Dressage Today 2
Correctly develop these essential qualities with straightforward, cause–and–effect methods.
By Heather Blitz with Hilary Moore • Photos by Susan J. Stickle
As I near about 25 years of practicing dressage, it’s become crystal clear
to me what the bottom line is and what it’s all about. Dressage train-
ing is not just about winning blue ribbons. It’s about becoming com-
petent riders who can develop our horses into healthy, balanced and
rideable athletes. The point is to give our horses a sense of strength
and body awareness, which makes them better throughout their lives. Keeping this
in mind helps me understand what my horses need in daily training.
The end result of a well-trained dressage horse at Grand Prix is a horse that
presents a beautiful picture: The haunches are lowered and the back is strong and
supple. The withers are lifted, giving the shoulders lots of freedom to flow and
show expressive movement. The neck is naturally carried in a beautiful, round and
supple shape, and the poll easily accepts the contact. The balance is so exact that
you could imagine the horse being able to work on a gymnast’s balance beam. All
of these attributes are natural for the horse in certain states of excitement. That’s
something important to keep in mind.
Because getting to Grand Prix is usually a dressage rider’s ultimate goal, it’s likely
that this beautiful picture of a well-trained Grand Prix horse is in her mind while
practicing. The problem is that all the necessary ingredients and steps underlying
the finished product aren’t always obvious or instinctual. In this article, I will go
through the things I find are effective in getting a horse to offer the rider the end
result in a way that feels “equine-made” and not man-made.
Whether you are starting to train a young horse or trying to raise the quality of
the work with your advanced horse, the following exercises can apply. The green
horse can learn from precise riding from the start, but advanced horses can benefit
from going back to the basics, too. With my competitive horse Paragon, I have used
nothing other than basic, clear and simple communication to train him, keep-
ing him balanced, bringing out his highest athletic potential. Whether you have
a horse like him with tons of talent or one with average abilities, the physics and
equine psychology used are the same. If you understand them, you can bring out
your horse’s potential, too.
Balance, Strength & Body Awareness
Rider Position and Biomechanics The first thing you have to start with is
your responsibility for your own body
awareness and your ability to under-
stand the biomechanics between you
and your horse. Biomechanics is not
about sitting in a pretty position but
understanding the forces put on your
body by your horse’s movement and
how to match those forces in the proper
directions at the proper times. Sitting
well on your horse is much more diffi-
cult than just relaxing and following his
movement. If that were the case, many
more riders would be quite good. Who
can’t chill out and relax? It’s not that
difficult until the seat you are sitting on
starts moving with lots of power and
motion and in many directions, and
you try to create expression and move-
ment. Really good riders who seem to
expend little effort while sitting on big-
moving horses aren’t up there simply
being loose and relaxed. It’s the same
with an elite figure skater making her
routine look easy or a ballerina seeming
to defy gravity as she floats across the
stage. They are all athletes working hard
to look relaxed and understanding bal-
ance, strength and body awareness to
an amazing level of detail. It’s very nec-
essary for riders, too. My biomechan-
ics coach and mentor, Mary Wanless,
talks more about this in the article on
page 54. In order to assume that your
3 Dressage Today
communication with your horse will
be clear and fair, you have to be sitting
on him in a way that your balance does
not negatively affect him or or cause
conflicts of information (see “The Good
Seat” on p. 49).
There is more to learn about biome-
chanics and, in fact, the higher I go in
my own riding, the more detail comes
up and with fascinating effects on my
horse. But every rider’s body is different
so their lessons should all be differ-
ent too. It’s a great idea to get with a
biomechanics expert to find out what
you need because it’s almost impossible
to do alone.
When I describe the following
exercises to help your horse with his
performance, I am assuming your body
is well-aligned and sorted out.
Exercise 1, Walk–Halt–Walk Transitions These simple transitions can do a lot,
but only if you’re strict and picky. Break
down the transitions so you pay close
attention to the forward and slowing
aids. Let’s first confirm the forward aid:
1. Starting from halt, ask your horse
to walk by using a very light kick with
both lower legs and nothing else. Since
horses can feel something as light as a
fly on their side, that should be enough.
2. If your horse moves off with no
delay whatsoever, that’s a good re-
sponse, and you can praise him and
move on.
3. If he is delayed in his response or
lacking “Yes, Ma’am” enthusiasm, quick-
ly give him a disciplinary kick (or tap of
the whip in some cases) to tell him he
was wrong for not listening. Important
note: That’s a punishment, not an aid.
4. Go back to halt and try it again
with a light aid. Until your horse goes
with an instant “Yes, Ma’am” from a
light aid, you need to repeat the process.
When you get this simple concept
through to your horse, you’ll have what
I consider a “forward” horse that’s in
front of the leg.
Forward is only useful if your horse
is equally adept at stopping. Stopping
muscles are more often neglected or
misunderstood in training dressage
horses. The muscles a horse engages
to stop and move his center of gravity
back onto his haunches are his core and
the thoracic sling. The thoracic-sling
muscles attach the front legs to the
body and, when contracted, raise the
rib cage. Teaching your horse to stop
with promptness is a way to get him to
engage these muscles.
1. Start from walk on a straight line
then close your hands, without pulling
them back, to tell your horse to stop. Do
not lean back and push your feet any
harder into the stirrups while doing this.
As soon as he halts, release the rein.
2. If he stops within two steps, with-
out hesitation or pulling on your hand,
Exercise 1, Walk–Halt–Walk Transitions
Blitz demonstrates the simplest form of the halt transition (from walk) with Jimmy Choo, an 11-year-old Rhinelander gelding owned by Diane Rodich. A prompt, balanced halt helps to move his center of gravity back on his haunches and engage his core and thoracic sling. At first, it is less important that he halts squarely; that will come with time.
Dressage Today 4
and stays in halt when you give the
rein, that’s a very good response, and
you can praise him.
3. If he takes too long to stop or it
takes too strong an aid, once you get
to halt, take a step backward. Once he
does that, release the rein and pet him.
The step backward is a chance for him
to engage his thoracic-sling muscles.
When he does and gets praise for it,
he’ll associate the closing of the hand
with engaging those muscles as the cor-
rect response. A helpful hint that he has
successfully engaged his thoracic sling
is when you give the rein away after
the transition, he shouldn’t accelerate
just from the lack of rein. Lack of rein
shouldn’t mean go. If he remains on
the forehand after the down transition,
he’ll most likely move forward when
you give the rein even if you didn’t tell
him to go from a leg aid.
If he won’t take a step backward,
sometimes it helps to have someone on
the ground tap him on the chest with
the handle of a whip just strong enough
to help influence him to step backward.
I don’t suggest kicking to make your
horse go back since I believe the leg
should mean forward.
4. Repeat these halt transitions until
they happen easily and consistently.
Now that you have your horse doing
quality, prompt and enthusiastic walk–
halt–walk transitions, we can go on.
Exercise 2, Trot–Halt–Trot TransitionsOnce your horse does walk–halt–walk
transitions well, moving up to trot–
halt–trot transitions should be fairly
easy. But keep it simple. It’s important
that you don’t focus directly on your
horse’s frame when first breaking down
these transitions. Since the trot–halt–
trot transitions are more difficult, your
horse may not stay perfectly round
until he understands the exercise and
has the strength and awareness that
it’s about his core and balance first. He
must maintain the instant “Yes, Ma’am”
to your aids as before. Moving up to
trot–halt–trot transitions makes it even
more demanding that he remain obedi-
ent to the aids and that he’s aware of
his balance. Many horses make forward
transitions by first letting go of their
thoracic sling, moving their center of
gravity forward, going in front-wheel
drive and probably becoming resistant
or heavy in the bridle because of it.
With this in mind, don’t be tempted
to try to keep the roundness in the
bridle. In this case, going above the
bit is just a symptom and not a cause.
I don’t ever suggest trying to prevent
symptoms but instead recommend stay-
ing focused on the cause. The very mo-
ment you recognize you horse has made
his forward transition like that, and
his head going up is the result, quickly
show him another halt transition that
Exercise 2, Trot–Halt–Trot Transitions
As the halts become more prompt and square, your horse will become more aware of how to engage the proper muscles to stay balanced and lift the rib cage.
As a result of new body awareness and strength, transi-tions into trot (or walk or canter) will gradually improve and he will develop an equine-made way of going.
1 2
5 Dressage Today
will remind him of his thoracic sling.
If you catch it every time, he’ll learn
quickly what you’re after.
1. Start from halt.
2. Ask for the trot with an almost
invisible, light kick with both lower
legs. Keep a light rein contact that is
not restricting your horse’s reaction to
go forward, even if his head goes up.
3. If he responds with an eager “Yes,
Ma’am” and tries his best to do it as
quickly as possible, that’s a great re-
sponse, and you can reward him for it.
4. If he delays his response, pro-
ceed the way you did in the halt–walk
transition. If you have to use discipline,
always come back to the starting point
and try again as soon as you can.
5. When you ask for trot, if his
response is delayed, he loses balance,
pushes his hind legs out behind him
or tries to pull on your hand, quickly
bring him back to halt to remind him
of his thoracic-sling muscles and that
they must stay engaged. Try to do this
quickly, as soon as you feel it happen.
6. If it takes you a long time to get
back to halt or when you get there, you
don’t sense that he moves his balance
back where it should be, again take a
step or two of rein-back to show him
where to be in his body.
With repetition of these simple tran-
sitions, your horse will learn to keep his
balance in a more consistent place, mak-
ing it easier for him to accommodate
the rein contact and come naturally
into a much better equine-made frame.
Exercise 3, Canter–Walk–Canter TransitionsOnce your trot–halt–trot transitions
are good and your horse starts to prove
to you that he is becoming more body
aware, you can try these concepts in
canter–walk–canter transitions. Since he
is now prepared to listen with sensitiv-
ity and balance, your horse should find
it easy to go from walk to canter, or
canter to walk, at your request.
1. Starting in walk, test that your
horse will listen to the aids for quick
go–stop transitions several times before
asking for the canter. If he doesn’t, then
spend time on that before looking for
the canter transition.
2. Once he’s in the right mindset and
balance, signal him to canter with the
following aids: a very light tap of your
outside leg a bit farther back than its
normal position and your inside leg in
its normal position at the time that his
inside front foot is touching the ground
in the walk.
3. If he goes into canter immediately,
without accelerating too much, and
stays in balance, that’s a great response
and you can praise him for it.
4. If there is a delay in his response,
immediately abandon trying to get the
canter and go right away to the disci-
pline of keeping him sensitive and reac-
tive. Then come back to the walk and
try again, making sure that when you
ask for canter you keep your aid very
light and easy. It’s a natural instinct for
riders to come back for the second try
with a stronger leg aid since the horse
didn’t react quickly enough, but that
just teaches the horse that the rider will
work harder than she has to and it will
end up being much too difficult and
inaccurate and it will result in aids that
are too strong, in the long run.
Try not to think of the canter transi-
tion as a large amount of acceleration,
but just a change of gait with the same
balance and rideability you had in walk.
Canter–walk transitions require a bit
of collection in the canter before you
make the transition:
1. Try to engage your horse’s thoracic
sling in canter before you ask for walk.
Without leaning back or pushing your
feet into the stirrups harder, close both
hands, without pulling back, to ask for
the walk. Leaning back will not engage
your horse’s hind legs, it only pushes
your seat forward, forcing your horse’s
Try not to think of the canter transition as a large amount of acceleration. Instead, think of it as changing into a new gait with the same balance and rideability as you had in walk.
Exercise 3, Canter–Walk–Canter Transitions
Dressage Today 6
The Good SeatGetting lined up vertically from shoulder to hip to heel is a good place
to start (see Photo 1). Your pelvis should remain in a vertical position
throughout the ride with your seat bones aiming directly down; your lower
back is neither rounded nor hollow (see Photos 2 and 3). Your abdominal
and lower back muscles should be toned enough to keep that part of your
body stabilized and still. Your vertebrae should not articulate to absorb
the up and down of your horse’s movement. Your thigh should be resting
snuggly, inwardly rotated and on the saddle at a 45-degree angle, and there
should be a defined amount of bend in your knee to maintain leverage
and stability in your half halts. Your foot should be lightly resting in the
stirrup, without pressing your heels lower than your toe. The old-school
theory of having your legs as long around the horse as possible makes
it almost impossible to have an independent seat. Even if you’re short,
dropping your stirrups and extending your knee so that you seem to have
a longer leg is not effective. You will rob yourself of leverage and become
stronger in your shoulders, stirrups and hands. Photo 4 shows how these
mistakes in your position could cause you to make half halts in much the
same way as a waterskier pulls on the tow rope.
2. Incorrect position (rounded back)
1. Correct position
3. Incorrect position (hollow back)
4. Incorrect position (“waterskiing”)
7 Dressage Today
balance forward onto their forehand
2. If he comes to walk and stays in
balance and doesn’t continue to pull on
your hand, that’s a great response, and
he can be praised for it.
3. If he isn’t balanced enough in
the canter when you ask for walk, he’ll
probably trot a few steps, be heavy in
your hand and possibly resist and be
above the bit. In this case, don’t worry
about his frame, just try to get to walk as
quickly as possible and then halt and, in
some cases, rein-back to get to the point
where he has engaged his thoracic core.
4. Resist the temptation to try to
keep him round if this is how he does
the transitions at first.
5. Do a few repetitions and see how
quickly he learns to do the canter–walk
transition in a better balance with his
core engaged, increasing his chance of
staying nice in the bridle.
I started Paragon as a 3-year-old, and
since he was such a tall, gangly young-
ster, he needed this approach even
more so than others. But it was a good
eye-opener for me to understand what
horses are going through and what
really causes the end result that we all
love. I never put direct work into him
being on the bit until I felt he had the
appropriate amount of body awareness,
core strength and balance to be there
without resistance. With that training
as his background, his natural talent has
flourished and developed without him
feeling pressured to do it. He has offered
his amazing movement to me since the
day he understood how to keep himself
ready for prompt transitions at any mo-
ment, in any direction. Even going from
his extreme extended trot back into pas-
sage is easy for him since he always first
controls his center of balance.
Always remember: The frame of the
horse should be the ultimate natural
result of balance, reactivity and
precision, not a means to an end.
Heather Blitz was a trainer at Oak Hill Ranch in Louisiana when she rode a broodmare she loved so much she
decided to match her breeding. The colt, Paragon, by Blue Hors Don Schufro out of Pari Lord by Loran, stole Blitz’s heart and she decided to buy him. The pair has taken the small tour by storm, scoring as high as 76.7 percent at Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire. Their goal is to represent the United States at the 2011 Pan American Games and 2012 Olympics. Blitz is an international Grand Prix competitor and trainer based in Wellington, Florida (heatherblitz.info).
Compared to Jimmy Choo (left), who has not been working on these exercises as long, Paragon (right) shows that he is further along in developing his equine-made frame. He has a comparably higher wither, freer shoulder and lower croup, which allows him to round his neck correctly without being incorrectly forced into a man-made frame.
Develop the Equine-made Frame
Beginning development of the equine-made frame Advanced development of the equine-made frame