Advancing in dressage

Moving on to more advanced dressage levels takes patience, consistency and understanding, writes NICOLE TOUGH.

Dressage is a sport of development. We start in kindergarten by establishing the basics before progressing through primary school where we implement all the elements of the training scale, hopefully graduating to high school with a clean, straight, single flying change. And then, if the horse is in agreeance and has been championed by a committed rider, they might go on to FEI – the university of dressage.

At the beginning of advanced level dressage training, our horse should know everything they need to know, and from there onwards, it is the time in the gym that makes the difference between a horse reaching advanced, and a horse who might go on to Grand Prix.

All the training principles and movements thus far lead to advanced training. If a stage has been skipped or blurred, we will soon hit a crossroad – a point where the horse might tell us: ‘I don’t have the skills or strength to do this’. In this event, both horse and rider will need to revisit some of the basics in order to establish a stronger and more complete foundation before moving on to advanced training.

Dressage judges often give feedback to combinations who have seemingly skipped earlier education and whose horses require more manhandling and force to get around the advanced dressage tests. These horses are inevitably balanced on the rider’s hands, some with compromised paces, some with a stiffness to one side, some showing negative tension and even resistance to the contact.

Dressage is not about teaching tricks. At the heart of more advanced training is correct, systematic step-by-step progress. It is about developing greater suppleness, impulsion, collection and engagement to produce more uphill tendency, elasticity and greater degrees of self-carriage. At the heart of advanced training is the invitation for the horse to work – it is not about forcing them to work.

If you are reading this article, I applaud you. Advanced training requires an extensive theoretical knowledge about the requirements, training principles, pre-conditions and the aim of exercises. It also requires patience. It takes two to three years from the completion of basic training to be proficient at advanced level, with the end goal being to consolidate and perfect all the qualities in the training program.

Key to success is the understanding that every horse is different, with different strengths and weaknesses, and with different motivations – so training progress will vary, and is not linear. They don’t get a bit better every day. Some weeks, it will feel like you’re going nowhere, or even backwards.

The training plan should be geared to each horse, considerate of their conformation and individual qualities. Training must be fair and logical, following a step-by-step process, with timely and frequent praise. This gives the horse confidence and a willingness to try, and the horse that tries and makes a mistake should never be reprimanded.

Another key to success is the understanding of forward. Some horses think more forward by nature, and some we must tune to think with more energy. And by forward, we don’t mean speed. Speed has nothing to do with dressage. Forward refers to the mindset of the horse. They must always be ready to react to the leg aid.

Training at advanced level means following an order of training. Beginning with the warmup, establishing looseness, the connection from the haunches to the bridle and reaction to the individual rider aids – seat, leg and rein.

From here, the sessions should flow from the simplest to the more difficult. For example, before starting the counter change of hand in half-pass, the trainer needs to ensure the horse can perform both the left and right half-passes proficiently. Teaching this movement before the horse is ready, will only lead to loss of balance during the exercise, with the rider likely to react by pulling on the inside rein to the direction of movement, blocking the action of the inside hind. This will result in rhythm faults and tension.

As in all horse training, at times more assertive aids can and will be applied more deliberately. But provided these aids are given at exactly the right time and with the right intensity, and the horse is allowed to react freely to them, they should increase obedience, sensitivity and attentiveness. In short, the horse should understand what is meant by more intense aids.

As always, a coach or eyes on the ground is imperative to further progress. Even the world’s number one tennis player, rower, or dressage rider doesn’t train on their own. There is always more to learn and more to achieve. A coach should provide specialised training, exercises and feedback to help riders and their horses reach their full potential. Tips for pirouette training such as: ‘you can’t be turning the pirouette if you’re still collecting for the pirouette’; or for tempi changes: ‘the change is only as good as the canter, so don’t keep riding more changes if the canter has lost any quality, balance or straightness’, can make all the difference to your progress as you continue along your dressage journey.

For more information on lessons or a clinic with Nicole, visit Nicole Tough Dressage.