RECONSTRUCTING A DRESSAGE HORSE
RECONSTRUCTING A DRESSAGE HORSE – THE TRANSFORMATION OF FLOSSY
I met Beth and her 7 year old warmblood mare in 2016. Flossy had just completed a successful first season competing in dressage but as Beth had progressed Flossy’s training she had run into contact and anxiety issues. She was avoiding the contact, had a busy mouth and had become difficult to ride at home and was spooking in her arena. So far the advice Beth had received was to try various bits and nose band combinations on her bridle which had all failed to solve the issues. Beth asked for my advice and I explained my process of dealing with training issues by deconstructing the horse’s training and then reconstructing it again from groundwork before progressing to ridden work. I am meticulous about making sure the horse is “calm yet responsive” and showing confidence at each stage of training before progressing. I call this process “re-booting” and it is a very effective way of addressing training issues. By allowing the horse to effectively master each stage of its training you are able to reduce the pressure the horse has to experience in the long term. This drastically increases their ability to cope with progress as they are more focused, confident and have greater clarity and responsiveness to all your aids and cues. The great thing about working with Beth is that she is a physiotherapist for both humans and horses, therefore this added an extra expertise to Flossy’s “re-booting” process. While I had the training program that focused on the horse’s learning and confidence, Beth and her expertise in physical gymnastic development was able to identify and maximise the gymnastic component of the re-booting process.
The photos you will see attached to this blog document the transformation of Flossy over a 5 month period but they also show the results of a collaboration between my knowledge of training and Beth’s knowledge of gymnastic development.
Therefore, for this blog I am going to briefly document the “full tool box” of training techniques and approaches that were used to create this transformation. I call it “full tool box” training as the techniques used include both positive and negative reinforcement for learning, positive reinforcement for counter conditioning, strategic gymnastic development and a meticulous process of shaping Flossy’s training from round penning to in hand ground work to ridden. The following sections describes these approaches in the timeline they were presented.
FIRST 4 WEEKS:
PHOTOGRAPH #1: Flossy’s go to posture prior to commencing of her “re-boot”.
The process started with Flossy in the round pen learning to master the simple questions of upward transitions and inward turns in a calm yet responsive manner. Once Flossy mastered the round pen, she was reintroduced to the halter and ground work exercises that involved learning to follow the feel of the halter.
At around the same time Flossy was introduced to positive reinforcement and clicker training. The clicker training was helpful in counter conditioning and overcoming her negative associations with the mounting block, saddling and bridling and the fear phobic areas in the arena. How horses stand at the mounting block, accept their saddle and bridle is an important indicator of their association with being ridden.
Finally, it was time for Beth to get back on board Flossy but she did so riding in a Hybrid® halter the same halter that Flossy had worn during her ground work phase. Riding in the halter is a really effective strategy for dealing with anxiety issues under saddle as it is amazing how much stress is removed from the horse when you take away the bit and just allow them to get cool with being ridden on a loose rein and just learn to perform calm smooth upwards transitions, bending suppling exercises and it also allowed Beth to instil seat cues for downward transitions. Creating reliable seat cues drastically reduces the need to use the reins for downwards transitions and therefore helps to preserve the bit for communication of flexion, poll height, half halts and establishing contact and the seeking reflex. Beth rode Flossy in a halter until she showed the ability to walk trot and canter on a loose rein. Whatever gait Flossy was asked to perform she would maintain that gait and speed until ask to change. At this stage the bit was reintroduced to Flossy’s mouth but the reins still attached to the halter so Flossy got to get confident performing her work with the bit simply sitting in her mouth.
At this stage Flossy had become relaxed and reliable under saddle so riding outside of the arena on trails and in the bush was included into her training plan.
4 - 6 WEEKS:
PHOTOGRAPH #2: Flossy relaxing in her loose rein work with the reins reconnected to the bit.
Once Flossy showed she had mastered this foundation ridden work in a “calm yet responsive” way with the bit resting in her mouth, the reins where disconnected from the halter and reconnected to the bit for a short time at the end of each session. The next stage of training involve slowly increasing the time the reins were connected to the bit and not the halter. The time progressed until Flossy was ridden for entire training sessions off the bit. At this stage Flossy was only ridden on a loose rein until she demonstrated she was “calm yet responsive” in all gaits and showed reliable downwards transitions from the seat cue. When the time came to reintroduce Flossy to a connection between the hand and the bit a lot of care was taken because Flossy had previously had a lot of anxiety about the bit. Therefore, clicker training came in useful again as Flossy was taught to seek the contact with the bit and in doing so she was able to control the pressure of the bit in her mouth herself. This gave Flossy a lot of confidence with the bit and Beth started building up her ability to hold the seeking reflex in all gaits. So instead of Beth making the contact, Flossy was taught to seek and stretch into the contact and maintain the connection with the hand. This allowed Beth to keep her hands really still and “forward thinking” with a stable contact. It also maintain the back muscles in a way that allows their development and strengthening.
6 - 10 WEEKS:
PHOTOGRAPH #3: Beth holding Flossy’s newly learnt seeking reflex for the first time for a couple of strides.
It was identified at this time that Flossy was quite hollow to the left and stiff to the right. Therefore, specific ground work exercises where incorporated into training sessions that specifically addressed Flossy’s lateral asymmetry. Flossy was taught to stretch over her back, perform shoulder-in and haunches-in on the ground in walk to help with her straightness so that there was less straightness issues to address under saddle and less pressure applied to the bit to correct the issues.
Over this period Beth continued to build Flossy’s ability to hold the seeking reflex in all gaits and maintain a consistent contact for longer and longer periods.
10 – 14 WEEKS:
PHOTOGRAPH #4: Flossy’s now working for longer periods of time holding her seeking reflex and maintaining contact.
The teaching of lateral movement in-hand allowed them to be easily transferred from the ground to under saddle training. In the beginning they were performed in walk and over this time period they were introduced into the other gaits. The introduction of these lateral movements into Flossy’s training program helped to target her physical development necessary to build her ability to engage and ultimately collect. To further assist with her gymnastic and strength development pole and cavalletti training sessions where adding in to add variety into her program along with the trail and bush riding.
14 – 20 WEEKS:
PHOTOGRAPH #5: Flossy’s now working for most of her training session in contact and adjustments start to be made to her frame.
Flossy at this stage had gained enough confidence with contact that minor adjustments to her frame started being made. Her physical development had become evident as you can see from the photograph, Flossy had changed shape and had become fitter and stronger and she was now strong enough to work for short periods of time with her poll elevated before being relaxed back into a longer and lower frame. Flossy’s lateral work was further expanded with clicker again providing an effective method for introducing her with new things.
At this time Beth also commence a greater focus on her fitness and included cross country training into her Flossy’s program. It also was the time that Beth and Flossy returned to her dressage coach with a new improved Flossy that was confident in her work and Beth with a greater insight into how to maintain Flossy’s confidence.
WEEK 20:
PHOTOGRAPH #6: The latest photo of Flossy 20 weeks since the commencement of the reconstruction of her training.
It has been 20 weeks since we stripped Flossy back to the round pen and her transformation has been remarkable. Beth has been easing Flossy back into competition and has performed three training test so far receiving good scores and feedback from the judges. The horse in this last photograph is a different horse to the one in the first photograph. Besides looking like a completely different horse, Flossy is no longer in an anxious state, has a quiet mouth and is mentally engaged and confident in her work.
Flossy is not the only one who has changed, Beth is also different, she has been dedicated and trained meticulously with intelligence and skill. When I asked for her thoughts she responded with the following:
“This experiment – ‘Reconstructing the dressage horse’ has changed so many things about the way I go about training horses. What I expect from the horse and how I formulate training plans has also changed for the better. In the past I have been very task-orientated– ie- we need to practice movements x,y,z so we can progress to the next grade/ win the class ect ect.
This experience has made me far more horse focused in my training. The way I train now, success is not measured only in did the horse do the task?- yes/no. Success is measured by how the horse felt about it. I have not lost sight of my original goals but there is more to it now- to achieve it in such a way that the horse feels happy about it.
Through mastering the seeking reflex Flossy has learnt she can be comfortable and relaxed on the contact. The contact is no longer something to shy away from. She can now work truly through and carry weight behind better than ever before. This has drastically reduced the wear and tear on her body. She has far fewer instances of muscle soreness and pain. - Another welcome side effect of the new training regime. I believe this aspect further builds positive training experiences for the horse.
The main thing this experience has taught me is the importance of fostering ethical horse training practices. – Training that horses really understand and feel happy to be a part of.
It would be unrealistic to think it possible to train a horse to Grand Prix and never have to put pressure on that horse. But it is my hope for the future of dressage that there will be more and more people around who have the skill to train dressage horses who enjoy their work each step of the way and are happy to be a part of the process.”
Finally, I am also different, when I started working with Beth and Flossy I was very focused on the horse learning and becoming confident. Beth has increased my awareness of the biomechanical aspects of the horse. She has helped me understand with more depth why certain responses such as she seeking reflex are key to developing the posture and strength of a horse. Beth has also provided me with insights into conformational strengths and weaknesses and how these things can impact how horses feel and how considering them can improve the effectiveness of training.
I hope you have enjoyed Flossy’s story so far and hope that her transformation can inspires others of the problems you can solve and the great things you can achieve with horses when you start to consider how they feel.
