A common problem in dressage horses is the development of body armor. Body armor is an important subject that is rarely addressed. The description of body armor is a physical hardening of the horse’s body as a defense to poor or incorrect training. It can also be developed when the rider’s aids are not clear or understandable by the horse. Body armor can cause serious training problems, a lack of brilliance, irregular gaits, lateral walk steps and uneven movement during the lengthening, medium or extended trot work. This is a very detailed subject and in this article I will cover the basics of how and why this happens.

 

Identifying and Understanding Body Armor

 

 

 

The issue of body armor doesn't need to be addressed by every horse and rider combination. However, if you are a rider who feels frustrated by the judges remarks (for example: 'tight in the shoulders', 'stiff, needs more bend', 'trailing haunches', etc) or by the way your horse responds to your leg or rein aids, this is something you will like to read.

A simple way to describe the chain of events that causes body armor is to consider a rider who is constantly kicking her horse repeatedly to keep him going. This will cause the horses sides to become dead and create a type of body armor in defense. The horse tunes you out and even though he is going forward, he is not in front of your leg. Being in front of the leg means that the horse is ready both mentally and physically to go forward from the slightness brush of your calf. This is the ideal. This training carries all the way through, from training the three-year-old until you reach Grand Prix.

Body armor can be start when an inexperienced rider is trying to train a young horse. Right from the beginning, young horses can use bucking, bolting, rearing or kicking at your leg to resist being in front of your leg. This is the point that an experienced rider needs to ride through the resistance and not back off until the correct response has been achieved. This is also the point in which an inexperienced rider could get nervous or doesn't have a real feel for what they are working towards. The rider can start to compromise with their horse in order to feel safe and the horse starts to lose their natural forward movement as a result to being held back. The young horse will develop body armor or resistance from rider to rider until a skilled and educated rider can correctly work through the horse’s education.

 

Rider and Horse Combinations

 

 

 

Here are some rider/horse combinations for a few examples. Although there are hundreds of possible combinations, we will keep it down to two groups.

 

Rider A - The amateur rider This category is very broad. It can include a rider who has been competing for years or a rider who has just started out. This has nothing to do with a rider being nervous or brave, young or old. This category is for the riders who may lack understanding or feel.

 

 

Rider B - The professional rider This category is not about what level you compete at, though this rider should have a solid understanding of at least Medium level work. They should know the Training Scale and understand good basics and have the ability to ride through resistance to achieve correctness.

 

 

Horse # 1 - the lazy, insensitive horse Contrary to popular belief, a very high percentage of horses belong in this category. Horses of this type can use their emotions to appear excite able or even difficult to ride, but once ridden through their resistance, they are quite quiet and even on the lazy side, requiring proper aids to then, keep them in front of the leg.

 

 

Horse # 2 - the sensitive & over reactive horse The truly sensitive horse is hard to find. There are many horses that will overreact and will appear sensitive, but once ridden correctly they are quietly forward and no longer overreact, but will become obedient to a small aid. If not educated to the aids correctly, they can remain over reactive their whole life. This is still ‘not’ a sensitive horse, he is simply overreacting. Another type would be a horse with dull sides that is ‘on the surface’ over reactive. This horse can use his quick reactions simply to keep a rider from applying leg aids.

     When you first start your three-year-old, you must determine what type he is (this also pertains to retraining the older horse with already established body armor). Let’s take Horse #2 with the amateur rider. Since this horse will overreact to the leg, your average rider would conclude that this horse is hot or over sensitive and would most likely let this horse go on his own because the rider feels that the horse is going from the leg. This apparent overreaction is simply a way the horse will not allow you to truly ‘ride’ him. He will use his emotions against the rider, which can make the horse appear sensitive. What he needs is to be ridden with almost too much leg, a "hugging" leg, until he settles in and understands the leg is there to help him. He also needs to learn, then, to respond to the leg in a correct way and not just overreact. This is where the problem lies. It takes an educated leg to ride this type with an understanding on how to make him responsive to the aids in the right way. Once properly educated, this horse is a pleasure to ride, because they are a mixture of both sensitivity and a quiet nature; though the quietness is not apparent in the beginning. Ridden without understanding this, this horse can be labeled difficult or emotional his entire life.

     While training your horse, you must be able to push through their resistance in a knowledgeable way to achieve correctness in the basics and fulfill the requirements of the Training Scale. Therefore, this should be done by a rider who has the abilities and is willing to ride through the resistance that causes body armor or one that can ride from the start to keep the body armor to a minimum. An experienced instructor can help with this. Horses with body armor will naturally resist being soft in the hand and in front of the leg to different degrees depending on their temperament. As Karl Mikolka once stated, "The rider must ride through the turbulence to reach the calmer air."

     Next, let’s look at Horse #1 ridden by both an amateur and the professional. Ridden by rider #1, he will most likely go along appearing quiet and easy to ride, which is fine for this pair. This is where you will have to decide if you are comfortable with this or if you want to go for better brilliance. To break though a lazy horse’s body armor will most likely require skill and a certain amount of bravery. They will hold onto their body armor more than the apparently sensitive horse. The lazy horse that is not motivated to work hard, will use refusing to move forward, kicking at the leg or even ultimately rearing if not taught early how to respond to the leg in a correct way. Again I stress this horse could be going along fine with his body armor. There is a place for these horses. So if you decide that you do want to go for this, know that you may have some turbulence to ride though, but on the other side you will have much more brilliance and a horse that works more than you do. It’s recommended to find a qualified instructor to help teach you to correctly work through those resistances. If you are working harder than your horse, consider the fact that your horse has developed some body armor in response to your aids.

     There are thousands of combinations of horses and riders which would be too detailed for this article. If you want to keep your horse happy and easy, keep in mind that body armor can develop quickly when you don't remember that it can and will develop. Keeping in mind that body armor can take away from your performance and your horse’s abilities, and the fact that you and your horse may be compromising (for example, he wont buck you off if you don't ask anything of him).
It may be helpful for you to have a professional ride through this resistance so you can watch what it requires and decide if you feel capable of this on your own.

     Horses also lose their character due to body armor. They are resigned to the compromise that is happening and they can become dull in temperament. Removing body armor will make a horse more alive and sensitive to his surroundings in a good way. Body armor keeps a horse from moving through their body and they will become leg movers. They do not come from behind and up through the withers.

     Horses with years of body armor can even gain height and size as you remove the armor; they plump up from using their entire body. So, if you are looking for more brilliance, more ride-ability and better test scores from you horse and your riding, consider the fact that body armor could be holding you back.

Kelly Walker has finished several hourse to Grand Prix and trains riders of all levels. She enjoys participating in the USEF Young Horse Development Program. She coaches her daughter, Fallon Walker who was ranked 3rd in the nation in the USEF four-year-old division of the Markel Young Horse Program.  Kelly Walker is the owner of Schwung Farm.


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Other articles published in Topline Ink Equestrian Journal written by Kelly Walker:

March 2008 Issue: Body Armor - On the Ground - Part Two

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