Dressage December - Tips from a Dressage Judge
It's been dressage December for Leo and I. Courtney and Jen rode Leo while I was on vacation and when I got back, he was all business. Courtney said they had a couple of tussles on the flat, and a very fresh xc school, but it made a positive impression on Leo. His connection has been improving all fall but after not riding for 2 weeks the change - the growth of his education - was really noticeable.
I signed up for a lesson with a dressage judge that was coming to the farm: Phoebe DeVoe. I really didn't know anything about her going into it, besides the fact that her reputation at the barn is tremendous and the people who have worked with her love her down-to-earth approach. I have since learned, in talking with Phoebe, that her parents used to bred and train racehorses and she got her start by retraining and reselling them when their track careers were over. So while all her horses are warmbloods now, her start was with thoroughbreds.
Leo has always had impeccably bad timing for injuries and the week leading up our lesson was no different. He got kicked in the knee on Thursday. It swelled up to twice its size and I called out the vet. Turned out that all the swelling was superficial - the result of bruising - and that there was no swelling in the joint. He was a little off on Friday, but was sound by Saturday. He still has a big knee, but he's 100% sound on it. That horse is tough when he needs to be.
Leo was fantastic for the lesson. I was amazed how Phoebe just got to work and how smooth the lesson transitioned from one thing to the next. She recognized right away that Leo was a big mover. She said he was tracking up 8 inches when he was putz-ing around the ring at a walk. Phoebe was looking for me to ride with a shorter rein and a much stronger emphasis on the outside rein connection. We moved quickly from walk to trot to medium trot as Leo settled into the contact and we accomplished quite a lot! Here are the highlights...
Contact
Leo notoriously throws his haunches right. In order to prevent over bending to the left, I should move Leo's haunches off the rail for a couple of strides. By leg yielding for a couple steps towards the center of the ring, I can straighten his body without fussing with the bridle. Going towards the right, I should still move Leo left with haunches out. This helps drive him into the outside rein (it's really hard to get the outside connection on the left rein with him).
Sitting Trot
I don't do sitting trot with Leo, yet, but Phoebe said I need to start. She said to introduce it gradually: post for a couple strides, sit for a couple strides and repeat. Then go around the ring once in sitting trot and go back to posting. She also said to switch up my diagonal and not worry about posting with the outside leg. She wants horses to learn how to be in balance with the rider and learn how to stay balanced with weight changes. Changing the diagonal or changing from sitting to rising, helps the horse get comfortable with rider balance changes. (I think I explained that right but maybe not...)
Lengthenings
For my lengthenings and mediums, Phoebe did not want me to move my reins forward. Judges say Leo needs to show a lengthening of frame, not just stride, in his lengthenings so when I practice I always move my hands forward and ask him to lengthen his neck and reach into the bridle. Phoebe didn't want me to do this. She said she's thinking way beyond that training level test. She wanted me to keep the reins and push Leo into the bridle into the lengthening. She said not to worry about him raising his head when I ask for more trot as he will naturally lower his poll when he figures how to do the movement. Phoebe was looking for unbalanced steps in our lengthenings - she said in the unbalanced moments is where real learning is happening for the horse.
At a medium canter, the same approach applied. I need to sit deep in the saddle and ride Leo forward into the bridle and he in return had to accept a stronger level of contact. (And don't forget that outside rein.)
Counter-Canter
At the canter, we focused on getting him balanced on the outside rein so that he could step under himself and lift his inside shoulder. We had some really nice canter work to the right, which is his difficult side. She introduced counter canter as well. We would canter towards X across the diagonal and then bend back to the wall. She said eventually we should be able to get 2 loops down the long-side, riding a shallow serpentine from the wall to the quarter line. She described this as a gymnastic exercise that builds strength. Just like Sally and all of her exercises where you change direction very quickly!
Leo would get quick in the canter when we swung back to the wall, so I had to really sit into him and hold the rhythm of the canter even though he was struggling with the balance change. She also said if he is struggling with the exercise to make the loop bigger / rounder / softer to make it easier.
Parting thoughts from a dressage judge...
Phoebe loved Leo, which means a lot coming from an FEI dressage rider. I think she said "super cool horse", "I love this horse" and "this is my type of horse" a dozen times. Now, Phoebe is really passionate about horses and she loved everyone's horse, but I still really enjoyed her enthusiasm about Leo. I had to admit to her, I haven't always "liked" Leo myself. She totally understood where I was coming from and admitted that Leo is not the type of horse most amateurs would pick for themselves.
I signed up for a lesson with a dressage judge that was coming to the farm: Phoebe DeVoe. I really didn't know anything about her going into it, besides the fact that her reputation at the barn is tremendous and the people who have worked with her love her down-to-earth approach. I have since learned, in talking with Phoebe, that her parents used to bred and train racehorses and she got her start by retraining and reselling them when their track careers were over. So while all her horses are warmbloods now, her start was with thoroughbreds.
Leo has always had impeccably bad timing for injuries and the week leading up our lesson was no different. He got kicked in the knee on Thursday. It swelled up to twice its size and I called out the vet. Turned out that all the swelling was superficial - the result of bruising - and that there was no swelling in the joint. He was a little off on Friday, but was sound by Saturday. He still has a big knee, but he's 100% sound on it. That horse is tough when he needs to be.
Leo was fantastic for the lesson. I was amazed how Phoebe just got to work and how smooth the lesson transitioned from one thing to the next. She recognized right away that Leo was a big mover. She said he was tracking up 8 inches when he was putz-ing around the ring at a walk. Phoebe was looking for me to ride with a shorter rein and a much stronger emphasis on the outside rein connection. We moved quickly from walk to trot to medium trot as Leo settled into the contact and we accomplished quite a lot! Here are the highlights...
Contact
- I need to keep my elbows by my side. My arms should move at any point below my elbow, but my upper arm shouldn't move.
- I should move the reins with Leo's head movement so that there is always contact. If that means riding with my reins wider, particularly opening my inside rein, that is fine.
- I need to monitor my inside rein so it never gets too long. When it gets long, I pull back to pick up the slack and this is not good.
- Rather than asking Leo to lower into the contact with a soft, giving rein, I should keep more contact and ask him to move from behind into the contact. He will lower his poll on his own this way.
Leo notoriously throws his haunches right. In order to prevent over bending to the left, I should move Leo's haunches off the rail for a couple of strides. By leg yielding for a couple steps towards the center of the ring, I can straighten his body without fussing with the bridle. Going towards the right, I should still move Leo left with haunches out. This helps drive him into the outside rein (it's really hard to get the outside connection on the left rein with him).
Sitting Trot
I don't do sitting trot with Leo, yet, but Phoebe said I need to start. She said to introduce it gradually: post for a couple strides, sit for a couple strides and repeat. Then go around the ring once in sitting trot and go back to posting. She also said to switch up my diagonal and not worry about posting with the outside leg. She wants horses to learn how to be in balance with the rider and learn how to stay balanced with weight changes. Changing the diagonal or changing from sitting to rising, helps the horse get comfortable with rider balance changes. (I think I explained that right but maybe not...)
Lengthenings
For my lengthenings and mediums, Phoebe did not want me to move my reins forward. Judges say Leo needs to show a lengthening of frame, not just stride, in his lengthenings so when I practice I always move my hands forward and ask him to lengthen his neck and reach into the bridle. Phoebe didn't want me to do this. She said she's thinking way beyond that training level test. She wanted me to keep the reins and push Leo into the bridle into the lengthening. She said not to worry about him raising his head when I ask for more trot as he will naturally lower his poll when he figures how to do the movement. Phoebe was looking for unbalanced steps in our lengthenings - she said in the unbalanced moments is where real learning is happening for the horse.
At a medium canter, the same approach applied. I need to sit deep in the saddle and ride Leo forward into the bridle and he in return had to accept a stronger level of contact. (And don't forget that outside rein.)
Counter-Canter
At the canter, we focused on getting him balanced on the outside rein so that he could step under himself and lift his inside shoulder. We had some really nice canter work to the right, which is his difficult side. She introduced counter canter as well. We would canter towards X across the diagonal and then bend back to the wall. She said eventually we should be able to get 2 loops down the long-side, riding a shallow serpentine from the wall to the quarter line. She described this as a gymnastic exercise that builds strength. Just like Sally and all of her exercises where you change direction very quickly!
Leo would get quick in the canter when we swung back to the wall, so I had to really sit into him and hold the rhythm of the canter even though he was struggling with the balance change. She also said if he is struggling with the exercise to make the loop bigger / rounder / softer to make it easier.
Parting thoughts from a dressage judge...
Phoebe loved Leo, which means a lot coming from an FEI dressage rider. I think she said "super cool horse", "I love this horse" and "this is my type of horse" a dozen times. Now, Phoebe is really passionate about horses and she loved everyone's horse, but I still really enjoyed her enthusiasm about Leo. I had to admit to her, I haven't always "liked" Leo myself. She totally understood where I was coming from and admitted that Leo is not the type of horse most amateurs would pick for themselves.
- Phoebe said I have the potential to score huge on this horse. This is something everyone keeps telling me. It's kind of funny to think that I am sitting on one of the most talented horses in my divisions yet I am not at all competitive with the other horses and riders. But Leo's education has progressed so much this year that if I can manage his nervousness and tension in the dressage ring, I think I will be much more competitive this coming year.
- Leo will likely go better with a deeper seat and stronger contact. I can let go of the need to sit light and be soft all the time just because he is a hot horse. She said: 1) hot horses need lots of leg and support and 2) self-carriage is a ridiculous term because a horse is only in self-carriage when a rider asks them to be; they are never in it on their own accord. You want to feel the horse in the bridle.
- She said Leo and I are ready for the next level of training. I need to start introducing sitting trot, counter canter, and medium trot and canter work into my flat routines. The goal is for Leo to learn how to change and adapt his balance for different movements and build his strength.
Related Posts - Working with a hot horse on the flat:
- Stepping up the Flatwork (Sept 2012) - Working on Training Level Test A movements
- A Weekend at the Fork with Rebecca Howard (June 2012) - Achieving Straightness
- Back on Track with Leo (Jan 2012) - Building Strength
- Back to Basics (July 2011) - Connection and Contact
- Going with what you've got (Feb 2011) - Relaxation
- Winter Continues (Jan 2011) - Relaxation and leg aides
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