by Jane Savoie

The following article was inspired by a rider who told me, “I have a wonderful, talented thoroughbred. We can do Second and Third level work at home, yet when we compete, we can barely get through a First Level test. The missing link seems to be relaxation. My horse is off the track, and we seem to feed off each other’s tension. How does a normally tense person learn to relax?”

This rider is right in thinking that relaxation is her priority. When you’re tense, your work can’t be of as high a quality as when you’re relaxed. That’s true for both horses and riders. Sure, a certain rush of adrenalin is normal and even welcome. But when you’re so tense that you feel immobilized, you’ve got a problem. Here are some tips to help you relax at shows.

Tip 1: First, try to figure out why you get so nervous at shows. Are you worried about what people think of you? Have you put unrealistic pressure on yourself to win? Are you afraid you won’t measure up to the expectations of others? If those are the kinds of things that make you nervous, focus on “performance goals” rather than “result goals”. In other words, rather than having a goal of scoring 65% or placing in the top 3, make a new goal that reflects your effort rather than the outcome. For example, how about sitting elegantly and quietly, or remembering to breathe, or maintaining a metronome-like rhythm for an entire test?

Tip 2: Do you ride defensively because you’re afraid that your horse will be fresh at a new place? If so, go to the show a day early. Work your horse on the longe line so he can get his bucks out of his system. Take him out of the stall several times for hand walks or grazing around the arenas. You’ll be amazed at how grazing your horse calms him down. By the time you ride, he should be as comfortable with his new surroundings as he is at home.

Tip 3: Stage some dress rehearsals. Drive to neighboring farms; take your horse off the trailer, warm-up, and do a practice test. Do this often enough that going to a new place and “performing” gets to be old hat for both of you.

It’s even a good idea to braid and put on your show clothes to simulate a competition. I remember one horse that would warm up beautifully, but as soon as I went around the ring, he’d get tense. I didn’t think I was making him tense, but I would consistently “lose him” between the warm-up and the competition arena.

I finally figured out that I never wore my shadbelly jacket with its long tails during the warm up. When I finally put my coat on, the tails brushed his sides, and he’d catch a glimpse of them moving out of the corner of his eye. These new sensations scared him. So for several weeks, I pinned a large bath towel to the back of the saddle pad. When he moved, the towel flapped against his body, and he could see it waving. He soon got used to it, and our problem went away.

Tip 4: Use humor to break up tension. Go to shows with friends who get silly and make you laugh. The less intense you are, the more fun you’ll have. Go around the arena and as you pass the judge, think to yourself, “Hey, Baby! Get ready to have your socks knocked off!” Hear the bell and say under your breath, “Oh, Yippee! It’s my turn!” Come down the centerline, see the judge sitting in the trailer, and visualize that you’re going to put the tailgate up so she can’t see you. Do whatever goofy thing helps you to dissipate tension.

Tip 5: Think about what happens to you physically when you’re tense. Muscles get tight while respiration and heart rate increase. The good news is that with a little work, you can regulate all of these reactions.

Let’s address muscle tension first. Understand that the more you tighten a muscle, the more deeply it relaxes when you let go. To learn the feeling of muscular relaxation, sit in a chair and tense every muscle in your body. Hold the tension until your body quivers. Then let go and feel yourself sinking heavily down into your chair.

Now, go through this process starting at your head and working down to your feet section by section. Each time you release the tension in a muscle group, anchor this feeling of deep relaxation, by saying the words “let go”. Eventually as you ride, you can scan your body for tight places. “Talk” to that area with your cue words. For example, say out loud, “Neck–Let go.” Wrists–Leg go.” “Legs–Let go.”

Tip 6: Now, let’s talk about breathing. Normally, when you’re tense, your respiration becomes more rapid and shallow. You might even find that you occasionally hold your breath. You can be sure that if you do this, you’ll transmit your tension to your horse.

So, practice deep breathing. As you inhale through your nose, keep your shoulders down and let your stomach get “fat”. As you exhale through your mouth, feel your seat lowering into the saddle so that you “dissolve” into your horse’s body. Consciously breathe like this when you first get on, during every break, and as you go around the outside of the arena. In fact, one of your performance goals can be to take a deep breath in every corner.

Tip 7: You can also train yourself to regulate your heart rate by using the stress and recovery cycle that occurs during exercise. Go for a twenty-minute walk and periodically increase your heart rate by walking faster or even jogging for 10-30 seconds. Each time you slow back down to a comfortable walk and feel your heart rate and breathing returning to normal, ANCHOR this feeling with a specific cue. Pick a cue that you can use easily when you ride. For example, clear your throat, touch your thumb to your forefinger, or tap your fists together. Then when you feel tense at shows, you can use your cue to slow your heart rate because you’ve trained yourself to do so.

Tip 8: Know your test (course, pattern) like the back of your hand. That way you can ride your horse rather than riding the test. You shouldn’t be thinking; “Now I make a circle, and then I leg yield, and then I lengthen across the diagonal.”

If you’re focusing on where you have to go next, you can’t concentrate on what your horse needs.

I know I really “own” my test, when I can pick any point in the test and know what movement comes BEFORE it. So, I’ll ask myself, “What comes before the halt at A?” or “What comes before the lengthening from M to K?”

You’re not alone. Everyone gets tense when competing. Contrary to popular opinion, professionals are not immune to sweaty palms and rubbery legs. But the exciting thing is that you can learn to deal with your anxiety so that you can still do your job well and enjoy yourself. All it takes is some handy tools in your toolbox.

Source janesavoie.com

Dressage Training: Leg Yields to Help with Canter Transitions

In this informative Dressage Training video Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie introduces training tips to a dressage rider for starting piaffe.

About Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie.

Jane Savoie is one of the most recognized names in dressage, and for a good reason. Ms. Savoie has written five books that have been published both in the US and abroad. Her best-selling sports psychology book That Winning Feeling! is in its ninth printing and has been translated into several languages.

Her dressage training books, Cross-Train Your Horse and More Cross-Training, are rapidly becoming popular reference books for riders and trainers in all disciplines. Her fourth book, It’s Not Just About The Ribbons, is a sequel to That Winning Feeling! This book is an essential addition to your library if you need help with negative emotions like overcoming rider fear,

Dressage Training: Leg Yields to Help with Canter Transitions

In this informative Dressage Training video Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie explains how to use Leg yields with a bend to help you horse pick up the correct canter lead.

About Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie.

Jane Savoie is one of the most recognized names in dressage, and for a good reason. Ms. Savoie has written five books that have been published both in the US and abroad. Her best-selling sports psychology book That Winning Feeling! is in its ninth printing and has been translated into several languages.

Her dressage training books, Cross-Train Your Horse and More Cross-Training, are rapidly becoming popular reference books for riders and trainers in all disciplines. Her fourth book, It’s Not Just About The Ribbons, is a sequel to That Winning Feeling! This book is an essential addition to your library if you need help with negative emotions like overcoming rider fear,

You’ve carefully laid out a systematic, progressive schooling program for your horse. Yet every time you add new work, you run into a certain amount of resistance. Don’t panic. Understand that when you raise the bar, it’s inevitable that you’re going to encounter resistance. It’s a normal part of training. Don’t be afraid of it. Just work through it in baby steps. Have a checklist in your mind to help you decide if you should back off a little bit, or whether you should push through the resistance.

1. Physical issues. You need to know that your horse is not in pain anywhere. Are his hocks are okay? Is his back is okay? Are his teeth okay? Do his saddle and bridle fit him correctly?

2. Check yourself. Make sure you’re giving the aids correctly. You want to be sure that you aren’t giving contradictory signals.

For example, let’s say you’re riding to the right (Your right leg is on the inside). You turn down the quarter in order to leg yield over to the left.

Your right leg is behind the girth asking the horse to move over. However, you have a very bad habit of pushing too hard with your right leg so your upper body leans to the right. Since your horse wants you to stay centered above him, he finds it hard to go sideways to the left because your leg is saying, “go to the left”, but your body weight is saying, “I won’t let you go to the left.”

Then you end up thinking, “Oh, my horse can’t go sideways. He’s not ready. He´s resisting.” But the reality is that you’re giving conflicting signals.

3. The third thing that I do if my horse is really showing me, or telling me with his body language that he can’t do something is that I find a way to take the difficulty out of the exercise. That is, I do the “essence” of the exercise, but I make it more simple.

Here are some ideas so you can be your own problem solver and figure out how to take the difficulty out of exercises but still get your point across. If you take this approach, the resistance becomes manageable or even nonexistent. Then little by little, you can increase the demands again.

For example, let’s say you start to leg yield from the quarter line over to the long side, The first few steps are fine, but then your horse starts resisting. Maybe he slows down or tosses his head. Take the difficulty out of the leg yield by starting only 1-meter off the rail instead of from the quarter line.

Or let’s say you’re struggling when you start your advanced lateral work such as shoulder-in, haunches-in, and half pass.

There are several things you can do. You can reduce the angle. Rather than asking for shoulder-in, do shoulder-fore (half the angle of a shoulder in). Or rather than asking for a 3-track haunches-in, ask for half that angle. With your half pass, rather than going from the corner letter to X, reduce the angle by going from the K or F all the way up to G.

Regarding shoulder-in and haunches-in, do fewer steps. That is, do three or four quality steps, and then straighten your horse. Let him take a breath. Then do three or four steps again. Or do the movements at a slower gait such as the walk.

Just be very clever on taking the difficulty out of the exercise. Introduce new work in baby steps so that your horse always thinks he’s a champion no matter what you’re asking him to do.

Source JaneSavoie.com, Author Jane Savoie

So many people ask me what it looks and feels like when a horse is on the bit. So here are some tips for you.

When a horse is on the bit, here’s what he’ll look like:

• His entire outline from back to front looks round.
• His hind legs step actively underneath his body, his back is up and swinging, his neck is long and low enough to be in line with the “power train” of his hindquarters, his poll is the highest point, and his nose is about 5 degrees in front of the vertical
• From the saddle his neck is widest at the base (just in front of the withers) and becomes progressively narrower as you get closer to his ears.
• From the side, his neck looks longish and relatively low rather than up in the air and short. He’s “pumped” up or “blooming” at the base of his neck.
• There’s no dip just in front of his withers.

When a horse is on the bit, here’s what he’ll feel like:

• He’s one unit rather than a jumble of “disconnected parts”.
• He’s more comfortable to sit on because his back is relaxed.
• In trot and canter, he feels like a beach ball bouncing along.
• His back (behind the saddle) is up and swinging rather than dropped and tense.
• His energy is self-perpetuating. The power comes from behind, over his back, through his neck, and gets recycled back to his hind legs. But if your horse, let’s say, is crooked and pops his shoulder out, the energy is going to go diagonally across his body. Then, you’ll have to use your driving aids again to recreate the energy.

You feel like anything is possible within the next step. For example, he can immediately go from trot to canter. Or he can immediately go from working canter into a canter lengthening. Or he can promptly do a canter depart.

If you’re not sure if “anything is possible” within the next step, ask for one of those transitions. If it’s easy to do, then you know that your horse is on the bit.

Source JaneSavoie.com, Author Jane Savoie

In this dressage training video, dressage trainer Jane Savoie shows a rider a simple exercise for suppling her horse at the poll.

Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie’s site bio.

ane has coached at three Olympic Games. In 1996, Jane coached the Canadian 3-Day Event Team at the Olympics in Atlanta.

Jane coached several Three Day Event Riders from the United States, Canada and Belgium in preparation for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. While in Sydney, she also coached United States Dressage Team member, Susan Blinks. With Jane’s guidance, Sue and her horse, Flim Flam, were able to help secure the team Bronze medal. This victory was particularly meaningful because Jane has helped Sue with Flim since he
was three years old.

In 2004, Jane once again accompanied the Canadian Three Day Event team to the Olympics. This time the competition was in Athens, Greece. Under her watchful eye, several of the riders achieved their personal best for their dressage scores and finished tenth as a team.

Dressage Training: Tips to Improve Dressage Rider Position

In this informative Dressage Training video Dressage Horse Trainer Jane Savoie discusses tips to improve Dressage Rider Position.

Classical trainer Jane Savoie offers two simple dressage tips to improve the rider’s upper body position.

About Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie.

Jane Savoie is one of the most recognized names in dressage, and for a good reason. Her accomplishments and the breadth of her influence are impressive. She has been a member of the United States Equestrian Team and has competed for the US in Canada, Holland, Belgium, France and Germany. She was the reserve rider for the Bronze medal winning Olympic dressage team in Barcelona, Spain. She has been long-listed by the USET with several horses and has won nine Horse of the Year awards and three National Freestyle Championships

Dressage Training: Flying Changes

In this informative Dressage Training video Dressage Coach Jane Savoie reviews some of Flying Changes used in dressage training, and other useful techniques.

About Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie

Jane has coached at three Olympic Games. In 1996, Jane coached the Canadian 3-Day Event Team at the Olympics in Atlanta.

Jane has written five books that have been published both in the US and abroad. Her best-selling sports psychology book That Winning Feeling! is in its ninth printing and has been translated into several languages.

Her dressage training books, Cross-Train Your Horse and More Cross-Training, are rapidly becoming popular reference books for riders and trainers in all disciplines. Her fourth book, It’s Not Just About The Ribbons, is a sequel to That Winning Feeling! This book is an essential addition to your library if you need help with negative emotions like overcoming rider fear, impatience, or lack of self-confidence.

Hello everyone!

My name is Fallon Walker.  l am dressage rider, trainer, competitor and l absolutely love what l do. Last month, Bar F Equine Products and Pelham Ascot asked if l would be interested in writing a dressage training blog and l jumped at the chance. This blog will be a lot of fun and will cover a wide variety topics pertaining to dressage and the training of your dressage horse.

There are so many things to talk about when you bring up the topic of dressage. We all love our horses and want the absolute best for them.  l know that l love talking about my horses, so please feel free to write in any questions you may have concerning dressage in general or even questions about you and your own horse. Dressage is a journey and half the fun is learning as you go. We all started at the basics and will never stop learning. From your first truly round circle to your first piaffe steps, they are all stepping stones towards achieving the elegance and perfection that is dressage.