Hints for Hopeful Dressage Riders

By Jane Richards

Horses are athletes, and as with all athletes, it takes them years of training every day to become strong, supple, and focused enough to climb to the top. In Hints for Hopeful Dressage Riders, author Jane Richards presents a toolbox of exercises to help both horse and rider train and improve through basic dressage.

With more than fifty years of experience teaching and training with horses, Richards helps horse lovers succeed in their riding goals. Hints for Hopeful Dressage Riders provides a host of tips to help both novices and the more experienced riders to:

purchase a suitable horse; find the correct position and effective aids; learn training techniques; recognize signs of discomfort; solve common riding problems; practice useful exercises; understand the importance of the lunge line; and discover clinics and showing.

Hints for Hopeful Dressage Riders addresses the everyday problems riders may encounter at the lower levels of dressage. Richards offers solutions that contribute to enhance the performance and enjoyment of all horses and riders.

The book has useful information for all riders of all disciplines. The balanced seat is the safest form of riding as opposed to gripping in order to stay on, whether or not one is riding dressage with a longer stirrup length. The techniques and exercises for the horse are to improve strength, suppleness and become balanced which are important for all disciplines. They also help the horse to focus on the rider and become more obedient and in doing so become safer and more enjoyable to ride.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Dec 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462056606

Jane Richards

Jane Richards has been actively involved in training and teaching most of her life. She passed the British Horse Society assistant instructors exam and the Potomac Horse Centers instructors exam. She is now a freelance instructor/trainer, promoting the balanced seat and the correct basics. Richards lives in Califon, New Jersey.

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Copyright © 2010, 2011 by Jane Richards.

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ISBN: 978-1-4620-5661-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4620-5660-6 (ebk)

iUniverse rev. date: 11/23/2011

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

References

About the Author

ENDNOTES

Preface 

From being a working student in my teen years, to hunting horses that were literally just out of a sale yard, to training horses in my youth (not knowing anything about the balanced seat), I eventually progressed to the sport of eventing and dressage.

I gradually realized that there are many paths to Rome. Each rider, and each horse, is an individual. I have tried to give the rider a toolbox of different exercises that can address one problem so that if one does not work, there is another to try. Also included are important facts to be aware of that apply to the horses as well as to the riders.

There are many trainers, and we all have our own techniques and ways of explaining things.

This is another book that probably says the same things as many other trainers in a similar but slightly different way. How often do we have an aha moment? We suddenly understand something that our trainer has been trying to get across to us for a decade, because someone else used slightly different terminology.

I have learned so much from teaching that I feel I have something to offer, and this is the reason I was inspired to write this book. It is not a book for upper-level riders and professionals but will hopefully help those who have an interest in pursuing the sport without spending a lot of money on a fancy horse. I have, at the same time, tried to simplify the techniques so as to make them easily understood.

Acknowledgments 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my students and their horses for teaching me so much through the years. Thank you to the horses and owners who allowed me to photograph them for this book. Many thanks to Alice Oldford, who helped me in the initial editing; Linda Minion, who helped me with the formatting; and her husband, Steve, who helped me and is always helping me with work on the computer. Thanks also to Laine Beavin, who helped me with the grammar. Thank you to Robbie O’Quinn for her diagrams, and to everyone who encouraged me to finish this book.

Introduction 

The term dressage is a French word that means teaching or schooling an animal.¹ It actually refers to the more advanced stage of training, while the beginning stages are referred to as basic dressage. A horse that is supple, obedient, and focused is a source of enjoyment for both horse and rider. Basic dressage will accomplish just this for all forms of equestrian activities.

Classical qualities are beauty and harmony and the ideal balance between mind and body. The dressage rider is an artist and the horse is his medium. Beginning with the most basic gymnastic exercises, to strengthen and supple the horse’s body, one progresses to the more difficult movements based on his natural manner of moving in perfect balance.²

This book is written for the majority of riders whose goals are learning through basic dressage or correct basic training incorporating the balanced seat. The breeding and relative value of your horse is not important, unless one aspires to the higher levels of dressage. This is not what this book is about. Some of the photographs demonstrate how elegant a horse can become with correct training, regardless of its conformation or breed.

There are two types of dressage: 1) mechanical, for brain training in a limited amount of time, using artificial aids and 2) classical, which is ongoing and time-intensive. I lean toward classical. Sometimes a horse owner who is in a hurry to compete may be constrained by time to overcome the horse’s physical limitations and weaknesses, which usually takes much time and patience.

Chapter 1 

About Horses

Horses are athletes, and like all athletes—skaters, gymnasts, skiers, swimmers, and runners—it takes years of daily training to become strong, supple, and focused. Horses are no exception. Remember, every horse is a unique individual.

Horses are our outlet from everyday stress, our challenge in life, our need physically or mentally, or for many of us, our bread and butter. We owe so much to them. They are our teachers and probably more forgiving than any human being.

Horses need to be focused to be receptive to our demands. In the wild, they focus on survival. Now that we have domesticated them, we do everything for them. We feed, water, and provide shelter and safety—their basic needs. We also provide their creature comforts: keeping them warm in winter and cool in summer as well as free from biting insects. No wonder they misbehave at times when they are not focused on us, their groom or trainer. Are they happy in this environment? Yes, most likely they are. They do not have to worry about anything, and they really do not have to think at all; but I believe the most contented horses are those that have a job to do. Any discipline where there is a certain degree of art and correct horsemanship, where they are fully focused on their rider and the task at hand, is a source of contentment.

Horses differ in breed, conformation, movement, and temperament. For instance:

•   The Lipizaner used in the Spanish Riding School may not have the extended movement needed