Symposium: Developing the Dressage Horse
Sunday, December 5, 2004
Demonstration at the Kentucky Horse Park
Christoph Hess, substituting for Anne Gribbons:
Raison D’Etre, 6 year-old TB Cross
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You can see that the rider is very happy to have this horse, and that the horse is confident. This is an ideal picture on entry to the arena.
You need to be careful with horses that have a lot of TB blood—they tend to run. The horse must be in front of the driving aids, but not hurrying. The horse must have a chance to swing over the back with a clear 2 beat rhythm, but the correct tempo is needed.
The horse must stretch his neck and seek the bit, but also be in front of the driving leg. The rider must control the curving line with the outside rein and the outside leg. A warm-up of this type is better for the mental and physical health of the horse and the harmony between the horse and rider.
With a big-gaited horse, it is important that the horse has an absolutely clear 3 beat rhythm that is forward, uphill but that is not hurrying or running. This is necessary from the outset or you will not have the quality you need when you ask for collection later. The impulsion must continue in collected gaits as well. The biggest mistake early on is to not demand an adequately forward, impulsive canter depart and working canter from the outset in these younger horses—especially these that are bigger gaited. YOU MUST NOT—CANNOT—SETTLE. BE VIGILANT!!!
The horse must be ridden uphill and fully forward to become fully supple and realize its full potential. THIS is impulsion. We need time to school our older horses for this work before we can school specific movements. If our time is limited, we should limit our session to this work and skip schooling movements (i.e., lateral work and/or flying changes). This is the only fair and correct way to school/work with the horse.
Next: within the canter, do transitions from extended to working to collected canter, as well as changes of leg through the walk so that the horse has a good feeling of changes through the driving aids, then canter-walk transitions on the circle.
Before working on flying changes, the horse must be “awake” to the leg (remember Steffen’s technique), then you can try the changes. The horse MUST be in front of the leg. Ride the changes forward. This horse sometimes kicks at the change of leg—if the rider feels the horse will kick, then this is not the time to ask.
Steffen Peters:
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If the horse is anticipating, practice a little counter canter. Don’t practice it too much, because it can disturb the rhythm, although it can help with collection.
The aid for a flying change is the inside leg at the girth, and the outside leg behind the girth. The preparation is the BEFORE the change, by moving the legs, and then APPLYING the legs when we want the change. The request should not come as a surprise to the horse. REMIND the horse to be straight, not step every stride. We are creating POSITIVE HABITS on our horses.
We accomplish collection by adding pressure with our seat and legs in to a gentle restraining contact (not the absence of using hands—but our use of the hands should NOT be strong).
TRY NOT TO PREVENT A MISTAKE by driving in the rhythm of the canter every stride—instead, work with the horse’s brain to teach him that he’s supposed to stay in the canter. You do this by immediately correcting him if he breaks to the trot—PUSH HIM IMMEDIATELY FORWARD into a MEDIUM CANTER. You want the horse to start thinking. The horse really has to make that step. If you use up all of your ammunition now, you won’t be able to a canter pirouette later—something will go wrong. Why not try and let the horse get used to this particular aid instead?
Rivita—9 year-old mare by Riverman
Steffen and Scott (at various times):
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This mare has some contact/resistance issues, but she can be forgiven a lot because she has taken time out to have 3 foals. This is the mare that is very special to Scott, and to his breeding program—and he has a great deal of faith in her despite the difficulties she presents to the rider. (She’s also had some pretty outstanding scores, in the hands of an experienced rider, to warrant that confidence, too).
She needs to come under, but she comes against the hand. Transitions alone will not correct if the mare is not corrected. Tami is asked to tap her with the whip to remind the mare to pay attention—not to send the mare forward—when she doesn’t halt in acceptance to the bit. She must accept contact with the bit from the outset.
What can we do when the horse is resistant and is pulling on us? EVERY judge will blame the rider because it appears the rider is holding the horse. The rider must teach the horse to respect the rein aids, and must be able to flex the horse to the outside for 6 – 7 strides, and then let go. A FRAME does not occur by magic.
Bending to both sides is just as important as the suppleness through the back and poll. The horse needs to be asked and released, not cranked and held to the inside. The bending aids also need to be schooled in the canter, but the horse must not be allowed to run in the transition. If the horse does, the horse needs a tap with the whip to remind them to pay attention to the half halts. We cannot just hold and hope that after a few years our horses will get supple. We must take the initiative. If we accept a poor transition, then the horse will think that she can always do a poor transition.
We are looking for suppleness and rideability through bending aids and flexing on straight lines, and by riding circles, not just leaving the mare alone. We need to have a constant conversation, doing things for 7 – 8 strides at a time. In the stretch, look for a consistent frame—use little half halts and bending aids to find the ideal frame and tempo.
We must correct all work that falls beneath our standards or else the mare will think that she has satisfied us with her work.
This mare has scored 72 – 86% under a pro, because a pro can fake things. She is not, however, an amateur horse. She is also an incredible show jumper, clearing 5 1/2 to 6’ with ease.
Alfredo, 13 y.o gelding by Akzent
Steffen Peters:
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Today, while Steffen was riding him, he was testing the driving aids and was resistant about the arena exit. Steffen had to be very firm that the driving aid and the straightening aid were in place. Steffen had to bend and keep the aid consistently in place for a few steps before releasing, in order to work through the tension.
When approaching the corner, the horse needs to listen and Steffen needs to feel the energy goes appropriately into both reins. The horse must move forward INTO the hand. We cannot accept that he moves against the hand. This horse is a little bit difficult because he wants to do a change when we straighten the canter—in that case, we’ll straighten with shoulder-in, and once he is safely on the aids, can then try riding the flying changes.
The worst mistake would be to hold the horse in front and force him into a frame.
For a walk pirouette, the horse needs to be in perfect balance between the legs. It is better to do a working pirouette and let the coordination between the legs sink in. If we try to do a full pirouette, we need to wake the horse up momentarily with the spur. A bad reaction is better than no reaction. We are training the reaction.
After a bit, we can relax the horse with the canter. If the transition is poor, we need to do it again. We must maintain high standards. Why give points away in a highly trained FEI horse? Is the horse on the leg in the canter pirouette? If not, use the spur, but then always go back and give the horse the chance to do it lightly from the calf. The snaffle should always be the dominant rein. The curb is a reminding rein. We need to always be willing to go back to basics again so that our horses are sensitive to the aids (rein, seat, legs)—we are making our horses rideable so that we can ride the canter pirouette easily from the calf. Use every single mistake to make the horse more rideable.
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anyway. If there is a mistake in the changes, ride the horse forward to get the horse on the leg, rather than continuing with the line, having ignored the mistake. All mistakes should be corrected AT THAT MOMENT in a positive way so that the horse pays attention.
Even in the walk rest break, the horse must still respect the leg 100%. The idea of a marching forward walk and the readiness to return to work must still be there. Nagging to go forward is absolutely NOT acceptable. A change in the rhythm, pulling when the reins are short, contract increased in walk from long rein is absolutely NOT acceptable.
The rider must be open to suggestions from the ground. What feels OK to the rider may not look good to the eye on the ground. Steffen relies on his wife, Shannon.
If the horse is pushing against the leg, that must be corrected before starting to school the tempi changes.
Scott Hassler:
Some horses adjust to FEI work in hand better than others. When working with a lunge, Scott attaches it with the clip out so that it cannot be released accidently. He also attached the side reins in such a manner that they are not so tight as to restrict the walk. First, the horse must be taught to move the hindlegs for what is wanted.
Ordinarily, you would use a solid wall. The rein/lunge hand should not have too much contact. The whip hand should tap lightly: RH, LH, RH, LH just as piaffe. This is to teach, not to correct. Occasionally ask the horse for a reinback, so the horse doesn’t develop a “program” and start to anticipate. This will decrease tension. The idea is to get the horse “in front of the leg” and not to get the piaffe from tension. Occasionally, Scott will let the horse lunge in a small (15 meter) circle around him as a reward. He makes the work in hand almost a “Mother, May I?” game—walk slow, then fast, then halt, then piaffe—the horse must pay attention and follow the handler’s body language and light cues from the whip and lunge line half-halts.
Scott notes that the piaffe with its walk breaks (and brief lunges in betweens) has its practical applications: in the Grand Prix Special, the horse must immediately relax from the piaffe into the extended walk.
Versatility in training is an ideal—letting horses play, with breaks, hacks and changing things up keeps them fresh and willing partners.
Question and Answer
Q: What does your ideal work session consist of?
A: Scott’s ideal work session would be 15 – 20 minute hack on a long rein, followed by a serious work session, then another 20 – 30 minute hack afterwards. He can’t manage that himself, but if he has the staff available, he will have them take the horses out on a hack.
Q: Can you please clarify how we should be absorbing our horses' movement. Should it be in our hips, in our abdomen, or in our upper body?
A: Steffen said that he wanted to stress that the rider’s HIPS should be absorbing the horse’s movement. In order to do this, the rider needs strong abdominal muscles to support their torso and rib cage, and to keep the upper body vertical.
Tami Crawford and Dakota
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Steffen Peters:
Movements don’t have to become better quality, but they need to become more reliable and secure—the basics must be in place.
On the centerline, the horse has a tendency to anticipate the halt. Since the first centerline “motivates the judges to have warm fingers” to quote Christoph Hess, it is an extremely important movement for the test. To deal with the anticipation, ask for collection over X, but if the horse makes the mistake of anticipating, send him well forward with the driving aids. Take care to keep him straight. DO NOT allow him to halt. You are resisting his tendency to halt, but instead asking him to pay attention to YOUR aids. Within collection, we want impulsion—we want a clear desire to move forward.
The horse must understand the difference between making pirouettes smaller and bringing the haunches in. The size of the pirouettes is completely up to us. There is a clear difference between increasing the travers movement and making the circle smaller. We must have a high standard and create positive habits in our horses so that they know how hard they have to work every day.
The horse was stiff on the right, so he was counterflexed to loosen, and then he was asked for changes again (he’d changed late behind just prior). The horse must be perfectly even on both reins and both legs. In the walk reward, the horse MUST stay 100% in front of the leg and give the walk you want. The horse must get used to the full walk you want to demonstrate in the test—you need to gymnasticize the hip and stifle in addition to the hock while you are relaxing the rest of him on a break.
To ask for the piaffe, close the leg a little, the a hand a little and cluck a little. That should be enough of an aid in the training. The spur should not be used in the rhythm of the trot as an aid but only as a reminder if the horse begins to lose energy and/or rhythm. The spur is not to be used to help in the training. You can help the horse with the rhythm during TEACHING the piaffe, and in a test if you need it, but he should go off these VERY minimal aids in training so that you have ammunition available to you when you DO ride a test.
You don’t have to teach this horse to do a better piaffe, but just to do one consistently off these quiet light aids.
Question and Answer
Q: How do rhythm/sitting relate in the piaffe for scoring?
A: The rhythm is the most important. If the horse moves a little forward it is OK (not for an 8 or 9, but a 7). If a horse is too much under himself, there will be a loss of balance and the rhythm will be lost, so the marks will get lower—and it will be harder for the horse to push off into the passage.
Q: What is the difference between collected and working gaits?
A: In the collected gaits the trot is higher, with greater elevation, and the stride length is shorter, with the hindlegs just stepping into the footsteps of the frontlegs. There is also elasticity, with an uphill carriage. In the working trot, the hindlegs step beyond the footsteps of the frontlegs.
Q: How does rein length relate to frame?
A: The rein length doesn’t change the horse’s frame. The rein length needs to be adjusted to allow the arm to be appropriately positioned in order to apply effective rein aids. The reins are NOT an extension of the neck, and are NOT an instrument to allow the horse to pull us onto the forehand. In order for the rider to adjust the frame, the rider must use half halts and the bending aids. The rider is to attend to the FRAME, not just the NECK.
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