What to look for in piaffe

What is a correct piaffe? Over the years I have seen many horses performing piaffe, and the way each horse creates the steps can make the movement look very different. Some horses have the strength to lower their haunches and show strides with good elevation, whilst for other horses the piaffe steps are much smaller and less elevated.
 
It is easy to be impressed by horses who make big extravagant steps, but is the piaffe still correct? A true piaffe should show: -

• Clear diagonal steps.
• The fore feet should lift to the same height, roughly mid cannon bone, and the hind feet should lift the same height, roughly the fetlock, although the height will vary from horse to horse.
• The head and neck being elevated - the nose may come slightly in front of the vertical.
• Lowered haunches accompanied by greater flexion of the joints in the hind limbs.
• Lightness in the forehand.
• Light contact with only the weight of the reins in the rider's hands.

 
Common faults in piaffe are:-

• Breaks in the diagonal pairing of the limbs.
• Hind quarters bouncing up, with the weight in the forehand.
• Hind quarters swinging from side to side.
• Hind legs step wide.
• Hind legs not moving equally, it can be that one lifts higher that the other, or one hind leg steps up and down on the same place, while the other steps backwards and forwards.
• Hind legs lifting higher than the fore legs.
• Weight in the forehand

 
Phillipe Karl has a diagram in his book "Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage" which shows some of these common problems.  (See right)
 
These faults can occur because the horse is asked to piaffe too early in their training, when they are not strong enough to make the steps or they are asked to give more than they are capable of. The horse becomes compressed into the piaffe which results in these types of errors.
  
That is not to say that every piaffe will look the same, some horses find the movement easier than others and have more expression in the steps, whereas other horses will have small, almost shuffling steps. Looking for the qualities of a movement can show that the less spectacular piaffe is more correct than some of the dazzling steps we see at times.

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In the pictures below at first the piaffes look similar, but when you look in detail at the position of the horses, you can see that the chestnut horse is blocked by the rider’s hands. The head and neck are compressed causing the fore limbs to track too far back under the horses body, the back is blocked, the haunches are lowered but the hocks are braced and you can see the resistance through the horse's mouth and tail.
 
The grey horse is in a similar position, but he is correctly engaged, more open in the head and neck, elevating the forehand and flexing his hind limbs with correct weight transfer towards the haunches and with the fore legs stepping down vertically.


​Have an objective look at some videos of different horses in piaffe and see if you can spot the differences and which are more correct.

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