Posts Tagged ‘dressage tests’

Show season brings with it the excitement of getting our horses ready to compete.

Unfortunately for many of us, riding well in public is an elusive undertaking. At home, our equine buddy goes brilliantly, but at a show we become tense. The horse either acts up or loses suppleness and our performance is a far cry from what we could achieve. Instead of fun, the competition becomes a frustrating disappointment.

Show Anxiety

Nerves used to make me impossible to endure even a week before the event: I snapped at everyone! On show day, when I entered the ring I’d panic and tell myself “there’s no point, I’ll make a mess of it, let’s get this over with.” With the predictable result that I knocked down show-jumps, got multiple refusals cross-country or couldn’t get canter strike-offs in my dressage tests. I had no faith in myself — which was ridiculous, because physically my horse and I had prepared properly and should have done well.

Sound familiar?

Addressing the Mental Side

Until I sorted out the mental part of the sports equation, I would never compete to the best of my ability.

Desperate, I visited a hypnotist. He taught me the following simple, but effective, method of over-coming my self-destructive behavior. Once I used his techniques, my show performance improved hugely and as a result, so did my confidence. I started winning.

De-stress for Success

Sit yourself down in a comfortable, quiet place where you will not be disturbed for at least twenty minutes.

Close your eyes, and — very slowly — begin to count backwards from 10. After the word ‘ten’ breathe in deeply then exhale for as long as you can, concentrating on each breath. Then say ‘nine’ and breathe in and out deeply again. Keep your eyes closed throughout and relax your whole body — head, neck, shoulders, back, legs, ankles, toes …

You’ll find yourself sliding into that no-man’s land between wakefulness and sleep and once you complete the countdown, you’ll focus inwardly.

Record Your Perfect Movie

In this state of total relaxation imagine your show day. Go through every action in minute detail. Begin with waking up, getting dressed, preparing your horse for the trip, loading and transporting him. Visualize everything going smoothly — your horse is relaxed, he loads first time, there’s no traffic and your radio is playing calming music (I find classical tunes ideal). Upon arrival you find a great parking spot.

In your mind’s eye, you’re now saddling your horse, then mounting him and on your way to the warm-up arena. Are you getting nervous? Take another deep breath. Imagine you both looking fabulous out there: your horse performs brilliantly. Allow yourself to see the impressed looks on other riders’ faces as you glide past them. Yes, that’s you they’re staring at!

An Oscar-Worthy Production

Now you’re ‘on deck,’ calmly patting your horse as you look forward to wowing the judges and spectators.

Picture a grand entrance, after which you and your horse excel in each movement as you perform your dressage test, jumping round, or whatever applies to your particular discipline. It’s important to see and feel every part of your performance happening exactly as you want it to.

And here you are now, leaving the ring after a stunning show. You pat your horse enthusiastically, a big smile on your face.

You will ‘wake up’ more confident now.

Rewind and Play Again

Repeat this process many times before the show.

If you’re really anxious, enter a class below the level you ride at home until you get comfortable at shows. Combining that with this exercise will give you the best chance of succeeding.

Soon just visualizing your terrific performance, rather than the whole day, will be sufficient to reinforce the positive images in your brain and ensure a great competition experience.

Hilary Walker is English, living in Maryland with her three horses, four dogs, schizophrenic cat, perfectly normal American husband and teenage son. She loves teaching people to ride, taking them to shows and watching them win ribbons. She also enjoys training her young horse and is winning ribbons with him at First Level dressage. Her other love is writing, and she is about to release a humorous non-fiction book describing the times when things haven’t gone quite so smoothly in her horse life. Like every self-respecting horse-woman, she loathes and abhors housework.

Author: Hilary Walker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Ride your HORSE to MUSIC and solve training issues! Whether you are riding a dressage musical freestyle, or just riding your horse to music, there are TIPS you should know before you start. Over the years, you have told me that the most important thing to you is that you want the RIGHT MUSIC for your HORSE and you WANT TO HAVE FUN!!

You’ve also told me that:
* You want help recognizing the rhythm of your horse’s gaits.
* You can’t maintain a rhythm.
* You and your horse are nervous and you need help relaxing.
* You’re tired of seeing “4″s for loss of rhythm on your dressage tests.
* You’re frustrated because there is no harmony between you and your horse.
* You don’t know what the right tempo is for your horse.
* You don’t know the difference between rhythm and tempo.
* You don’t know what type of music to choose.
* You can’t hear the difference between walk, trot, and canter music.
* You can’t identify the tempo (or BPM) of music.
* You are tired of buying so many CDs when they only have one good song for riding.

Here’s how I got started…

I grew up in a musical family so learning to read music and play various instruments was ingrained into me early in life. But most of all, I’ve always loved listening to music. (I always had the radio on in the barn.)

But riding to music became a necessity when I got a high strung Trakehner gelding to re-train. This horse was so incredibly tense, and fearful that simply trotting in one rhythm was IMPOSSIBLE. Anyhow, one day I was trying to trot around the arena, when a perfectly cadenced Scottish bagpipe march came on the radio. That horse picked up a swinging, rhythmic trot all by himself! AND he was breathing in time to the music. (Yes, I even have two witnesses to this!)

I was completely shocked. After that, I became fascinated with how music affects both the horse and rider, and my quest began. As I developed my business creating musical freestyles, I was time and time amazed at how perfect music could improve and enhance the horse’s movement and the rider’s rhythm! When the music fit the horse and rider, both the quality of the gaits and movements improved. The music enhanced both the artistic aspect and the technical side of the ride. Because rhythm was maintained!

I thought this was AMAZING, so I wanted to learn more…

I was stunned by the things I learned such as:

* Studies show that music affects our physiology. Slow music slows the heartbeat and the breathing rate as well as brings down blood pressure. Faster music speeds up these same functions.
* Listening to your favorite music is good for your cardiovascular system. Researchers have shown that joyful music has a healthy effect on blood vessel function.
* Riding to music increases your endurance and feelings of well-being. Studies show that exercising to music improves endurance by 15% and improve the “feeling states” so, people derive much greater pleasure from exercise. (Those cool endorphins!!)
* Many hospitals use music to treat patients with stress-related illnesses to stimulate the brain and relax the body.
* Music affects both sides of your brain, so whether you are a left-brain logical thinker or a right-brain artistic thinker, music helps you ride better.
* Even animals react differently to various types of music. Given a choice, rats will choose calm classical music over hard rock every time.
* Music can also influence brainwaves. Faster beats make you more alert and slower beats help you relax.
* Music creates a long-lasting change in brainwave activity. That means that music can bring lasting benefits to your state of mind, even after you’ve stopped listening.
* Music filters out background noises so that you and your horse can concentrate better.
* Music acts as an INTERNAL metronome to help you maintain a regular rhythm.
* Music puts you in a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression and anxiety at bay.

The bottom line is… it’s fun to ride to music! Rhythm and relaxation are essential for EVERYONE including dressage riders, trail riders, hunter riders, and western pleasure riders.

Ruth Hogan Poulsen
http://www.Ruthhoganpoulsen.com
Ruth@Ruthhoganpoulsen.com

Author: Ruth Hogan Poulsen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Are you confused about whether or not your First Level Dressage Horse is ready to move up to Second Level or your Second Level horse is ready for Third Level? Here are some guidelines.

Let’s say your dressage horse is solid at First Level. Look ahead to the Second Level movements. Check out the dressage tests. You’ll see that you need to work on shoulder-in, haunches-in, renvers, simple changes of lead, reinback, and turns on the haunches.

You’ll also notice that the big difference between First and Second Level is rather than schooling at the working gaits like you do at the Training Level and First Level, you’re now asked to show modest collection. That means the balance of your horse is more uphill. And from that modest collection, you’re asked to show medium gaits. Medium gaits are basically the lengthenings that you showed at First Level but in a more uphill balance.

By doing the lateral work with bend like shoulder-in, haunches-in and renvers, you automatically develop that slight shift of center of gravity back toward the hind legs. The shift in the center of gravity creates the degree of modest collection that you need at Second Level.

Then if you’re schooling your horse at Second Level, look ahead to Third Level. You see that you need to learn the aids and the preparation for movements like half passes and flying changes. But now, the big difference between Second Level and Third Level is that your horse needs to show the difference between collected, medium and extended gaits. In other words, he needs to show three gears within each gait.

Keep in mind that medium and extended gears grow out of collection. That is, the degree to which your horse bends the joints of the hind legs and lowers his croup is the degree that his forehand comes up. His outline begins to look like a see-saw or an airplane taking off. That degree of collection determines just how good your medium extended gaits are.

So what should you work on to develop the degree of collection that you need at Third Level in order to also be able to show medium and extended gaits?

I’d suggest work in four areas to increase collection and, therefore, be able to show a clear difference between collected, medium and extended gates. Those four areas are lateral work with a bend, frequent transitions skipping a gait, decreasing size circles, and collecting half halts.

You’ve already stared lateral work with a bend when you moved from First Level to Second level. Just remember this equation. Bend plus sideways equals engagement. Engagement refers to the bending of the joints of the hind legs. And as the joints of the hind legs bend or “fold”, the croup goes down. As a result of the croup going down, the forehand comes up.

If you bend your horse and go sideways, you’re going to shift the center of gravity back. That will create a certain degree of collection.

But there are other things that you can do to develop collection such as frequent transitions skipping a gait. For example, if you want to collect the trot, trot for 5 or 6 strides, and then halt. Then trot again for only 5 or 6 strides, and halt again. The main thing that you want to strive for during frequent transitions is that there are no dribbly walk steps in between the transitions from trot to halt and back again.

You can do the same type of transitions to collect the canter. Ride five strides of canter and then five strides of walk. Repeat this several times with no dribbly trot steps in between. As you do the down transition to the walk with your back and outside rein, visualize your horse lowering his haunches the way a dog sits down. Use this mental image to support your aids so that the croup lowers as your horse steps into the down transition.

Another very simple thing that you can do is ride smaller circles. As the arc of the circle becomes tighter, the joints of the inside hind leg bend more. Obviously, there’s more bend in the joints of the inside hind leg at 10-meters than there is at 12-meters. And there’s more bend of the joints at 8-meters than there is at 10-meters. So by decreasing the size of your circles while making sure your horses spine directly overlaps that arc, your horse shifts his center of gravity back.

The final thing you can do is “collecting half halts”. I’ve talked a lot about “connecting half halts”, or the connecting aids, which is the third ingredient of the training scale, but collection is the sixth and final ingredient in the training scale.

With collecting half halts, I like to give three half halts (a hardly visible, almost simultaneous co-ordinated action of the seat, the legs and the hands) in a row-take/give, take/give, take/give.

Be sure to time the half halts when the hind leg you want to influence is on the ground. That’s because the only time you can influence a hind leg is when it’s on the ground just before it pushes off. You can feel when a hind leg is on the ground because your corresponding seatbone feels like it’s pushed “up” or “forward”.

When you give those collecting half halts, focus on two things.
1.With each collecting half halt, decrease the amount of ground that you cover per stride.
2. Keep the same rhythm and tempo as you shorten the strides.

The “collecting half halts” shift the horse’s center of gravity back. When you trot or canter forward, be sure to maintain the same balance you achieved during your collecting half halts. You don’t want to collect your horse with half halts, and then charge forward. If you do, your horse will unload his hind legs and shift his balance to the forehand.

To sum up, following the dressage tests gives you a good general program for advancing from First Level to Second Level to Third Level and even higher. Check out what’s coming up next, and start to add in little bits of what’s in the next level. In that way, you’ll systematically and progressively add new work. Your horse won’t even realize that he’s being asked to do anything more difficult.

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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It’s summer (Finally!), and lots of you are getting ready to compete your dressage horse. So I want give you some competition tips to help you have the best experience possible. Before I get started with the actual tests, I want to just talk in general about test riding because there’s a lot of things that all the dressage tests have in common.

1. MEMORIZE YOUR TEST

The first thing is that you need to know your dressage test. I mean REALLY know it. Even though the Training through 4th level dressage tests, can be read out loud, it’s still important that you really know your test. This is critical so your test doesn’t look like a bunch of movements strung together. That way you can use the reader if you occasionally blank out. But for the most part, you won’t even be listening to the reader because you’ll be paying attention to your horse.

Your goal is to be able to do the test on autopilot, so that you can reserve all of your focus for riding your horse. You want to be riding your horse not concentrating on what comes next in the pattern. To help you do this, start memorizing your test early on. I have 3 different ways that I memorize tests.

1. Visualization-I know that it takes approximately 21 days to develop a habit. So I start visualizing my test every day at least 3 weeks before a show. I sit in an easy chair or lie down on my bed, close my eyes, and take 3 really deep breaths. You want to do diaphragmatic breathing, so as you inhale, feel like your stomach is getting fat. That means you’re taking air way down into the bottom of your lungs. As you exhale, feel yourself sinking into the chair or bed.
Visualizing your test is going to help you do two things. First, it’s going to help you memorize your test. Secondly, when you visualize the perfect ride, you program your subconscious mind to ride correctly. That’s because when you do “perfect practice” in your mind’s eye, your muscles will fire in the correct way.

As you visualize, go through your ride stride for stride. Fill in as much detail as you can. What are you wearing? What does your horse look like? What does the arena look like? What color is your jacket? What color are your gloves?
Fill in as many details as you can AND include your senses. Hear the rhythm of the footfalls. Feel the contact with your horse’s mouth. See your horse’s head and neck out in front of you. Smell the fly spray. Also, add emotion to your mental movies. Experience yourself feeling calm, relaxed, poised and the harmony of being at one with your horse.

2. Do your test on foot.
Another thing I do is that my living room rug tends to be a rectangle, and I walk out and trot out and canter out the parts of the dressage tests as if I were riding them. So I actually, and you can do this in a regular dressage arena if you want, of course it will take you a long time to walk, trot and canter around an entire dressage arena although I have seen people do that. But if you have a big rectangular area or just mark off an area and trot down the center line, do your halts, trot off, plan where you’re going to turn, walk where you’re supposed to walk, canter where you’re supposed to canter. So you actually have a chance to physically practice.

3. Know your test “forwards and backwards”. The third way that I memorize a test is to learn it the way it’s written from the first entry to the final salute. But then, to know that I “own” that test, I pick any movement and ask myself what comes after it. And here’s the real thing that tells the story, I ask myself, “And what movement comes before this movement?” So I might say, “What comes before the left canter depart?” or “What comes before the free walk?” or “What comes after the trot lengthening?” When you can pick any point within the test and you can answer those two questions, you really own that test. Also, if you do happen to blank out in the middle of the test, you’ll be able to remember where you are very easily.

2. THE ENTRY

Now let’s talk about the movements that all of the dressage tests have in common. First, they all have an entry. You have to get into the arena. So I’m going to start while you’re going around the arena. What you do as you go around the arena really depends on your horse. I find it helpful to just walk around the arena with tense horses. I know that things look different to a horse from the left side and the right side. So, I’ll walk by the judge’s stand then I’ll turn around and walk by so the horse can see the judge’s stand from the other eye. And then, I’ll actually turn and face the judge’s stand, halt, and pat my horse. I know that my horse is going to see two weird people in the judge’s booth when we come down the centerline. I want him to have already seen them and know that he doesn’t have to be worried.

For the horse that tends to be a little behind the leg, you might decide to do some rising trot lengthening outside the arena. That way you can make sure that your horse is in front of the leg and that you really get his motor going.
Or let’s say you have a horse that is spooky or to tends to get a little on the forehand. Do a little shoulder-in when you’re still outside the arena. The next thing that you have to think about is whether you’re going to enter from the right rein or from the left rein? If your horse is fairly straight, enter from the direction you’ll be turning at C. That will trigger your memory if you blank out and forget which way to turn at C. So, if I’m going to be turning right at C, I normally enter from the right rein. I enter from the left rein if I’m going to be turning left at C.

However, let’s say I have a horse that’s really hollow to the left (meaning he likes to bend his neck and carry his hind quarters to the left then); I’ll enter from the right. That’s because he’ll be straighter, and I don’t want the judge’s first impression to be that my horse is crooked.

Now, as you come down that centerline, look up, and make eye contact with the judge. This is part of showmanship. No matter how you’re really feeling, look confident, put a smile on your face, and come down that centerline like you own that arena.

3. THE HALT

Now, let’s talk about the halt. The way you approach the halt is different depending on the level of the test. If you’re doing a Training or Intro test, you can walk into your halt. You can also take a step or two of walk out of the halt into the trot.

From First Level and above, there are no walk steps. If you enter in the trot, go directly to the halt from the trot and then back to the trot after your salute. If you’re doing one of the higher level tests and you’re entering into the canter, go directly from canter to the halt.

Once you’re in the halt, you need to salute. The most common way to salute is to take all the reins in your left hand. Drop your right arm loosely behind your thigh. Nod your head keeping eye contact with the judge. Don’t make this big extravagant bow. You want to acknowledge the judge, but you want it to look crisp and efficient.

A man can actually salute in the same way. He can take the reins in one hand, drop his hand loosely behind one thigh, and nod his head. Or he can take his hat off, put it behind his thigh, and nod his head. If you do take your hat off, make sure the top of the hat (not the inside of the hat) faces the judge.

Take your time in the halt so you can really show that your horse is on the aids. However, if he starts to move, go ahead and pick up the trot. You’ll get a better mark for a halt that’s too quick as compared to letting your horse move forward and then trying to halt again.

If you feel like your dressage horse drops behind your leg in the halt, “breathe” your legs to help him react more quickly to your driving aids. To “breathe” your legs, take them ever so slightly off his sides. Bring them back an inch or two, and then place them on his sides lightly again.

As you finish your centerline, keep your horse straight. Pretend you’re going to lengthen toward the judge so you ride him between the channel of your legs and hands. Then warn him that he’s going either left or right by asking for flexion at the poll when you’re a couple of strides before C.

4. CORNERS AND DIAGONALS

Okay, you’re in the arena. No matter what level you’re doing, you have to ride corners. The general rule for riding corners is that you don’t have to go any deeper into the corners than the smallest circle done at each level.
So, the smallest circle you’re asked to do for First Level is a 10-meter circle. That means you need to get into the corner to the depth of one quarter of a 10-meter circle. At Training Level, the smallest circle you’re required to do is a 20-meter circle. So you really don’t have to get into the corners any deeper than the arc of a 20-meter circle.

But if you can show a difference between the line that you follow when you’re going into a corner and the line that you follow when you’re on your 20-meter circle, you show the judge that you’re a savvy rider. If that’s pretty simple for him, try to show a 3-meter difference between the line you’d follow if you were going into a corner and the line you’d follow if you were on a 20-meter circle. That shows a real clear difference between getting into the corner and being on a circle.

Your rule of thumb is to ride into the corner as deep as your dressage horse can manage-That is, he can keep the same rhythm, tempo, balance and quality of his gait. The next things that all the tests have in common are diagonal lines. Here’s what I’d suggest. First, ride deep into the corner before you turn onto the diagonal. Then look at a point about a half-meter before the final letter on the long side. Aim for that spot when you go across the diagonal. By looking a little bit before the letter, you’ll have more time to really balance your horse for the next corner.

5. TRANSITIONS

Another thing that all the tests have in common is that you have transitions from gait to gait. And with the more advanced tests, you also have transitions within the gait. First, let’s look at transitions from gait to gait. Always prepare for those transitions with half halts. However, the particular version of the half halt you give depends on the way your horse feels prior to the transition. This is because a transition can be no better than the stride just before the transition.

If your dressage horse is well schooled, obedient, and is solidly on the bit, you can give what I call “Preparatory Half Halts”. That’s a momentary closure of seat, leg and hand–Take/give, take/give, take/give. Direct those half halts to the inside hind leg. Give the half halts when the inside hind leg is on the ground just before it’s ready to push off. You need to time these half halts when the inside hind leg is on the ground because that’s really the only time you can influence a hind leg. Once it’s in the air, it’s already committed to its flight.

Your goal is to engage the inside hind leg prior to the transition. Give three Preparatory Half Halts prior to the down transition. Let’s say, for example, that you want to go from trot to walk. When you feel the inside hind leg on the ground, say something like, “Engage, engage, engage, walk”. Or you can say, “Now, now, now, walk”. So you might ask me at this point, “Well how do I know when a hind leg is on the ground?” When a particular hind leg is on the ground, your horse’s hip will feel higher. You’ll feel your inside seat bone either being pushed up or being pushed forward. When I’m getting ready to do a downward transition, I tune into my seatbones. I feel which of my seat bones is being pushed up in the air or forward. So I get into the timing of the inside hind leg being on the ground.

Then, 3 strides before the letter, I give my half halts. I’ll say, “Now, now, now, walk,” or if I’m cantering, and I want to trot, I’ll say, “Now, now, now, trot.” It’s pretty easy to feel the inside hind leg in the walk and in the trot. In the canter, feel the moment when your seat is deepest in the saddle. It’s also the moment when your horse’s mane flips up. So you can coordinate what you see with what you feel.

That’s how I prepare for transitions so that I ride a very accurate test. I know how much ground my horse covers with each stride. So, when I’m 3 strides away from where I’ll be doing a down transition, I give my 3 Preparatory Half Halts– that momentary closure of seat, leg and hand directed to the inside hind leg being on the ground. Now, let’s take another scenario. If my horse doesn’t feel solidly on the bit, I need to give a different version of the half halt which I call the “Connecting Half Halt” because I want to be sure that my horse stays on the bit through both upward transitions and downward transitions.

I superimpose the “Connecting Half Halt” before, during and for at least two strides after the transitions. So, I bridge 0r overlap the transitions with a connecting half halt as an insurance policy so that my horse stays on the bit through the transitions. My aids are saying, “Stay on the bit through this transition”. Let’s say I’m going to ask my dressage horse to do a downward transition from canter to trot.

Two or three strides before the transition, I begin my connecting half halt. I press with both legs as if I’m going toward a medium canter. I close my outside hand in a fist to recycle that energy. And I vibrate the inside rein so the horse doesn’t bend his neck to the outside. Then, I ask for the downward transition by tightening my stomach muscles and “stilling” my seat. But I keep giving the half halt during and for at least two strides after the transition.

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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