Chapter 8: Schooling for Training Level

More Arena Figures

We have already discussed the riding of straight lines, circles and turns. Franz Maringer’s words are so true. “If you can ride an 8 meter circle and a correct turn you are well on the way towards a good grand prix rider”, certainly there are many grand prix riders out there in the real world who do not ride correct circles and turns.

At this stage in our training we need to focus on more detailed figures and exercises. We need to use these new movements to better utilize the entire dressage arena. These figures will force you to ride off the long sides, where you have the fence or wall to help keep you riding straight. These exercises will make you ride all over the dressage arena from the centerline to both quarter-lines and often back again to the long sides, all these figures and exercises will prove to be useful tools in your progression up the dressage-training ladder.

Diagonal lines

These are diagonal lines cross the arena from the quarter markers, say at “H” across to the quarter marker on the opposite side “F”. In order to ride a diagonal line you first need to ride a correct corner, with a good corner you can easily lead your horse’s shoulders onto the diagonal with the inside rein and then pick up on the outside rein and inside leg. Diagonal lines are not as easy to ride as one may imagine, the horse has no wall to help keep him straight across the diagonal and he has the opportunity to drift through the outside shoulder and ‘stick’ to the wall on that side, instead of crossing the diagonal line the horse appears to drift on down the wall on the long side for several meters before being dragged by the inside rein across the ring to the opposite side. It is very important for the rider to be aware that the horse must be solid on the outside rein in order to leave the track cleanly at the quarter marker. A common riding error occurs when the rider fails to look in the direction that they wish to travel, i.e. across the diagonal! As you ride the corner you need to look at your next marker (your destination), if you fail to look where you are going then you will not arrive exactly at the marker. The diagonal lines should be ridden freely forward in all gaits. At rising trot you should change your diagonal either at the beginning or at the end of the diagonal line, do not try to change the diagonal in the middle of the diagonal line. The trot can be easily disrupted if you choose to change your diagonal half way across, and can result in a break in rhythm that will be obvious to onlooker and judge alike.

Try to arrive at the opposite diagonal marker just to the inside of the marker, this will help you to be at the marker at the correct moment (with the horse’s shoulder parallel to the marker) and gives you lots of time to prepare and ride the next corner. Approaching the end of the diagonal line you need to feel the horse even on both reins and then as you arrive at the marker you will establish a new inside and outside rein and leg, your weight to the new inside and hip angle turning to the new direction play an important role in executing a good diagonal line and subsequent turn to the new direction, these are relatively sophisticated aids that will allow you to make a correct corner and short side after the diagonal. Even in a normal 20 by 60 meter arena the corners, diagonals, and circles all come up relatively quickly and if you are not prepared and thinking ahead, you will be unable to execute them fluently. Poor school figures look a complete muddle to a judge and feel like’ scrambled eggs’ to the rider.

Half school and half circles

The rider can ride in the half school only, which closes the arena to 30 by 20 meters. Riding a half school shortens the large arena considerably, so corners tend to arrive with amazing rapidity, thus making you aware of how difficult it is to ride a correct corner.

This exercise is a great way to practice corners time and time again, you can change direction at another spot in the arena by turning say, left at “E” and then turn right “B”¸ to change direction you need to have the horse fairly honest into the connection and in front of your leg.. To ride a corner (which is just a 90 degree turn), you should mentally prepare for the turn by aiming to start preparation about 6-8 meters before the turn by requesting a nice bend to the left through poll , neck and body as the horse executes a quarter circle (one quarter of a 4 tangent circle) line finishing the tangent about 6-8 meters on the short line from “E” to “B”. You do not try to pull your horse around the corner producing a rough and abrasive turn, but try to ride a circular turn. Immediately you need to straighten your horse and prepare for the next turn to the right at “B”, a new inside-leg and outside-rein, a bend to the right from inside rein, support of the outside shoulder with the outside rein and your correct weight and hip aids. .Your horse will “read” your aids and body language and will bend around another one quarter circle at “B” and now you are riding down the long side to the right. .Faults occur when the horse turns, falling out through the shoulder and drifting to the right after the left turn. Then you are in trouble because you cannot straighten your horse, so you arrive NOT at “B” but you end up half way between “B” and “P”. The moral: to all this is “you must prepare for every turn and have the horse bending correctly before the turn.

Half circles are another good way of changing direction in a fluent circular fashion and are a good help to achieve smooth circular lines without varying the rhythm or quality of the gait. The 10-meter half circles are shown at first level, but at training level they prove to be great practice exercises (you can make the half circles bigger at 12 or 15 meters diameter). Usually the half circles are performed at a marker on the long side. A half circle at “B” to the right of 10-meters diameter, involves preparation some 6 meters before “B”. Your circle is a half of a 10-meter circle and you need to depart at “B”, just as the horse’s shoulder comes parallel to the marker. You have three tangents in a half circle. The third tangent is at “X” and it is here that the half circle finishes. Coming up towards “X” you need to focus mentally on the location of centerline and then ride straight up the centerline.

Alternatively, you can ride from “X” to the quarter marker on the long side. If you turn and half circle from “B” to “X”, then you can ride to the marker “M” in a “tear drop” movement. You should maintain the same rhythm and balance in the trot. Nothing changes but the direction of travel.

Serpentines and Loops

Serpentines and loops are the basic steps to help you supple your horse: Start with riding a loop in the walk and trot from say, the marker “K” riding to the right. Ride a loop from “K” with a right flexion “X”., try a few straight steps over “X” to reposition your horse to the left with a new inside leg and new outside rein, remember no surprises for the horse, he must be clear with your aid to change to a left bend for the second half of the loop, before you arrive at “H” begin to straighten your horse so that by “H” you can change the bend to the right once again to ride a correct corner after “H”.. Always ride the circular loop forward from the inside leg with the outside leg behind the girth controlling the hind legs. The inside rein indicates the bend and the outside rein controls length of neck, speed and direction. Try something different, ride the loop on the long side, with no change of bend, this will give you a good feel for shoulder control.

This exercise can also be tried at the working canter. Start with a very shallow loop and gradually increase the difficulty until you can ride one full loop from “F” to “X” to “M”. At the canter you must maintain the bend to the leading leg. Enjoy!

Full serpentines

This is a great exercise to supple you horse in all gaits, serpentines are more difficult than the single, you can ride a simple three loop serpentine taking all the arena space. This serpentine consists of three 20 -meter half circles, with a change of bend at each change of direction. Sounds easy but a smooth serpentine depends on a soft and supple horse that willingly accepts the new outside rein and inside leg at each change of direction. Later on as you progress up the dressage training ladder, serpentines can be ridden with more and more loops than the single three loop serpentine., making a four, five or six loop serpentine shows increasing difficulty in producing correct bending without sacrificing rhythm, balance and the forward flow of the gaits. Serpentines ridden in the canter require that the rider maintain the same bend to the leading leg during the serpentine. This is a more difficult exercise and is only required at Second level dressage tests.

A four loop serpentine divides the arena in half, with two half circle loops finishing at “X” and the second two loops finishing at “A”. Each loop will be fifteen meters to cover sixty meters over four loops. This smaller serpentine with four loops will require greater flexibility from the horse than the more generous twenty meter three loop serpentine. Try riding the three loop serpentine on a long rein and see how your horse responds to your seat, core hip and leg aids. This is a great exercise to estimate your influence on the line and direction that your horse takes on the serpentine. Another terrific exercise is to ride a transition just before you change the bend to the next half circle or loop. If you are in trot then ride a walk transition just before the change of direction. After you have established the new inside and outside rein and new inside and outside leg, then trot on again to ride the next half circle. Repeat! At this stage in your training restrict the serpentines to walk and trot. The canter serpentines will be established later on in your training.

Stretchy/chewy circle

For some time now you have been practicing allowing the horse to stretch down in front (head and neck) so that the horse reaches willingly down and forward to the given rein. You have been practicing this both at the beginning and end of your training sessions. Some horses naturally wish to stretch down from the beginning of each training session. Stretching down is a good indicator that the horse is relaxed and is willing to stretch down in front and swing nicely through the back when the rider allows the horse to stretch down. This does not mean that the horse falls on the forehand and runs around long and low in an unbalanced fashion. It means that the horse respects the connection, and accepts the giving, and takes the rein forward and down, while maintaining the balance and self-carriage. For some horses (particularly those with short or concave necks, tense horses that are tight through the back and lack of forward movement) the stretching is more difficult. Always ask for the stretching with the inside rein and then allow the stretching with the outside rein. Add leg to confirm the initial stretch and then ask for more stretching. The idea and goal of this exercise is to influence the horse to stretch down in front, in response to the giving of the reins and the addition of leg, to maintain forward movement while the horse willingly stretches down in front, while still maintaining the connection with the bridle. At all times the horse is responding to the forward drive of the legs and the giving of the reins to stay round and down, and swing in the back until the rider chooses to pick up the reins again and establish a renewed and shorter connection. If for any reason, the horse will not stretch down when the reins are given, it is a good indicator that the horse is still tense and not accepting the forward drive from the rider. Franz Maringer said, “If the horse will not stretch down in front in response to the rider offering the reins, then something is very “fishy” in the training. Beware of this!

Now we need to address the stretchy/chewy circle in the training and first level dressage tests.

The stretchy/chewy circle is described by the USEF: “A 20 m circle in rising trot, allowing the horse to stretch forward and downward”, the USEF ‘directive to competitors and judge’s “Quality of the stretch over back, forward and downward into a light contact while maintaining balance and quality of the trot” Approaching the last tangent of the 20 m circle the rider must take up the reins and proceed in working trot, this is included in the total mark for the ‘stretchy chewy circle’. Several problems occur regularly in the dressage ring following an attempted stretchy/chewy circle. Often the horse simply runs on and hurries in the trot, this shows tension and tightness through the back, which is not what we are looking for in this movement. Sometimes the horse slows down the trot and although appears to stretch, or fall, downwards is not balanced or forward in the working trot. The other significant fault in this movement is when the horse fails to describe a circle, once the reins have been offered, the horse takes advantage, and falls either in or out of the circle. The movement required is a circle, and as you all know by this stage, that “a circle is a circle is a circle” and a sequence of straight lines is not good enough.

In the stretchy/chewy movement on the circle, the horse must maintain the line, the speed and direction of the circle, giving and stretching down willingly, without speeding up or slowing down, while maintaining the correct bend and line of the 20 meter circle to gain great marks. On completion of the stretchy/chewy circle, the horse should willingly submit to the rider’s request to take up the rein and continue on in a working trot.

Other training guidelines

During this post introductory dressage stage and pre-training dressage level period, continue on with all your previous training goals.

Ride across country, take pleasant trail rides, continue lunging and lunging exercises, cavalletti work, ride to music as much as possible and school all the basic work routinely.

Finally, most of these movements and exercises will become secure in your autonomic nervous system and your body will develop “memory” so you will not have to think about every aspect.. Helpful input from your trainer, friends, barn-buddies, will also help. Dressage training is a progressive affair. This work will help consolidate your basic feel and understanding of all the introductory and training level work. In your routine schooling sessions practice riding the training level dressage tests, both the complete test and also the individual movements from the tests, with your trainer, barn buddies and friends watching and criticizing (in a nice way).

Use both mirrors and the video camera to help assess your performance. Nothing on the dressage training ladder can be hurried but input from your trainer, friends, barn-buddies, will help. Dressage training is a progressive affair. Gradually you will feel more confident and secure to ride the training level tests. To show at training level you need to feel that both you and your horse can do the job. Trainer, horse and rider must be confident that the test is a realistic goal. As your training become more secure and you and your horse have achieved a training bond, you are friends and partners, then it is time to compete!

Tips

• · Franz Maringer “If you can ride an 8 meter circle and a correct turn you are well on the way towards a good grand prix”
• · A common rider error is not to look in the direction that they wish to travel
• · Poor school figures look a complete muddle to a judge and feel like scrambled eggs to the rider
• · Franz Maringer “ If the horse will not stretch down in front in response to the rider offering the reins, then something is very “fishy”
• · On completion of the stretchy/chewy circle, the horse should willingly submit to the rider’s request to take up the rein and continue on in a working trot.
• · Input from your trainer, friends, barn-buddies, will help.
• · When you feel confident riding all the movements at training level then go! Compete