have lost that all important every step control, even for a second. First thing is to know what your body does and how one aid affects another. Next step is to apply that principle in your riding and think every second, every step, every time you ride "am I totally and completely in control of me and my horse!?"
by Sarah Warne for Eurodressage - Photo © Astrid Appels
Read all of Sarah's Classical Training Articles here.