Too often with dressage training and horse training in general, methods are forced upon the animals without attention being paid to what the animal is thinking. Horses will often submit to pressures but never fully understand what they are supposed to be doing. Tactics that help some horses understand will not help others at all, depending on their personalities and motives. Training formulas serve only as guidelines in teaching horses. Each horse learns differently, thus each horse must be trained as an individual, taking his or her thinking into account.

It is common for horse training to become mechanized. It fits with the human brain and is easier for some people to have a formula that says ‘if this, than this,’ however, dressage is not mathematical logic. Instead of going straight to cliché models, riders must learn to listen to their animal in the moment. A common situation where this comes into play is when a horse spooks. Horses are flight animals and we all know how they love to run away from anything remotely ‘scary.’ However, horses love to use spooking as an evasion as well. There is no solid line to determine which spooks are fear-induced and which are attempts to get out of work- even with the same horse on the same day. Each cause for spooking must be responded to with a different technique. If the horse is scared, talking calmly, bending and sending him forward into your outside rein is appropriate. If the horse is evading, sharper, firmer aids are needed to get his attention back on the rider and drive him forward.

To know how to react, the rider must know the horse and what his common patterns of behavior are, pay attention to the specific situation (was there anything new or particularly different to spook at?) and react accordingly. Another common situation in which horses can be misinterpreted is when they break from the canter to the trot inadvertently. Dressage riders love to ‘bring their horses back and rebalance’ after the horse breaks to the trot. If the horse broke because he is truly off balance, this is advisable. However, quite often horses will break because they think they are supposed to or know they can get away with it. In this case, bringing the horse back more only reinforces the behavior. Instead, the rider must kick the horse back into the canter and carry on. In order to react correctly in a given situation, riders must know their horse and be willing to think and feel instead of defaulting to a formula. It certainly takes time to be able to figure out each situation on the spot, but simply starting to pay attention to the horse’s thinking is the first step.

Spending quality time with your horse will build your connection and help you to know what he is thinking when riding.

To become better at understanding horses, the best thing to do is spend time with them and learn how they think and communicate. Spend time watching horse and listening to horses. One avenue is to observe group dynamics, how horses interact with other horses. What I have found to be even more useful is to spend time developing your special communication with the horse. As with two people, the more time a horse and rider spend together, the more they will understand each other. Spend time grooming, grazing, hand walking. Don’t be in a hurry when you ride. Even if you only have 20 minutes of time to ride, when you get on, try to not rush those minutes. Also, when riding, do not drill-be willing to stop in between movements and think about how it felt and what the horse was telling you. Be willing to change patterns and try new cues to help your horse understand.

In dressage training, there are well prescribed maxims that can help horses and riders communicate. For example, riding the horse back to front, inside leg to outside rein and the dressage training pyramid are fundamental training tools. Classical theories have proven the most effective guidelines over centuries of training and communicating with horses. However, these are overarching principles, not situational diagnostics. Good modern trainers will hold these fundamentals dear, but will take the appropriate approach with each horse in each situation. ‘Classical dressage’ describes a system of training horses but on the finer points, every trainer will have their own methodology.

All riders can benefit from working with a trainer to help interpret the horse’s communication. With so many methods out there, it can be confusing to know which trainers are effective and beneficial to work with. A universal sign of good training, is that the horse understands what you want him to do (and the rider understands too for that matter!). If you tune into your horse, he will tell you if he is frustrated and confused or understanding and happy. Not always will horses be happy right off the bat if their agendas and training methods are changed. But as they work into patterns, progress and understanding should become obvious with good training. Good training does not shove animals into a mold of prescriptions but takes into account the horse’s thinking.

Danica Yates is a sport horse trainer in the Portland, Oregon area. FEI and European experience, four years private training with Olympian Debbie McDonald. Training, lessons and board are available. Call (503)278-1112 or visit www.danicayates.com for more information.

The significance of taking walk breaks can often be overlooked in the process of training sporthorses. Each of the three gaits is important and should be developed evenly. Developing a relaxed, forward free walk can help improve the other gaits. Walk breaks should be used with intention. Timing and technique can make the most of your time spent in breaks. Walking can serve as a useful training tool both mentally and physically.

When you take walk breaks make sure your horse is moving out in his walk. Often when horses take a break on a long rein, they ‘go to sleep’ in the gait. You want to encourage your horse to take big open steps even when he is walking to encourage reach in his stride and freedom in his back. I tell my students “no slugs” when I see that a horse has fallen behind the leg. Staying in front of the leg with big open steps is the most beneficial for your horse’s body. Walking forward works and stretches the correct muscles for developing free movement. Think of yourself walking: in the mall shopping you take little mincing steps and can come home with sore muscles and sore feet. However, if you are ‘walking forward’ on a hike or other outing, walking can be a useful tool for stretching and relaxing. Also, it is very important in dressage and jumping to always ‘think forward’ whenever the horse is being ridden in the ring. Even in the breaks, do not let the horse fall behind your leg- he should learn to stretch his walk without constant reminders. Developing a good free walk can help improve the forward motion and freedom in the other gaits.

Walk breaks can be used as an important training tool for horse and rider. When a horse has done something very well, I will come back to the walk and ‘make a fuss over him’ petting and giving verbal praise and then let him walk for a minute on a long rein. This is a very powerful way of letting the horse know that he has done what you asked correctly. When horses are learning, they will remember this positive reinforcement and associated it with their actions. Some riders like to give treats from the saddle as further reinforcement of the praise. The free walk is a valuable time to let the horse think about what has just happened in his training. The still moments are important as well as the busy ones. The breaks create a space where your horse can process your cues and not become overwhelmed. Jumpers who become revved up in their work will benefit from frequent halts and walk breaks. Once relaxation is reestablished, an even tempo down to your next fence may be easier to achieve. Walk breaks are important for the rider as well. If you ever feel yourself becoming frustrated, walk and think about it. It is always better to slow things down and figure it out than to keep pushing and make mistakes. Walk breaks are useful times to relax your body and mentally check up on your position and schooling plan for the day.

Dressage and jumping are physically and mentally demanding sports. For all horses and especially young horses, it is important not to mentally push them too fast. I use the same training principles of rhythm, relaxation and contact with any age horse. I require the same responsiveness and attention from with my three year olds as with any horse; I just make sure to give them lots of walk breaks and appropriate length work outs. Again, relate it to yourself- have you ever felt an ‘information overload?’ Sometimes it is not harmful, so much as it is ineffective. Don’t try to pack too much in one session. Make sure if you begin working on a task with your horse, that you do not get off topic. It is important to follow through with the work you begin, so that your horse can learn a clear and decisive lesson by the end of your ride. For example, if you are working on sensitivity to the half halt, you can use transitions within and between gaits on various patterns. The goal is to achieve some good reactions before you are done. Don’t settle for a mediocre, mildly respectful half halt and start work on a half pass or jumping a forward line. Follow through with your objective. As well as his mind, dressage and jumping are quite demanding on a horse’s body, working horse’s muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments. Especially for the heavy built horses, suspension and impulsion put significant impact on his physical systems. Overuse injuries such as suspensory ligament injuries can occur in normal training.

With training horses, I work by the maxim, “less is more.” (*Thank you Bob McDonald for your tutelage!) The goal is to school effectively and school less. Every jump you take or every day you school wears on the horse’s body, so make each one count. Drilling over and over again, I believe, is not the most effective way to train. Riding each pattern or jump with intention is effective. Get it correct and stop. There is no need to ride on and on when the horse has made an effort for you and done what you have asked. Reward his good efforts and save him. Some horses need more schooling than others, but generally with sporthorses, 4-5 days per week is sufficient work to train them effectively. A workout may last 20 minutes up to 1 hour. Just remember that the precision and exertion of the sports differ from trail riding or other pleasure riding which can go on for hour after hour with minimal impact.

Free walking is a fabulous way to condition your horse with minimal impact on his body and mind. 30-40 minutes of walking a day will only add to his relaxation and fitness. If your barn has a hot walker, a brisk walk on that should be incorporated into his workout plan. Try incorporating 15 min of walking into the beginning or end of your ride.  It is a good time to bond with your horse as well. I always come out and give my horses at least a few times around the ring to simply walk and stretch. It sets the right tone for the ride rather than getting on and demanding something from them right away. Allow your horse and yourself the time to walk together and breathe.

Danica Yates is a sporthorse trainer in the Portland, Oregon area.  FEI and European experience, four years private training with Olympian Debbie McDonald. Training, lessons and board are available. Call (503)278-1112 or visit  www.danicayates.com  for more information.

What happens when you ride your horse and give with the inside rein? Next time you ride, try it out. At any gait, establish contact and softness and then reach your inside hand forward towards his ears to release pressure. Does your horse’s head swing away from that hand over toward the remaining outside contact? Does he stiffen and have his head bounce up? If so, this is a red alert indication that your horse is not properly ‘through’(soft and engaged through his topline) and carrying himself as he can. Let’s work on riding from the inside leg to the outside rein so that you can pet him with your inside hand and maintain good connection.

Getting your Horse ‘Through’
The first step in helping the horse carry himself comes back to the basics: bending and softening to get your horse round and engaged through his topline. The topline runs from the top of his tail all the way up to his poll between his ears. Often we see horses with their necks round- but the horse’s neck is an extension of his spine and to be properly through we must engage his spine from tail to poll. Here are a couple bending and softening techniques to engage his topline and get him through.

In an exercise to bend the horse around our inside leg, let’s put him on a 20 meter circle and thoroughly work one side at a time. We should flex him down and round, riding from the hind end and encouraging him to stretch toward the bit. Here we must use an indirect rein: opening the hand away from the horse’s neck to show him the direction in which we wish his head to bend. To encourage the horse to stretch and soften, we keep our arms light and soft and we play the rein- softly squeezing and messaging with our fingers to ask him to be soft. Opening and playing, that’s all the inside hand must do. Primarily, we are using our inside leg to ask him to bend from his ribcage around the leg and we are using our outside rein to support that side of his body and prevent that shoulder from popping out.  Inside leg bends the horse’s body, outside rein balances and supports.

In an exercise to soften the horse’s neck and back we can message any stiffness out of the system through changes of direction and transitions. Let’s bend the horse around our inside leg using the same techniques as before now on a smaller circle. Then we will do a mini figure 8- changing the bend and riding right into a small circle in other direction. We need to watch that the horse’s head does not come up during our change of direction which would indicate stiffness in the back and lack of true through-ness. As we change the bend, we need to play the fingers, maintaining softness in the arms and continue to ride boldly with the leg. In the figure 8, make a downward transition as you are approaching the change of direction, more forward in an upward transition as you move into the new direction. In the downward transition, we want to close our leg and take the horse a little deeper in the frame, in the upward we want to maintain soft connection and play the reins- encouraging the horse to use his back, neck and hind end. These bending and softening techniques help in creating the basis for a truly through horse.

The Inside Release as an Indicator
When your horse is properly carrying himself it is time to try the release and see if the good contact and self carriage is maintained. The release with one or both hands is factored into dressage tests at third level and in the young horse tests. The movement is designed to show the judge that the horse is well balanced, through and carrying himself. Thus, this movement is not a ‘trick’ per se, but a demonstration of the horses good (or bad!) training. When you are riding and would like a clear indication of your effectiveness in getting your horse through, reach forward with one or both hands. If your horse reacts abruptly, you know you must work him over his back and off the inside leg more. If he carries on smoothly, you know that you are on the right track.

The goal is true balanced self carriage. The test is giving with the inside hand and maintaining even self carriage.  Another exercise to establish true through-ness, is the leg yield. We have all heard of the ‘spiral in, spiral out’ exercise; let’s focus on the spiral out part. Horses naturally move away from pressure.  On a medium circle, apply the pressure with the inside leg and ask the horse to move away. We want him to step away, or sideways, so half halt evenly on both reins if he tries to run forward. We don’t want to get carried away with running sideways either, so ask him to take steps evenly sideways and forward to spiral out on the circle. We balance the forwards and sideways by maintaining a steady feel on the outside rein. When we have executed a proper leg yield, the horse will be honestly off the inside. Test it: can you soften or release with your inside hand and have him stay through? 

“Pet Him,” Bringing the Release into Daily Practice
Have you ever felt your horse pulling lower and lower down into the bit? There may be a number of reasons for this behavior, but the first thing to check is: are you pulling on him? If so, it’s time to factor in the release to lighten up your feel on the reins. When you apply pressure to ask him to do anything and he responds, lighten to reward. When he has responded just right, pet him.  Often as riders, we tend to try and ‘hold our horses up’ with the reins. Perhaps you have heard that ‘if you pull on the horse he will pull back.’ This is very true and sometimes riders do not even feel like they are even pulling, but are unconsciously locking into pressure on the reins trying hard to maintain the desired carriage. When the horse feels this unrelenting pressure, he often will tighten his jaw and dig his head lower. Even if a rider is not consciously pulling on the reins, to the horse’s soft mouth continual pressure may feel like pulling.

The technique of ‘petting him’ is important to create a softening release and reward when the horse is responding. One thing we defiantly want to avoid is dropping the connection or collapsing altogether and loosing what we just succeeded in developing. Instead, we use the ‘inside leg to outside rein’ basics and always pet him by using the inside hand going forward on the neck and releasing. The rub on his fur is nice, but it is the giving of that rein that is primarily the reward. The rider can practice releasing with both hands as well, maintaining connection through the legs, seat and upper body position. If the rider is effectively riding from the leg and the horses is through, this practice reveals that the horse is balanced and carrying himself well.

In the end, the goal is maintaining softness. We can use the ‘pet him’ technique to teach ourselves as riders to give and create a lighter more dynamic contact. In dressage we want a steady feel or contact on the reins but a dynamic one. The amount of pressure in each of the reins at different moments as you ride, especially in a horse’s early training, will vary. If you maintain a pressure on the reins and never give and lighten to reward, you will find that the horse will give you the same steady pressure downward, dropping his head in a manner that nobody loves. When we ride the horses through their topline and they respond to what we ask, we respond, reward and “pet him.”

This horse’s neck may appear round, but he is not truly through and is disengaged in the hind end, falling on his forehand as Megan releases with the inside hand.

This horse is maintaining good self carriage, through-ness and impulsion from behind as Megan releases with the inside hand.

Danica Yates is a sport horse trainer in the Portland, Oregon area.  FEI and European experience, open to all breeds and disciplines. Visit  www.danicayates.com  for more information.

My partner is tree guy, not a horse person. But he is interested in dressage and asked me one morning at breakfast, “So when you are riding, doing like a half pass or something, are you telling the horse every minute what to do, squeezing or pulling or whatever?”

I told him that is an interesting question. (A) because many riders are not quite sure about this themselves and (B) because the answer is in part yes and in large part no. As dressage riders, the end goal is to do as little as possible. When the horse and rider are well connected and communicating effectively, very little physical pressure is needed on the rider’s part to maintain the connection and flow of the partnership. When we do our homework and create pure connection, it’s fair to say that dressage is effortless. Naturally, there is a lot of homework to do to get to this point, whatever level you are at. And during that work, you are in the constant process of applying the aids, softening and applying again.

One of the main aids that dressage riders have a hard time doing less with, is the hands. You will often see riders see-sawing with the reins or in other less obvious ways pulling the horse together. Let’s think back to the age old adage, ‘ride leg to hand.’ What does this mean? It means that we create the energy in the hind end using our legs and allow a place for the energy to go with our hands: when needed we soften, half halt, support with or play the reins.

With these components we create a supportive but very dynamic feel to manage the flow of energy. The main habits we want to steer away from are bracing or restricting back on the reins- even if it does momentarily round the horse’s neck. More likely though, the horse will respond to the pressure by bracing back. He might invert his back and ‘come off the bit,’ or he might just loose forward impulsion and engagement. We want to avoid pulling our hands down and out, instead carry them light in front of us. The first good habit we want to create is: ‘when he softens, you soften.’ We want to encourage the horse to stretch forwards toward the bit, to allow him a comfortable, engaged place to carry himself. We want to allow that energy we create in the hind end to circulate forward rather than blocking it with a bracing hand.

Often when I see riders bracing, I simply tell them to soften the reins at any point, and their horses sigh with relief and stretch forward. A good exercise to start with to create soft hands is to learn to follow the movement of the horse. A rider that appears quiet in the saddle is still inside themselves, but their bodies are actually moving comprehensively with the horse. They are taking his movement and letting it translate into their seat, pelvis and arms while maintaining a still core strength with their upper body. As your horse walks, pay attention to how each rein feels in your hands. Remember that the reins are connected to the bit lying on your horse’s tough and lips. Feel how his head naturally moves as he walks, and follow this motion. Check to see if your arms are dynamic and encourage your elbow joints to open and close smoothly. Same thing in the canter. At first the following might feel exaggerated and that is fine. As training advances, the rider’s core strength will increase and the horse’s thoroughness and ability to carry himself will increase. Consequently, as the horse uses his back more, he moves his head less and the rider can sit very still.

The second action our hands must do is half halt when the energy gets away. When we add our leg to increase impulsion, we do not want our horse running down on his forehand. Here we half halt decisively to stop the running then immediately soften, add our leg and ask for impulsion again. Whenever we add our leg or tap to increase impulsion from the hind end, we first stretch up and soften to allow a place for that energy to go. You can see the pattern here with the half halt: we apply the aid, soften and apply again. We never hang on the reins or even use the rein without listening to the horse’s response and backing it up with the legs.

The third thing that quiet hands do is support and balance. This is not to say that we ‘hold our horses up.’ Rather, the reins stay steady with an elastic feel and do not break the flow of energy. They create a space of support that the horse will move up into. When horses run free out in the field, most will not be moving in a frame. Our reins do play a role of support. Our hands harnesses the energy flowing up the spine and cycle it back around to create a through dressage horse. The outside rein in particular must be steady with the contact. Maintaining consistent contact allows the horse’s movement and frame to be consistent. Just like we want to avoid bracing on the horse’s mouth, we want to avoid dropping the contact all together. With quite supportive hands it does not matter if we are doing transitions, lengthening, turning, there is always consistency in the rein.

A great exercise to see the effect of quite supportive hands is to take your whip sideways, parallel to the ground. Place the whip across the top of your hands, holding it secure under your thumbs. On a 20 meter circle, point the tip of that whip towards the very center of the circle. Image that the whip is the radius of the circle. You do not want it to point too far back towards your horse’s haunches, nor to far forward towards his nose. Also, you do not want the whip to tip up or down, but stay level, parallel to the ground in your hands. You should find that your hands steady when using this technique. Your hands must work in unity and are not loose to push or pull on one side. If you follow the movement with your arms, and soften when he softens giving him a place to go, does he stay quiet and stretch forward?

The final technique for quite hands is ‘playing the reins.’ What this entails is softly squeezing, almost kneading the rein between your fingers and palm of your hand. It is so subtle that as a trainer, I see it enacted more from the horse’s reaction than from visually seeing any movement in the rider’s hand. What playing the rein does is talk to the horse’s mouth. Remind yourself of how your rein is connected to a metal bar in the soft tissue in your horse’s mouth. Playing the rein stimulates and engages that tissue like a message. Most often this technique is employed on the inside rein while the outside rein continues to support. Playing the rein does not pull the horse’s mouth with static pressure or grab and throw away; rather it feels that tissue and talks to the horse as you add your leg. And key word here: leg. Playing the rein helps softens the back when the leg is added to create energy from the hind end.

When we have done our homework and schooled our horses and ourselves well, we can then reap the benefits and simply allow the horse to move. Sometimes doing less is the hardest thing. But as riders we want to create freedom in the front end and a comfortable place for the horse to carry himself. We want be engaged with our minds and feel every step but be quiet with our aids when we can. Dressage is not static. It is incredibly dynamic. Dynamic = energetic, vibrant, self-motivated, full of life. Allow for this liveliness by flowing with the horse in the freedom of synchronous movement.

Danica Yates is a sport horse trainer in the Portland, Oregon area. FEI and European experience, four years private training with Olympian Debbie McDonald. Training, lessons and board are available. Call (503)278-1112 or visit www.danicayates.com for more information.

Each discipline in equestrian riding has training specifics that make the disciplines what they are. Western disciplines are characterized by short, slow movement and minimal contact on the reins. Dressage is founded on forward impulsion and good connection. Perhaps you have experience with western riding in your background and would like to learn more about dressage. Let’s discuss two major differences between the disciplines – contact and impulsion- and how to start working on these basic principles in dressage.

Perhaps one of the main differences between the disciplines of western riding and dressage riding, is the amount of contact carried in the reins. A good western horse will move with very minimal contact, while a dressage horse is expected to softly carry much more contact. Often, western riders will have a difficult time increasing the feel in their reins. The main thing to remember here, is that for however much feel you increase in the feel on the reins in front, you must back it up with at least that much leg in back. If the horse feels only increased pressure on his face, he will stop or back up, or perhaps duck behind the contact curling his face in. Instead, as riders take more feel in the reins, they must simultaneously close their leg into the contact. This way, the horse is ‘closed up’ from both ends and comes round and forward into the contact.

With no contact on the reins (and no training in the western 'headset') Diago carries his head in an upright position and with little impulsion, moves on short, slow trot steps.

Without contact in the reins, a dressage horse lacks good connection and has no real reason to come round. If the horse is supported in the front and ridden from the hind end, he will be able to step into the contact and round his topline. With no feel in front, the horse will carry himself in whatever frame is most natural in that moment.  For quarter horse types, the frame is often low and flat in the neck, for Arabian type horses, often up and inverted. If there is much tension in the back, most horse’s heads will come straight up. The frame of a dressage horse is accomplished by riding back to front. Unlike a western headset which is focused on tucking the head, the head and neck carriage of a dressage horse simply reflects how round the horse is in his back and engaged in his hind end.

With an appropriate amount of contact for dressage, Diago moves from his hind end into the connection.

By developing soft supportive contact with the reins, you can teach your horse to relax that tension and round his back. Contact on the reins is necessary for dressage because it gives the rider a finely tuned line of communication with the horse. Connection enables the rider to engage the horse’s hind end, necessary for dressage movements. With short reins and good connection to the horse’s mouth, signals can be very subtle and more refined than if there were slack in the system.

Let’s run through some of the basics for developing good contact for dressage. When you shorten up your reins and ride with more contact, it is important to learn to follow the horse’s motion. You want your hands to be smooth and quiet but not locked. Dressage riders that appear very smooth are very relaxed and moving with the horse. Your hands with increased contact must do the same. Work on unlocking your elbows so that you never bump the horse in the mouth accidentally. See if you can keep your connection very even through all your transitions and all your gaits. The best way to teach a horse to move rounder is to ride with steady contact and give him a supportive feel to round into. You do not want to ‘throw away’ the contact by pushing your hands forward in transitions. You also do not want to lean on the reins with your hands. Though there is more pressure in your hand than you may be used to, your hands must ‘carry themselves.’ Envision a bubble that sits on your horse’s neck directly in front of the saddle. Place your hands softly on top of that bubble and lightly carry them there as you ride.

A second major difference between western riding and dressage is the amount of impulsion carried in the gaits. A good western pleasure horse will move on small, slow steps in all the gaits. When training a western horse for reining or cutting, there is much emphasis on ‘backwards.’ With dressage, thinking ‘forward’ is of great importance. Movement is encouraged to be energetic and cadenced with high levels of suspension. The length of stride for a dressage horse should be very adjustable, with very big steps shown in the extended gaits and very short steps shown in the extreme collected work such as piaffe and pirouette. Regardless of stride length, dressage horses must move with impulsion or energy from their hind end. While harder to sit perhaps, energetic movement enables dressage horses to execute the gymnastic movements of the discipline.

If you want to try dressage, a good first step is getting your horse in front of your leg. This means that with minimal pressure from your leg aids, your horse will go forward and carry the forward momentum.  There are two ways to know if your horse is in front of your leg.  The first is, that if at any time, when you apply a little pressure with your legs, your horse will willingly move forward. Test this. If he is reluctant to get moving, apply a stronger aid to make your point and get a reaction. When your horse reacts properly and moves forward, your job is to get off his case- sit quiet and pet him as a reward. The second way to know if your horse is in front of your leg, is if he will sustain the forward movement. You do not want to be constantly driving, nagging with your aids for forward movement. You want to train your horse to be sensitive enough to your leg that you can apply it lightly and he will go forward willingly. You want to make your point, get a reaction and then sit quiet.

A good way to work on getting your horse in front of your leg and work on your contact with the reins, is transitions between and within gaits. As you go around the ring, work on going from the walk to trot, trot to walk. Ask your horse very lightly with the legs to move forward. If he ignores your leg, do not hesitate to bump him with your legs or give him a tap with a whip. When he does move forward from this increased aid, pet him and reward this correct reaction. Then repeat the transition again by asking very softly, giving him a chance to show you what he has learned. The goal is to teach him to go from the walk to the trot with only a whisper from your legs. Also try lengthening your horse’s trot steps making him move out within the gait. Again as you go around the ring, ask your horse to go more forward for however many steps you choose, then bring him back to a shorter trot again. Make sure you intentionally bring him back so that the bigger trot that you created does not just fizzle out. This forward and back exercise will help him stay responsive and in front of your leg. Through all of your transitions, focus on keeping your hands floating softly in front of you, connected to your horse’s mouth with supportive, following contact. By starting to develop forward impulsion and good connection, you will open the possibilities for learning the art of dressage.

Danica Yates is a sporthorse trainer in the Portland, Oregon area.  FEI and European experience, four years private training with Olympian Debbie McDonald. Training, lessons and board are  available. Call (503)278-1112 or visit  www.danicayates.com  for more information.

In past articles, we have looked at axioms of Classical Dressage. Here is a very important one, ‘ride back to front.’ All too often, we see dressage horses who are pulled together with the hand. These horses may appear ‘round’ by looking at their neck. However, looking more closely you may notice tension in their neck and back and lack of activity in their hindquarters. Further, you may notice an agitated expression on the horse’s face and after a certain period of time, you may find that the horse is so bound up he can no longer physically or mentally handle the “pressures” of dressage. To avoid this tension and unnecessary strain on the horse’s body and mind, riders can learn to allow for free movement by riding with soft, non-restrictive hands.

Horses must be encouraged to move freely and enjoy movement with the rider. The point of dressage is to dance fluidly with your equine partner, not to shove your horse into a frame to look “pretty.” When a rider develops soft hands maintaining steady contact and rides the horse forward with the leg, the horse will naturally seek the connection and come through his topline. Unfortunately, it is rare to see hands this quiet. More often, dressage riders will pull with the hands and de-emphasize the leg ­­­­­­­­: riding the horse ‘backwards.’ In this case, natural movement is stifled or disturbed by the riders restricting hand. Contact with the horse’s mouth is necessary in dressage, but tactfully softening the pressure is equally as necessary in moments where the horse is soft. Even for experienced riders, it takes constant reminders to ‘give rein’ or soften the hand to allow for movement.

For young horses especially, going forward into the contact must be made enjoyable. In the first year or two of a dressage horse’s training, patience is key. The horse’s muscles must be allowed to develop and his mind must be kept fresh. Instead of compressing the frame too much in the beginning and demanding collection, young horses should be encouraged to move forward freely, developing rhythm and responsiveness. Riding must be fun for them. Lessons of softness, responsiveness and harmony must be instilled first. Riding with a lighter seat with green horses is a good idea, getting off their back and letting them gallop. Trail rides and pasture hacks encourage free movement under saddle and boost the fun factor. Getting out of the strict training mode occasionally can improve your horse’s willingness and focus when you go back to the ring. Daily turn out too, is necessary for healthy development.

As dressage horses progress in their training, collection should increase- but restriction of movement should not. Collection is a method of shaping energy, not stifling it. The half halt is the vehicle for creating collection. The proper half halt involves not only closing the hands briefly, but immediately softening and applying the legs following. If riders were to only increase pressure on the horse’s mouth, the natural reaction of the horse is to pull down and get heavier on the forehand. If, however, the half halt is clear but brief and is used in conjunction with the legs, it becomes an extremely useful tool in helping the horse balance and collect. The timing of the sequence is everything and can be broken down into three parts: 1. Close your hand clearly and briefly and the horse must come back to you 2. Immediately lighten your hand and 3. Bump him with your leg and ride with your seat to create impulsion. Parts 2 and 3 occur very quickly, nearly simultaneously. The most common mistake with this timing is for riders to apply the leg before they have lightened the hand. This again, will only drive the horse down into the bridle. The lightening is necessary to create space for the horse to move into. The hand must allow for forward movement. A proper half halt can take years to master, but when learned properly it will balance and energize the horse as opposed to blocking movement.

Another common mistake in learning to ride back to front, is for riders and trainers to over-ride the neck of a dressage horse. Many trainers address the face and neck before addressing the ‘engine’ of the horse. Remember that the neck is part of the topline that extends all the way to the croup. Tension appears in the neck and back when the horse is resisting upward with his neck or when he is over flexed in his neck. When a horse is resisting flexion in the poll, instead of trying to force his head in, keep your hands even with the connection steady and ride the hind end instead. Do transitions, lengthening, circles, riding with your leg and keeping your hands steady and supportive. Work on bending the horse as you ride him forward. For the neck to come truly round and through, the back must round with the hindquarters engaged. On the other hand, many horses are ridden ‘behind the vertical’ with too much flexion in the poll. This puts high levels of strain on the horses back muscles and makes it impossible for the hind end to step under naturally. A forgiving hand that is trained to soften at the correct moments is the key for allowing free movement.

Training aids such as side reins, harsher bits and draw reins are often used with horses who resist flexion in their poll. Unfortunately, these training tools are far more often abused then proven helpful. They can make the horse flex far past the vertical and put tremendous strain on the horse’s back, again, while the hind end is neglected. If a horse genuinely disrespects the half halt, training tools can be used to reduce a fight with the hands. However, as with any artificial training tool, draw reins are only effective if used in the correct situation, with correct technique (softening and backing the increased pressure in the hand with leg!) and discontinued promptly when they have served their purpose.

Horses at any level in their training should be encouraged to move freely, ridden with soft hands. Horses who are effectively worked over their back, with their hind quarters engaged will stretch these muscles when given rein. Stretching should be incorporated at the beginning and end of every ride as well as stretching walk breaks mid-ride. To allow for healthy, natural movement, riders must ‘ride back to front’ by putting an emphasis on the leg aid, keeping the hand as steady and supportive as possible. Strive to retain freedom in your horse’s movement that will keep him physically and mentally healthy.

Danica Yates is a sporthorse trainer in the Portland, Oregon area. FEI and European experience, four years private training with Olympian Debbie McDonald. Training, lessons and board are available. Call (503)278-1112 or visit www.danicayates.com for more information.