There is
always talk about gaining more engagement from the horse. Most competition
minded people will fequently read in the collective box at the bottom
of their sheet - 'needs more from behind'. We know that the aim of dressage
is to promote well being, enhance the beauty of the gaits and to prolong
the working life of the horse. This involves encouraging the horse to
take more weight onto the hind legs by correct, systematic and gymnastic
training of the horse.
So how do we transfer the weight onto the hindlegs? There are obviously
two parts to this - the rider and the horse. The rider needs a good mental
approach, the correct seat and body alignment and the understanding of
what they expect from the horse. Without this correct training of the
horse will not happen.
Terminology regarding the training. 'On the bit', 'engagement', 'throughness',
'over the back' are all expressions that are used, personally I feel sometimes
they are used without the real understanding of what they mean and how
to achieve them. I know that Colonel Podhajsky wrote that he frowned upon
the emphasising of too much theory without the practical ability to back
it up, but we have to start somewhere.
My aim in training the horse is to encourage the equal loading of the
hindlegs. This process will take time - it cannot and should not happen
overnight. There is a system and structure to be followed - but what are
the steps to this structure.
Working from the end result back to the beginning. To carry more weight
on the hindlegs, in equal proportion the horse must have the ability to
bend and lower the hindquarters - the three main joints being the hock,
stiffle and pelvis. To achieve this the rider needs a true connection
to each individual hind leg.
To gain this connection to the hind leg the horse needs to bend through
the entirety of his body, not just through the neck. Without the presence
of true bend the horse will never be totally 'through'.
He must be able to bend as equally as possible to the left or the right.
This means lateral flexion of the poll (i.e. the horse should be able
to look left/right at the poll without resistance) all the way uniformly
through the lateral aspect ( along the side through the ribcage) to the
tail. To be able to bend the horse must be supple and he MUST be straight
- that is to say the horse must not have a hollow or stiff side.
To be straight the horse must be longitudinally supple, i.e. supple from
ears to tail over the topline. He must be very responsive to the riders
aids, with a calm and obedient attitude to the requests of the rider.
This is the most important area of the horses training.
For the horse to be straight the rider must be straight. The rider must
be clear with their objectives and have a good feel for what is happening
underneath them. The straightening process is a continual assessment -
it is not a detail to work on part time.
So we take the green or young horse. We stretch him over the topline to
encourage suppleness from ears to tail. The rider is correct through their
seat and bodily alignment. The horse is forwards, calm and soft. We then
place a contact out in front and encourage the horse to move forwards
in good rhythm into this and he will naturally soften at the poll. Then
he must be made straight through riding turns, straight lines, positioning
and counter positioning. He should not be asked for shoulder in etc at
this stage - this will make the crookedness more confirmed. When he is
straight he will not fall out, in, load a shoulder or leave a hind leg
to the inner track.
Then and only then is the horse ready to be bent. Through the use of volte's,
lateral work and rider thought the horse will be bent around the horses
inside leg and thus the door will open to the rider to gain individual
control of each hindleg and the horse will start to become through.
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