Even if the plans for your young horse are more along the lines of coloured poles, red and white flags, starting boxes and angled ducks, the importance of good dressage training cannot be over-emphasised. I love dressage – but I think it’s safe to say that for every person who enjoys this phase, there are another 2 or 3 (I’ll leave the concocting of outlandish, 3-decimal-place statistics to HK Ryan) who despise it. This month’s article aims to simplify what can be a bewildering part of eventing, so that you and your young horse can enjoy, rather than endure, the dressage.
My dressage trainer is Nicholas Fyffe. Nick and I are very close, having formed a solid friendship back in 2001 when we were both working pupils at the renowned Lochinvar equestrian centre, and sharing a somewhat tortured background in elite gymnastics. Nick has had the benefit of training under some of the most influential coaches both in Australia and overseas, and his approach is classical, beautiful and refreshingly straightforward.
With a recent training session aboard my 5yo WB/TB gelding, “Poker Face”, aka Harley, still fresh in my mind, this month’s article aims to give readers some ideas for the schooling of a young, green horse.
When I’m coaching, I like to “have a sit” on the horse, to get a feel for where his training is at and his level of confidence. This will shape my approach to the lesson, and determine what areas I’ll primarily focus on. Not surprisingly, therefore, it’s difficult – for both coach and student – to capture every aspect of a lesson in writing. Many of you will have your own trainers to guide you. But sometimes an idea or a thought, expressed slightly differently, can suddenly make sense, or perhaps an exercise you weren’t previously aware of will prove beneficial to your youngster.
The Walk
I try to keep the walk as uncomplicated as possible in the young horse. He must MARCH – 1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4 – without hurrying. Most importantly, he has to take responsibility for going forward, rather than having you leg, leg, leg him every stride. I sometimes liken it to having a parent constantly nagging you to tidy your room, do your homework or empty the dishwasher – eventually, you just “switch off” (or was I a particularly insolent child?). The horse is no different – he’ll come to ignore repetitive aids. Every time you give the horse an aid SOMETHING HAS TO HAPPEN. I love Nick’s line “No aid can go unnoticed”. Harley can be a bit ‘warmblood-like’, in that he tends to get a little behind the leg and lethargic at the walk. If it were left up to him, he’d wander aimlessly in a dream-like state. Rather than using my leg every stride, I’ll keep my legs still, and let him make the mistake of slowing down. Let him make a mistake so I can touch him, a bit sharply, with my leg and send him forward again. That is how he learns.
He has to react – an overreaction is better than no reaction. I’d prefer that he breaks into a trot than ignore me. In fact, I’d give him a quick pat on the neck, to reassure him and let him know that he’s on the right track. When he’s in front of you and forward, he’ll give you the nice feeling that he’s politely ‘pulling’ the reins forward. That is, if you relaxed your elbows, the movement of his neck would gently take your hands forward and back.
The Trot
Just as in the walk, the horse must be respectful of your aids. This doesn’t mean giving him an almighty boot if he doesn’t bound forward at your first request like a sprinter out of the blocks. Besides the possibility of the unsettled or irritable youngster offering an indignant buck in reply, keep in mind that the horse, too, is an athlete and will need a little time to warm up. I tend to ask for the transition to trot at the start of the long side, giving the horse the feeling of having an open, inviting space in front of him. And when I first begin trotting, I’m not so concerned with the “exuberance” as with the rhythm and straightness.
I like to ask for transitions ‘within’ the pace, and it is here that I can check that the young horse is listening to my aids, and find a rhythm. I want a few bigger steps, and then I’ll bring him back again, then a few bigger steps, then back again. I’m interested in whether he moves forward from my leg (if he doesn’t, he’ll get a quick reminder from my leg and possibly a touch with the spur), and whether he responds to pressure from the reins for the ‘downward’ transition. Keep in mind that the young horse will find it difficult at first to balance for this transition. Be patient, and be prepared to repeat the exercise until it starts to ‘sink in’.
As the horse’s training progresses, he’ll reach a stage where I can collect the trot, thinking almost walk, before going forward again. It is important, in this exercise, that if the horse starts to think walk, and loses impulsion, you direct him forward again. Even when the trot is more collected, the horse has to keep the same activity, the same tempo.
Having tested whether the horse is responsive to the forward aid, I want to know, also, that he will move sideways from my leg. I turn up the quarter line, and later the centre line, of the arena and ask for leg yield almost to the longside. I say almost because horses seem to be drawn to the longside like the ground jury to the yellow card, and I want to be sure that he’s moving sideways because of my leg, not his own desire to get over to the track. See if you can reverse the exercise, yielding him from the track to the quarter line/centre line instead.
Again, the rhythm and the activity cannot be compromised, and if the horse starts to labour, go forward and straight for a few strides before putting him back in the leg yield.
We can get very carried away with “bend” and “flexion” but often in a baby, the biggest challenge is being able to hold a straight line!
I might make the occasional little adjustment, maybe take the bend slightly one way or the other if he’s a little rigid, but basically I want his head and neck at the centre of his chest. It’s not unusual for young horses to fall out through the outside shoulder, and I find a good way to control this is in maintaining a feel on the outside rein (and keeping my outside elbow in!) to the point where I can almost see the horse’s outside eye.
The Canter
A young horse’s canter will inevitably start out long, strung out and on the forehand. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to shorten him, as he will struggle physically to ‘sit’ on his haunches and carry himself in the beginning. Before I ask for collection of any sort, I make sure the horse is forward, in front of my leg. Initially, I only pressure the horse for shorter steps for a few seconds, just until I get a reaction, feel him ‘give’ a little, then I take the pressure away again. Always, if the horse begins to get ‘backward’ thinking, and behind my leg, I’ll immediately go forward again.
Just as in the trot, collection in the canter must not mean that the horse loses activity, or that the tempo becomes slower, which is why I find it beneficial to always follow a few collected steps with some more forward work.
Warm down
As mentioned earlier, the horse is an athlete and should be ‘warmed down’ just as people are. I finish each session by allowing the horse to take the rein forward and down in the trot. I still want him active – this isn’t an excuse for him to fall on his face – but I’m giving him a chance to stretch his neck and unwind a bit. And I give him a pat – I appreciate his efforts!
Management
Having gone through all of the above, there is little use in having an exquisitely trained youngster that breaks down – either physically or mentally – 2 years down the track.
George Morris offered some words of wisdom in a clinic I rode in recently: When the horse is 3 and 4 years old, their work should be a game. When they’re 5, it may be a bit more serious, but still playing a bit. When they’re 6, only then can the intensity go up a bit. That’s hard, as a rider, particularly with a talented horse you have high hopes for!
The arena surface is an important factor in the long-term soundness of the horse. I’m extremely lucky, as is Harley, to have a Capricorn ‘Soiltex’ surface on which to train. This surface has a unique way of ‘springing’ back up, barely leaving a hoof print, which really eases the strain on young joints. It is also virtually non-slip, which is necessary for securing the youngster’s confidence. It definitely pays to give careful consideration to the surface on which the horse will work.
Whilst I feel we’re entitled to expect a certain level of focus from the horse in the arena (after all, he has some 23 other hours of the day to do pretty much as he pleases!), I don’t expect my young horses to work in the arena every single day. Every 3rd day or so, they’ll go for a walk/trot on the gallop track, or they might do their flatwork in the big showjumping paddock. I find this helps them become a bit more forward-thinking, and perhaps more ‘worldly’, as they get out and see a bit more. And they don’t get as stale: I can almost graph Harley’s downward spiral after too many consecutive days in the 20 x 60!
The training session in the young horse shouldn’t be too long – ideally, I like to work a horse like Harley for 20 – 30 minutes, not much more. If I can get to a point where he’s thinking forward, using his back and happy, I’ll put him away.
Hope this helps in some way… Good luck!