Dressage training for the equestrian allows the typical rider to acquire a balanced, secure seat on the horse while maintaining two-way communication with a well-trained responsive mount. According to five-time Finnish Olympian Kyra Kyrklund in "Dressage With Kyra," the origins of dressage began with the training of war horses. Soldiers on horseback had to be able to maneuver their obedient mounts easily while carrying weapons, and the animals needed to trust and rely on their riders to overcome their inborn flight responses during battle. Modern dressage training, often described as "dancing" between a horse and rider, requires the same kinds of discipline for both parts of the equestrian team.
Training the Rider
Dressage training for the rider typically begins with the equestrian learning to sit balanced in the saddle. When the rider sits correctly in the saddle, the ears, shoulders, hips and heels form a vertical line. The legs are positioned long down the sides of the horse. The tips of the rider's toes should align directly under the front of the knees. The rider's wrists and elbows need to form a straight line from the reins to the horse's mouth. The rider must engage the core muscles in her back, lower abdomen and buttocks to keep herself sitting tall and straight while relaxing her shoulders, arms and thighs to maintain balance and keep a soft rein. To move the horse correctly, dressage riders use their seat muscles against the animal's back to ask for forward movement and their leg muscles against the sides to keep the horse in a round form. Equestrians either post or sit the trot, requiring the rider to move her body weight out of the saddle in a regular rhythm or completely relax the leg muscles while following the horse's back movements with her pelvis.
Training the Horse
The dressage horse learns to carry itself in a round, flexible form stretching across its back muscles and pushing off with its back legs and rump to maintain forward impulsion. Training commonly begins with the young horse on a longe line or long reins, learning how to respond to vocal and body commands and how to transition its gaits up from walk to trot to canter, and back down again. Once the horse is under saddle, trainers typically begin riding the young horse in circles, teaching the animal how to bend its frame around the rider's leg on the line of a circle and how to move its body weight forward using its back legs as a fulcrum. The next step in schooling the horse means teaching it lateral moves, writes Dane Rawlins, dressage trainer and winner of the Ontario Dressage Championships, in his book "Dressage Masterclass." The animal learns how to move both forward and sideways in the same movement using the rider's aids to hold its body in correct alignment. Final training involves teaching the mount how to extend its legs and body at all gaits without picking up speed and how to stay in one spot while moving its legs in the trot or canter. These advanced movements, called the "piaffe" and the "passage," are typically only performed in the highest levels of competition.
Equipment and Tack
The typical dressage saddle comes with a deep seat and long flaps to accommodate the rider's upright position in the saddle and allow a longer leg. Competitive equestrians ride black saddles, black reins and white saddle pads as a matter of tradition. In lower levels of competition, dressage riders use one rein and a snaffle bit -- a soft, training bit -- when showing. Higher-level competitors ride with two reins and a kimberwick bit -- a bit with two levers -- to affect the more complex maneuvers of the better-trained horse. Riders carry a dressage whip long enough to touch the horse on its rump and encourage the animal to move faster. Because of the longer billets of the dressage saddle, the girth is typically shorter than that of other English saddles.
Overall Benefits
Dressage training for horse and rider allows both parts of the human-animal team to become more relaxed, supple and responsive to each other. The horse learns what its rider wants by paying attention to the subtle movements of the human body. The equestrian begins to listen to the mount's movement and body language and affect change in a kind, responsible manner. Even though dressage is considered an English equestrian tradition, Western practitioners have begun touting its benefits. Al Dunning, Western reigning trainer and Snaffle Bit Champion, advises that all horses can benefit from the bending and lateral work of dressage training, making them more balanced and, in his words, "better broke."
References
- "Dressage With Kyra"; Kyra Kyrklund, Jytte Lemkow; 2003
- "Dressage Masterclass"; Dane Rawlins, Karen Ryecart; 2004
- "Horse and Rider Magazine"; Western Dressage: Leg Yield to Lope Depart Introduction; Al Dunning, J. Forsberg Meyer; January 2011
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