The Gifted Fund

Laura Andrade

USDF Region 7

Welcome to The Secret Society of the Full Time Rider

Thanks to The Gifted Fund, I recently had the opportunity to enter the Secret Society of the Full Time Rider. Okay, it might not be a secret society, but for most adult amateur dressage riders it may as well be. How many times have you dreamed of being able to toss work, family, and other responsibilities aside to simply ride and train your horse? Well, The Dressage Foundation's Gifted Fund Scholarship makes that fantasy reality for several riders each year. To all of my fellow dressage-daydreamers-while-at-work: Apply for the 2005 scholarship!

The application process alone is valuable, a good place to reflect on all of your past riding experiences and to clearly define your future goals in the sport. The process helped me refocus and articulate my short and long-term objectives as a rider, forced me to look closely at my expectations for my horse, and gave me an opportunity to fantasize about days filled with no responsibilities beyond the world of horses. Being chosen to represent Region 7 as a recipient of the scholarship for adult amateurs quite simply was a "dream come true."

To paint the picture, I've watched far more lessons than I've had the opportunity to take, and I've scribed at shows more often than I've competed. Basically, I'm like a lot of other adult amateurs in dressage. Horses are a luxury. I'm neither rich, nor poor. I carve out a sizable chunk of time for horses, but I have to balance that with family and working full time. Life is good, but it is rarely easy. My horse lives at home, so I'm a one-woman operation. I clean, feed, and train in solitude, which has both joys and drawbacks. In 2004 I managed to finance and schedule only five lessons. This year, thanks to the Gifted Fund, I've had ten lessons in a little over one month with Jane Weatherwax (USEF "S" and FEI "C" judge). To say that I am grateful to The Dressage Foundation and to all of the people who helped with my application is the understatement of the year. It is difficult to articulate how much this training opportunity has meant to me. I have progressed as a rider; my horse has made phenomenal strides. And, frankly, I've had a blast!

I want to be both a good and an elegant rider. I hope to give the horse confidence, to avoid interfering with the horse's movements, and to give aids in a discreet and emphatic way with correct timing and strength. I want my position to be functionally and consistently correct. So some of my scholarship objectives included improving my seat, legs, hands, and general "feel" for the horse. I hoped that Jane would help me to respond to my horse's movements more quickly and more accurately. In addition, I simply wanted to have a more in-depth knowledge of training techniques.

Jane is an amazing rider, trainer, judge, and teacher – a rare and valuable combination. I will be forever grateful for her generosity and for her time. She initially had to correct some of the bad habits I've acquired working alone, such as looking down at my horse. (I know I'm not alone here, so remember: when the chin drops, the head follows, and the spine collapses. We all already know this, but…). She also pointed out that I sometimes lock my left arm and hand. (One should avoid any kind of rigidity – shoulders and arms need to be free to move in response to the horse. The goal is an elastic contact with the horse's mouth.) And, Jane reminded me that I need to use my lower legs more often in order to give the aids correctly. My horse is a pretty nervous fellow who spooks frequently, and he often talks me out of using my legs accurately. Jane helped me communicate to him that there is actually comfort and security to be found through my legs at his sides. I needed to remember that the more (correct) contact I have with my legs, the more control I have over his hindquarters.

"You need to have more than one way of communicating with your horse." Jane repeated. "He'll try to talk you out of some conversations, but you need everything available!"

A correct position is lifelong quest in dressage. It's something to consider with every stride, in every ride. That said, Jane gave me a couple of exercises that really bring rider position to the forefront. They are especially useful because I can repeat them at home, with no one watching or helping me, and I'll still know right away whether or not I am riding correctly.

"I have to check my position, for myself, every single day," Jane pointed out, "because I too would like to take more lessons than time allows."

The Fat Snowman: This is a good test of rider position and the horse's bend. Ride three connected circles at the trot (or even canter) as you would ride a figure eight with an extra loop. The center circle is the largest at about 20 meters, while the other two circles should be about 10 meters (see diagram). Throughout the entire exercise the rider keeps the same position and the horse keeps the same bend. The large circle is ridden with counter bend. The two smaller circles are ridden with true bend. So if you start with a small circle going to the left, keep your position and the horse's bend left as you travel through the pattern. The smaller circles are no problem if you are riding correctly. Be sure to ride this exercise in both directions, for both right and left bend.

Counter Canter Circles and Serpentines: Jane really emphasized that you have to ride the lead, regardless of the direction that you are going, whether a circle or serpentine. Rider position is crucial to the horse's balance and the accuracy/geometry of the pattern. Jane also had me work on counter canter and transitions. For example, ride a 20-meter circle going to the left, and work on trot-canter transitions picking up the right (counter) lead canter (maintaining right bend) while still on the 20-meter, left circle. Or even mix the leads up, stay on a 20-meter circle, canter right lead, walk, canter left lead, walk, canter right lead, and so on. If the rider's position is not correct, if the aids are not precise, if the horse is not balanced; the canter and even the entire exercise falls apart.

Spiraling Circle: Start on a 20-meter circle, trot or canter. Spiral in (with counter bend) to make smaller and smaller circles, and then spiral back out (reverse the bend) to a 20-meter circle. As with the other exercises, this helps balance both the horse and rider. Jane also had me work on downward transitions while leg yielding away from the center of the circle, kind of leg yielding into the transition. This helped with my position and kept my horse from falling on the forehand in the downward transition.

Whenever I was trying to get my weight to the inside for one of these exercises, Jane would say "swivel on your barstool," which is a great analogy. If you imagine swiveling on a stool as you ride, your shoulders and hips stay parallel to the ground.

As for my horse, initially I had a lot of very specific goals such as working on his flying changes or mastering the walk pirouettes so that we can progress from second level to third. But in reality, those goals are secondary to more fundamental objectives such as balance, rhythm, regularity, contact, impulsion, straightness, and collection. Does that sound like The Training Scale? Well, it is, and my lessons with Jane really reminded me of the importance of those basics. What is a flying change of lead at the canter after all? Really, it is simply the horse's natural way to re-balance himself. It is not about learning the movement for a higher level test; it is about developing correct muscles and coordination in the horse so he can do whatever we reasonably ask of him.

Jane and I worked a lot on the lateral movements. We stared with basic leg yield. Was my horse relaxed and responsive to my leg? Did he glide laterally on his own (once asked) with only intermittent reminders or did I have to constantly push and squeeze him? Did he readily accept the outside rein? I had a little of everything –at times he was wonderful; at others he'd pop the outside shoulder or resist in some other creative way. Sometimes the problem was entirely my fault.

"The inside hand should never cross the horse's neck." Jane had to remind me more than once.

Jane had me do several leg yielding exercises, especially during the first portion of a lesson. Her emphasis was typically, a straight, engaged, balanced horse with impulsion and relaxed, light contact. We did leg yield zig-zags, leg yield to straight to leg yield again, leg yield into transitions, etc. – in walk, trot, and canter. You name it; we tried it! The end result was a more supple, balanced horse – ready to move into more challenging work.

Another series of exercises involved using small, 10-meter circles at walk, trot, and canter to work on the horse's bend and balance. I put my horse on a 20-meter circle, and then rode 10-meter circles within the larger circle; or I rode down the long side (or on the quarter-line) and placed small circles at each letter while maintaining rhythm and length of stride. The emphasis was typically on placing the horse's shoulders on the inside track and bending the whole horse's ribcage around my inner leg.

This "loads" the horse's inside hind leg. One of the challenges for me was to watch that my horse didn't "pop" his outside shoulder. He sort of "falls" over his outside shoulder while pulling against the inside rein. So I had to really hold him with my outside leg and be sure that he was truly accepting the outside rein. I also had to remember to reward my horse by occasionally releasing the inside rein (without losing the bend or flexion).

Jane stressed that, while schooling shoulder-in, the specific angle is not as critical as maintaining whatever angle (possibly less than you want in the long-run) the horse is currently capable of achieving with consistency, balance, and forward momentum.

"That's all neck! That's too much angle!" Jane yelled as I tried for a decent shoulder-in.

Notice that Jane never yelled "that's too much bend" – something that she explained is pretty much impossible. Only after the horse is able to move harmoniously in a resistance free shoulder-in, should you begin to make the angle of movement and overall expression greater.

Jane really helped me learn to "use" the lateral movements to achieve a larger goal, rather than just "doing" the movements. We used shoulder-in, renvers, and travers to improve the horse's bend, balance, and submission and also to increase his ability to collect. It still amazes me how much everything improves through the proper use of the lateral movements. They gymnasticize the hindquarters and create collection by developing the carrying capacity of the hindquarters. We worked on a lot of different lateral exercises but one of my favorite was simply working the horse on the quarter line and switching from renvers to shoulder-in, back and forth. Jane occasionally had me ask for a small circle, a straight horse, or lengthening between different lateral exercises. We also used travers to work on half-pass. After all, they are pretty much the same movement, just done in different places in the arena. (Travers is usually done along a straight line or in a circle, while the same movement performed across the diagonal is the half pass.)

Although my scholarship time did come to an end and I haven't yet won the lottery, so my horse is back at home and I am back at work, this experienced has been amazing. Of course, there is so much more to learn, but The Gifted Fund gave me so much – a fast-forward button in my dressage education!

Thanks to Carol Lavell and the Dressage Foundation for giving me this opportunity. Special thanks to all others for the encouragement and support in this journey and to all the others who helped make this possible – from those who wrote letters of recommendation for my application to family and friends who have listened to my dressage dreams for years. Thanks again to Jane Weatherwax, an amazing trainer and a wonderful person. This experience was extraordinary!