Review of 2024 USDF Convention Presentation: Rider Biomechanics with Joan Darnell
Dear All,
Happy February! I hope everyone is looking forward to the annual Awards Luncheon, to be held this year on Sunday, February 23, 2025, at the Copper Hill Country Club in Ringoes NJ. Make your reservations on the website https://esdcta.org/awards/esdcta-annual-awards-luncheon/
During these cold winter months, when we’re not riding as much as we usually do during the summer, take some time to brush up on some online training. Both the USDF and USEA websites offer free training tools, reruns of clinics, and many articles that will help you get a jump start on spring training.
Everyone should have received a ballot to vote for the Officers of the club for 2025. If you haven’t voted yet, please take the time to do so. If you have voted, you’ll have noticed that I’m stepping down as President to move into the Treasurer position, and Ellen Brindle-Clark will be taking over as President. I’ve been President for six years, and although it hardly seems that long, Covid-19 took out almost two of those years. During the rest of that time, I’ve really enjoyed the role and being able to volunteer for the club that has provided so many opportunities to me throughout the years. I’ll still be involved and I’m sure Ellen will do a fantastic job as President.
Stay warm, give your horse a pat, and keep all his/her best interests to heart.
If you’re reading this, you are probably a member of ESDCTA, but I’m sure you know of someone who rides dressage or events who is not a member. You know all about the wonderful things offered like educational programs, clinics with big name trainers, horse shows, year-end awards, and not least, that sense of being part of a community of likeminded people. The more members ESDCTA has, the better the programs we can offer. Our membership numbers are also important considerations when state and local governments decide on legislature that affects us (like open space), and we advocate for our sports (We helped get better footing at the HPNJ). Please reach out to your equestrian buddies and tell them about all of the benefits of membership and have them sign up. The more the merrier!
WHAT’S YOUR TALENT??
Let us know what you would like to help us with in 2025. All skills and interests wanted. Have an idea? We want to hear about it. Remember, this club is what YOU make it. Contact president@esdcta.org if you are interested.
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Amateur Dilemma
By Meredith Rogers
It’s mid-January as I write this. They’re predicting snow and then super cold temperatures. I don’t want to ride. But, I really do want to ride, just not in this weather. I’ve been continuing to lesson when the temperature is above freezing but everything is more difficult. I have to tack him up under blankets and quarter sheets, with minimal grooming beforehand. Planning how I’m going to dress myself takes an advanced degree so I can figure out how to attach my Cee Coach but still shed layers as we go. I’m stiff, Leo is stiff, and it affects the work, which makes me question if it’s worth it to even get on. Bring on global warming! Just kidding. Sort of. Yes, just kidding.
Although I feel a little break is good for his body, I have found that it is better for him if I get on and work him on a regular basis, so I bundle up and head to the barn. I definitely appreciate our indoor, but it’s not like after this artic blast things get much better because then we’ll have to deal with snow falling off the roof of said indoor. When it’s below freezing, I skip days and when I do go, sometimes it’s just to check that he’s dressed properly and he is doing okay. Many times I don’t even groom him, but I always feed him peppermints so he doesn’t forget me!
Not going to the barn every day feels so strange. I miss him. I miss my barn friends. Work has been crazy busy, so having the extra time has been helpful on that front. Not fun, but helpful. I’ve also been watching numerous on-line training videos and reading horse care articles, which is something I don’t regularly have much time for. I’m trying to find the silver lining, folks.
Show season is just around the corner and we’re not ready! We need more lessons. We need more practice. Warm weather cannot come soon enough. I’m sure you all can relate.
News from Outside the Ring
An Event Saved
The future of the Essex Horse Trials was in jeopardy until our very own Marilyn Payne (trainer, rider, and Olympic judge) stepped in. The Essex Horse Trials began in 1968, at Hoopstick Farm, Bedminster, NJ, then moved to the USET Headquarters, Gladstone, NJ, in 1979, and was held there through 1998, when much of the land was sold. That was thought to be the end of the Essex Horse Trials, but in 2017 it was resurrected at Moorland Farm, Far Hills, NJ. However, the footing wasn’t ideal for dressage and stadium, so while the cross-country remained at Moorland, the other phases were moved back to the USET. The split format was difficult for organizers and competitors alike, so there was discussion about not hosting it in 2025. That’s when Marilyn volunteered to be organizer and Board President, and suggested a complete overhaul of the event. It will now be 1 day instead of 2, held solely at Moorland on June 1, and will focus on the lower levels. It’s shaping up to be quite the party with cocktails the day before, and a guided walk of the course hosted by the designer, Morgan Rowsell. There will tailgating and a vendor village with shops and food. Marilyn is looking for both sponsors and volunteers, so if you’re able, please contact her at applewoodfarm@comcast.net.
Even Olympians Can’t Bounce
Anky van Grunsven needs no introduction but she’s going to need crutches for a little while. On December 31, the 3-time Olympian broke her pelvis in a fall off a horse (2 days before her 57th birthday). Thankfully, she didn’t require surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.
Protection or Overreach?
The federal Horse Protection Act was originally enacted in the early 1970s to protect Tennessee Walking horses by preventing any “sored” horse from participating in shows, exhibitions, sales, or auctions. It has been updated several times, but it’s the most recent update that has the horse show world in an uproar. Originally supposed to take effect February 1, 2025, but postponed until April 1, 2025, the latest update states that EVERY equine show/event manager must provide to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) notice of the event ≥30 days of the event, any updates ≥15 days of the event, and report any violations of the Horse Production Act ≤5 days after the end of the event. The USDA will be training inspectors, who will supposedly be horse experts, to attend onsite at events expected to have >100 horses. This change will not really affect USEF-licensed competitions, because the USEF will provide the APHIS with the required paperwork; however, schooling events and clinics will need to be compliant. Also, the definition of soring is vague, and reads in part: “any irritating or blistering agent [that] has been applied, internally or externally, by a person to any limb of a horse”. The USEF and Humane Society have put together a very good website explaining the new rules in reference to the old rules: https://www.usef.org/forms-pubs/v5FIXunL6RM
Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel Clinic: 2025 Installment
By Paige Zimmerman
From January 31st through February 2nd, I had the pleasure of riding in another clinic with Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel, organized and hosted by Olivia Steidle Dressage at Sara Schmitt Dressage. This clinic served to be a fantastic mid-winter check-in on the progress of our training, especially since show season is coming and it’s time to think of how to best get prepared. It was also great to connect with friends and meet new ones, as always.
I rode in two lessons with Ducati. We are currently preparing for the goal of Prix St. Georges (PSG) this year, and so we really worked on strengthening the work within the PSG test while also ensuring that the basics remained strong and present as we did so. I also did a lesson on Marky, who is a 7-year-old German Riding Pony (not pictured, but he’s a cutie!). He is a sale horse of Sara Schmitt Dressage that I’ve had the pleasure of riding, and we are working on continuing to get to know each other and also find more confidence in the work. I had a great time in all three lessons, and between Marky and Ducati I learned several new exercises that are extremely helpful additions to my toolbox.
A fundamental focus of this clinic was ensuring that the horses were all stretching and connecting to the bridle while also being supple and able to bend off of either side. A very helpful exercise that Felicitas gave us was to begin in the walk on a circle, allow the horse to stretch, and to counter-bend the horse into the new outside rein (meaning the rein on the outside of the direction of bend, which is the rein on the inside of the circle). In this exercise, the rider uses a slight indirect rein and an open and inviting outside rein while asking the horse to yield from the inside leg into the outside rein. The goal is to have the horse “fill out” the outside rein while maintaining a stretchy or long neck. Felicitas said that you want to feel the horse take the contact forward, slow down their body, and simply be calm and connected. If they are only turning their head, but not taking contact on the outside rein, then they are not yet relaxed into the contact. Once you feel the horse fill out the outside contact and engage in a proper, calm stretch forward, then you can slowly switch the direction of the circle and do the same thing the other way.
This counter-bending figure 8 exercise almost feels like the horse is “falling” into the new outside rein. However, by switching the direction and ensuring that you can still turn, your steering is not being compromised and it is instead getting the horse more supple and connected onto both sides. The exercise also doesn’t require a huge amount of neck flexion, and the goal is eventually not to have to flex the neck as much but instead to use very subtle bending aids and the horse goes into the outside rein and reaches for the contact by themselves. The exercise also doesn’t require short reins, as it can be done on any length of contact. For Ducati and Marky, it was helpful to do this exercise in the walk and the trot on a longer rein, especially in the warmup.
Another variation of the counter-bending circle exercise is to add what Felicitas calls a “modified leg-yield” coming out of the circle rather than immediately switching direction into a figure 8. You come out of the counter-bending circle and then immediately ride a leg yield across the arena on a diagonal, but you maintain that feeling of the counter-bend from the circle as you do it. In the “modified” leg yield, you don’t look for quite as much crossing from the hind legs as you look for the bend and suppleness of the inside leg into the outside rein. It feels almost like letting the horse fall into the outside rein as you leg yield. It felt odd to me at first, since I’m used to getting the hind end to cross over in line with the shoulders! But I felt how it helped really get that inside leg to outside rein contact. Then, after you finish the leg yield, you do a small circle to the new direction of travel, again asking the horse for bend and suppleness, and this circle is where you can organize and make sure they are still engaged and focused. Once you come out of the circle, if you want to repeat the exercise you can slowly switch the bend on the short side of the ring and then do a counter-bending circle to a modified leg yield once more.
All of these exercises, switching between asking for deeper bend in the body and straightening the horse, and also switching between counter-bend and true bend, I felt were helpful in a multitude of ways and applicable in many different situations. When I wanted Ducati to be a bit more in front of my leg and powering forward, the counter-bending and modified leg yield exercises got him more active behind and quicker to engage his hind leg to bend and turn. When he got a little too hot for me and wasn’t listening to my half-halt anymore, that was quickly solved by asking him to bend and be supple instead of becoming rigid in his body and stiff, which allows him to run. A horse cannot run if they are truly relaxed and supple in their body. Moving off the leg and maintaining suppleness turns negative tension into controlled power! These exercises were also helpful for Marky in our warm-up and subsequent work to check that he was responding well to both legs and staying focused on the task at hand. With him, we also worked on asking for canter transitions at the end of each modified leg yield. This set him up very well for the upward transitions.
For Ducati, yet another similar exercise to the counter-bending circles was to ride renvers (haunches-out) on a ten-meter figure 8 in the walk. This really got him to listen to my inside bending leg to either direction. We had been working on the half-passes, and I struggle to get the amount of bend needed for a correct half-pass, so working on the renver figure 8 exercise really got Ducati tuned into my inside bending leg and it also helped me figure out the timing of the leg aid so that my leg doesn’t get too “dead” or complacent in asking for the bend. My problem isn’t so much gripping as it is that my leg isn’t always effective whenever I ask for something. The bending aids don’t need to be strong, Felicitas said, but the aids need to be clear and in the correct timing so that the horse doesn’t stiffen against them. This renver exercise really helped out trot work, as we worked on the trot tour from the PSG test in which you need to do a shoulder-in, to an 8 meter volte, to a half-pass. He got much more engaged and maintained his bend and impulsion in the exercise.
Another great exercise we worked on with both Ducati and Marky was sit-sit, stand-stand. In this exercise, you simply alternate between two strides of sitting trot and two strides of standing in the stirrups, instead of doing the typical up-down of posting. This really helped to free up the shoulders of the horses and allow them to take a longer stride without getting too fast. With Ducati, it got him a lot more in front of my leg and powerful! With Marky, it helped to set the rhythm of the trot and dictate the tempo.
One more topic that we discussed at this clinic was particular to Ducati, since we are preparing to jump into the FEI ring this year. Felicitas explained that all the movements in the tests have a purpose and a flow, and when things start to come together and you get more experienced at the level at which you’re showing, the flow of each movement becomes clear. She said that this is why the top riders will often make a test look effortless or look as if they’re doing nothing– since they are so in-tune with the design of the test and they are always thinking ahead to the next movement. Felicitas explained that the whole experience of riding a test, especially an FEI test, is a game of forward-and-back, asking for energy, and then organizing it in half-halts. Your corners are especially important for your organization.
For example, as a part of this discussion we worked a bit on the half-pirouette into the counter-canter and flying change exercise, which is in the PSG. Felicitas said that going into it, you use the corner to half-halt and sit the horse down before going onto the diagonal line where the pirouette is. Then out of the corner you can go a little forward, and then collect approaching X in preparation before the half-pirouette. She said that you should be thinking about exiting the half-pirouette two strides before it is complete. It takes a stride or two to come out of it, and you should be on the same
line that you started on. Then going back towards the corner, you should ask for a bit of forward, then collect in the corner, and ask for forward coming out of the corner while preparing to do your flying change at C on the short side. Then you need to collect again in the next corner to prepare for your next diagonal to half-pirouette to flying change! It is a lot to think about, all the while maintaining your position, ensuring the horse is still bending and supple, and everything else… and remaining two steps ahead of the next movements. There’s a lot to work on. But such is the joy of learning to ride to the next level and learning the purpose of each test, not just riding it like a passenger!
Thank you to Olivia Steidle for organizing this clinic, for your support and training, your encouragement, helping me reach for new big goals, your photography skills (all photos are credited to Olivia!), and just being a great person! Thank you to Brenda Curnin for the continuing opportunity to ride Ducati and expand my education. It’s been a treasure riding and learning with him from Training Level to now the 4th Level/PSG work. Also, thank you to Jenny Melander for fitting Ducati’s saddle and making sure he is comfortable in his work. And thank you to Maggie O’leary and Sara Schmitt Dressage for hosting the clinic and for letting me ride Marky. I’m having a lot of fun with him! Of course, thank you as always to Felicitas for coming and sharing her wisdom and new exercises and tools for us to use in our training and in the show ring– It’s always inspiring!
Horse Treats
By Meredith Rogers
It’s cold out, and what’s better than baking a nice treat for our horses when the weather is too nasty to ride? Here’s a treat recipe they are sure to love.
1 cup flour
½ cup molasses
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
Handful of crushed peppermints
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the sugar, flour, and crushed peppermints in a bowl. Add in the molasses and vegetable oil. Stir until well blended, so that the mix is sticky but not runny. If it is too runny, add flour; if it is too thick, add a little more molasses and oil. Drop tablespoon amounts onto a baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 10-15 minutes so that they are crunchy. Let cool. Yum!
Specific Topics Include.. Management” North and South US"
“Small Farm Pasture
“Plants Toxic to Horses in the
“Basic Horse Nutrition”
“Specific Nutritional Considerations for Equids with Endocrine Disease”
“Health & Management of US Senior Horses”
“Evaluating Pain in your Horse while Riding"
Farm Management –February 11th, 2025 Nutrition –February 18th, 2025 VIRTUAL Edition 2025 Tuesday Evenings in February 11th , 18th , 25th 6:30 – 8:30 pm each night For a full program and registration details: https://go.rutgers.edu/2025VirtualHMSReg Horse Health and Welfare - February 25th, 2025
From Our Friends at Lehigh Valley Dressage Association
2023 On the Levels” - Adding to Your Dressage Knowledge Bank
Review of 2024 USDF Convention Presentation: Rider Biomechanics with Joan Darnell
Review of 2024 USDF Convention Presentation: Rider Biomechanics with Joan Darnell
By Ellen Broadhurst
By Ellen Broadhurst
By Ellen Broadhurst
A key benefit of attending the Annual USDF Convention is all the educational programs. Taught by the best the United States has to offer, with topics ranging this year from horse physiology to how technology is changing how we learn, these hour-long presentations are educational golden nuggets designed to get the audience thinking.
The session on Rider Biomechanics was led by Joan Darnell, USEF “S” Dressage Judge and USDF “L” Graduate Faculty. Rider Biomechanics are part of Session C of the “L” program (Session C is about collective marks, equitation, rider biomechanics and basics), so audience members who had not already gone through the L program got a taste of what it has to offer.
Biomechanics is the science of the movement of a living body, including how muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments work together to move. That is, the study of the functioning of the body in movement using mechanical principles.
Darnell began the discussion with a stern reminder: Dressage is two living beings, each with their own biomechanics that in an ideal world work in harmony. An absolute truth is that the rider needs to be “correct” (in their position and balance) in order to allow the horse to be correct.
Good rider biomechanics are about how well riders utilize their own body to stabilize themselves on the horse. The rider's weight should be balanced over the horse's rib cage. The highly effective rider can control their body to influence the horse; the true independent seat allows the rider to manage parts of their body independently.
All Dressage riders use the Dressage Pyramid of Training in our daily riding and training sessions: Rhythm, Suppleness, Contact, Impulsion, Straightness, and Collection are the inter-related steps that allow our dressage training to be systematic and progressive.
Darnell harkens back to this Pyramid for the rider as well to help us think about the impact of correct rider biomechanics:
Rhythm: the rider needs to feel the rhythm of each gait.
- Walk: a four-beat gait, can the rider feel as each hoof hits the ground?
- Trot: rider has to adjust their own body to the up-and-down motion of the trot, they must be strong but elastic in the core, sitting strong, quietly and without gripping or blocking the horse, including during lengthenings and extensions.
- Canter: can the rider feel the distinct three beat rhythm through their seat bones, perceiving the outside hind leg as it strikes the ground, followed by the diagonal pair and then the final inside foreleg strike?
Suppleness: the rider needs to be as supple in their body as the horse, with equal suppleness to the right and left. Riders need to have correct body alignment in the saddle, with a straight line from ear through shoulder and hip to heel with equal weight on both seat bones.
Contact: with our hands to the bit being a means of communication, we ask the horse to be soft and elastic in contact, but we need to be equally soft but effective. Flopping reins isn’t an effective communication tool, but gripping reins with a holding contact isn’t either. Seat and hands are aids that both inform communication, but independently.
Impulsion: for the horse, impulsion is engagement and the desire to go forward. For the rider, the key is understanding how poor biomechanics block the ability of the horse to carry himself with elasticity and suppleness. Core stability is mandatory for the rider to hold themselves so as not to block impulsion.
Straightness: riders must have the strength to hold their body position straight both horizontally and vertically. A crooked rider whether it is uneven weight on the seat bones, or a lack of alignment from ear through shoulder and hip to heel makes a crooked horse. Your horse will adjust to crooked riding and become crooked themselves.
Collection: as above, riders need to have their own “self carriage” in order to properly and positively influence their horse. Using reins to balance, gripping with calves or thighs all result in blocking the horse from using their own bodies properly to collect.
Darnell spent some time reiterating the correct body position for dressage:
● The body of the rider is centered over the horse, with weight equally disturbed over both seat bones.
● The rider’s upper arm should hang straight from shoulder to elbow, with the elbow just slightly in front of the hips. Do not clamp the upper arm to the side of your body.
● Hands should give the impression of “being carried.” If hands are too high or too low, the horse will resist the contact, restricting the flow of energy from back to front.
● The correct leg position for dressage is a long leg, with the heel slightly down, thighs turned in, toes pointed forward. The heel should be the lowest part of the foot. Rotating the thigh to the outside, tends to clamp the lower leg. The leg should be still: a busy lower leg is confusing for the horse.
● Stirrups need to be long enough to get the correct alignment, but a long stirrup that results in riders reaching for the stirrup is counter to good biomechanics. There should be a bend in the knee, with good weight in the stirrup, resulting in the heel being the lowest point on the foot.
For Darnell, the key takeaway for rider’s looking to improve their test scores is that rider biomechanics impact the ability of the horse to perform. Riders need to be constantly working on their basic skills, looking to improve their biomechanics, and be aware of their biomechanical faults that negatively impact the quality of the ride.
