Categorie archieven: Blog EN

The natural rhythm of trot

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Trot is a two beat movement. The diagonal pair of legs is lifted up simultaneously, while the other two are on the ground. Not only the diagonal movement of legs should be equal, also the coordination of movement of front- and hindlegs should match.

You could say that if a horse moves with a lot of front leg action, while he’s dragging his hindlegs, his rhythm is not good. Unfortunately some judges Lees meer

The natural rhythm of walk

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So let’s go over the points of the scala in more detail. First the natural rhythm of the gaits. A horse puts his legs down in a certain order in each gate. If he’s restricted by physical problems or by a rider, this rhythm becomes unnatural. If you want to know if the rhythm is pure, you need to know the natural footfall of each gait.

The walk is a four beat movement. Each leg is lifted and put down individually. The front leg is lifted when the hindleg on the same comes near to be Lees meer

‘Modern’ dressage

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Germany used to win all the dressage titles the last century. But then came the Dutch.

Anky van Grunsven was our lead women. With her partner Sjef Janssen she worked out her own system of riding, which very soon was referred to as ‘modern Lees meer

‘LESS IS MORE’

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‘LESS IS MORE’

Physiotherapist Saskia Heykants is always looking for improvement. Hence the reason for her to ask Maarten van Stek whether she could possibly pay him a visit. ‘It intrigued me how he manages with his one arm to train a horse into the Grand Prix. That is unusual to say the least. I think we can all learn from that.’

Saskia is fascinated by rider position and seat. How, as a rider, can you become more efficient with your aids through your seat, that is what she is Lees meer

The scala of dressage out of the window

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Last time I explained the scala of dressage is the backbone riders are holding onto for centuries. As do I, when things get difficult. However, Anky van Grunsven is not too keen on it. And what she says makes sense.

The six points of the scala in the right order are: rhythm, relaxation, contact, energy, straightness and collection. Anky finds the scala too rigid Lees meer

The Scala of dressage

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When you want to train a horse you should know how he learns things and what his natural reactions are. And we’ll get to that. But first I want to introduce you to the guidelines that helped horse masters for centuries.

In Dutch and German it’s called ‘the Scala of dressage’, which can be seen as a pyramid of steps you have to go through to reach the ultimate Lees meer

The use of whips and spurs

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We use hands, seat, legs and voice to give a horse signals, we call them aids. We can also add whips and spurs. If used well, they are an useful extra. But there is a downside to it.

Let’s start with a whip. Take one and give yourself a good whack. It hurts. Think of this, when you ride with it. A whip is an instrument to point Lees meer

Make a fist

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Look at the top dressage riders. Their hands are closed in a fist.

Some trainers tell riders to ‘play with their fingers’ as to make the horse softer. I don’t agree. I don’t like to fumble with the bit. Your Lees meer

Pushing down

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Some riders push their hands down unto their thighs, holding the reins as to force the horses head down. It means you have to tip forward –out of balance- and brace your back. I have even seen instructors advising this. But if you need such force to get the outline, there is something very wrong.

The harder you pull him down, the more a horse wants to push his head up. If you use draw reins with force and you take them off, a horse will stick Lees meer

Hands up

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As horses tend to go on the forehand when we board them, to some rider the logical thing is to lift this part by holding their hands up. And as the neck is as supple as a garden hose, it will come up. But that doesn’t mean the back end lowers.

If you go onto the internet and you google a picture of a skeleton of a horse, you’ll see the neck looks like a swan neck. If you pull his head up, Lees meer