From: Dawn
Hi Jessica,
I sent off for the Under Foot brochure, and I'm awaiting it eagerly. In the mean time, I have been riding my gelding out on the gravel roads. He canters very happily out there, as opposed to the trouble I had been having in the indoor arena where we were boarding. I guess he appreciates going "somewhere" as much as I do.
My question is ... Can I get this horse suitably fit and ready to do some dressage schooling shows with mostly road work? I'm considering (Canadian) A and Basic I and MAYBE II, so fairly low level, since neither of us has shown dressage before. I have several gentle hills nearby that I am using to condition and encourage hindquarter engagement. What can you suggest to encourage correct work and good conditioning?
The horse is an 8yo TB gelding, in his first year of serious riding. His trot work is fantastic, and he's doing great, balanced, turn on the haunches and starting some lateral work, but his canter needs work. I have done a lot of riding, and about a year an a half of serious dressage (5 rides a week).
I read an article in the British magazine Dressage, about Emile Faurie, who trains his top level dressage mounts on racetracks. This type of "crosstraining" appeals to me, so I hope you can give me some ideas on how to maximize the benefits.
Thanks in advance!
Dawn
Lots of walking and trotting, and some cantering, using all the different gears (shortened, regular, and lengthened walks, trots, and canters), will make your horse stronger and more balanced. You can do a lot of transitions between gaits, and a lot of transitions within gaits. Your horse will be much more cheerful than he would be if he spent all his time in an arena. I think that ALL dressage horses should spend time outdoors, learning how to deal with slopes up and down, different surfaces, and different forms of sensory input.
You can also do quite a lot of lateral work on the trail. Leg-yielding from one side of a path to the other is useful; you can also do shoulder-fore and even shoulder-in, depending on where your horse is in his training.
Halts are also good to practice on the road -- if your horse becomes accustomed to halting square and standing calmly on different surfaces and with distractions, you'll have a much easier time of it when you come down that center line!
Be careful with the walk. Treat it as a gait, which it is -- like trot, like canter -- and THINK of it as a gait -- take it seriously. The walk is a balanced, rhythmic, four-beat gait -- NOT just something to do as a break between trot or canter sets, or when you aren't working! If you always HALT your horse and never just stop him, and you always WALK your horse instead of just slopping along, you'll do well at those schooling shows. And a good walk will help your canter immensely -- a bonus!
If your horse is in his first year of serious riding, take your time with him. You can improve your canter without doing any cantering. If you put in three months of good work at walk and trot, and teach him to move from shortened to regular to lengthened gaits while keeping the same tempo (and of course the same rhythm as well!), first on the flat, and then up and down mild slopes -- especially if you insist on keeping the same trot up and down hills -- you will find that when you canter him in the fourth month, his canter will have changed quite a lot, and for the better.
When you do canter him, ask for the canter from shoulder-fore and then RIDE the canter in shoulder-fore, and bring him back to trot in shoulder- fore. You'll be amazed at the difference this one change will make to his softness and lightness!
Use an arena often enough to know how your horse will work on the sort of surface he's likely to encounter at a show, and often enough that BOTH of you are honest about the size and roundness of your circles, and the accuracy and promptness of your transitions.
That should get you started.... and I'll give you the same advice I give my students before they enter the arena at any show. No matter WHAT else happens, you can go in there and do three things: you can breathe, you can smile, and you can be accurate.
Good luck!
- Jessica
Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org
Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.