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| The Sense and Purpose of Dressage, Part I |
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| by Lilian Signe Van Dahn |
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The dressage training of a riding horse is the foundation for all tests under the saddle. It, therefore, not only serves to prepare the horse for participation in dressage tests, but generally gives the horse the qualifications and preparation for all riding purposes and utilization. The reason we do dressage work with a horse is to develop its natural possibilities through gymnastic training of its whole body in such a way as to make it obedient and capable of balancing the weight of the rider without any trouble. The horse should easily go wherever we direct it and, during this training period, it should develop and become more and more beautiful as well.
Two hundred years ago, the great master of riding, Guérinière, on whose doctrines most of our dressage system is based, said about the aim of dressage training:
The purpose of flat work (dressage) for a horse is to make the work systematic, so that the horse becomes calm, skilled and obedient, and also pleasant in his movements and comfortable for the rider. This concerns, in the same way, the hunting--the soldier--and the school horse.
This classical formulation has the same significance nowadays and is not displaced by any other so-called modern interpretations. The system of all dressage work is based on all principles that have been recognized as correct throughout the history of riding. They are summed up in the classical standard work, The Gymnasium of the Horse,by Steinbrecht. The leading idea and well-known principle of all riding problems in this book is:
"Ride your horse forward and make it straight!"
The doctrines of training are based on the absolute suppleness of the horse through the acceptance of the aids, which enables the rider to master the horse and to achieve absolute obedience. Without all of this, there is no success in the work that is required from the horse.
Many people misunderstand the word "dressage." They think it's like training a dog or drilling a lion in a circus. But the expression "dressage" should be avoided as much as possible and replaced by "gymnastics," because we make the horse supple like a ballet dancer. The necessity of this gymnastic schooling has to be pointed out especially to the trainer of jumping or eventing horses.
To fulfill all the tasks asked of a riding horse, a green, untrained horse needs systematic gymnastic training of its body and a careful, affectionate education. Both of these things we call "dressage." The aim is to bring the horse to its best capability of performance and absolute willing obedience, as well as to reach a complete harmony between rider and horse. This aim can only be achieved when the horse is brought into a form and collection in which it can completely develop its abilities and be mastered by the rider with ease.
In such a form and collection, the horse will be able to sustain widespread, stressful demands for a long time. It's important to develop and improve its forces and qualifications by systematically ordered gymnastic exercises, to cultivate elasticity and expression in its movements in the different gaits. Therefore, it is necessary to mobilize the two forces of the hindquarters: the energy of impulsion and the power of engagement (Schubkraft und Traglcraft).
The most important task of the rider is to maintain and improve the suppleness of the horse. If the horse succeeds in defending himself against an unskilled rider or against false or too hard aids, it will make him stiff, incorrect and unsupple. The obedience and progress of education is lost. If the rider gives an incorrect or hard aid, it is difficult or impossible for the horse to perform what is asked of him and, therefore, the object of the exercise has been wasted because he has become stiff and unbalanced.
The rider can influence the horse if he is able to have a correct and firm sitting position and gives precise and well-balanced aids to communication his feeling, so that he can train the horse independently and enable it to achieve records that correspond to its natural potential. The goal is not just to achieve these principles, but to steadily perfect and keep them. The short-term objectives are: 1) Education and accustoming (period of confidence); 2) Development of impulsion; and 3) Development of collection.
Special thanks to Patricia Kinnaman for permission to reprint this article by Lilian Signe Van Dahn. Lilian was a co-founder (with Patricia) of T.E.S. and Van Dahn International. She passed away on January 17, 1989, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was an inspiration to all dressage riders who learned from her.
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