Dressage

DRESSAGE

| Dressage | Observations in Equitation |

Dressage has been described as "the gradual harmonious development of the horse's physical and mental condition with the aim of achieving the improvement of its natural gaits under the rider and a perfect understanding with its rider." Basic dressage training is the best preparation of a horse for any number of tasks, notably jumping, hunting, and pleasure riding. Aside from its value in training the riding horse, dressage as an end in itself is increasing in popularity as a competitive sport. Horse shows offering competition in dressage are being held all over nationally and internationally. Local dressage organizations in many areas sponsor shows, clinics with expert instructors, and educational meetings. Since dressage is an Olympic sport, the USET has a dressage squad which has made a respectable showing in recent international competitions. The goal of elementary dressage is to produce a horse that is calm, is obedient to the rider, and moves freely and easily at the walk, trot, and canter.

Trained on a simple snaffle bit, it is expected to accept the rider's contact while maintaining a quiet, low head carriage with a certain degree of flexion at the poll. The horse's balance and suppleness are developed so that it is able to make smooth transitions between the gaits, halt on command, lengthen and shorten strides at the trot and canter, and bend its neck and body to follow the curves of simple turns and circles. Dressage training is the systematic method of producing these desired goals. To be most effective, a rider should be trained in the fundamentals of the dressage seat, sometimes called the "classical," "full," or "normal" seat. Its principal characteristics are a fairly long stirrup, facilitating close leg contact; a deep seat, with the entire rider's weight in the middle of the saddle; and an erect upper body, supporting quiet hands that maintain a steady contact with the horse's mouth. Except in the earliest stages of training for a young horse, the dressage rider sits in the saddle at all times, absorbing the motion of the horse's slow and fast paces alike by the suppleness of his body, rather than by knee grip or rising forward out of the saddle.

The purpose of this deep seat is the great control afforded over the horse. The rider can use his legs and weight aids most effectively from this position. (For jumping or cross-country riding, of course, the dressage rider would assume the forward seat.) A major requirement of dressage training not stressed in most other types of schooling is the way in which the horse accepts the rider's hands through the bit and the reins. Contact in dressage means much more than the horse's merely tolerating a certain amount of pressure on its mouth. A horse correctly in contact, or "on the bit," not only accepts the pressure of the rider’s hands but seeks to maintain it. The horse must be relaxed in both its jaw and its poll and be willing to yield at these points if the pressure is slightly increased. If the pressure is gently decreased, the horse should stretch its neck in an attempt to maintain contact. There should be no leaning against or pulling on the bit, nor should the animal try to tuck its chin away. The correct type of contact is not easy to achieve and requires skilled hands and legs to develop.

Because contact is not a characteristic of the horse’s mouth alone but is a product of the carefully fostered desire to go forward, impulsion must be painstakingly developed by the rider. The forward impulse originates in the energetic stepping forward of the hind legs, then is transmitted through the horse's relaxed back to a stretching of the neck and a "reaching" for the bit. The most skillful hands can never produce good contact from a horse that does not go forward energetically. Thus the energy of the gaits, contact, and head carriage are inextricably related.

Dressage competition is available at all levels of training. In fact, the requirements of the dressage tests themselves, as written by the AHSA, provide an outline for the correct sequence of schooling. The simplest way to describe the degree of training of any horse is to name the dressage test it is capable of performing well. Saying that an animal is a "second-level horse" or a "Prix St.-Georges" horse produces quite an accurate picture in the mind of anyone familiar with these tests. A dressage test is a written pattern of exercises which is carried out in a special dressage arena. In competition, each horse performs the pattern individually, while the judge (or judges) assigns a numerical score and makes comments on each individual movement.

There are two or three different tests at each level. Test 1 is always less difficult than Test 2 at anyone level.

The simplest test is Training Level, Test 1. At the Training Level, a horse performs clockwise and counterclockwise on the correct leads at all three gaits. The animal should accept contact with the bit, keeping its head quiet and mouth closed. In addition to the walk, it is shown at the "working" trot and canter. The working paces are gaits "in which an individual horse presents himself in the best balance and is most easily influenced and worked." A good working trot or canter involves a regular rhythm, a good length of stride, and a generous degree of energy, or impulsion resulting from lively action of the hind legs. The Training Level horse should be able to bend easily on large (width of arena, or 20-meter-diameter) circles while changing direction. The horse must pick up the correct lead from the trot in both directions, as well as making transitions between halt and walk, walk and trot, and trot and canter. While an experienced rider with a suitable mature horse that has not been specifically trained in dressage might be able to produce a good Training Level test in a few weeks, a young or difficult horse may require a year or more to attain this standard.

First Level tests require, in addition to the exercises in training level a lengthening of stride in the trot and canter. In this exercise the horse is expected to maintain the rhythm of the working gait while covering more ground with each stride. Circles of 10-meter diameter are performed at the trot, and the transitions and changes of direction are more numerous.

At Second Level, the horse is expected to perform the shoulder-in at the walk and trot. This is one of several lateral, or two-track, movements in which the horse travels simultaneously forward and to the side. Ten-meter circles at the canter and a turn on the haunches from the halt are also required. While many of the movements in Training, First, and Second levels are similar, the standard of proficiency at which they are judged increases with the level of the test. The same change of rein at the working trot that earns a score of 6 or 7 in Training might barely receive a score of 5 if done during a Second Level test. Third Level tests are considerably more difficult than Second Level in that they introduce the collected gaits. A correctly schooled horse usually requires at least 2 years of training to produce them. Collection is the ability of the horse to shift its balance toward its hind legs. The results are gaits that are springy, light, and graceful. Although the strides of the collected paces are shorter than those of working gaits, the horse uses even more energy, which is channeled into upward as well as forward motion. This produces the elevation of good collected gaits.

A Third Level horse must also show the extended paces. Extension is developed from lengthening the stride, but is also characterized by a maximum of energy directed forward. The extended trot is one of the most spectacular dressage movements, in which the horse produces so much push with its hindquarters that the front legs "snap" straight forward at each stride. Other Third Level exercises are the haunches-in and two-track movements, the simple change of lead at the canter, the rein-back, and the counter-canter. Circles of 6 meters (at the trot) and 8 meters (at the canter) are also required.

Fourth Level tests add flying changes of lead at the canter; pirouettes, or turns on the haunches, at the walk and canter; and two-track and 6 meter circles (volte) at the canter. Prix St.-Georges and Intermediaire call for essentially the same exercises as Fourth Level, but in progressively more difficult sequences. For example, repeated flying changes are required after four, three, and two canter strides. Also, the standard against which the horse is judged becomes increasingly high.

The Grand Prix de Dressage is an Olympic test. In addition to all the difficult paces, figures, and transitions of the lower-level tests, it includes three exceptional exercises. These are the flying change of lead at every stride (informally called "onesy"), the piaffe (trotting in place), and the passage (a highly collected trot). The Grand Prix de Dressage is truly an acme of the horse world. Perhaps the most spectacular form of dressage is noncompetitive. Haute ecole ("high school") dressage is done by such troupes as the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, the Cadre Noir of Saumur, France, and the Andalusian Riding School of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. There you will see the "airs above the ground"-breathtaking rearing and leaping movements as the horses are guided by riders in the saddle or on the ground. Dressage is one phase of combined training, taking place on the initial day of a three-day event. Tests range from Training to Third Level, depending on the level of the event.