Dressage at Devon

111 ©Hoofprints.com Dressage at Devon 2016 • Performance Division Going through the Paces The dressage horse performs its forward and lateral movements at one of three paces: the walk, the trot or the canter. The horse's stride in each of these paces may be collected, medium or extended. In a collected stride, the horse's hind feet come well under its body, the back arches, the head is carried higher and the body appears shorter. Stepping high rather than ahead, the collected horse covers the least ground at a given tempo. In the medium stride, the horse takes longer steps that look free and energetic. In the extended stride, the rider allows the horse to stretch out its neck and take longer steps, with maximum energy coming from the hind quarters. This gives the horse a longer body profile and covers the maximum ground with each stride. One stride is a single occurrence of all the steps in that particular pace - four steps in the walk, two in the trot and three in the canter. The Walk The walk is the most difficult pace to develop because of its complicated 1-2-3-4 sequence of steps: near hind leg, near foreleg, off hind leg, off foreleg. In addition to collected, medium and extended versions of the walk, there is a version called the free walk in which the horse stretches its neck out and down with the reins either lengthened or loose. The Trot The trot, in which the horse springs from one diagonal pair of legs to the other in a 1-2 1-2 rhythm, is the most important pace for training horse and rider. In the trot, the rhythm should remain the same at all tempos, with only the length of stride changing. The Canter The canter is actually a series of bounds, each made up of a three-beat movement followed by a moment of suspension. Switching between the left and right canter while moving produces a skipping action called a flying change of lead. Flying changes can occur as often as every third stride, every second stride or even every single stride, the latter being a requirement of the highest FEI tests and the Olympic Games competitions. Every change, no matter how frequent, should be smooth with no jerkiness or shortening of stride. The Halt It may seem strange to think of the halt as a "pace," but in dressage a halted horse must maintain a precise stance just as it does in moving paces. The Rein Back In the rein back, the horse starts forward from a halt but is immediately restrained by pressure through the reins and, without hesitation, steps backward. After the required number of steps, the rider releases the restraint and allows the horse to move forward again. In the rein back, the legs move in diagonal pairs, similar to the trot but without the moment of suspension. The Movements of Dressage Turn on the Forehand The turn on the forehand, a pivot in place on one of the forelegs, begins from a halt. Observe how the horse rotates around the point where its forelegs are located, with the forelegs stepping up and down in a very small circle while the hind legs describe a large circle. Shoulder-in The shoulder-in, first introduced early in a horse's training, is used to improve the suppleness of the animal's back, stifle, hip and hocks. In the shoulder-in, the horse moves forward and sideways, traveling with its body canted at an angle of about 30 degrees towards the direction of movement. Half Pass A sure crowd-pleaser, the half pass is a diagonal movement across the arena which the horse makes by crossing its outside pair of legs over and in front of the inner pair. Pirouette One of the most spectacular dressage maneuvers to watch, the pirouette is a turn on the haunches with the rear feet remaining in a circle small enough to fit on a dinner plate, while the horse moves its forelegs in a wide circle. Piaffe and Passage While the half pass, single changes and pirouettes are spectacular movements, the ultimate dressage training goal is the perfection of the two extremes of the trot - the piaffe and the passage. The piaffe is a highly cadenced trot in place. In it you should see the horse spring lightly from one diagonal pair of legs to the other with an even rhythm and a definable moment of suspension. This maneuver requires superb muscular development of the horse. The piaffe is performed with the hindquarters lowered and the forehand raised, giving the impression that the horse is slightly sitting down and placing more weight on its quarters than in any other movement. Yet all four feet should leave the ground, with the hind feet coming up a few inches and the forelegs raised so that the forearm becomes almost level. The passage is a majestic, even more extremely cadenced trot. The period of suspension is longer than for any other form of the trot, similar to the seemingly motionless pause that occurs during a grand ballet artist's leap. The horse should appear to float, proudly springing from one diagonal to the other while maintaining its body in a perfectly straight line. The movement is, in effect, a collected trot in slow motion - one of the most strenuous demands made on an equine gymnast.

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