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A New Way of Looking at the Training Scale

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A New Way of Looking at the Training Scale

My understanding of the training scale is constantly evolving and changing, based on my practical experiences and observations. The first time I heard about the Training Scale (Skala der Ausbildung) was during theory lessons for the German Bronze medal, which is the prerequisite for participating in recognised shows. For the exam we had to memorize the terms Takt (rhythm), Losgelassenheit (relaxation/suppleness), Anlehnung (rein contact), Geraderichten (straightness), Schwung (impulsion), and Versammlung (collection). - And that was pretty much it. There wasn’t really any explanation for what these terms or concepts were about, or what the relationship between them was. We only had to be able to name them and to tell how to recognise them.

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Don't lose sight of the whole picture

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Don't lose sight of the whole picture

This week’s blog is another practical tip that comes out of mistakes I made in the past. Every time something goes wrong it is an opportunity to look more closely at what is happening, how it is happening, and why it is happening. It is a great chance to learn something new and to gain deeper insights into the biomechanical and psychological causalities in riding. So, in many ways mistakes are blessings in disguise because they can push us further along and help us attain a higher level of understanding and competence.

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Connection(s) And Throughness

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Connection(s) And Throughness

Connection(s) and throughness is actually a rather large topic on which you could write a whole book because there are several different aspects to it that you can explain in great detail. There are many different connections that have to be established between the rider’s aids and the horse’s body, between the horse’s legs and the ground, as well as between the different parts of the horse’s body. With each new connection, the energy of the horse’s hind legs can travel more freely through his body and the permeability for the aids increases. Every time a connection is lost, the permeability diminishes and the movement impulses of the hind legs as well as the rider’s aids get stuck.

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Dressage Movements As Points On A Continuum

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Dressage Movements As Points On A Continuum

Many dressage riders view the movements in very absolute terms, based on the definitions in the FEI rule book. When someone rides a movement, like a shoulder-in for instance, it either fulfils these criteria or it doesn’t. In other words, it either IS a shoulder-in or it’s NOT. This is very much a judge’s viewpoint, which is valid in competitions and exhibitions. However, in training, I take a more fluid approach. I prefer to look at movements as points on a continuum because it’s unrealistic to expect a horse or a rider to be able to perform a perfect shoulder-in or half pass, the first time they try it. So, we as trainers and teachers have to build a road, or a staircase for the student to get from where they are to the finished product. This means we have to set priorities in the way we teach movements and approach the end goal in many small learning steps. If we aimed for perfection or demanded perfection at the first attempt, we would set the horse and the rider up for failure, stress, and frustration.
Setting priorities means ignoring certain imperfections for the time being because they have a lower priority than other aspects of the movement.

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Tip: Walk it before you ride it [+ VIDEO]

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Tip: Walk it before you ride it [+ VIDEO]

It can be incredibly useful before you ride an exercise to get the lay of the land by walking the whole exercise on the ground. It's a common practice when memorizing dressage tests, but can be just as helpful when schooling. It lets you concentrate on what needs to happen through each phase of the exercise, to think about where the transitions are and where the hard parts may be for you or your horse so you can have more success in riding it.

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Tip: Activate the Inside hind leg [+ VIDEO]

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Tip: Activate the Inside hind leg [+ VIDEO]

To keep your horse's energy level up and keep him lively when riding exercises which combine a number of patterns and movements, you can take advantage of your horse's reorganization of balance that occurs at the beginning of a new line (arena pattern) or change of direction. Activate the inside hind leg for a couple of strides with your inside leg or a vibration of the whip to ask the horse to pick it up a little sooner. Since he is busy rearranging his feet and his balance, he can't brace against you or use the ground against you, so the driving aid has a better chance of going through. Activating the inside hind leg in this manner allows you to enter the new line or movement with a little more power and emphasis on impulsion. Once you achieve this activation, you can become more passive for a few strides and, if necessary, repeat the request again, and if you change direction, you can activate and “speed up” the new inside hind leg.

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10 Tips To Instantly Increase The Effectiveness Of Your Training!

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10 Tips To Instantly Increase The Effectiveness Of Your Training!

Training horses is pretty difficult, if you want to do it the right way. There’s so much you have to keep in mind at the same time to get optimal results. You are literally your horse’s fitness trainer and mental coach!

The most important thing in training should always be the well-being of your horse. Training a horse with integrity is different from forcing him into performance ‘tricks’. 

The training should always lead to an improved balance in order to prevent injuries. Tendon injuries for instance, are often a result of the horse being crooked (even a tiny bit crooked) which leads to one leg consistently carrying more weight than the others, which will increase the stress and the wear and tear on the tendons until the horse is lame. 

The same goes for problems in the back or pelvis, caused by the horse being ridden with a hollow back. That is why it is so important to do things correctly. Because I know how much time and effort it takes to train a horse well, I am happy to provide you with some tips to train more effectively.

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Listening to 'No'

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Listening to 'No'

When I returned to riding as a middle-aged person, my first horse had a very loud ‘no.’ He was cheerful enough about doing the things he wanted to do, but my goal—to learn dressage—prompted a storm of tantrums and hissy fits of truly epic proportions. This, of course, felt horrible. He was treated well, I thought, and the requests I was making were not very difficult. So why did he spend his time looking for ways to make my life hard? Why did he keep saying ‘no’?

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How To Switch Focus (What to do when it’s not going well)

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How To Switch Focus (What to do when it’s not going well)

It happens to all driven and focused riders at some point. We get so focused in on what we are trying to work on that we lose perspective or we forget to add in enough variety of other things because we want to “fix” this certain issue (and we want to fix it TODAY!).

On the one hand it is important to have a level of perseverance. Giving up at the sign of the slightest resistance or problem is not a path to success, but there comes a point where our dogged perseverance can backfire and make the matter worse. In those circumstances, we need to shift our gears, pivot in our approach, and shift our perspective.

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How to keep the training “fresh”

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How to keep the training “fresh”

A student in our Video Coaching Program has observed that her horse found the exercises more strenuous than she had anticipated. He seemed to be a little tired the next day and perhaps a little muscle sore. So she asked me how she should structure her training from now on in order not to overface the horse while at the same time giving him enough physical exercise during a time of year when the weather conditions limit her turnout and trailriding options. This is a problem that many riders and horses face. That’s why I want to share a few thoughts on this subject here.

 

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Riding And Emotions

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Riding And Emotions

Guest post by Marcella Becker.

Pretty much everybody that chooses to spend his time with horses puts their heart and soul in it. Certainly what motivates us all is the love of horses. Nonetheless, once we start getting really serious about our riding the entire project becomes at times laden with frustration. There is no rider who has not been at times (and this will happen again and again) right at the limit of their ability.

 

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Reasons Why Your Horse Is Not On The Bit - Part 2

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Reasons Why Your Horse Is Not On The Bit - Part 2

Everything is connected in riding. Rhythm, balance, self carriage, straightness, suppleness/stiffness,  back movement, rein contact, impulsion, collection (i.e. flexion of the haunches) are all interrelated and influence each other. Rider balance and horse balance, rider crookedness and horse crookedness, rider stiffness and horse stiffness affect each other in very direct ways. Any improvement in one area leads to improvements in all the other areas. Unfortunately, it works the other way around, too: a problem in one area will also have negative repercussions throughout the entire system.

 

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