April
28
What are some good exercises to introduce my horse to dressage?
I have been working on jumping, and some ground work to gain respect, because that’s what my trainer told me to do.
I want to introduce him to dressage, and am wondering if there are exercises that I could do in the saddle or on the ground.
Great idea! Apart from anything else, the more you school your horse the more pleasant he will be to ride. He will also be safer and more fun for jumping and trail riding. The word "dressage" comes from the French for training, so all the work you have already done is contributing to his dressage. You don’t say if you are interested in competing or not.
Start riding him in the arena. Work on transitions, making sure that he responds instantly to your aids. Concentrate on making your aids invisible. When your transitions are great, work on direct transitions, halt to trot, canter to walk etc. You can also look for some variation in the pace – see if he will lengthen his stride slightly in trot without speeding up.
Also work on loops and circles. Get your horse to bend from poll to tail, riding him from your inside leg to your outside hand. Think about getting him moving away from your leg. This leads us to lateral work. Do some leg yielding, first on a circle, then on the long side of the arena. Start in walk and progress to trot. Think about turns on the forehand and maybe some shoulder in or half pass if he is ready for it.
As you are new to dressage, you should aim to work your horse in a "long and low" frame. This means that he should be stretching his neck forwards and down to find the bit. He shouldn’t be leaning on your hands and you shouldn’t be fiddling with the reins. It’s achieved by riding him forward into a good contact.
I’ve given you quite a lot of exercises here, but don’t feel you should be doing them all at once. I don’t really know what your level is, but you need to work through them at your own pace. Ask your trainer for some flatwork lessons. And enjoy this wonderful sport.
April 28th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
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nothuing nowhere
April 28th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Figure eight patterns, working him around objects, changes from gait to gait, transitions, flying lead changes, Also try and make sure he is very good with stopping on an exact point (like a letter (A, B, C) etc.) Very importantly make sure you can go from a canter to a trot, canter to walk, trot to canter, etc.
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April 28th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Great idea! Apart from anything else, the more you school your horse the more pleasant he will be to ride. He will also be safer and more fun for jumping and trail riding. The word "dressage" comes from the French for training, so all the work you have already done is contributing to his dressage. You don’t say if you are interested in competing or not.
Start riding him in the arena. Work on transitions, making sure that he responds instantly to your aids. Concentrate on making your aids invisible. When your transitions are great, work on direct transitions, halt to trot, canter to walk etc. You can also look for some variation in the pace – see if he will lengthen his stride slightly in trot without speeding up.
Also work on loops and circles. Get your horse to bend from poll to tail, riding him from your inside leg to your outside hand. Think about getting him moving away from your leg. This leads us to lateral work. Do some leg yielding, first on a circle, then on the long side of the arena. Start in walk and progress to trot. Think about turns on the forehand and maybe some shoulder in or half pass if he is ready for it.
As you are new to dressage, you should aim to work your horse in a "long and low" frame. This means that he should be stretching his neck forwards and down to find the bit. He shouldn’t be leaning on your hands and you shouldn’t be fiddling with the reins. It’s achieved by riding him forward into a good contact.
I’ve given you quite a lot of exercises here, but don’t feel you should be doing them all at once. I don’t really know what your level is, but you need to work through them at your own pace. Ask your trainer for some flatwork lessons. And enjoy this wonderful sport.
References :
April 28th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Lots of transitions, lots of circles, lots of practicing all the usual things! Get some dressage test sheets so you can see what is expected.
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April 28th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
The best idea would be to start with an instructor who specializes in dressage- he or she can help your horse learn to collect and soften, and be able to go "in a frame". All of this will help your jumping and your horse’s general training and behavior. It will only take a couple of lessons to learn the basics of dressage, which you can practice at home.
As for exercises, practice lots of circles while riding, making sure your horse is not leaning in or dropping his shoulder. He should be balanced and straight, but bending around the circle, and moving forward at the trot. Also work on sitting trot, using your seat to try and shorten his step and trot as slow as possible without walking. Then, go straight from the sitting trot to a very forward posting trot, without rushing. Go back to the sitting trot and repeat, circling often and changing directions to keep your horse focused. Lots of transitions from the canter to sitting trot to walk to canter also can help your horse pushing from his hind end and carrying himself better.
A dressage instructor will be able to give you more ideas for exercises to practice.
Continue with the ground work, this is great to teach your horse to respect you, and should help with his performance under saddle. Try teaching him to back up and move sideways away from you- this will help him understand lateral work such as leg yielding later in his training.
Good luck!
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