- much more than conventional dressage training
Pitfalls to be Avoided
Peer group pressure
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A new client came to me in despair after being criticised by someone at her livery yard for having owned her horse for six months without "getting it to go in an outline yet"!
Peer group pressure amongst horse owners can be intense. Thankfully for her horse, this owner learnt to help her horse to offer what her peers could only produce by force! |
Deadlines
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Goals are important, and working towards a competition date can be extremely motivating. However, the goal must be achievable!
If the horse has deep rooted problems that are being dealt with in training and the deadline is too short, then competing at all costs is likely to be detrimental to the training process. Learning requires consistency, whether the horse is young and impressionable or older and apparently set in his ways. The need in competition to immediately perform a movement or negotiate an obstacle, before understanding is established and the horse is strong enough to deliver, places a mental and physical strain on the horse that is generally underestimated. |
The quick fix!
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So many riders look for a quick fix to their horse's problems. They may be frustrated by lack of skill and knowledge of training, but the situation will almost certainly be exacerbated if peer group pressure and inappropriate deadlines are added!
The quick fix inevitably involves force of some kind, and in the words of Stephen Clarke (dressage judge at London 2012), "anything that is achieved by force will need to be sustained by force". If the outline of the head and neck is fixed, the back will be hollow and the horse will never be able to work loosely, comfortably, offering roundness through his back, and with potential to move up through the grades. |
Pat Taylor
Dressage & Equestrian Trainer
Endorsed by Andreas Hausberger, Chief Rider, Spanish Riding School, Vienna
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BSc(Hons) Equine Science
BHSII, SM; UKCC Tutor in Sport |
Mobile: 07825 664495
Home: 01764 682766 |
