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Developing the Dressage Horse Featuring: Scott Hassler, Direcotr of Training at Hilltop Farm in Colora, MD. Scott is also the American Representative of the International Trainers Club, on the Executive Board of the Oldenburg NA/ISR Registry, and Chair of the USDF Sport Horse Committee and a member of the USEF Breeding Committee. Christoph Hess, Director of Training and Education for the DOKR (German Olympic Committee for Equestrian Sports), member of the FEI Eventing Committee, and an FEI “I” Judge for Eventing and Dressage. Steffen Peters, 1996 Olympic Bronze Medalist, and first alternate for the 2004 US Olympic Team, as well as many other top honors, both nationally and internationally in dressage. He is also a highly-respected and much sought after trainer and clinician. Scott Hassler: The horses on the 2004 Olympic Team were of 4 different warmblood breeds, and included 2 geldings, 1 mare and 1 stallion, but they shared some common characteristics: all were outstanding athletes with good work ethics and fun to ride. What this boils down to is that A GODD HORSE IS A GOOD HORSE. A good mind and a willing attitude makes for a good horse, and this is not confined to the warmblood breed. Any horse that is fun to ride will bring enjoyment into someone’s life. The YOUNG HORSE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP is now in its second year in the USA. There is a tremendous amount of excitement about this championship, which is serving to bridge the gap between breeders and trainers. An inspection is ONE DAY in a horse’s life—and should therefore be taken with a grain of salt. It is a source of information and feedback—constructive criticism—but it should be remembered that a horse may not present itself well on that particular day. The results neither guarantee nor rule out a future Olympic medal. Furthermore, breeding itself is a gamble, not a formula. When it works, it is exciting and when it doesn’t, it is disappointing. There is never a guarantee. At shows like Devon, you are evaluating a RIDING horse, not a breeding result, and the results will also include the result of exposure to the environment. Materiale classes are designed to give younger horses confidence in a group, and take into account (and accept) the immaturity of these younger horses, and tension due to their young age is not penalized by the judges. These classes are an opportunity to give these horses show exposure and to give the owners and breeders a critique of the horses as RIDING HORSES. It is important that training of the young horses be undertaken for the well-being of the horse rather than with a particular goal in mind, and that the goals be allowed to declare themselves as appropriate as the horse develops. It is easy to fall into the trap of training the horse for a particular goal, rather than the horse’s well-being, but the horse and ultimately the horse’s career, tend to suffer as a result. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE HORSE LEARN TO FUNCTION AND BE CONFIDENT IN THE SHOW ATMOSPHERE. 3 to 4 year-old horses should be thought of as nice new students to play with and taught a basic foundation until they reach the age of 5. At that time, they can begin serious work. At that time, the young horse classes become an option for them to enter to enter sport—although Training Level is another competition option. What we need most, however, is to develop trainers who can take our horses there. Christoph Hess: In the young horse classes, horses are given a single mark that represents an overview of the whole product, both the good and the bad. Within that single mark, there were 5 individual marks that contributed to the final score: individual marks for walk, trot and canter, and also one for submission and so forth, and for the overall harmony and impression. This mark is meant to tell the rider/trainer whether the horse’s training is on track or not—whether the training is going forward according to the Training Scale. The judges are not only looking at the horse’s gaits, but also the horse’s motivation to work. An excellent horse must be a workaholic—this is much more important than a horse with really big gaits. In Germany, there are more than 100,000 broodmares and more than 45,000 foals are produced each year under the auspices of the 38 member breed associations. Breeders take into account the Stallions’ tests and Mares’ tests, which evaluate the walk, trot and canter, as well as the rideability, jumping and parcours jumping (eventing-type course), as well as results in competition (both as young horses and in upper level classes), as well as offspring produced. From this, they will come up with a breeding strategy, and most aim to produce a specifically talented horse for dressage or jumping. Ideally, the young horses they produce will be trained by experienced or professional riders. If this is not possible, then they will be trained under the guidance of an experienced coach or trainer. If possible, the horse will be cross-trained in dressage, jumping, and eventing, but this is becoming less and less common as more breeders are choosing specialization. Steffen Peters: In the ongoing trainer of the horse, there are two critical key words: standards and expectations. In all work, our STANDARDS and EXPECTATIONS must always be of the highest level, or our work will never be to our satisfaction. Steffen will spend the weekend discussing the seat, rein and leg aids—the basics of dressage training whether working with a young horse, or at the FEI level—and will demonstrate that if our standards are too low, there is always trouble. First and foremost, the rider must have a correct SEAT. The rider must sit CENTERED, and the abdominal muscles must be strong enough so that the upper body is held erect and the horse’s motion is absorbed through the HIPS and not through the ribs. Secondly, the horse must be willing to go forward from the LEG aids. This must be from the CALF without excessive use of the spur. The spur is a REMINDING aid and not a driving aid. The leg should not nag or drive—it should only remind. The pressure from the leg should be that of a wet towel—if it takes more than that, there is going to be trouble later on during the collected movements. (More leg may be needed periodically, from the calf, may be needed to remind the horse, but the continued leg pressure should be light). How do we get our horse to this point so that we can stop nagging? There is nothing wrong with using the spur momentarily to remind the horse that we mean business. Finally, the rein aid must be used correctly. The hands should be thought of as analogous to side reins, and not as restricting, except momentarily when providing an aid. We want to gain control of our horses, not to throw the reins away. We should feel even during the stretchy circles that we are able to control the horse’s neck. Young horse’s must accept all 3 aids, and should always try to be EXPLAINING to the horse, using our aids, what it is that we want him to do. The part we are trying to reach is NOT the hind end, the shoulder, etc.—IT IS HIS BRAIN! The bending aid on a 20 meter circle should remain for 4 – 5 steps, no more—after that you must give the inside rein to test if the horse has learned what you want. You are asking with the inner rein and inner leg, but when the horse answers, you must tell him he has answered correctly by releasing the inside rein. The GOAL is that you are able to let go. What do you do when the horse clearly resists the bend? Introduce a little leg yielding to make sure that the horse understands the leg aid. This asks for suppleness. Again, make sure to reward the horse when he responds correctly. When we ride a horse forward, he must also come back. First test this is the transition from walk to halt. Is the horse clearly responding? You must have a high standard. If the horse comes back immediately (one stride), then you are in good shape. If not, you are in trouble, and you need to use a correcting aid. Steffen uses a gentle tap on top of the croup with the whip to get the horse’s attention—this is not as a punishment, but to say “Look, buddy, pay attention!” He then asks again, and corrects again, repeating until he gets the correct response. Only when the horse accepts the rein aid can we think of the seat aid as a collecting aid. All horses learn collected canter by breaking into the trot at least once. This is not a problem. Rather than increasing leg pressure (remember, the goal is to keep our aids light), Steffen corrects the horse by pushing the horse immediately back into a very forward canter. In this manner, the horse learns from his mistake. This is holding the horse to a high standard, and the principle that the horse must respond to light aids. If the horse drifts outside on the circle, but doesn’t understand the leg yielding aid, we’ll lose him because he isn’t understanding the aids. Increasing the strength of the aids both breaks our standard of light aids, and won’t help him to understand. The horse must be educated to listen to the very refined light aids. Instead, return to the basics and reinforce moving off the leg, perhaps at the walk. The horse must be able to be ridden in extreme collection before a canter pirouette is possible. He must also have a willingness to go forward—this is only possible with a horse that understands and responds to light aids. A few times you may have to tell a horse that you mean business, but then go back to the light aid. The GOAL is to always ride off the light aid, and to keep returning to it in between more serious corrections. You must teach the horse the expectation. Return to the USDF Convention Table of Contents. |
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