Pony Training: Part 3 – Dressage

As a natural continuation of lunging, dressage is arguably the most integral part of horse riding. Not only does it encapsulate essential riding skills, but it also forms the foundation of all proficient horsemen practices around the world.

The Essence of Dressage

Despite seeming a bit ostentatious, the term “dressage” encapsulates a critical component of horse riding. It refers to the systematic training of the horse to understand and respond aptly to subtle cues from the rider, facilitating a harmonious partnership between horse and rider.

• Common Misconception: Many perceive dressage as a specialized form of riding distinct from others, which is a mistaken belief. The term may make it sound like an intricate art form, yet, in reality, dressage is fundamental to all forms of horse riding.
• Innovation in Dressage Practices: Irrespective of how it is referred to or what opinions surround it, dressage continues to be practiced, consciously or unconsciously, by all competent horsemen.

The table below provides an overview of the key aspects surrounding dressage:

Historical Significance in Dressage

The importance of dressage can be appreciated best through showcasing successful individuals in the world of horse riding.

• Iconic Horsemen: The achievements of notable horsemen, such as Australian rider Laurie Morgan and his remarkable horse Salad Days, illuminate the significance of dressage. This pair didn’t just win the Badminton Three Day Event in 1960 but also achieved places in steeplechases.

This historical account underlines the broad-ranging application of dressage, debunking the notion that it’s separated from other forms of horse riding. Mastering dressage skills not only enhances a rider’s ability to control and synchronize with their horse but also opens the door to excel in various equestrian competitions around the world.

Let’s dive deeper into dressage, to cherish its complexity, respect its historical significance, and understand its role in forming the foundation of horse riding.

Dressage: Building a Symbiotic Relationship between Rider and Horse

Dressage serves as a medium for effective communication between rider and horse, fostering a mutual language essential for various activities such as hunting, hacking, eventing, gymkhana, or show jumping. The proficiency in dressage enables the rider to convey their desires subtly and effectively, ensuring the horse responds with agility and precision.

Importance of Mutual Language

• Efficiency in Communication: Establishing a common language enhances the horse’s responsiveness to the rider’s indications, yielding maximum enjoyment during various riding activities.
• Active and Supple Horse: A horse that’s both active and “on the bit” will efficiently translate instructions from rider to an executed movement, thereby improving overall performance.

Essential Aids for Dressage

• Basic Aids: To develop a common understanding with your horse, it’s necessary to employ certain basic aids or signals.
• Sitting Still: Except when giving a clear command, riders should limit their movement to ensure better communication. An authoritative and calm demeanor tends to elicit a favorable response from the horse.
• Lower Leg Placement: Riders should avoid gripping with their lower leg while keeping their legs close to the horse’s sides. This positioning enables signals to be as light and imperceptible as possible.

Understanding the importance of dressage and incorporating the essential aids into your horse riding practice will significantly improve communication, overall performance, and enjoyment. By fostering a symbiotic relationship with your horse, you’ll be able to excel in various equestrian activities while maximizing the joy of riding.

Commanding the Pony: From Mounting to Moving Off

Ensuring that the pony only moves off on receiving a specific rider’s aid builds the foundation of disciplined horse riding. By maintaining gentle contact with the pony’s mouth, leveraging seat bones, and using leg pressure, the rider can guide the pony accurately.

The Mounting Process

• Pony Discipline: The pony must learn to stand firmly in place for the rider to mount, creating a consistent routine for the riding session.
• Early Commands: The pony only begins movement upon the rider’s aid, furthering the understanding and implementation of riding signals.

Executing the Moving Off

• Soft Contact: After mounting, pick up the reins such that there’s a soft contact with the pony’s mouth. This action signals your preparedness to ride and assert gentle control.
• Utilizing Seat Bones and Leg Pressure: To initiate movement, apply a push with your seat bones and gently squeeze with your legs.
• Increasing Response: If the pony does not immediately move, squeeze again while simultaneously applying the stick just behind your leg. This connection reinforces the pony’s receptivity towards your leg aid solely.
• Maintaining Speed Control: Regardless of the pace – at a walk or any other speed – the pony should neither increase nor decrease its speed except on your command.

Understanding and implementing these techniques effectively aids in creating a harmonious riding experience. This sequence of steps allows for both safety and enjoyment in various equestrian activities, leading to an enriched bonding between horse and rider.

Trotting: A Delicate Balance of Control and Cadence

Trotting plays a key role in equestrian activities, demanding precision, control, and understanding of the pony’s unique physical characteristics. The rider must adjust reins, maintain a cadenced pace, and rotate diagonals to ensure balanced muscular development for the pony.

Adjusting Reins for Trotting

• Pony’s Head Position:
  At a trot, your pony will naturally tuck its head in, requiring you to adjust your rein’s length.
• Rein Shortening:
  Before applying leg aids for the trot, slightly shorten your reins to maintain control while accommodating the pony’s head movement.

Maintaining Cadence

• Achieving Even Pace:
  Always strive for a regular trotting pace, neither too slow (“slopping”) nor too quick. A balanced, steady trot ensures effective control and better riding experience.
• Control Tactics:
  Avoid letting the pony either slacken or hasten excessively to maintain control and an aesthetically pleasing rhythm.

Balancing Diagonal Trotting

• Understanding Diagonal Imbalance:
  Most horses and ponies have one side more developed than the other. Consistent practice on the “other diagonal” aids in balancing their muscular development.
• Switching Diagonals:
  Changing your trotting diagonal to the less favored one might initially be challenging and uncomfortable. However, it helps even out the pony’s muscle tone and prevents physical strain from one-sided work.
• Achieving Diagonal Shift:
  To switch diagonals, adopt the sequence of rising or bumping for two beats, then continue with your regular trot. This maneuver allows you to cross over to your unaccustomed side.

Mastering the different facets of trotting can significantly enhance a rider’s overall proficiency, leading to safer, enjoyable, and more productive riding experiences. By paying attention to rein adjustment, pace cadence, and diagonal balance, riders can optimize their equestrian agility and their animal’s physical well-being.

Turning, Transitions, Stopping and Standing

Equestrian training emphasizes the use of light, almost imperceptible aids for guiding equine movement. The goal is to acquire responses from horses to subtle cues. Apt training and usage of aids facilitate effective turning, transitions, stopping, and standing.

Directional Changes: Turning Left or Right

• Role of Training: The primary role of training a pony is to secure their response to the lightest aids from their rider. It helps to shape their behaviour in accordance with the proposed actions and movements.
• Aids Use in Trotting: Even when trotting, the rider should apply the correct aids to ensure the pony aligns its body to the corner direction.
• Use of Reins: The handling of the reins should be similar to ‘squeezing out a sponge’ – using only your fingers.

Turn on the Forehand

• Practical Benefit: Even though this movement is no longer featured in the dressage phase of a One-Day Pony Club Horse Trial, it is still a useful exercise for turning ponies in confined spaces.
• Aids Anticipation: Excessive practice might teach the pony to anticipate your aids, removing the necessity of explicit signals from you.
• Executing a Right Turn: While standing still with weight uniformly distributed across all four legs, maintain a slight extra pressure on the right rein to guide your pony’s head in the proposed direction to facilitate a right turn.

Transitions: From Walk to Canter

• Definition: Transitions refer to speed variations from a walk to a trot to a canter, or decelerating through these paces to halt. Transitions should ideally be performed as smoothly as feasible.
• Transition Management: Push your pony forward onto the bit, rather than trying to pull him back and always reward response with aid relaxation.

Halting and Standing Correctly

• Stopping Philosophy: While brute force hauling can stop a pony, it is neither proficient riding nor sensible schooling. A good stop sees the rider sitting down in the saddle, closing their legs to the pony’s sides, and keeping their hands still.
• Controlled Halting: This careful halting allows the pony to stand properly, distributing its weight evenly. It’s crucial to teach the pony to remain still on a slack rein, avoiding the habit of leaving one hind leg behind or resting it.

With thoughtful, systematic training, a pony can learn to respond effectively to light aids in various scenarios. These learned responses enhance the adroitness of both horse and rider, cultivating a more symbiotic relationship. This method can refine turning motions, transitions in speed, and halting and standing techniques, ultimately enriching the equestrian experience.