As Western riders many of us, over the
years, have had a tendency to force our horses
to side-pass, get in the bridle, two track, turn on
the forehand, turn on the hind-quarters, etc., to
quickly. We tend to rush those movements and
that, in the long run disrupts the relationship
between the rider and the horse.
More and more trainers are realizing this.
Many of today’s top trainers have been using
a certain amount of dressage movements on
their horses for years, though not calling it
that.
The longer I train the more I understand
that horses are no different than we are. If
we were going to run a 26 mile marathon we
wouldn’t go out and train for it in 15 days, or
20, or even 30 days. But we seem to have a
mind set that we can go out to work with our
horses and in one evening of training the horse
should learn to side-pass or two track and do it
perfectly. That said, I am also going to say this,
there is no such thing as a fully trained horse
after 30 days with a trainer. That is a fallacy in
this industry and is one of the reasons people
get hurt.
In all actuality each one of the maneuvers
mentioned takes a different muscle group in
the horses body to accomplish it correctly. 9
times out of 10 we haven’t spent enough time
building on those individual muscle groups and
working at breaking down the individual body
parts of the horse. We neglect to work the
hindquarters, the ribs, the shoulders, the neck
and the head and we have a tendency to rush
all of that. What then happens is the horse gets
frustrated, we get frustrated and before long
the horse learns to hate all these maneuvers
and most likely starts acting up.
You can work your horse on the ground
and teach him to disengage his hindquarter,
his rib cage, move his shoulders etc, and do it
efficiently, but when we are sitting on him we
are sitting on the weakest part of the horse, the
back, and we are in their way. What we have
to do is build the muscles, the whole package,
on an individual basis and attain their natural
balance, with you on them, before we start
asking for all the fancy movements.
Dressage training makes the horse use
every part of his body fluidly, effortlessly and
cooperatively. It does it by building up the
horse one step at a time. With Dressage we
are taking the time and building the individual
muscle groups and learning to understand
the mechanics of the horse. One the biggest
problems today is most people don’t understand
the mechanics of the horse. We have to come
to the understanding that “WE” have to get
the proper education to attain a ready, willing
and able horse and build and maintain a great
relationship with the horse. Please notice
that my emphasis is on “WE” and not on the
horse. It is our education that will make all the
difference in the world.
Even I, as a professional trainer, am
always learning and I still takes lessons. I am
always trying to further my education. Over the
last few years I have studied with JP Giacomini,
Mari Monda Zdunic and others. Even going
and listening to qualified trainers will give you a
tremendous amount of information that you will
find beneficial, but there is nothing as valuable
as hands on training.
I had a young lady call me a month or so
ago that was a high level dressage rider. She
wanted to study with me for Western Riding
and I jumped at the opportunity. Though I
maybe able to teach her some Western Riding,
all of us here at the stable are excited to get to
watch her ride and learn from her as well.
The benefits of teaching dressage
movements to your horse, whether you are
a trail rider, team roper, cutter... is that it is
going to make for a much more balanced
and cooperative horse. The reason for this is
because we have taken the time to build the
proper muscles groups in the proper order.
When we do that every move becomes
effortless for the horse, plus each step is
perfected before the next step is undertaken.
You will become so in-tune with your horse
that just the slightest thought in your head kicks
in a certain amount of muscle memory in you
which then transfers right to the horse. At
that point you will have everyone around you
wondering how you are making the horse do
that. You will be able to get your horse to do
things the average rider won’t be able to do.
This was exactly how the old Vaqueros
and the Spanish used to do it and it was a 7
year process to get your horse in the full bridle,
not 30 or 60 days.
If you will put yourself in your horse’s
shoes and think about how you would like
to be taught you will gain a whole different
perspective of training and if you implement
that you will actually end up with a sane horse,
as long as you started out with one.
Midwest Western Dressage is having
Western Dressage clinics on a regular
basis. This may be something you should
check out. You can find them online at www.
midwestwesterndressage.com
About Dennis Auslam.
Dennis has been a trainer for over 30
years, working with many different breeds and
disciplines. He grew up with horses and has
worked with some of the best trainers in the
industry. His passion is horses and people and
he loves helping people learn how to work with
their horses, progress in their riding abilities
and make that connection with their horse.
You will find Dennis at various horse
related events in 2011. He also does numerous
clinics and demos, both at his stable, Redwood
Stables in Morton, MN and at other venues,
concentrating on Confidence Building for the
horse and the rider.
For information regarding his clinics
and demonstrations please visit his web site
at www.redwoodstables.com. Interested in
hosting a clinic? Call 507-525-6691 or email us
at redwoodstables@mvtvwireless.com
