From: Steven
Dear Jessica, I am the owner of a dressage horse in training. My trainer works with the horse three days each week. I ride it the other four days. Right now our objective is to make the horse accept contact, but this is strangely difficult. Could you suggest some methods that would help us solve this problem? We have tried riding in side reins, also in draw reins for one week, but the results were not impressive. I understand that dressage is difficult and that horses in training often resist the bit, but we have only a few months before our competition season begins, and we must solve this problem soon. I know that I cannot hope to learn to ride or train from books or from the internet, I must do these things myself, but I think highly of your expertise and would value your advice. Thank you.
Steven
You want to MAKE the horse accept contact - this can't be done, and shouldn't be attempted.
You believe that dressage is difficult for the horse - this is true only when the training is incorrect and the horse is unprepared.
You believe that horses in training often resist the bit - again, this is true only when the training is incorrect.
And finally, you are trying to train by the clock and the calendar, with gadgets (side reins and draw reins) to speed up the process of training. You're trying to use a timetable, whereas a more useful resource would be a chart on which you could record the horse's progressive increase in understanding, strength, and flexibility. Those will eventually bring the horse through the process of skills acquisition, whilst side reins, draw reins, and a timetable will not.
You're quite right, no one can learn to ride or train JUST from books or from the internet. I've added the word "just", though, because it is actually possibly to learn a good deal from good books and from good online resources. Ideally, you would also have in-person help from a highly qualified, sympathetic trainer/instructor with a deep love of horses and excellent teaching skills. Not everyone has access to such a resource, though - and even the very best and most observant and articulate trainer may need help at some point. In this case, it certainly sounds as though your trainer/instructor shares both your frustration and your confusion about goals, techniques, ends and means.
Books, videos, clinics, and services such as HORSE-SENSE will allow you to learn from the experiences and mistakes of others. Life is short - far too short to learn everything about horses and horsemanship from the very beginning. Learning from the mistakes of others is a great convenience. We ALL need to do it, because it's highly unlikely that any of us will be around long enough to make all possible mistakes ourselves and learn from our own experience exclusively.
Here's something you should keep in mind at all times: Contact is communication.
At first, the bit and reins are the links between the horse's mouth and the rider's hands. As both horse and riderthe rider develops, the reins gradually become the link between the horse's mind and the rider's mind, but this requires time and calm, correct practice. If you think of contact as communication, and "on the bit" being analoguous to "on the phone", you'll understand why the quality of the connection is all-important, and why we can't force or improve communication by screaming down the phone at our end.
The bit and reins are by no means the only form of communication between horse and rider, they are ONE part - in fact the "last and least" part - of the overall, all-body communication that we describe as "the circle of the aids". When the rider has learned to sit well, and to "listen" as well as "talk" with seat, legs, and shifts of weight and posture, then the rein contact can be refined until riding becomes the dialogue it was meant to be.
"Last and least" doesn't mean unimportant - just that everything else needs to come first. The point of contact is to close the circle of the aids and make the horse-rider communication loop even easier and clearer.
So, you see, the way to get the contact is to put the horse into a position of seeking the contact, and then answering his "Where are you?" with a reassuring, gentle "I am here." The only way to put the horse into this position is through training - and there are no gadgets, gizmos, auxiliary reins, "bitting rigs", or magical methods that will enable you to achieve that training instantly or by force.
Contact isn't something the horse should "accept", it's something he should offer, seek out, and be happy when the RIDER "accepts". The horse's body and mind must be developed, slowly and carefully, so that the horse is able to meet the rider's increasing demands with confidence - in the rider and in its own abilities. The horse that is brought along correctly, and that learns to use its belly muscles, lift its back, and engage its hind end will "automatically" reach forward into the rider's hand. It's the rider's responsibility to see that this happens, and to provide a soft, "live" communication through the rein to reassure the horse that it has done well and that completing the connection was exactly the right thing to do. The horse should always look, confidently, for the contact with the rider's hand. This isn't something that can be hurried - the horse's body needs to BECOME able to carry itself whilst seeking contact. It isn't something that can be forced - the horse can learn to seek contact with a trusted rider, but if force and leverage are used, the horse will either lean on the bit in a desperate attempt to run away from the pain, or it will learn to curl its neck into an overbent position in an attempt to stay behind the bit at all times, regardless of the rider's actions.
Either way, the only real solution will be a lengthy process of re-training - probably with another trainer.
If you truly want to push and pull your horse into a "shape" or "frame" during the next few months, it may well be possible, but I strongly advise against it. From the sound of things, you would do much better to throw away your timetable and focus on real dressage, which will follow a logical progression of skills acquisition and deepening understanding on the horse's part - and on yours. If you must think in terms of competition, and you can't put your ambition aside entirely, at least push it back a year, and allow your horse at least some of the time he needs to develop.
If you are truly ambitious, you'll see the value in the kind of proper preparation that will enable the horse to progress through the lower levels at least. You should be aware that good judges are not fooled by false frames. You should also be aware that the sort of work the horse is doing now, with both you and your trainer, will take you nowhere. There is no progress possible when someone uses leverage to create a false frame for a horse - even if a few ignorant judges are fooled at first, better ones will not be. Progress, under those conditions, is impossible - the horse will likely become too unsound to continue in its training; even if it doesn't become unsound, it will become too unhappy and confused to accept more training; eventually, the only way to make any progress at all will be to start over from the ground up! This will take much more time and effort, and offer less reliable results, than simply taking the time to do things right in the first place and keeping the horse sound and happy all through its training.
If you find that you are interested in training your horse correctly, you WILL need help, and it sounds as though you will need to look for another trainer. Visit every establishment you can find, and try to locate someone whose horses are sound, happy, and progressing at a rate of speed that doesn't endanger their bodies or minds.
Jessica
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