JKK Dressur, LLC

How To Teach The Piaffe: From Ground To Saddle Mastering the piaffe is one of the ultimate goals in dressage training, but knowing where to start can be intimidating. In this video, we break down exactly ...

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Stretching in Grand Prix?! The Debate Dividing Dressage What if the future of Grand Prix dressage is changing right now… an...

Throughness and how to get it with Steffen Peters…
“Don’t let him trick you into too much contact. He is allowed to go into your hand, but not an ounce more. Never cover up in training, never one stride with too much in your hand. One ounce too much will build up too much tension; shorten the frame creating the reason to let go of the rein. Don’t accept that when you engage him, he becomes more rigid – bend him in, bend him out, test if the suppleness can match the engagement. Make him looser when you collect him. When I collect, can I keep him supple? If you don’t test him, he’ll test you. Expose him to a touch more suppleness in extension and collection – a little more throughness. If you don’t ask for throughness you won’t get it.”
http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2010/07/wow-a-clinic-with-steffen-peters-part-1/

DressurSPORT.com June Issue

The center image is a closeup of a reaching with their hind foot into the footfall of her same side front footfall. The same is true with the opposite side footfalls. This is called Hind Reach.

The result of this level of hind reach is greatly improved balance. The center image demonstrates how Candy's hind reach comes together under her center of longitudinal or hind to front balance, which creates optimal stability in a horse.

The right picture shows this principle of balance in a "see saw". When a horse does not reach very far under its belly, their balance is not centered and not as effective.

When the rider is balanced longitudinally (hind to fore) and laterally (side to side) a horse can carry themself in total balance if they have sufficient hind reach. This is called Self Carriage.

The test of true self carriage is when the horse carries itself in total balance with no rein contact. The left picture shows the reins are droopy soft or off contact with Candy moving in a relaxed trot carrying herself in self carriage.

The term Self Carriage has been run over by the truck of modern dressage. Today dressage horses are cranked down with intense bit pressure while being spurred forward into a false frame of phony self carriage. Basically, these horses are put into a vice, and I fail to understand why today's modern dressage judges reward this forced collection and phony self carriage.

I will put a photo of Étienne Beudant, a French Cavalryman and horse trainer, in the comments. In that picture he is doing a Piaffe on a completely loose rein. I think today most modern dressage riders would consider Beudant's Piaffe impossible to accomplish without force and they'd be wrong.

The point of this post is that in a world of forced riding techniques, we must do less. Force achieves artificial results that today have become the norm. Achieving true self carriage must be coaxed not forced. And self carriage is not just for the dressage arena. It's for everything. If you are out fox hunting for three or four hours, self carriage makes your horse last longer. Self carriage is practical and efficient. It's not a pose for a judge.

Developing the required balance from greater hind reach is best achieved with hill work both up and down a slopes. A horse must be fit and supple to reach true self carriage. Many horses, once fit and supple with a balanced rider, will go into self carriage naturally with just a little coaxing. It takes time but the results are worth the effort.

*Candy was a handful coming off the track, but she was so athletic. When I first rode her, it was winter and her hind came out from under her sideways on some ice. Here recovery from that butt slide told me that I had to buy her. She moved on to one of my top students, Laura Cole , and eventually Candy moved on to another one of my students.