A SYMPOSIUM WITH STEPHEN CLARKE
A SYMPOSIUM WITH STEPHEN CLARKE - THE GLITCH IN AUSTRALIAN DRESSAGE & OTHER INSIGHTS THAT CAN IMPROVE THE SPORT
On the weekend I got to sit down at our state equestrian centre and enjoy listening and watching leading FEI 5* international dressage judge Stephen Clarke present a dressage symposium. It was an initiative of our local Dressage Western Australia – Dressage Judge’s Taskforce and I am very grateful the committee has once again brought Stephen out to share his wisdom and insights about our sport. Stephen is a special man, when he talks he brings together his expertise in riding, training, competing, coaching and judging dressage in a way that identifies him as a tremendous teacher – passionate, enthusiastic, inspiring and above he can turn dressage jargon into meaningful sense! As 10 local horse and rider combinations at various levels of training presented themselves, Stephen lead the crowd through a logical and systematic way of assessing the horse, its training and how key elements of a horses training are crucial for performance. His mission was to focus on the principles of training young horses and how their potential can be developed. He stressed the importance that what happens at the beginning of a horses training career was crucial and would determine if a horse progressed through the levels of dressage or hit a limit. He used three words to summarise correct training – “genuine, clear and through”. In other words, training responses must be genuine, not responses created by force or restraint. Riding must be done in a way that allows for clear, consistent communication that the horse can learn to respond to off the smallest aid. Finally, the horse must be trained in a way that they are not only developed physically but in a way they are emotionally balanced - minus tension, brace or resistance so the rhythm, swing can travel through each step and each movement.
Stephen went on to identify the 3 key elements that are absolutely necessary to be present for training to be correct. These are:
1. Horse reacting forward – the horse must go forward instantly off a light leg.
2. Horse steps into an elastic rein contact, where the rider can easily influence the horse’s frame by lowing it or raising it.
3. Horse is ridden inside leg to outside rein – something that can be difficult to conceptualise and often confused but means that the inside hind can be influenced to step up and under and a horse learns to stretch the outside of their body….instead of a horse just being pulled backwards into a bend which changes the biomechanics. Being able to influence the inside hind and the horse stretching the outside of its body allows for bend that is soft and supple instead of bracing and blocking.
Stephen said “once the horse is in front of the leg, in contact, over the back, inside leg into outside rein and working soft and supple – then you can begin your dressage training…..all these things must be genuinely trained into the horse”!
In each horse and rider Stephen first targeted these qualities in the horses because as he explained it is a problem with these 3 essential qualities and responses that sit at the heart of training and performance issues. Here is 3 examples of some of the training issues Stephen identified and how he used targeting these 3 elements to improve the performance:
1. Inconsistent contact: Stephen first got the rider to identify how the horse did not respond to a light leg but was slow to respond. So this element was worked on. Then when more actively forward the horse was asked to stretch forward and down. Then the response to the inside leg was worked on as well as the horse responding with softness to an inside bend. The soft response to the bend and the engagement of the inside leg allowed the outside of the horses body to stretch into that outside rein. Within a short time the horse was working in a relaxed frame and strides covered more ground.
2. Horse not forward: Stephen explained that you want to get a horse responsive to your thoughts – “if you think it – he does it”. For this horse Stephen worked on walk-trot transitions and he took note that the walk must be clear and to not ask for more forward until the horse was walking in a clear steps in rhythm and only then ask for upwards. Don’t go searching for a spot on the horses side that is more reactive…make the spot where your leg is in place the spot the horse will react to. Keep your aids consistent. Similar with trot-canter-trot transitions, wait in the trot for the trot to have good rhythm then ask again to go into canter.
3. Horse hiding from the contact and not stretching into the connection: Stephen explained that forward paces of trot and canter are better at working with this problem than walk. To help with this problem Stephen got the rider to put both reins in her outside hand for a few steps and then back to two hands and then to alternative between one hand and two hands. Stephen emphasised the need for the hands to be still and pressure equal in both reins.
Another thing Stephen focused on was the impact of the environment on each of the demonstration horses. Most horses started quite tense and worried and Stephen emphasised how we had to ensure that this experience of riding in the indoors in front of a large crowd was utilised as an important training moment for each horse. This is because getting horses confident being ridden and worked in different environments and atmospheres was very important so they could perform confidently in front of audiences and not get stressed. Stephen made a point of getting each horse relaxed in the environment before asking anything more from the horse. If horses came into the symposium in pairs he instructed the more confident horse to lead and the least confident horse to follow until the horses had got use to the environment. He also set each horse up for when the audience clapped and a number of times got the audience to repeat clapping to give the horse more experience and exposure.
During the day Stephen was asked two great questions. The first question was “what can Australia learn from overseas that could improve the sport”? Stephen explained that he would answer the question honestly. He explained that whilst Australia had lovely horses and good riders we lack an understanding of the 3 key elements (described above) that are necessary for correct training. We need a better understanding of how to get a horse to respond to aids better and for the horses to be more through. We need to how to train them and maintain them and this is why people struggled with advanced movements. He explained that the movements are not tricks, they are tests of the quality of training and if training is correct them they can perform them with ease and fluency.
Secondly, Stephen was asked if he was “given a magic wand that could change something about the sport instantly what would he chose to change”? Stephen responded that he would change politics that existed in the sport. He wished for people within the sport to come together. He explain that both riders, coaches, trainers and judges needed to respond to constructive criticism without getting defensive but to be open to discussion. Stephen fears the impact the negativity within the sport will have on the future of dressage. He finds that sad because there is so much that is positive about dressage that we spend so much time on the negativity that we miss promoting it. His bottom line is that we have to stop making excuses and we need to stop whinging and start promoting the sport!
Finally, here are some other pearls of wisdom that Stephen imparted to riders:
1. Keep your hands STILL – you need to create a soft still elastic contact point.
2. Don’t confuse impulsion and speed – think energy.
3. The rider must make the decision – refuse to push the horse along or hold it up!
4. When the horse reacts correctly – be still, if you have asked with your leg and the horse responds then your leg goes still.
5. Only ride a horse long and low or up into the bridle – not halfway in between!
6. The horse has to be ready to be ridden up into the bridle!
7. Never leave a horse in a frame for a long period – keep changing!
8. The same training applies to any horse – talent is irrelevant it is about correct training.
9. It doesn’t matter if a horse makes a mistake – it is what you do in response to the mistake that matters!
It was a great day and it was great to listen to someone that was so keen for people to appreciate the underlying reasons to training problems and so passionate about promoting correct training and the essential elements that need to be emphasised and respected in a horses training and how this was the importance – not the tricks but the foundation! It was lovely to see every single horse become more relaxed and transform with Stephen encouraging riders to focus on the 3 key elements. If you ever get a chance to listen to Stephen Clarke I would thoroughly recommend it, he doesn’t focus on problems - he sets about targeting the cause, changing perceptions and developing people’s awareness….it was overall a great demonstration of how to create positive change in the world.
