raining raining Tips

dressage with Mary Warren

dressage nsW High performance squad, national recognition squad member and nCAs level 1 dressage Coach

prepArATion

When it comes to competition preparation, in the week prior to the comp I tend not to change too much with my usual training program. I may add in a couple of lines from the test that need a little extra attention but otherwise it all stays the same. Consistency is vital when it comes to training your horse, a competition is just the place to show off your training.

Aids A nd responsiveness

The most common problem I find when it comes to coaching or riding a new horse is that they don’t naturally travel in front of the rider’s leg. When it comes to a lazy horse, the rider must be even more conscious about their leg aids and how effective they are. A lazy horse needs to be ridden with less leg.

TIP: To improve the horse’s responsiveness to the aids, ride lots of transitions within the pace – collect the trot/canter and then with a short sharp reaction from the leg push off into a couple of strides of lengthen trot/canter before coming back to collection.

B ALA n C e A nd HA r M on Y sHoULd YoU Be ridinG A diFFerenT LeveL THAn YoU Are CoMpe TinG AT?

Lack of balance and harmony is a common problem.

TIP: The rider has to remember to ‘let go’ and allow the horse to travel in self-carriage or to teach the horse to. If the horse goes to drop onto the forehand and lean down against the rider’s hands, make a half-halt to shift the weight onto the hindlegs and then straight away take the opportunity to release the pressure in the hand. You will likely have to make a fair few of these transitions to teach the horse to carry itself in a new way - sitting on the hindlegs and travelling in balance and self-carriage resulting in harmony between horse and rider.

I know a lot of riders and trainers say that you should compete a level down to that which your horse is training. I don’t tend to make this a rule for every horse. If my horse is physically and mentally capable of performing at, say Medium level, I will enter at Medium level. I let the horse determine how much pressure they can handle at a competition at that current stage.

WeeKLY ridinG pLAn – WHAT To do on CerTAin dAYs so YoU’re noT doinG THe sAMe THinG

Variety is so important in our training system. Our horses will be dressage horses for hopefully up to 15 years or more so it’s vital to keep them both physically and mentally healthy.

Monday work in the arena in the week prior to the competition don’t change too much of your usual training program, as consistency is vital when it comes to training your horse

My weekly training plan:

Tuesday work in the arena

Wednesday either hack out or cavaletti work

Thursday work in the arena

Friday work in the arena

Saturday day off for young horses/hack out for the older ones

Sunday day off