For the final blog of this year, I’m taking a look at the much neglected pace of walk. The example I am using is from the Gothenberg World Cup, from February this year. The full video can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIB0VkqL8iA. The horse I am looking at is Florine ridden by Bianca Nowag-Aulenbrock and the section starts at 2 hours, 42 minutes and 25 seconds.

Correctly ridden, walk is an excellent pace for teaching movement and developing flexibility and strength. The walk shown in this test demonstrates some of the many problems I see with walks ridden by many riders both in competition and training.

The horse in this video shows a very common issue with the type of walk riders are expecting from their horses today. They rider has a very firm hold on the reins, and is leaning back in the saddle in a very blocked and braced position. Consequently, the horse is bracing its neck, hollow backed and disengaged in its haunches and the weight is placed into the forehand. This restricts in the horse’s shoulder movement and blocks the hind legs action, making the stride drop short.

The pictures below clearly show how blocked the horse is and you can see the rider's position moves further behind the vertical throughout the sequence, increasing the  blocking of the horse's movement.

Recently, the FEI have announced that they have completed an extensive review of Cesar Parra’s training methods covering many years. The tribunal evaluated large amounts of evidence showing Parra abusing numerous horses across countless training sessions. Parra has received a fine, a 15-year ban from FEI and national competitions, and is prohibited from training other FEI riders and horses for the duration of the ban. However, this does not stop Parra from continuing to own and train horses.

This rider has been at top level dressage since the mid 1990’s, including competing at the Athens Olympic games. Which raises a very important question.

Why have judges continually promoted this rider by awarding him high marks?

There is individual variation in how each trainer choses to progress the horse and rider. The movements used are the same, but the way that they are ridden, when and how they are used, and which gadgets are employed vary greatly.

A similarity between dressage and art can be made here. A group of artists can all paint the same thing at the same time. They will all apply paint to a canvas and at the end there will be a picture of what they saw. But each picture is different based on the artists interpretation of the view and how they have used the tools available to them.

The way in which a horse has been trained can be clearly seen in the way that the horse performs each movement. In the way that an art expert can look at a painting and see the techniques the painter used, dressage judges should have the knowledge and experience to see the type of training, based on how each movement is performed.

However, they still award high marks for poorly executed movements, champion horses moving with hollow backs and braced necks, and ignore signs of pain and distress that the horse shows.

For the world of dressage to survive, the judging needs to change radically and rapidly. Horses are not machines; movements vary depending on the horse’s conformation and its natural abilities. It is the trainer’s responsibility to recognise this and adapt the training to best suit the horse. It is the judge’s responsibility to recognise where training has been incorrectly used for the horse they are seeing, and mark this appropriately.

Please see previous blogs -
charlotte-dujardin-returns-to-competition.html and 
another-olympic-rider-abuses-a-horse5440859.html

Training Riders, Transforming Horses
© Diane Followell

Last week Charlotte Dujardin returned to competing after finishing her 1-year ban for abusing a horse that she was training. But what does her situation say about competitive dressage?

Dujardin’s is not an isolated case. Carina Cassøe Kruth was dropped from the Paris Olympic squad for whipping her horse in a training session with Andreas Helgstrand. Helgstrand himself had a 15-month ban for horse abuse and is now back on the Danish team. The list goes on.

The FEI are responsible for maintaining the correct standards of the sport and preventing horses from suffering physical or mental harm, yet the only riders or trainers who receive any kind of punishment are those who hit the headlines and receive public condemnation. Bans and fines are implemented, but once the ban is over, the rider starts competing again and everything continues as before.

In response to public concern, the Danish Equestrian Federation are bringing in new rules to ban double bridles below level 4 (advanced medium). They will seek to have this rule implemented globally. This misses the main problem, what is being trained and how it is being judged.

If the judges cannot see when a horse is moving incorrectly, riders and coaches will continue to train badly executed movements. Some years ago, I watched lessons given by a well-known senior judge where teeth grinding, tail swishing and a horse kicking up at the rider’s legs were dismissed as normal.

Listening to the commentary from the Olympic games last year, this blindness to the state of riding at the highest level persists. Lavish praise was given for uneven piaffes, hollow rein back steps, extended trot without lengthened strides etc. This riding has now become so normalised, that many aspiring riders are oblivious to the damage that this is doing to horses.

Dujardin’s experience will not prevent the abuse. Dressage riders will simply stop people from recording training sessions so that they don’t get caught out.
​
Dressage judges, and those who sit on the committees that govern the sport at national and international level. have a duty to fully understand correct movements and training of dressage horses. Until they have the courage to admit to the huge problems that they have allowed to be perpetuated in competitive dressage, nothing will change.

These blogs may also be pf interest to you - 
is-modern-dressage-classical.html
statement-on-the-situation-regarding-charlotte-dujardin.html

​Training Riders, Transforming Horses
© Diane Followell

​Yet another video emerges of an Olympic dressage rider beating a horse (Nico) into submission. (The BBC article can be read here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/articles/c991zle4r0loAustralia Ryan Heath ).
 
Nico had been sent to Australian Ryan Heath as unrideable. With a history of being a difficult horse, things had culminated in an accident resulting in his rider being hospitalised. Heath's solution was to whip Nico repeatedly, claiming to have acted in the best interest of the horse, that this was the only solution, and his method has made Nico rideable again.
 
These actions are inexcusable. There is absolutely no reason for beating a horse. Many riders and trainers believe that the horse should do exactly as they demand. Any behaviours that deviate from this are seen as the horse being difficult or wilful. This view is far from the truth. Unrideable and difficult horses are created by riders and trainers who lack the skills and knowledge needed to train horses correctly.
 
In my equestrian life I have met many horses labelled difficult. Taking time to find out about the horse invariably reveals an earlier training issue that was resolved by force. When this continues through the training, the horse becomes more difficult and the solutions more brutal until you arrive in the situation that Nico found himself in.
 
Correct training does not create problem horses and transforms those that have been made difficult to ride. With methods that do not need horses to be forced or beaten into submission, they become calm and a pleasure to ride, horses who look forward to coming into the school and to working with the rider. Surely this is what we all aspire to achieve with our horses?
 
I sincerely hope that the riders and trainers who abuse their horses will continue to be called out and that the ruling bodies will finally take responsible action to prevent this abuse from continuing.

For some of my thoughs on why horses may refuse to perform a movement see my previous blog - No is a Perfectly Acceptable Answer

​​© Diane Followell
© Training Riders, Transforming Horses

​This month I am reviewing a half 10 metre circle performed by Kimberly Pap and Sonnenburg’s Jersey competing at the VHO Trophy 2023 starting at 3 minutes 40 seconds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cvqPdPVOsI

The half circle should give the horse and rider an opportunity to prepare for the next movement, a few strides to help the horse rebalance itself, and for the rider to check the engagement of the haunches. However, this chance is missed by the rider. The half pass preceding this turn is made with very extravagant strides and speed. The horse has disengaged his haunches and become unbalanced through the movement. (Picture A).

​To bring the horse back in time to make the half circle, the rider pulls the reins, blocking the horse. The horse has no engagement of the hind leg and is unable to balance itself correctly,  and drops his weight towards his right foreleg to balance. (Picture B).

​As they begin the turn, the disengagement of the haunchesand weight towards the shoulder means that the impulsion, instead of balancing the horse, causes him to lean to the inside. The rider is unbalanced and using the reins for support and overbending the horse's neck. (Picture C and D).

Because he is disengaged, the horse moves his inside hind foot towards the outside, crossing his left hindleg. With his balance totally compromised, the horse uses his inside foreleg to stay upright. (Picture E and F)

​At the end of the half circle, the horse is still completely out of balance as he enters the centre line with his weight towards his forehand, and disengaged haunches. (Picture G)

Below is a photo of a horse and rider correctly balanced on a circle.

​Training Riders, Transforming Horses
© Diane Followell

​I am continuing the theme of looking at some of the faults that can occur with the difficult high-level movements, and this time I am looking at passage. The photos are taken from a video of Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper at the Tokyo Olympics Dressage in 2021. The full video can be seen here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGSYdsItiqU&t=1549s and the passage I am reviewing starts at 29 mins 14 secs.

Passage is a difficult movement to perform correctly. The horse must have exceptional balance, suppleness strength to maintain the very collected high, slow steps required. This movement must be ridden with lightness and tact from the rider. In the FEI rules, there is a good description of a passage.

The FEI rules 2020 give a description of passage and the faults that can occur.

ARTICLE 414 THE PASSAGE

1. Passage is a measured, very collected, elevated and cadenced trot. It is characterised by a pronounced engagement of the hindquarters, a more accentuated flexion of the knees and hocks, and the graceful elasticity of the movement. Each diagonal pair of legs is raised and returned to the ground alternately, with cadence and a prolonged suspension.

2. In principle, the height of the toe of the raised forefoot should be level with the middle of the cannon bone of the other supporting foreleg. The toe of the raised hind foot should be slightly above the fetlock joint of the other supporting hind leg.

3. The neck should be raised and gracefully arched with the poll as the highest point and the nose line close to the vertical. The Horse should remain light, and soft “on the bit” without altering the cadence. The impulsion remains lively and pronounced.

4. Irregular steps with the hind or front legs, swinging the forehand or the hindquarters from one (1) side to the other, as well as jerky movements of the forelegs or the hind legs, dragging the hind legs or double beat in the moment of suspension are serious faults. The aim of passage is to demonstrate the highest degree of collection, cadence and suspension in the trot.
 
Having watched many hours of passage, many of the movements I have seen have little resemblance to the way it should be performed, and the marks given do not reflect the requirements for the movement as stated by the FEI. In passage today, horses are blocked in the head and neck, disengaged in their haunches and unable to flex their hind leg joints, which results in a breakdown of the steps and essentially, no passage.
 
In this test, the horse is asked to perform a series of complex trot movements leading into passage; trot half pass to piaffe, then a piaffe pirouette followed with passage. The preceding piaffe is incorrect showing a swinging forehand (see A View of Piaffe and Some Faults in Piaffe) which sets the horse up for a poor passage. Today we see horses performing difficult movements one after the other without being given a rest with a simple movement such as a circle or moving on a straight line in a less collected or extended stride. This type of riding creates a situation where the quality of each exercise deteriorates, and riders have to compromise lightness and balance for the sake of forcing though into the next movement.
 
This passage shows irregular steps in the hind legs, a double beat in the moment of suspension and a loss of the diagonal trot stride.  Perhaps the focus of these tests should be more on the quality of each movement rather than making ever more complicated routines?
 
In the transition to passage, the rider holds the horse through the rein and this makes the horse contract it’s neck, resulting in a break in the trot diagonals (picture 29.14) where the left hind is off the ground whilst the right fore is on the ground.

​The horse continues to be held by the rider’s hands on the reins which restricts the ability of the horse to move off its forehand, preventing the haunches and hind legs from correctly engaging. The passage rhythm is compromised, and the faulty trot stride continues with the left foreleg on the ground and the right hind is in the air (picture 29.15) .

​With the haunches disengaged, the left hind foot makes a double beat in the passage, being brought forward (picture 29.16 A) before being drawn back and placed on the ground (picture 29.16 B).

The horse is now out of balance and the forward momentum continues to be blocked by the rider’s hands. The passage has no suspension as the horse moves its inside hind leg towards the outside instead of flexing its leg joints and keeping the inside hind leg moving straight forward. (Picture 29.19).

 Training Riders, Transforming Horses
© Diane Followell

​It is sad to see that competition dressage is in the spotlight yet again for all the wrong reasons. The footage of Charlotte Dujardin shows her whipping a horse with a lunge whip multiple times to improve its canter. This is totally unacceptable and unnecessary. Horses will willingly do what they are physically able to do and what they understand through training.

This latest scandal is not the first video showing a professional, world renowned trainer or rider maltreating their horses, and yet nothing has changed. Over decades, the FEI and British Dressage have consistently failed to respond to the mounting evidence of abusive training. They continue to reward riders showing horses that are blocked through their necks and back, disengaged in their haunches, producing paces that are uneven and incorrect. Spurs are used to force the horse forward, bits are used to pull horses in from the riders hands and nosebands are tightened to prevent the horse from showing any sign of pain.

Rather than tackling the issue head on and changing the judging and scoring, the FEI brought in rules to show that they are serious about tackling animal cruelty. The recent blood rule, where a horse is eliminated for having blood in its mouth or on its sides, fails to acknowledge the simple fact that no horse should ever have blood anywhere on its body as a result of being ridden. 

Current competition training methods circumvent correct dressage principles. The rapid training used by many competitive riders today takes little account of the original dressage training goals on which the competition was based. The horses are pushed to perform and become mere vehicles for the rider's ambition.

Charlotte Dujardin now joins an ever increasing list of international riders who have been seen to be abusing horses and she will not be the last. Some of these riders are still competing despite being investigated on more than one occasion. When will the judges start to penalise riders showing horses in distress through incorrect movement and training?  When will the FEI and British Dressage  step up and make the huge changes necessary for competitive dressage to be once again focused on the horse and correct training principles? 

©Diane Followell, Classical Dressage Trainer.
Training Riders Transforming Horses

In my last blog I looked at the qualities of a good piaffe shown by Jessica von Bredow-Werndl in the warmup area. (Click here to read it)

This month I am looking at some of the problems that can occur in piaffe. This one is shown by Charlotte Fry whilst competing at the ECCO FEI World Championships 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohr_Vex4m4c&t=26s and the piaffe starts at 1 minute 7 seconds.

In a correct piaffe the horse needs to engage its haunches, lighten it’s forehand and elevate the head and neck position. If the horse is prevented from doing this either by a lack of strength and balance or by the rider blocking the movement, the trot diagonal steps elevation and and straightness are lost.
​
In this clip, as the rider approaches the piaffe from a passage, she makes a backward movement of her hands to bring the horse to piaffe. This action causes the horse to brace its neck and jaw and lose its forward momentum. To correct this the rider uses her spurs. The horse is now blocked between the rider’s hands and her legs and is unable to engage its haunches for the piaffe and the diagonal rhythm of the trot steps is lost (1 minute 7 seconds). (Picture 1.07 A)

​Due to the disengagement of the haunches, the momentum of the piaffe has gone and the rider is now using a lot of leg and spur to create some steps. Her hand position does not change and forces the horse to drop its head behind the vertical and place its weight into its forehand. (1 minute 7 seconds). (Picture.1.07 B) 

​As the piaffe continues, the horse remains blocked by the rider’s hands and, unable to correctly engage his haunches, there is a continued deterioration of the diagonal trot steps. This results in the horse’s forehand swinging from side to side (1 minute 8 seconds). Picture 1.08 A This picture also shows the left diagonal breakdown with the hind foot moving off the ground before the forefoot and the fore legs stepping out to the sides rather than
stepping cleanly up and down.

​The next sequence of pictures (1.09, 1.10 A and 1.10 B) shows the continued breakdown of the steps as the horse makes sidesteps in the forelimbs and rocks its shoulders from side to side

​In picture 1.12, the horse is blocked and diagonal rhythm of the trot steps is completely lost as the horse has all four feet on the ground at the same time.

With the Olympic games in Paris this summer, I am taking a look at some of the advanced movements that will be shown in the dressage competitions, how they should look and the problems that can occur.

In my last blog I reviewed tempi flying changes, “A View of Tempi Flying Changes" (click here to read) and this month I am taking a look at piaffe. The piaffe is on Jessica von Bredow-Werndl’s Facebook page, showing a few steps of piaffe in a warmup arena, and can be found here; https://www.facebook.com/reel/389800653416534

Although this is only a few steps of piaffe, it is a good example of the movement. The horse is light and well engaged in his haunches. The joints of the hind legs are flexing and the feet are raised to the same height and move up and down without deviation.

The rider sits softly with relaxed legs and the weight of the reins in her hands. The horse is able to place its head and neck where it feels most comfortable without the rider dictating the position.

As the rider makes a turn in the piaffe, the steps remain the same. At the end of the movement, the horse moves calmly forward.

​Training Riders, Transforming Horses
© Diane Followell