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| Photo by Sara Fogan
During the second clinic, Olympic
equestrian Jan Ebeling explained how to
build and increase strength
in a dressage horse. |
In 2010, I
had an opportunity to watch several dressage clinics that were conducted by one
of my favorite competitors, Olympian Jan
Ebeling. The workshop was held during the Equine Affaire in
Pomona, California, during which time he worked with several riders and their
horses to fine-tune their communication and technique with their equine
partners. In addition to teaching the participants and auditors how to execute
a movement, he also demonstrated how to achieve each of the elements on the
Training Scale while riding his Grand Prix Oldenburg/Thoroughbred mare,
Sandrina. Here are some highlights of what I learned and observed during the
second of three clinics he conducted during that weekend.
Seminar #2, February 5, 2010
Reflex, push at the girth produces tendency
to go forward. Behind the girth prevents the haunches from falling out of
pushing sideways in another direction.
Position of the rider is very important! Flex
the wrist and squeeze the reins with finger like a wet sponge. Outside leg supports
the haunches, inner leg sends direction forward.
Backing off is as important as pushing
forward. Remember your half halts. Driving and restricting=half-halt. End in a
release.
Low cross-poles, trot poles, good for
gymnasticizing the horse.
Voice has a soothing effect on the horse, but
don’t use voice aids in a test!
School the horse in both directions to keep
him equally pliable. Start schooling the horse on his easier direction to get
him looser.
Bend should always be equal. Use light
pressure: “Less is more.”
Know your horse re: what type of warm-up
works best.
Praising is VERY important!
People are very fast to notice/punish a
mistake. We need to notice and reward efforts!
You want energy, praise horse when he bursts
forward. It’s better to have natural energy than to have to use spurs.
Use as little hand as necessary to propel the
horse.
Half-pass is designed to help force the horse
to loosen up and bend at the hips.
Leg intensity must match on both sides of the
horse’s body
The more active you can make him, the easier
the transition will be.
To push forward, activate the inside leg at
the girth to go forward. The outside leg goes back to support the forward
motion. Come back to the outside leg.
Simple walk-canter transitions are good to
make the horse listen to you.
How you combine the various aids you use,
determines the outcome of the movement. Make sure the horse understands the
nuances of the language you are speaking to him.
When you have problems doing a technique,
“pick it apart” in elements to fix it.
Make sure the horse understands cues for
walk-canter and trot-canter, right away. Inner leg, outer leg, weight, what we
do with our hands.
Use driving aids to push the horse back. Get
active behindàcarries weight in the hind.
Piaffe-diagonal-equal two beats. Save areas
as forward trot.
Strength takes a long time to build in
dressage horses.
Aids are very simple to give if you know how
to give them.
More engagement/less engagement is achieved
through half-halts; you need to ride a lot of transitions.
Goal is to have a relaxed, steady rhythm
(trot)
Push horse forward into the contact and then
release (less than 0.5 seconds.)
Always end movement in relief; get out of the
horse’s face.
If horse has problem with his tongue, there’s
a submission problem: Horse isn’t accepting the bit. Make sure the tack is
correct to communicate with him.
You always want to keep the training
interesting for the horse.
Make sure the horse uses muscle on top of his
neck, stays in frame.
Full seat-bonesàstraight
Everything in dressage is very minute. These
kinds of adjustments can be difficult to make.
Part of riding is understanding how horses
“talk” to us.
Principles of riding…. Sometimes you have to
be tough, not rough.
Sara R. Fogan,
C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California.
She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an
appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
