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Horse World - Fitness for Horse & Rider

Article: Riding for All Ages

By Melonie Kessler 

 Sample Article from Topline Ink Equestrian Journal Magazine

Published October 2007 Issue

t is important in competitive dressage to stay the course with resolve and commitment. The journey can be filled with obstacles that can slow you down or even derail the fulfillment of your dreams.   Keeping your commitment is attained by adjusting goals, the support of friends and trainer, and the perseverance through continued riding by gaining the necessary self-confidence to feel you are continuing to progress towards your goal. It takes years of experience and education to become a successful rider. It means dedication to a curriculum of fitness, setting realistic goals and timetables for you and your horse as well as appropriate training.

FITNESS

     Fitness is a big concern for the competitive dressage rider.  Adult amateurs struggle  to balance work and personal time, i.e., family with riding.  There often just aren't enough hours in the day.  Adding one more thing like a physical fitness program more than likely isn't going to happen.  I have taught amateur riders for 30 years, and I appreciate the dedication riders have to have to ride on a daily basis then drive home to care for children and/or a husband.  Hopefully, riders are aware of how the driving aids: seat and leg, and the collecting aids: seat and hand, work.  Riders must be able to balance these two to achieve the cadence and rhythm that dressage movements require.  A weak rider is not able to produce that balance since a horse is typically ten times stronger than the rider.

     Body control is essential when riding.  This is evident when the sitting trot is introduced.  The lack of balance the rider feels as she bounces on top of the saddle trying to lengthen the horses stride is not only uncomfortable for all involved, but very ineffective.  When judging the rider not in control of their own body, each movement is usually affected and then again in the collective marks under Rider-Position and Seat, Correctness and Effect of the Aids.  With the new test, this movement is multiplied by three, which makes it the most influential part of the test. 

 
     Small riders, average size riders and larger riders all need to work on toning their muscles and building their endurance.  Which exercise or fitness program you choose is up to you.  Stay realistic with your goals and work towards body control so you can ride in harmony with your best effort shown.

SETTING REALISTIC GOALS AND TIMETABLES

     How do you determine what is a realistic goal and an acceptable timetable?  As a rider, how far can you really take your horse if he has limited ability and just average gaits?  These questions are an enigma to the best of trainers and riders. As a dressage judge, trainer, clinician and competitor, I am constantly setting goals and making adjustments to those goals for myself and my horse, as well as my students and their horses.  It is a constant evaluation in motion.  Most riders have visions of riding in harmony with their horse at a level that fulfills their aspirations and dreams.

      The first step on this journey is to set realistic goals.  To support those goals, you and your trainer need to make a realistic evaluation of your horses’ three gaits.  An easy method to do this is by using the same evaluation numbers and their correlating description from the dressage test that a judge uses to evaluate your ride.   This gives you a basis for your movements score and an evaluation of your horses’ gaits.

The following are movement scores:

5-Sufficient

6-Satisfactory

7-Fairly Good

8-Good

9-Very Good

10-Excellent

     Let’s say you have determined your horse to be a satisfactory mover (6).   You must then try to perform the movements of the test and not lower the quality of the gait.  This can be a very big challenge to many riders. 

     There are many ways to get a satisfactory mover performing well.  A judge will not score the movement higher than the quality of the gait for most movements, so remember to try and gain points on training emphasized movements such as on “transitions” or in the riders box on “position” or “effect of the aids.”

     When evaluating collection, it is not the fact that the horse can not collect, but the degree of collection for that particular horse which needs to be considered.  Even well bred warmbloods, with poor riding and training can struggle with collection. Horses in competition are judged against an “ideal.”  The evaluation score from 1 to 10 compares each horse against that “ideal.”  If your horse’s gaits are balanced and cadenced naturally, you are starting with a distinct advantage.  I’ve heard so many riders complain that, “The judge is prejudice against my horse because he is not a warmblood.” or “The judge only likes warmbloods.”   During the test, the judge is watching the horse perform a movement, and while judging the gaits and the movement of the horse, he is attempting to qualify the level of the gait.  If the judge is doing his job, there is no time to determine the breed of each horse, and to most judges, the breed of the horse is irrelevant anyway.

     So, now that you have established that your horse has limitations with regards to performance, and you still want to go up the levels, then I say, GO!  I’ve seen elephants piaffe and camels passage, so let the training begin. 

APPROPRIATE TRAINING

     First, you have to start by developing the correct basics as defined by the German training system, i.e., rhythm, relaxation, acceptance of the bit (suppleness-looseness), straightness, impulsion and collection. 

     Second, you will need an instructor that will understand that you may be shooting for a “6” which is your horse’s “10.”  If you do the entire test and get a “6” on each movement, you will have a 60%.  Now you have reached your original goal.  And, obtaining a 60% may not be a bad goal after all!

     Third, you  will need a support person to encourage you when you feel discouraged because of a poor performance or self-doubt about your goals when you receive some of the more unsatisfactory comments from some of the judges or other competitors.  You want to also remember, USDF’s all-breed awards program  has allowed riders to compete within their own breed for recognition of accomplishments at all levels.  This program gives recognition to riders of different breeds of horses that compete in dressage.  The competition is only against riders of the same breed of horse.

     As dressage riders become more experienced, many will purchase a horse with higher quality gaits.  Others must find a way to take their not-quite-so-elastic or cadenced partner along on their journey. 

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND YOUR HORSE

     I personally have competed on many different breeds and am proud to try to bring each horse to their highest potential.  My most recent accomplishment was receiving my gold medal and my qualifying scores for the ”S” judges program on a 21-year-old Swedish stallion, LA Baltic Moon.  I taught him the Grand Prix movements at the age of eighteen. (see photo on page 10) This was quite an accomplishment since I was told by one judge that I would not get my 60% score because she didn’t get hers.  Now there’s a logical reason!  Mainly, don’t let discouraging comments detour your journey.

     Throughout my journey with Moon, my husband was my support and encouragement.  He pushed me when I got a little down.  Now, I want to push you.  Don’t give up.  Believe in yourself and your horse.  Be realistic with your goals.  Each horse is an individual and should be treated with love and respect, and in return, your horse will be a willing, sound, and proud partner that loves to dance.

     Enjoy the journey!

Melonie Kessler  is a “R” judge and one of ten in the U.S. accepted into the “S” judges program for the 2008 testing program. She has earned her USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals.   She teaches and trains in Moorepark, California.

Fitness is a section that benefits every equestrian. Building correct muscles, raising endurance, increasing fitness, supporting the back and other important topics for creating a fit horse and rider.