One of the most popular seminars at the USEA Annual Meeting and Convention is always the Training Solutions For Top Event Riders and this year was no different with the extensive panel speaking to a packed room. The session is informal with audience members asking questions and the members of the panel taking turns answering.

Panel: Karen O’Connor, Boyd Martin, Phillip Dutton, Leslie Law, Clayton Fredericks, Buck Davidson, Lynn Symansky, Hannah Sue Burnett, Shannon Lilley.

Q: What creative items do you guys use that may be successful training wise?

KO: Huge success with a leather bit for dressage. Really soft in their month.

BM: Avoid using strong bits, rare to compete through prelim with anything but a snaffle

PD: Standing martingale – can’t compete in them but it is good training habit wise.

LL: Can’t get away from the correct training. Stay away from draw reins – you need to be a very good rider to ride in draw reins and if you are a very good rider why are you using side reins? I try to stay away from gadgets?

CF: The lunging bungy – elasticated bungy (neck stretcher in America). Much better than side reins because it allows the rider to stretch equally to the contact and then gives back. I have had a lot of success with removing the nose bands and have your horse submit to you more naturally. Still underestimated how important it is to look at the inside of your horse’s mouth when you choose your bits.

BD: Never jump at home without a snaffle. Take stuff away e.g the stirrups from the saddle, take away the reins in an enclosed situation.

SL: I also use leather bits – really helps the horse’s yield to the contact. I try to take the gadgets away because there is not substitute for good training.

HB: I love breastplates – it terrifies me when I see horses jumping without a breastplate.

LS: I do a lot of work riders with riders on the lunge – take the stirrups and reins away.

Q: Any ideas on how to get a horse not to grind their teeth?

KO: I have had luck with putting a tiny bit of dirt in the horse’s mouth right before you go into the ring.

BM: Gum bits

Q: What’s the progression for a young horse on what you do and what you ask for on each day?

PD: I like to establish that when you are on the horse they are listening to you all the time. Your horse always needs to be going forward all the time from your aid. As you get more education you add roundness, softness, etc. Sending a young horse to an experienced person is much better than sending then to an inexperienced person.

BD: For me it is bit like a kid who is never told no until it is too late. They need to go forward, straight all the time but I have a goal each day and once I achieve that goal I finish for the ride.

CF: The horse no matter the level needs to be in front of your leg and submissive to the contact. When you kick them to go they go and as you progress it becomes more fine-tuned. Gradually as you reinforce those ideas you can eventually be dancing with the horse. Cross-country ultimately comes down to is the horse in front of the leg? If the rider asks it to go forward to jump it goes.

LL: If you identify the training scales you are never going to go wrong. It is important to listen to your horse – a 4-year-old might only have 15 minutes in them.

KO: If we asked eachother on how to hack a horse out – they would be marching, overtracking, working at the walk. The go walk hack with a purpose.

Q: Any tips on how to deal with a horse who is very nervous in warm-up?

SL: I find if you can do as much desensitization at home as possible it helps. If you can ride with lots of horses in the ring at home and get them tons of distraction. There is nothing that replaces going off of the property as much as possible – they grow up so much more.

HB: Break it down, start with one-on-one, start slowly, then do two horses then three horses. Be really patient until they are comfortable. Taking them into a big warm-up and just having them deal with it

Q: What do you think is important in a young horse: conformation vs heart vs talent?

BM: It needs to have the ability to gallop for 11 minutes and jump about 35 big jumps. Pretty good jumping ability. Pretty good in the dressage as well. I don’t nit-pick too much conformationally. I go for more rangy horses with 60-70% TB.

PD: I would rather get a horse with a really good horse that is easy to train. There is nothing more frustrating than having a very talented that is hard to train.

LL: I am looking for 60% TB so you have got that gallop and the stamina at the top level. Good technique and scope over a fence. Good walk, good canter. If they have everything else I will forgive a poor trot. Temperament is huge. As well as heart. Difficult to see in 40 minutes though.

CF: The biggest mistake that lower level riders make is going for a 4-star winner rather than isolating the level you want to compete. You are much better with a good attitude who wants to help you out. When I am looking for a 4-star horse I am looking for what these guys are, but quite often they surprise you with what they can to. Breed them with good attitudes.

KO: Make sure that you and the horse are a good match with personality. Bucket horse. You bring one bucket of feed out to 5 horses. Identify the attitudes of the horses and find the one that matches your personality.

Q: The differences in the qualities in the ones that you buy in this country vs. abroad?

BM: If you go to Europe (Ireland/England/France/Holland) there are thousands of horses breeding sport horses and in America we don’t have those people. They are all trying to breed horses for the Olympics within a few hours of themselves. We just don’t have that band of breeders chasing the perfect event horse.

SL: I agree with Boyd, if you go abroad you have the opportunity to ride a lot of horses in a day and just being able to get the numbers is pretty huge and that in of itself makes it worth it.

CF: We call that tire-kicking, Shannon!

Q: If you could pick one horse of any of the other riders on the panel which would you pick and why?

HB: Neville Bardos b/c my horse is pretty similar and I think I would enjoy that type of xc machine

LL: I would have to go with Inmidair – it is a very fantastic jumper, and I think she has done a fantastic job producing that horse. It could definitely medal.

CF: I’ll ride anything! If anyone wants to give me one I’ll take it.

Q: I have a horse that is very polite and obedient but he is very short-gaited and doesn’t want to reach all the way to the bridle?

BD: To me to get a horse to take the contact – I do a lot of transitions, forward and back, you have to get them to go forward first.

CF: I like the horses really light in the contact and providing that they aren’t getting behind the contact and as long as they are obedient.

Q: How have your horse’s fitness plans evolved from the long format to the short format for the upper level competition.

LL: A fit horse is a fit horse, I haven’t really changed that much. Coming from the UK there is an awful lot of steeplechasing back there and the different distances get same the fit the same where. I start with long slow cantering and then when I have a base on the horse I sprint them on a hill. William Fox-Pitt told me about doing one 12 minute canter to get the conditioned to going that length of time even if it isn’t at competition speed. I work to the conditions I am cantering on – not very scientific.

CF: The horses need to have a greater intensity of fitness now at the higher levels. It is about the amount of jumps you are doing in a minute – the galloping between the jumps is even faster so you need to have them fitter. More sprinting now then we may have done in the past.

BD: Once a horse is fit you need to know when the horse is fit. I do a lot of trotting and a lot less galloping and the longer slow gallops similar to Leslie. The training has stayed the same, but the riding has gotten better.

Q: How much down time do you give your horses?

LS: I think it depends on the horse – after a big 3-day I like to give them about a month. Then start back walking and into full work.

Q: What is your favorite exercise to teach a horse to be more brave jumping?

BD: I think it is important for a horse to know that it just can’t stop. With a young horse on xc I always approach jumps that they would be able to bunny hop over –they need to get the understanding they land it is okay.

CF: It is really important as a rider that you are fit and learn to balance so you use your legs and hands independently so that you don’t interfere with the horse and make them stop.

Q: How often do you jump your upper level horses at bigger heights?

HB: I think it depends on the horse, I have one who hardly ever jumps the height and another who is just moving up the level so needs to jump more.

Q: For the average rider who needs to have some brakes that is not responding to the snaffle on xc are their other suggestions you have?

BD: The first thing that comes into your mind is that it needs to come down to training – no quick gadget to solve the problem. Plenty of transitions, expand the levels between speeds, if your horse doesn’t slow down it means you haven’t trained it properly.

LL: When you are producing horses it is extremely important to train it on the cross-country. Teach them to be settled, go in a rhythm, and not fall. If you have got a strong horse in the upper levels the time becomes quite difficult to make. It is better to have something in your horse’s mouth that he respects than mauling on him all day long in a snaffle. It really does become a trial and error situation in a competition situation.

SL: Why is the horse running? If you thought you bought an appropriate horse why is it strong now? If you don’t have an independent hand or leg they might be running away from you. The lighter feel you have the better.

CF: Having just come from Australia where I must have talked over a hundred riders in the last few weeks, this is a problem that I addressed often. Nine out of 10 we saw it with the correction of the rider’s position. I spend time looking in the horse’s mouth and finding something that is suitable for the construction of the mouth.

BM: Put a fence into the hay shed.

Q: I train at a farm and I have inherited a few problem horses and they aren’t young but they are very inconsistent and spooky. How do you train them?

BD: Take the horse back a few steps, start in a confined and area and work up from there as I go. You have to understand when it just isn’t right you have to cut your ties and realize that there is another horse out there.

Q: What are some strategies for teaching a warmblood to gallop?

LL: I gallop them with another horse just like with the racing, hunting, teach them to compete a little bit.

Q: When do you step in with an amateur and tell them to throw in the towel with the wrong horse?

BM: I think you can improve a horse but not change them. If you are an amateur rider you are better off cutting a mis-behaving loose. Upgrade! It’s like a relationship if your partner beats you or something you are better off getting rid of the guy – there are other blokes in the country.

LS: If the personality isn’t right – it isn’t a failure to sell them on.

Q: What are somethings you can do health-wise that can help an amateur’s horse?

SL: Good horsemanship. Be in a program where you learn good horsemanship and appreciate it. If you aren’t in a program try and educate yourself and go out and be proactive.

CF: It isn’t just about training actually; in our yard we have very close relationships with the vet, farrier, chiropractor, physio, acupuncturists. It isn’t because we are superstitious we see marked results with everything we do.

Q: What are some of your favorite exercises to keep your horses sharp in the indoor in the winter?

LL: I have never stayed in an indoor school for five months!

BD: I do a lot of things in the indoors especially in the clinic that changes the horse’s thinking like turning right off the long side rather than always going left. Jumps into walls – things that make you put your leg on your horse and get them in front of your left.

CF: Leave your horse with your wife and go to sunnier climates.

Q: What can you do to get the most out of the riders to keep up with these horses?

LL: Obviously we ride a lot of horses in the day we are quite riding fit, but prior to Athens Olympics I got a bit more serious. Ran on a machine, went to a heat chamber. I find for riding the most important thing is aerobic fitness.

CF: Before Hong Kong we did a lot of running up the hill. Rider is a core strength so anything you do on an exercise ball helps.

Article source useventing.com

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,

Can I Learn How to Ride Dressage from Online Videos?

By Shannon Dueck

I have often been asked this question, my opinion is both “Yes” and “No”. Full disclosure here:: I do have training videos on one of the popular websites, so that must mean I think they can be useful.
Here are some of my reasons for saying “Yes”:

Theoretical knowledge of horsemanship in general and dressage training in particular is crucial to being successful as a rider and trainer (and yes, you are training your horse every time you sit in that saddle, even if you are not getting paid). You really do need to know the hows and whys of what you are trying to accomplish when you are riding. Without the theoretical background, even the most gifted rider will go round and round in circles (get it?) and never progress. And, the theory of dressage is never completely mastered, so we can all continue to improve our knowledge forever. While books are truly treasure troves of theory, good videos of great trainers who are teaching students or riding and talking while doing so can clarify much of the written word for us.

Many of us are visual learners, myself included. That means that no matter how much we read about it, discuss it, question it and spout the theory ad nauseam, we really don’t get it until we see it done a number of times. I remember as a working student spending many extra hours watching top trainers ride and train. For some reason I could see the half halt and feel it in my body when they were riding. Eventually I could reproduce that half halt myself on a horse – the “Eureka” moment. I finally knew what all the books were talking about. I sure know the moment I felt myself affect the horse’s hindlegs and put them where I wanted them. This was directly related to how many times I had watched great riders do the same thing. I completely believe that we can learn from watching good riding and training, and this learning can sometimes almost bypass the conscious brain and just go straight into our subconscious. (Warning: I also believe we can subconsciously learn bad riding from watching bad riding, so turn away from the train wrecks please!) This is reason number two for a resounding “Yes”.

Reason three is that we have a limited number of horses to ride every day. I ride and teach all day, but that doesn’t mean I am exposed to all different kinds of horses and situations. We can learn from different trainers on different horses; every one has unique challenges in their training process. If you only ride one horse a day, watching applicable video can vastly increase your understanding of how to deal with your own unique challenges.

Reason one for “No” is the same as reason three for “Yes”. It can be confusing to learn from too many trainers, and for that reason I think most students should limit their exposure somewhat to trainers who have similar training methods as your current trainer. Otherwise you can find yourself questioning more, and not progressing. This is fine if your quest is just knowledge for the sake of knowledge (not a bad quest), but it’s not so great for progressing in the actual sport of riding dressage well.

Lastly, if you want to learn how to ride, there is no substitute for riding. Lots of riding. All the theoretical learning, all the questioning, all the discussions, answers and watching will never do for you what hours in the saddle will. You must have the knowledge and understanding of what you are trying to accomplish, but in the end you must develop feel in your body and subconscious. This takes hours in the saddle, being aware of what you are doing, trying to feel your horse and then using your body more effectively to affect your horse in the right ways. In this way, your conscious knowledge turns into unconscious skill.

International Grand Prix trainer and competitor Shannon Dueck is a Pan Am Games Individual Silver Medalist, and has competed at both WEG and the World Cup Final. She has trained with Bert Rutten of the Netherlands, Kathy Connelly, Lars Peterson, Hubertus Schmidt, Robert Dover, and most recently, Wolfram Wittig while in Germany this past summer.

Source dueckdressage.com

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

DressageTrainingOnline.com is presenting a free 7 part video series featuring Jody Hartstone of New Zealand.

Part 1 - Understanding how your horse thinks is vital. It doesn’t matter what level you ride at, your horse’s breed or discipline you specialize in, knowing their capacity for learning, memory and response will greatly enhance your abilities as a trainer and rider.

Part 2 – Jody discusses the Flight Response in the horse. Obviously important often misunderstood by humans. It doesn’t matter what level you ride at, your horse’s breed or discipline you specialize in, knowing more about your horse’s flight response is vital in making you a better horseman.

Part 3 – will explore Habituation. Understanding how horses become comfortable with things is important in not only ensuring you have a safe horse but that you employ habituation as a standard method incorporated into your daily training.

www.DressageTrainingOnline.com

Jody was shortlisted for the Athens Olympics on Landioso and the 2010 WEG qualified rider for Dressage representing New Zealand. Jody teaches and lectures worldwide emphasizing her training based on scientific principles of behavioural theory. “The rider’s aids are all trained systematically and one at a time,” Hartstone explained. “One should be careful not to apply two cues at once and ensure that the pressure-release aids (reins or legs) are trained effectively before one moves on to subtle aids like the seat. Basically reins are there to slow down, legs to go, reins to turn and leg for yield. Most important is to train the legs of the horse before training its frame. It is very different from what we see in many training yards where horses are sent to. With them rein pressure and reins are no longer effective to slow down the horse’s leg. Paramount is self carriage. The horses are taught from breaking in to hold their own rhythm, direction and outline.”

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

Dressage Training: A Clinic With Juan Matute

“We are the luckiest people in the world to being doing what we do.” Juan Matute commented during a four day clinic at Kathy and Gary Priest’s Woodspring Farm, in Versailles, Kentucky. “To be doing what you love, is not hard work.”

Starting at 8 AM with about 15 horses a day, Matute watched, encouraged, explained, and inspired 15 horses and riders, all at different levels and abilities.

Matute quickly saw the good in each horse and the rider, yet was tough when he felt they could give more. The Olympian has been a longtime member of the Spanish Dressage Team, which has won multiple team medals in international competition Olympic and World Equestrian Games competition.

See some of the horses Juan worked with, the excersises they did, and finally read some of the “Juanisms” frequest comments and training tips.

Knowing the Bloodlines Helps to Make the Connection

“Juan is a real student of the pedigree.” said Kathy, and during the clinic as he observed each horse and evaluated their movement Matute concurred. “I prefer to know the bloodlines of the horses I am teaching.” said Juan. “I always look at the horse and its conformation first but when I know the bloodlines I can often make a connection with the horse quicker.” Matute put his knowledge and eye into selecting six to eight horses a year which he develops on his beautiful equestrian facilities nestled in the picturesque hills in Madrid Spain.

There, an assortment of horse breeds including Warmbloods, Lusitanos, and Pure Spanish (P.R.E.) are available for sale. Many of them have been sold to riders throughout the world where they continue to succeed in the F.E.I. show ring. And he is excited about his next Olympic prospect, who he plans to bring to Wellington for the winter of 2006.

Kathy Priest, who has been training with Matute for four years worked with several clients’ horses and well as her own young 5-year-old Westphalen, Ronaldo, an exciting young horse talent she purchased from Matute earlier this year. The handsome bay gelding by the thoroughbred sire, Rockwell, Ronaldo had placed eighth at the 2005 Bundeschampionat for Young Horses is Germany. Matute had purchased Ronaldo as a three-year-old, and had planned to keep him for himself, but after they spent over a year searching for the right horse for Kathy, Matute sold her the horse. Kathy and Juan both are clearly excited about Ronaldo as Kathy’s next big time horse.

For this session they worked the young horse in a double bridle, and after a light session as the heat of the Kentucky summer day began to rise, trying the exercise used to introduce the passage movement. Starting with a forward moving shoulder in along the wall, to collected small trot steps, then forward. “Don’t always stop first then try to piaffe,” explained Matute. “Go ahead and make a small trot then in and out with half halts and make a piaffe, coming back to little steps to go under. Inspired by a recent training session with Hubertus Schmidt, Matute tried this exercise with several horses during the clinic. “If you lose power” added Juan, “push use lengthening then collect the trot again.”

Exercises for Working with a Young Horse

Each year Kathy Priest has a number of talented horses in the show ring. Priest’s Hanoverian stallion Bordeaux now retired from the show ring is one of the leading sires in this country, and the leading producer of approved Hanoverian mares. Bordeaux’s presence was felt during the clinic with three quality horses by the well know sire.

“This is the perfect amateur horse observed Matute as he watched Priest put the young 5-year-old Bangor, by Bordeaux and owned by Brenda Katz, through his paces. The warm up exercises began with a trot warm up into canter, with leg yields down the long sides, with an exaggerated but not too deep bend to help him loosen the spine and make the connection in his back. They then did trot to shoulder in – collect a few steps – then trot – then collect again. Use of the whip on his side behind the boot develops more collection. After a walk break, they then worked haunches in on circle both directions then walk break then 5 minutes of canter work, but not too forward. Clearly impressed with the quality of all of the young Bordeaux horses he worked with during the clinic Matute remarked, “At an auction in Germany, this horse would get a very good price, and he is a very popular type.”

Juan Matuteisms Entertain and Educate

For the students and friends who ride and train with Kathy Priest, the special privilege of having the opportunity to work with Matute is one they get on the occasion he can break away from his busy schedule. And he’s fun an entertaining, whether capturing the room’s attention at a dinner party with a dramatic story of finding a garden snake in the guest house, or by sharing his “Spanglish Juanisms” as he watches and trains his students.

Source dressagedaily.com

Dressage Training: Practical Dressage

Say the word ‘dressage’ and many riders think only of the specific requirements of the competitive sport of dressage. Others immediately protest that dressage is ‘difficult’, ‘boring’, or ‘irrelevant’ for what I do with my horse. From a practical standpoint, however, dressage is simply a training system that allows a rider to develop any horse for any possible use. And, perhaps more important, systematic training enables riders to identify and fix those inevitable problems that crop up as training progresses. The Old French word ‘dress’ meaning to prepare or drill is the root of the word ‘dressage. From that perspective, dressage IS relevant for any horse whose rider aspires to train and compete in a systematic way. While the Greeks get credit for penning the first works on classical horse training, the Renaissance French developed horse training as a high art practiced by nobility and royalty. In contemporary times, the Germans systematized dressage training principles which enabled the sport of competitive dressage that we know today.

Meredith Manor teaches a 10-step ‘training tree’ based on the German model. Each basic training skill builds on the previously mastered skills. Gradually, the horse develops a foundation that allows him to specialize successfully in whatever sport his rider chooses. Riders master a six-step ‘riding tree’ on their way to being able to successfully influence and train a horse. In an ideal world, a rider would master the riding tree before attempting to train her horse. In reality, riders and their horses often find themselves learning together.

As I said, one of the real advantages of having a system for learning how to train or ride comes when things are not going particularly well. Start at the bottom of each ‘tree’ and ask yourself whether you and your horse have truly mastered the first levels. If the answer is yes, go to the next level and ask the question again. Each time the horse learns a new skill, the rider must make sure the training tree is being followed for that new skill. As soon as you get to a level, for horse or rider, where the truthful answer is ‘not completely’, you have found the root of your problem. Never mind that you paid good money for a clinic where you ‘learned’ how to perform a specific movement for your next dressage test or improve your time around the barrels. If your horse has not mastered the 10-step horse training program or you have not mastered the six-step rider training program, there is the hole in your skill
set.

If you are not balanced, how can your horse be balanced? If you do not know how to coordinate your aids, how can your horse be on the aids? If you cannot use your aids to influence your horse, how can you clearly communicate with your horse when performing a reining pattern or a dressage test or any other competitive adventure?

For example, horses are born crooked by nature, some more than others. If you never help them develop their bodies equally on both sides (become straight), their natural crookedness will eventually limit their progress. If you attempt a spin in a reining pattern and cannot get your horse to set its inside pivot leg dow in one direction or the other or your horse can not canter down the rail without carrying his haunches to the inside, your horse has a straightness problem. Or, the problem may be that you as the rider do not know
how to apply your aids correctly to help the horse stay straight before you ask for the spin or canter. This can sometimes be ‘chicken and egg’ stuff. A good trainer or ground person can help you sort out which it is by helping you figure out where you and your horse are in mastering your basic skill sets. Now look for straightness in each new skill you introduce to your horse.

As another example, it goes without saying that if you attempt a trail class or dressage test on a tense horse, you will not score well. All the drilling on specific movements will not help you if your horse becomes anxious and you do not know how to reestablish relaxation. You may feel resistant about backing way down the training tree until you have solved the problem (and if your horse is not relaxed yet, it is likely because he has not yet established rhythm, either) but until you do, you and your horse will continue to be frustrated.

But, you protest again, I don’t compete. I just like to trail ride. In some ways, riding outdoors in an unstructured environment demands even more from a horse and rider. If a turkey or a deer jumps out of the brush, does your horse understand and respond to the basic aids? (Are you slopping down the road with loose reins or actually paying attention to your riding?) When you want to cross a log or a stream is your horse straight and does he understand moving forward from your leg? Imagine the feeling of cantering rhythmically through a
meadow without your horse speeding up until he is running away. Imagine you and your horse in complete balance as he rocks back on his hindquarters to tackle a steep downhill stretch. That is practical dressage. If your horse has mastered the training tree, he will be a confident and responsive partner no matter what you encounter on a familiar or unfamiliar trail.

Again, in an ideal world every rider would master the riding tree before attempting to take their horse up the training tree. In the real world, horse and rider are likely to be learning together. Seek out riding instructors and trainers who can clearly articulate the system they teach students on their way to mastery. A systematic progression of skills gives you a set of benchmarks. When things are not doing well, those benchmarks will help you find the ‘hole’, master the skill, and kick start your progress.

Source dressagedaily.com