How To Make Your Lazy Horse More Energetic

Are you sick and tired of doing all the work while your lazy horse plods along without energy? Remember that a horse can feel a fly on his side, so logically there’s no reason for him to be dull to your legs.

Here are the steps to put the lazy horse in front of your legs:

1. Give a light leg aid

2. No response, half-hearted response, or delayed response

3. Correct him by sending him forward

4. RETEST

5. 100% response (99.9% isn’t good enough!)

6. Praise

Let me explain those steps in a little more detail.

1. Give one feather light squeeze with both calves. A horse can feel a fly on his side so it’s logical that he can feel a light aid.

2. Your horse must react instantly and eagerly. If he doesn’t, DON’T adjust your aid by repeating it or making it stronger. If you do, you’re letting your horse train you!

3. Instead, correct him by chasing him forward. Before you actually correct your horse for a dull or non-existent reaction to your leg, consider his temperament. The easy-going, lazy horse might need a few taps with the whip or a few bumps from your legs to send him forward.

But the sensitive soul might only need a brush with the whip to get the same reaction. The point is to get a clearly forward, “hot-off-the-leg” answer– not to terrorize him.

Also, if your horse is the type that bucks when you use the whip, it’s better to bump him with your legs instead. First of all, you don’t want to get bucked off!

In addition, if he’s bucking, he’s obviously not going forward, so he’s missed the whole point of why you corrected him.

So, close both of your legs very lightly on his sides to ask for his version of a lengthening. If your lazy horse doesn’t respond (and he probably won’t if you’re used to giving him strong leg aids), send him forward for eight or ten strides by tapping with the whip or giving him a couple of bumps with your legs.

Keep in mind that at this point, all you’re looking for is some type of forward reaction. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a “pretty” answer. It’s fine if he puts his head up in the air and rushes off. None of those reactions matter in the beginning.

Your only goal when you start this process is to get some kind of enthusiastic answer that shows your horse is paying attention to you.

While you’re sending him forward, maintain a light contact with his mouth, but don’t give any rein aids. There’s no point in using the reins to put him on the bit if he’s not “thinking” forward.

4. Once you’ve chased him forward, go back to a normal working trot. Ask for the lengthening again by RETESTING with a light leg aid.

Retesting by closing both calves lightly is the most important step in the entire process. If you don’t retest, your horse only becomes duller. That’s because you’ve only taught him to go forward when he feels the whip or kicking. You haven’t taught him anything about reacting to a light leg aid unless you retest.

5. Accept nothing less than a 100% response. If his reaction to your legs is “better” or “pretty good” but not wholeheartedly forward, repeat the whole process from the beginning until he makes a 100% effort.

6. When you RETEST, if your lazy horse responds by immediately going forward energetically, praise generously. At this point it’s still okay if he breaks into the canter when you do the retest–later on, through repetition and reward, you can explain to him that you just want a lengthening in the trot. But for the moment, ANY forward reaction deserves to be rewarded.

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How To Teach Your Dressage Horse to Do Free Walk at Training Level

It’s just as important to do a good free walk with your dressage horse at Training Level as it is to develop your trot and canter work. Many riders lose sight of the fact that they should pay as much attention to the  medium walk and free walk as they do to the other two gaits.

First, let me define the free walk. It’s a gait of relaxation. Your dressage horse should lengthen his frame and lower his head and neck so he looks like he’s going to graze. His poll is lower than his withers. He should open the angle at his throatlatch so his nose points a bit forward, and he looks like he’s stretching toward the bit. Also, his strides become longer so his hind feet step more inches beyond the tracks made by his front feet.

PREPARATION is the key to getting a good free walk at Training Level. You should prepare for the transition at the beginning of the free walk the same way you prepare for the “stretchy” circle in the trot

To do this, use “connecting aids” for 3-4 seconds on the short side while you’re still in medium walk. To give “connecting aids”, create energy by closing both calves as if you’re asking for a lengthening. But don’t let your horse lengthen. Instead, close your outside hand in a fist to capture, contain, and recycle that energy back to the
hind legs. Keep your legs and outside hand closed for 3-4 seconds. While closing your legs and outside hand, vibrate or squeeze and release on your inside rein so your horse doesn’t bend his neck to the outside.

Then, as you turn onto the diagonal, relax your legs, and open your fingers so your horse can chew the reins out of your hands.

Your next challenge will be to do the transition back to the medium walk. Use the same “connecting aids” you used to prepare for the free walk. While the reins are still long, press lightly with your calves. As you shorten the reins, keep your new outside hand closed in a fist and squeeze and release with your new inside hand.

Horses should march in both the medium walk and the free walk. If your horse gets lazy, “breathe” your legs during the free walk. To “breathe” your legs:
* Take your legs off of his sides.
* Move them an inch or two back, and place them on lightly again.
“Breathing” your legs does two things. If you’ve been gripping, your horse is probably numb to your legs. Taking your legs off allows you to put them on again lightly so he feels them. Also, moving your legs back puts them closer to your horse’s “engine” and reminds him to use his hind legs actively.

On the other hand, some horses get nervous in the free walk and want to jig. If your horse wants to jig, do several
transitions to the halt, and praise him after each halt. Soon he’ll learn to anticipate stopping or slowing down.

Then when you’re doing a Training level dressage test, you can use just a little bit of your “stopping aids” several times to remind him to stay in a four-beat, flat-footed walk as you make your way across the diagonal.

If he wants to jig when you pick up the reins at the end of the diagonal, do some homework between shows. Practice your free walk at home and BEFORE you pick up the reins at the end of the diagonal, halt. Then, pick up the reins in the halt. Doing so will train him to stay slow when you do the transition for real at a dressage show.

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Use the Dressage Tests and Dressage Competition As A Guide For Moving Up through the Levels

I want to talk about using dressage competition and the dressage tests themselves to help you decide when it’s time to move your horse up to a higher level.

One thing to consider is your scores. If you’re consistently getting scores in the mid 60% to 70% range in your dressage tests, you’re probably ready to move up.

If your scores are consistently in the 50% range or lower, then you know you still have homework to do at that level. I’m not talking about the occasional bad show or class. We all have those. But if your scores are consistently in the 50% range or lower, you need to get some outside help.

Another thing to consider is the differences between the levels. For example, let’s talk about moving up from the Training Level to First Level at dressage competitions.

For me, there are two big differences between Training Level and First Level. The first major difference is that you need to be able to ride your horse consistently on the bit.

At Training Level your horse just has to accept the bit. By that I mean he has to accept a contact from your hand to the bit, and you can direct, turn, and guide him with the reins. But he doesn’t have to be “on the bit”. That is, he doesn’t have to be “round”.

At First Level dressage, he must be on the bit. Ask yourself if you can use your connecting aids to put your horse on the bit. Also, does he stay on the bit consistently?

If you want your horse to stay on the bit consistently, you can’t just give one set of connecting aids and expect him to stay there. You need to layer those connecting aids one on top of another, like coats of paint.

Throughout your dressage test or ride, you’ll give many connecting aids. The first one puts your horse on the bit and the succeeding ones say to him, “Now stay there; stay on the bit.”

So give “connecting aids” by lightly closing your legs and outside hand for three seconds. (Your driving aids create power and your closed outside hand recycles that power back to the hind legs.) Then soften for a few strides. Then repeat.

Another big difference between Training and First Level dressage tests is that you need to be able to sit the trot. At Training Level, you have a choice. You can either sit the trot or post. In the First Level dressage tests, you must sit the trot except in some of the lengthenings.

Then start to look at some of the new movements and exercises you’re asked to do at First Level. Here are three new things you’ll need to show at First Level:

1. To begin, you’ll need to be able to show lengthenings in both trot and canter. As I said in a previous article, if you can maintain the rhythm and tempo of the gait, start incorporating rubber band exercises into your work. Go more forward for a few strides, and then come back for a few strides. Then gradually increase the number of strides so that you can eventually do a trot lengthening across a whole diagonal or a canter lengthening down the whole long side.

2. Also, in the First Level dressage tests, your horse needs to leg yield. One of the questions you should ask yourself is “Can my horse do a turn on the forehand?” In other words does he understand to move away from the leg that is placed behind the girth?

For leg yields, he needs to understand the difference between a leg that is placed on the girth that says, “go forward” as opposed to a leg that is placed behind the girth that says, “go sideways”.

3. You’ll also need to be able to show a few counter canter strides. Can your horse maintain the balance and the quality of his canter as he arcs off of and back onto the long side?

To sum up, use your scores at dressage competitions and the dressage tests themselves as guidelines to help you decide if it’s time to move up. If your scores are consistently good and your horse is adept and confident at doing the work at the next level, you’re probably ready. Give it a shot!

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What’s the Right Rhythm and Tempo for My Horse During Dressage Movements?

When you start riding the dressage movements, keep in mind that your priority is maintaining rhythm and tempo as you do those movements. So rather than asking yourself, how is my shoulder-in? Ask yourself, “Am I keeping the right rhythm and tempo during shoulder-in?”

Since rhythm and tempo are your gold standard during every dressage movement, let me define them for you.  I want to do this because lots of people use those terms interchangeably and they don’t mean the same thing.

Rhythm – Regularity of the rhythm refers to the even spacing between each step in a stride of walk, trot or canter. Regular rhythm is a priority for all work. The dressage movements and exercises should never be done at the expense of rhythm. Rhythm should always stay the same.

Tempo or speed, however, is a different matter. Tempo — which is the rate of repetition of the rhythm — can be adjusted, depending on what your horse needs. Think of rhythm and tempo this way: A waltz is always done in 3/4 time. That is the rhythm of a waltz. But a waltz can be played faster or slower. In other words, the tempo can vary.

When should you ride at a tempo that’s different from the one your horse chooses? Let’s take an overly fresh horse as an example. You start your warmup, and your horse is so excited that he picks up a trot that is much too quick. The longer you let him go at this clip, the more his tension builds. Left alone, he probably isn’t going to slow down. He’s like an overtired child who is so wound up that he can’t quiet his mind or his body. He needs you to help him calm down by asking him to trot at a much slower tempo than that of his normal working trot.

Slow the tempo by asking for a transition to the walk (or even the halt!), Then, just as he’s about to step into the walk, don’t finish the transition. Instead, allow him to jog forward very slowly. Think about riding “halfway to walk”, and then jog forward slowly. If he accelerates after a few strides, repeat the incomplete downward transition until he understands and is willing to stay in the slower trot.

Ride him in this lazy tempo — the opposite of what he wants to do — until he relaxes. Once you feel him relax, gradually allow the tempo to become more normal.

On the other hand, let’s say you have a horse that tends to get too slow and labored in his tempo. For example, his canter becomes 4-beat because the tempo is too slow. Quicken his tempo by doing a few strides of a lengthening.

Feel how your seat moves faster during the lengthening. Then when you shorten the strides, keep the same quick tempo by moving your seat “as if” you’re still lengthening.

To sum up, NEVER do the dressage movements at the expense of rhythm and tempo.

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7 Tips to Develop Trot Lengthenings at First Level

A lot of riders struggle to develop trot lengthenings with their First Level horses. What follows are 7 quick tips to help your lenthenings

1. THE AIDS FOR TROT LENGTHENINGS
When you’re ready to ask for an upward transition from working trot to a trot lengthening, apply the aids simultaneously, as follows:

• Seat: use a driving seat, as though you’re pushing the back of the saddle toward the front of the saddle.
• Legs: press lightly with both legs to signal your horse to express his energy forward over the ground in longer strides.
• Reins: soften your hands a bit forward, but keep a contact with your horse’s mouth, and a bend in your elbows. Do not ‘throw the reins away’.

2. TROT LENGTHENINGS develop suppleness.

Here’s an image that will help you understand the type of suppleness you’re developing when you practice lengthenings with your First Level horse. Think of your horse’s body as a rubber band that can easily stretch and contract. Not only will this quality make him more athletic, but it’s also extremely useful for all disciplines of riding. Take showjumping, for instance. Just think how many jumping faults could be avoided if your horse’s stride were easily adjustable like this!

3. MAINTAIN THE TEMPO OF THE WORKING TROT
As with most new work, when you begin to incorporate lengthenings into your training at First Level, you start in the trot. It’s a bonus if you have a horse that can naturally lengthen his trot. Many Warmbloods and Arabians have this ability, but I’ve worked with a lot of Thoroughbreds, Connemaras, Morgans, and Quarter Horses who really need help developing their trot lengthenings.
If you ask your horse to lengthen in the way I’ve described and the tempo gets quicker because he runs with short, fast steps, you need to systematically develop his lengthenings. Part of his difficulty may be purely physical. He may lack the suppleness and strength that he will gain in time by basic dressage training. But part of the problem may be that the horse just doesn’t understand that he is to take longer strides in the same tempo. He actually thinks he’s being obedient when he rushes off because he feels you close your legs, and he responds eagerly by immediately going forward.
I often find that I can help him understand that he is to lengthen his strides without speeding up, by asking for the trot lengthenings while going up hills. Once he gets the idea, I go back into the ring and see if he can transfer this concept of lengthening in the same tempo on the level footing.
Sometimes I do something unusual with the horse that tends to quicken his trot tempo when asked to lengthen. Since it takes time to develop the trot lengthening, I go out in a big field, or I go all the way around the ring and round off the corners so that I don’t have to slow down for them. First, I take up a heavier contact than normal. In this way, I can temporarily act as the horse’s fifth leg and purposely support him so he doesn’t lose his balance. Then I ask for a lengthening in posting trot. While posting to the trot, I rise very high and stay in the air a fraction of a second longer than normal. I pretend that I can hold the horse in the air with my body. And, in my mind’s eye, I picture him floating over the ground with his feet never touching the ground.
I ask my horse to give me a greater and greater effort and eventually one of two things will happen. The first is that he realizes that his legs can’t go any faster, and he ’shifts into overdrive’ and takes some longer, slower steps. At this point, I immediately stop, praise him, and let him walk on a loose rein.
In my experience I’ve found that the first time, I might have to go all the way around a ring once or twice before I get a couple of longer, slower steps. But after the reward, the next effort yields results much sooner. And the same for the next attempt.
The other thing that might happen is that he loses his balance and falls into the canter. This isn’t the disaster it seems to be. If my horse hadn’t lost his balance and cantered, his next trot step probably would have been a bit longer. So I re-establish and immediately ask for a trot lengthening. It’s in that moment that I’m most apt to get a longer stride in a better tempo. And once again if I get even one or two better steps, I stop and praise him. The reward helps the horse to understand that by doing something different, even if initially he doesn’t understand what it is, he’ll be praised.
Once I get two or three better steps as soon as I ask for the trot lengthening, I leave them for another day. During each session the horse builds his understanding of what’s being asked, and over time he physically gets strong enough to lengthen in a good tempo for a greater number of steps.

4. HEAR THE TEMPO

Use some good auditory images to help you while you’re teaching your horse to do a trot lengthening in the same tempo as his working gait. Pretend you’re standing by a paved road and your eyes are closed. Because the tempo stays exactly the same, you can’t tell from the sound of the footfalls whether your horse is in the working gait, lengthening, or doing the transition in between.

Here’s another auditory image to help you teach your horse to lengthen the trot in the same tempo as his working trot. Pretend you hear a metronome ticking. The tempo stays exactly the same both when you’re in working trot and when you’re in the lengthening. (Even though I’m discussing trot lengthenings at the moment, you can use the same type of auditory image if your horse quickens his tempo in a canter lengthening. ‘Hear’ the tempo as if your horse is moving over the ground with big, ground-covering bounds in slow motion.
If your horse still tends to quicken his tempo when you ask him to do a trot lengthening, overcompensate by imagining that you ‘hear’ the tempo get slower. Pretend that the tempo gets slower because your horse stays suspended in the air for a long time. If you’re doing a posting trot, try rising and sitting more slowly to see if you can be the one to set the pace rather than automatically posting at the speed that your horse chooses.

5. USE FIRMER CONTACT FOR SUPPORT
Don’t be surprised if the contact with your horse’s mouth during trot lengthenings becomes somewhat heavy. Remember that lengthenings are developed out of the working gait at First Level, and the weight in your hands is somewhat firm to begin with. In addition, while your horse is learning how to balance himself during trot lengthenings, his center of gravity might shift even a bit further to his forehand. Don’t be alarmed by this. It’s a stage of his training, and it’s fine to temporarily support him by maintaining a firmer contact. Later on, if you decide to go on to more advanced work, you’ll develop ‘uphill’ extensions out of collected gaits. Because the horse will have a greater degree of self-carriage when he’s in a collected gait, the contact will be lighter.
However, there’s a fine line between a solid, supporting contact and one in which your horse is leaning so heavily on your hands that your arms ache. Here are some things you can try to improve a contact that is too heavy. Before you even begin to ask for a trot lengthening, make sure you drive the horse’s hind legs more under his body by closing both of your legs. In order to carry himself, your horse needs to have his hind legs underneath him. If his hind legs are trailing out behind his body, he can’t support himself in the lengthening and he has no option but to lean on your hands.
You can also ride some quick transitions: from trot to halt and back to trot again, or from the canter to the walk and back to the canter again. This will help to rebalance your horse and make the weight in your hands more comfortable.
Another reason the contact can get too heavy is that you may be asking for too many lengthened strides at one time before your horse is ready. Doing well-balanced trot lengthenings with his hind legs underneath his body for only a few strides at a time is much more valuable for your horse than lengthening for many strides with his hind legs pushing out behind his body. Remember that when you do the downward transition back to the working gait, be sure that you close your legs to send his hind legs under his body. It might feel natural to ask for the downward transition from the lengthening to the working gait by just using the reins. But, as you know by now, if your goal is to rebalance your horse and improve the contact, you need to add hind legs while doing the downward transitions.

6. ALLOW THE FRAME TO ELONGATE IN TROT LENGTHENINGS
In trot lengthenings, the front feet should touch the ground on the spot toward which they are pointing when each leg is at its maximum extension. When a horse has to draw his front legs back toward his body before placing them on the ground, or his toes flip up in front, it usually indicates that he hasn’t been allowed to lengthen his frame.
Sometimes a rider makes it difficult for the horse to lengthen to his utmost. Although I said earlier that you shouldn’t be concerned in the contact is a bit too firm, you want to be sure that you’re not making it heavy because you’re cranking his neck in. If you keep your horse’s neck short by restricting him with strong or non-allowing hands, he has to draw his foreleg back before putting it down. Allow your horse to lengthen his neck and point the tip of his nose more or less forward. To help you to do this, think about ‘opening the front door’ by softening your hands a bit toward your horse’s mouth and by cocking your wrists upward in a way that allows your little fingers to go more forward.

7. SIT UPRIGHT
When you use your driving seat to ask for the transition into the trot lengthening, don’t try to ‘help’ your horse to lengthen by leaning back. Even though you might feel that you can drive him forward this way (and I see many dressage riders doing this in lengthenings and extensions) you’ll just end up driving his back down and making it hollow. Stay vertical at all times.
I learned this lesson about sitting correctly in trot lengthenings the hard way while trying to qualify for the Olympic Festival with Jolicoeur at a competition that was being held at Knoll Farm in Brentwood, New York, back in 1987. One of the finest international judges in the world, the late Mr Jaap Pot, was there. He was a stickler when it came to the correctness of the rider’s seat. I remember Jo and I doing huge extended trots for him. I thought we had done really well until my score sheet came back with extremely low marks for the extensions and the simple comment – rider leaning behind the vertical. Believe me, it made an impression.

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When Should You Move Your Dressage Horse From Training Level to First Level?

Riders often ask me, “How do I know it’s the right time to move my Training Level dressage horse up to First Level?”

In this article, I’ll give you a way to come up with a logical plan for introducing new work at Training Level.

First, I just want to make a general comment. All training should be a systematic progression toward a desired end result. So you need to be able to see the big picture.

For example, even at Training Level the quality of your 20-meter circles is going to make it possible to collect later down the road. Circles show your horse’s ability to bend equally to the left and to the right. So his ability to
bend on a large circle makes it easier for him to progressively increase his bend from 20 meters to 18, to 15, to 12, to 10. As he becomes flexible enough to bend along a tighter arc, you’re laying a foundation for advanced
lateral work such as shoulder-in, haunches-in, and half pass.

A lot of times people say to me, “Oh well, I am ONLY working at Training Level.” You need to understand that the work that is done at Training Level, such as correctly bending on a 20-meter circle, is essential for your horse’s systematic progression to the more advanced work.

So let’s look at one way you can plan your program. Here’s what I did. Back in the early 70’s, I had to work a lot on my own. So I used the USDF tests as my guideline. I knew those tests were designed with the systematic
progression of the dressage horse in mind.  I thought, “Well, this is a good place to start since I don’t have anybody around to tell me what to do.”

I’d work on whatever was at Training Level. And even if my horse wasn’t ready for the next level, I’d always look ahead and read what was in the First Level tests. That way I’d have an idea of what was coming up next.

Let’s say my dressage horse is at Training Level. I polish my 20-meter circles, my basic transitions from gait to gait, and the stretchy circle. That’s all great, but I also look ahead. I see that I’ll need to do serpentines, where I have the complication of changing the bend from left to right.

I’d also begin to add smaller circles because eventually, at First Level, I need to do 10-meter circles in the trot and 15-meter circles in the canter. Now that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to go from 20-meter circles in the trot to 10-meters.

Instead, knowing that my dressage horse will have to do 10-meter circles down the road, when he can comfortably do 20-meter circles, I’d do some 18-meter circles. And then in a few weeks or months, when he could comfortably do
18-meter circles, I’d do 16-meter circles.

Because I look ahead, and I know what is required at First Level, I plan a program where I progressively make the arc of my circle tighter and tighter until eventually I can do 10-meter circles easily in the trot.

And what I mean by “easily” is that my horse can handle the arc of that curve without having to find an evasion such as swinging the hindquarters in or out from his line of travel.

I’d also see that there are leg yields in the First Level tests. So I think, “My horse has to learn how to move away from a leg that’s behind the girth”. Maybe I should incorporate some turns on the forehand into my work at
Training Level so that I’ll be ready to do some leg yields when the time comes.

At First Level, I also have to show lengthenings in the trot and in the canter. So I work on developing elasticity by lengthening and shortening. Even at Training Level, I start to do rubber band exercises. I go a little more forward for three or four strides and then come back for three or four strides. And I repeat that– three or four strides a little more forward and three or four strides a little bit back. While doing that I really focus on maintaining the same rhythm and the same tempo in both “gears”.

I also notice that at First Level there is a little counter canter. So I think about incorporating some counter canter into my work. I come 1-meter off the rail by the time I’m across from B or E. Then by the end of the long side, I’m back onto the track. I do this pattern so gradually that my horse doesn’t even know that I’m asking for a couple of counter canter steps.

Little by little I come off the rail a bit more. My next step is to come one and a half meters off the rail. We’re one and a half meters off the rail when we’re across from B or E, and then we arc back to the last letter.

So, I keep polishing the movements at Training Level with my dressage horse, but I always have an eye on what’s at First Level and start to incorporate a little bit of that work as well.

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“Breathe Your Legs” For Better Free Walks and Trot and Canter Lengthenings

If your horse doesn’t march with good energy in your free walk or fades too early in your trot and canter lengthenings, try “breathing” your legs during the movement.

To “breathe” your legs:

* Take your legs off of his sides.
* Move them an inch or two back, and place them on lightly again.

“Breathing” your legs does two things.

1. If you’ve been gripping, your horse is probably numb to your legs. Taking your legs off allows you to put them on again lightly so he feels them.

2. Moving your legs back puts them closer to your horse’s “engine” and reminds him to use his hind legs actively in his free walk and his trot and canter lengthenings.

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If You Can Pat Your Head and Rub Your Stomach, You Can Put Your Dressage Horse On the Bit

Putting your dressage horse on the bit is really as simple as patting your head and rubbing your stomach.

As long as you know the ingredients that make up the aid that puts your horse on the bit, you can connect him. And the great news is that aid is as simple, clear, and uncomplicated as closing your legs and asking your horse to go from halt to walk.

For the sake of clarity, I’m going to call the aid that you’ll use to put your horse on the bit the “connecting aids”.

The “connecting aids” are a combination of three ingredients that are maintained for about three seconds—the length of time it takes you to inhale and exhale:

Those three ingredients are the:
•    driving aids
•    bending aids
•    rein of opposition

The driving aids consist of your seat and your two legs because any of those aids will drive the horse forward.

The bending aids consist of your inside rein which asks the horse to look in the direction that he is going, your inside leg on the girth, and your outside leg behind the girth. Each of those aids contributes to bend.

The rein of opposition is the outside rein. It’s called the rein of opposition because it opposes too much speed from the driving aids and too much bend from the bending aids.

When you marry those three ingredients–driving aids, bending aids and rein of opposition for about three seconds, you give the cue to put your horse on the bit—the connecting aids.

Yes, it’s important to time your aids. That’s because your horse can ONLY respond to an aid when a hind leg is on the ground—and specifically just before it pushes off. But by giving the connecting aids for about three seconds, you’ll be overlapping the time when each hind leg is on the ground.

So putting your dressage horse on the bit really is as simple as patting your head and rubbing your stomach. That’s because basically, all you’re doing is closing both calves to drive your horse forward as if you’re going into a lengthening. Then you do something different with each one of your hands.  (That’s where the patting the head and rubbing your stomach comes in.)   Your outside hand closes in a fist while your vibrating inside hand keeps the neck straight and asks for flexion at the jaw.

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Using Your Hands Before Your Legs Is The Biggest Mistake You Can Make When Putting Your Horse On the Bit

If you only use your hands when putting your horse on the bit, you’re making one of the biggest mistakes you can make. By focusing on the head and “getting the head down”, you’ll just be creating an artificial “head-set”.

Putting your horse on the bit has nothing to do with “head sets”. Physically, it’s a round silhouette that occurs when you ride your horse from behind, over his back, through his neck, and into your hands. (And at that point the energy can be recycled back to the hind legs) Mentally, a horse that is on the bit is “on the aids” and anything is possible within the next step.

When you’re working on putting your horse on the bit, remember to always FIRST use your driving aids before you use your reins. You want to create a surge from behind as if you’re starting a lengthening.

Then just as you feel your horse begin to lengthen, close your outside hand in a fist to capture, contain, and recycle that power back to the hind legs. (You’ll only need to use your inside hand if your horse bends his neck to the outside during the combination of the driving aids and rein of opposition (outside rein).

Always remember that using your hands BEFORE your driving aids (or instead of your driving aids—YIKES!) is the same as picking up the telephone before it rings. Why would you pick up the phone? No one is there!

By the same token why would you use your hands to put your horse on the bit before you’ve first driven him forward? You haven’t created any power to capture and recycle back to the hind legs!

Click here for more help to put dressage horse on the bit.

How To Do A Good Free Walk For Dressage

Dressage riders often struggle doing a good free walk with their horses. What follows are some tips to help you with the free walk as well as the transitions in and out of the it.

1. What is the free walk?
In dressage, the free walk is a gait of relaxation.

2. What should it look like?

* Your horse should lengthen his frame and lower his head and neck so he looks like he’s going to graze. His poll is lower than his withers.
* He should open the angle at his throatlatch so his nose points a bit forward, and he looks like he’s stretching toward the bit.
* His strides become longer so he overtracks to a greater degree.

3. How should you do the transition at the beginning of the free walk?

PREPARATION is the key to getting a good free walk in dressage. You should prepare for it the same way you prepare for the “stretchy” circle in the trot.

* Use “connecting aids” for 3-4 seconds on the short side while you’re still in medium walk.
* To give “connecting aids”, create energy by closing both calves as if you’re asking for a lengthening. But don’t let your horse lengthen.
* Instead, close your outside hand in a fist to capture, contain, and recycle that energy back to the hind legs.
* Keep your legs and outside hand closed for 3-4 seconds.
* While closing your legs and outside hand, vibrate or squeeze and release on your inside rein so your horse doesn’t bend his neck to the outside.
* As you turn onto the diagonal, relax your legs, and open your fingers so your horse can chew the reins out of your hands.

4. How should you do the transition back to the medium walk?

* Use the same “connecting aids” you used to prepare for the free walk.
* While the reins are still long, press lightly with your calves.
* As you shorten the reins, keep your new outside hand closed in a fist and squeeze and release with your new inside hand.

5. What if your horse is lazy?
If your horse doesn’t march with good energy, “breathe” your legs during the free walk. To “breathe” your legs:

* Take your legs off of his sides.
* Move them an inch or two back, and place them on lightly again.

“Breathing” your legs does two things. If you’ve been gripping, your horse is probably numb to your legs. Taking your legs off allows you to put them on again lightly so he feels them. Moving your legs back puts them closer to your horse’s “engine” and reminds him to use his hind legs actively.

6. What if your dressage horse wants to jig during the free walk?

* If your horse wants to jig, do several transitions to the halt.
* Praise your horse after each halt.
* Soon he’ll learn to anticipate stopping or slowing down.
* Then you can use just a little bit of your “stopping aids” to remind him to stay in a four-beat flat-footed walk as you make your way across the diagonal.
* If he tends to jig in the free walk when you pick up the reins at the end of the diagonal, halt first. Then, pick up the reins in the halt. Doing so will train him to stay slow when you do the transition for real.