Many riders are confused about the difference between a horse being in front of the leg versus a horse that is rushing. It can be difficult to differentiate between power that is nicely carrying you forward and power that running ahead of you. Although the difference can be small enough to often go unnoticed, the impact that it has on development gets much more noticeable the longer that it is allowed to go unchecked. Gaining impulsion and activity is a common goal during dressage training, but learning to control and balance this power is an essential step in developing a relaxed, confident relationship with your dance partner. The first step in developing tempo control is understand what tempo really is. Tempo and rhythm are not the same. The encyclopedia describes tempo as the “rate or speed of a motion or activity” or how many times a beat happens during a set amount of time. Now rhythm is described as a “regular repeated pattern of movement”, so speed is not measured in rhythm, only the regularity is considered. Rhythm is fairly easy to recognize during training, but in order to develop control of the tempo, you must control the energy that is being created. Unfortunately, when we think about control during training, many times we see an imagine involving many half halts and heavy contact restricting the horses power, but this is not necessary. The clearest and most fair way to improve our control during training is by explaining exactly what we expect out of our horses consistently every time we ride. This may sound too easy, but horses are far more often confused than resistant and clarifying expectations always helps improve communication between horse and rider, so that is what todays exercise is focused on.
During the warm-up portion of your ride, put extra focus on where your horses energy is. Does your horses engine feel like it is dragging behind you, pulling ahead of you or idling right underneath your seat? The latter is ideal, but typically our horses start off with too much or too little energy, depending on their natural tendencies. Even though your horse may usually be one way though, be sure that you have a solid handle on how they are feeling today. Even the laziest horses have a rushy day and hot horses can get behind the leg just as easily as the less than motivated ones, so take the time to ask your horse how he/she is feeling today. Starting in medium walk on a 20 meter circle, take a deep breathe and relax your seat and lower leg. Most horses will shift their energy when we stop micromanaging and just how they shift will tell you where their energy is. If your horse immediately slowed down when you relaxed your seat, their energy is behind you. If your horse got quick when you relaxed, their energy was running ahead of you. This is a very simple way to “read” our horses energy and adding this question to your warm-up can help clarify where your horses energy is at. Ok back to that 20 meter circle! How did your horse answer? If your horse slowed down, ride an upward transition into working trot for about a quarter of a circle and then return to medium walk. Repeat this exercise until your horse better maintains the energy without the assistance of your leg. If your horse quickened when you relaxed your seat, ride a transition to halt and stand for a three count and then return to medium walk. Repeat this exercise until your horse maintains the energy even with the additional freedom of a relaxed seat. Be sure that you initiate the transition as soon as the shift in energy occurs, whether it is a shift up or down. This is where clarity is important. If you “correct” your horses shift in energy by placing the transition at varying tempos, they will not have a firm grasp on what tempo you actually want and what tempo is too little or too much. Be consistent and praise all attempts in the right direction. It is amazing how much verbal appreciation can help let our horses know that they are on the right track, so don’t forget to use your happy voice! Repeat this exercise in working or collected trot, depending on your horses level of development. You can ride this exercise throughout the arena, but I suggest at least starting on a 20 meter circle to help narrow your own focus. In the posting trot, find your preferred tempo. This tempo does not depend on the horses gait size, so whether your horses trot is humble or over the top, a good tempo is solid and feels like something you would like to ride for a while. Now you don’t have to be capable of keeping this tempo forever (because if you could, you wouldn’t need this exercise!), but you DO need to find it. If you don’t know what your goal is, you cannot expect your horse to know it either. So once you have found that goal tempo, relax your middle back and forearms and watch how the tempo changes. If the tempo increases, ride a transition into medium walk. This transition should be ridden carefully with a goal of a good quality medium walk as soon as the trot just begins to become quicker. It is important that the transition is not sloppy or abrupt. Although it is a correction for the increase in tempo, it needs to be well timed and something that will help to reset your horses tempo. Walk several steps and return to working trot repeating the exercise until you feel an improvement in the tempo maintenance. Now if your horses tempo slows when you relax, prepare for a transition into working canter and ride a half 20 meter circle in canter and then return to working trot and repeat until your horse maintains the tempo better without the assistance of your leg. Repeat the exercise is working or collected canter as well. Riding a transition into working trot for a tempo that is too quick and riding several strides on lengthening for a tempo that drops below ideal. When riding this exercise in the canter, be sure to maintain your canter positioning when you relax your seat. You should have your inner seat bone relaxed down when riding the canter, so if you lose this position as you relax, this will confuse your horse and may cause a loss of the canter. Focus on relaxing any tension in your thighs, tightness in your calf or lower leg and resistance in your back. These are all muscle engagements that should not be necessary in your goal tempo. A sinking down inner seat bone, outside leg drawn behind the girth and open chest are all elements that should be maintained during the canter, so don’t “lose” them while riding the exercise. Be sure to give your horse breaks throughout the exercise. This is not an exercise that will come quickly, think of this as something that will be added regularly to your riding plans. The more clear you are about the tempo you want and the quicker you correct your horse for shifting above or below that tempo, the better that tempo will develop and become capable of being maintained. Help your horse out and let them know what you want so they can give it to you! You may be surprised at how much your horse listens when you tell them exactly what you want.
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