Dressage Training can help any horse

By Lyn Skillington
MDA Board Member

For some riders it's a way of life. For others, it's a means to an end. But just what is dressage, and can it be used to enhance any horse and rider/driver's performance?

The word "dressage" is derived from a French term for training, and describes a method of training, rather than just a single equestrian sport. Defined by the United States Dressage Federation as "classical training" because it uses gymnastic exercises -- a series of movements and figures -- which have been studied for centuries to develop the horse's physique and suppleness and improve his natural gaits, riders work upward through a training pyramid that includes mastery of six levels: suppleness, rhythm, acceptance of the bridle, impulsion, straightness and collection. The progression from one step to another is logical and achieved over a period of time, and each level builds on the achievements of the previous level.

A manual developed by USDF explains the approach: "Dressage is not a quick fix approach to training, but a means for building a solid foundation which will cause the horse to be strong, supple and a pleasure to ride. "Examples of basic-level exercises include figures such as serpentines and circles, movements such as lateral exercises, and transitions such as trot to halt. As the horse and rider progresses, more difficult gymnastic exercises are introduced into the training program. As a result, the advanced horse becomes an athlete, developing strength, flexibility and the ability to perform colle Seaswept Eclipse cted and extended gaits with lightness and brilliance."

Can these training principles be used by Morgan riders and drivers to improve their horses' performance, regardless of discipline? According to four horsewomen who have found success with Morgans around the country, the answer is "Yes."

For Mona Sancoucy Gaudet, a Massachusetts native who rode at the Eastern Nationals (now the New England Regional) when she was 3, dressage became her vehicle to achieve a rider's ultimate goal, to become one with the horse, in this case with her Morgan stallion, Big Bend Doc Davis. "When I began studying dressage in 1979, I learned everything from the ground up all over again; learning to really understand how the horse's body works, how the rider's body works, the mechanics of riding. Once you understand the mechanics you can take it to a whole new level where you can learn to ride from an increased degree of communication on a mental, almost spiritual level.

"For me, dressage is a combination of ballet and gymnastics for horses. You have the same kind of control and ability to express yourself. But dressage can help any horse -- park horse, reiner, hunter, trail horse -- correct work in dressage increases the horse's strength and flexibility and allows the rider to communicate."

But while California rider-driver Ally Untiedt says she had been exposed to the basic movements, she didn't see the discipline's application until she started competing in combined driving with her gelding Seaswept Eclipse. "I received comments on driven dressage tests and realized that there was a whole vocabulary that I didn't know." She fought for control throughout Eclipse's early training. "I tried a number of different curb bits to be able to rate him and even just to stop him," she says. "I know now that I rushed him looking for quick answers."

It wasn't until she started learning about dressage from books, videos and lessons with dressage trainers -- and began using dressage exercises with Eclipse -- that she began to see a difference. Ally and her gelding worked on "lots and lots of 30 meter circles and serpentines, lots of changes in pace, from collected trot to extended and back again, all the time looking for the proper bend and good cadence and rhythm." Gradually, Eclipse became lighter to her aids, more responsive to her commands.

"Like many Morgans, he's by nature a front-end puller, not a rear-end pusher. And like many Morgans, he had a tendency to go around on the forehand and rush. But through the dressage work, we were able to strengthen him so he could carry himself and work off his hindquarters. When he achieved self-carriage I was able to move him out of a butterfly (a curb bit) back into a snaffle and have him be controllable even in the marathon and in hazards." Ally says that if she had not changed her training, "Eclipse would have gotten more and more on the forehand, more afraid to go forward only to get snapped by the bit. In short, we would probably have never moved past the preliminary level in combined driving."

Instead, this bay 8 year-old has won pleasure and combined driving classes throughout the Southwest. Their biggest championship came this summer at the Intermediate level in the California Classic Combined Driving Event. She plans to bring him out at the advanced level soon and has already driven and won advanced tests at the Driven Dressage Festival in Moorpark, Calif. "Not too bad for a horse that is not naturally a good mover," Ally says, laughing. "It really goes to show that any horse can benefit from dressage."

But it's not only horses that can learn from a foundation in dressage. Lori Shoemake has ridden several Morgans to USDF All-Breeds Awards, and currently competes the 1998 All-Breeds Champion at Second Level, Statesmans Silhouette. As a Pony Club District Commissioner and Regional Examiner in Maryland, she uses dressage to help young riders pursue a variety of disciplines. "We teach them the balanced seat position, which is the basis of all disciplines," she says.

The balanced dressage seat -- sitting in the saddle with a plumb line going straight down through the shoulder, hip and ankle, rather than having the rider perched on top of the saddle as if sitting in a chair -- is the antithesis of the "kick and pull" method of riding that she sees in many riders of all disciplines. "If a rider doesn't establish a balanced seat first, it's often very difficult to move back and forth between the various seats," she says. On the other hand, she thinks it's quite easy to move from the balanced dressage seat into stock seat, hunt seat and saddle seat. "Properly ridden, they're all variations of the balanced seat we teach in dressage," she says.

The finished product is what Jane Blue evaluates in her role as a veteran AHSA "R" judge. A rider and trainer who has coached or trained numerous World Champions at the Morgan Nationals and other breed shows, Jane says that many of the problems she sees in the show ring could be solved by giving both horses and humans a solid dressage foundation. Introduced to the discipline in the early 1960s by European riders working in Lexington, Kentucky, she had been a successful catch rider for dozens of trainers.

"I soaked up good things and bad, but really had little formal training," she says. "Dressage gave me a methodical approach to training that permitted me to improve every horse that I worked. By understanding dressage, a rider is better able to tailor a program to help that horse with their individual problems."

She notes, for example, that the two biggest flaws she sees in the show ring can be addressed through basic dressage training: "the over-flexed, dumped over, heavy on the forehand horse and the horse with mystery gaits -- canters that aren't three beats, trots that aren't two beats, lateral, pacey walks." She attributes these problems to riders and trainers who look for a quick fix, "a look" that is achieved by over-reliance on gadgets such as dumb jockeys, severe bits and draw reins.

"You may get an instant 'look,' but you have achieved a very temporary fix and have probably done more harm than good. You've created a mouth that won't be responsive, a brain that will become dull and a horse that will seek to avoid discomfort by becoming tense and resistant," she says. "Dressage helps riders and trainers understand just how far they can go with their horses' bodies and minds. You can't force a horse to do things and have him look happy," she added. "Dressage gives all riders a program that will allow them to achieve goals in an orderly fashion while building on a solid foundation of communication and strength."

This article appeared in the November 1999 issue of The Morgan Horse, the official breed journal of the American Morgan Horse Association.

Dressage training can help any horse and rider

By Lyn Skillington MDA Board Member

By Lyn Skillington
MDA Board Member