RATIONAL DRESSAGE

Today's version of dressage has evolved through many centuries and many countries, each with their own particular interpretation. The French talk about Ramener and Rassembler, the Germans aim for Durchlässigkeit and Schwung, and English-speaking people want their horses on the bit and not resisting.

To the average person these terms are all quite bewildering — and even when they begin to understand what is meant, achieving them can be equally frustrating.

Without having to use jargon or foreign languages, dressage can be a beautifully structured, logical system with clear goals and logical methods to achieve them. It makes sense to me to teach the easy bits first, and then to concentrate on the more difficult things.

This is not what is normally done — the accepted practice is to focus on achieving precision in one area first, then move on to the next activity. To me this is like building a house one room at a time — putting up the walls, furnishing and decorating it, and then moving on to the next room. It makes more sense to me to lay down strong foundations, build the walls and roof, and then to concentrate on the individual rooms, working on them all simultaneously. This gives direction and coherence to the whole project — I can see where I'm going, and how much I have to do at any given time. I have a good overview of the complete procedure, and am less likely to have to go back and correct things.

The foundation is to have the horse on the bit. This is a ridiculous term, but one that is used by all English-speaking instructors. Basically, to me, it means that the horse is attentive, round and soft.

Once the horse is reliably on the bit, the Five Basics are introduced. These are:

• Mobility (go, stop, back)

• Tempo (quick, slow)

• Bending (circles, serpentines)

• Transitions (halt-walk-trot-canter)

• Lateral Work (leg yield, shoulder-in, travers)

The important word is 'introduced' — each one of these Basics must be improved upon and developed to a high level, but at the beginning it is important for both horse and rider to understand that these are the only things they have to know in order to do every single movement up to and including Grand Prix. There are no surprises, nothing that can be intimidating, no mystery as to what happens in higher levels. This gives the rider confidence and eliminates confusion and the apprehension that surfaces at each new level.

Even though the Five Basics are easy to learn, they need to be taught in a meticulous, particular way, which always bears in mind the ultimate aim of the work. The exact sequence must be done step by step, and each step must be done correctly. For example, it's easy to teach a horse to stop, but to have him stop with a light aid, immediately, requires a specific process, one which enables difficult transitions (canter-walk) and piaffe/passage to be performed correctly. Just to stop isn't good enough. The same applies to all the Basics — they must be done precisely and in the correct way. It is important to focus on only one thing at a time, and to be happy with every slightest improvement. Expecting perfection in the early stages is counter-productive.

Once the Basics have been introduced, then it is the time to start on the quality of the work. This is the part that takes the time, skill and patience, as the rider trains the horse to be strong, soft and round, balanced, impulsive and collected.

The ultimate aim of dressage schooling is collection. This is the assumption of weight by the horse’s hindquarters, with energy being directed upwards. The horse needs to actively step under and momentarily carry the weight on flexed hind legs so that he appears to be 'uphill', or sitting. It doesn’t happen by pulling the horse’s head in and spurring him on, it is the result of correct work: bending, transitions and lateral movements.

All movements that are required in tests are merely exercises designed to facilitate collection—they are not ends in themselves, they are the means to an end. Having the horse on the bit is the first step towards collection; then the horse is progressively improved in balance and impulsion until he can eventually display an acceptable state of collection at Prix St Georges level. This is then refined through Intermediares 1 and 2, and finally achieved at Grand Prix.

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