Natural Dressage Forum Trainer Questions

Hi Karen,
We really enjoyed your article describing your experience with Dave  Lichman where you two talked about building patterns for dressage. [August 2008 Dressage, Naturally Newsletter] We  are wondering if you could elucidate us on how to build patterns for
the dressage horse, so we can go from halt at x to enter at A, so we
can build cooperation and bigger tries into gymnastical movements such  as shoulder in, half passes, turn on the forehand, etc instead of  boredom because of the repetition needed to strengthen and advance.  Also, how can prevent the pattern itself from taking over when the  horse predicts what is next and stops tuning into you? Where is the  line and how can we learn to walk closer to it and develop naturally  confident, strong, and harmonious horses?
~The Members of the Natural Dressage Forum

www.naturaldressageforum.com

Hi there,

I am happy to do my best with an answer for you. Since David did such a good job of describing how to create the behavior chains in that August 2008 Newsletter, I thought I would take it from there and expand… A couple points you bring up are:

How to strengthen without boring or drilling

How to keep use anticipation of a movement to build motivation without losing the horse’s attention on you.

Let’s start with the 2nd question first.  For me, my personal final picture is that the horse is listening to me, as to what we are going to do, but understand everything is prepared in such a way that he recognizes it and feels confident about it. I don’t really want him making assumptions. (Let’s say an assumption is something that is not easily interrupted, whereas a horse in anticipation is still tuning in, asking a question).  But with that said, I will get really close to assumptions at certain times in the training process, or to balance out a strong idea that the horse has that is opposite to what I would like him to be thinking.

For example: Ovation and I started doing 3-loop serpentines with changes of lead through the trot. His canter was good at this stage, he really found his power, but he would just get rolling along.  I wanted to use this transition exercise to build in some more balance, as well as to even out the right and left leads. The difficulty was that he was so happy with his new powerful trot that every time we came across the middle he just wanted to keep rolling.  He was sort of listening to me, but acted completely surprised each time I did the serpentine with the transitions.  so I made a consistent pattern that he could really count on… for the next 2 sessions, EVERY time I cantered a circle, we did transitions back to the trot before we got half way through. I also went back to a Freestyle focus, I think it makes it easier for the horse to realize there is something that they need to be responsible for.

At some point a light went on and he started anticipating the transition.  I went right to the edge of assuming, (where he practically did it himself), and then stopped.

“Yay, good, job” done deal. The I varied it, sometimes going all the way around, sometimes going on to the next loop.  So I used a pattern to get him to change his own assumptions, create a new one, and then achieve a state where he asks, or tunes in.

I think every horse is different with what kind of patterns you can use to help.  For Monty, who gets emotional when the work is sustained, I use a pattern of stopping and relaxing in every corner. I sometimes need to stay there a while, sometimes he instantly relaxes when I stop and I only need to be there for one breath, sometimes I aim for the corner and I feel him tell me he is ok and we just continue.  But it is a pattern that creates an assumption of relaxation, and a way for the whole ride to feel like a series of ‘this… and then… that… and then this… and then that…’ instead of just a blur of constant exercises.

So I guess I am saying that I use patterns as a training tool, but not as my final picture… although when I competed a lot, I felt many times that my horse saved me by counting the tempi- changes and doing the correct number even if I zoned out! So if the horse is confident about the work, repetition can  give horse and rider a lot of security!

For the question regarding strengthening without boring your horse: There are a few considerations.

Build general stamina and aerobic capacity of your horse during something fun and easy (for the horse). Laps around the fields, up and down rolling hills, riding out are ways to build strength without your horse minding or having something to become desensitized to. For me, I can run so much further if I go on a trail, but put me on a treadmill and it is a real test of my emotional fitness!

Only sustain something your horse willingly offers. In other words, make sure you are strengthening something your horse understands and can do! Do your best to get to the place where your first step of the movement is a good one.

If you are just learning the shoulder-in and 95% of the attempts are not what you want and only the last 5% are valuable shoulder-ins then just know you are still in the ‘building understanding and coordination phase’.

This phase is a necessary phase to go thru, but at this awkward point I am not thinking of strengthening, I am thinking of building confidence, and I take it as slow and deliberately as I need to.  BUT.. I want to get through this stage as efficiently as possible, so my horse offers it, knowing that I won’t ask him to sustain it past what he can do.  When he offers it easily, then I can strengthen it just as I would strengthen my biceps in the gym, by doing sets of repetitions.  Maybe 5 steps shoulder-in here, and 5 steps there… by the end of the ride I amy have done 40 steps, just not all in a row.

This kind of ‘get in and get out’ really helps build confidence.  Of course, the reality is, there is that stage of developing understanding and coordination that is not really pleasant and smooth.  You can’t expect too much, but you can’t fuss around forever without helping them get the idea. Just know in this stage you must be endlessly patient and forgiving, but at the same time very hungry and curious about how you can present it to the horse so they can ‘get it’. It is this stage that most people and horses get stuck in… endlessly trying it again and again, most of the time spending most of their time doing the movement NOT the way they want.  If you are getting stuck at this stage it can be miserable, uncomfortable and un-fun.  This is when it is usually referred to as ‘drilling.  Something is missing if you are stuck here.  Make a big effort to review your picture and understanding of what you are asking for, and make sure you have the basic prerequisites and are asking at an appropriate time in their training.

And some movements do require a base-line of strength to begin with.  Hopefully you can develop that strength in general in those fun and easy ways, and during the prerequisite movements, so when they do offer the more strenuous ones they feel capable. This is the whole art of gymnastic development of the horse! And it can feel fun and not at all like drilling when you have taken the time to prepare, and are strengthening something that is already working well!

I hope that helps!

~Karen