Liana Antanovich Dressage

Objective: The horse becomes accustomed to the rider’s weight and offers cooperation (requirements for Training Level tests).

Elements: To achieve the criteria of PHASE A (on the way to Training Level), we mainly work on relaxation, regularity, freedom of the gaits and contact.

1 Relaxation is the first element we must care for and establish. The relaxed horse is confident and able to learn. Relaxation is the absence of tension in the horse’s body and mind.

2 Regularity cannot be expected unless the horse is moving in a relaxed way, without a tension in body or mind. Regularity is the correctness of the gait, including purity, evenness, and levelness.

3 Freedom of the gaits should not be asked for at an expense of regularity. Freedom of the gaits is the reach and scope and lack of constriction in the movement of the fore and hind limbs. A horse that has freedom of gaits exhibits a desire to move forward with natural ease.

4 Contact can only be achieved by a relaxed horse that is moving regularly and freely forward into the rein and accepting the bit. Contact is the acceptance of the bit. With training a horse develops the ability to push itself up off the bit, providing a very light, almost hanging rein connection with the riders seat thru the rider’s hand/arm/back.

PHASE B

About 9 months

Elements: To achieve the criteria of PHASE C (on the way to Second Level), we mainly work on balance, Durchlässigkeit, Schwung, and collection.

1 Balance (see above).

2 Durchlässigkeit can best be proven in transitions. A badly balanced horse is not able to perform the good transitions and is not pleasurable to ride. Without Durchlässigkeit, there cannot be Schwung. Durchlässigkeit is a German term that is often translated as suppleness or throughness, though it is much more than looseness in the horse’s body. Durchlässigkeit is the ‘quality in a horse that permits the aids (primarily the rein aids) to go through and reach and influence the hind legs’. We can also consider the definition given for suppleness, which is ‘the physical ability of the horse to shift the point of equilibrium smoothly forwards and back as well as laterally without stiffness or resistance. Suppleness is manifested by the horse’s fluid response to the rider’s restraining and positioning aids of the rein and to the driving aids of the leg and seat. Suppleness is best judged in transitions”. (USDF Rule Book.) Another definition reads: Suppleness is ‘pliability, showing ability to smoothly adjust the carriage (longitudinal) and the position or bend (lateral) without impairment of the flow of movement, or of the balance’ (USDF Glossary of Judging Terms).

3 Schwung is thrust and spring in the steps, suppleness of the back, and engagement of the haunches. In order to achieve Schwung, the horse must be well balanced and Durchlässig (supple). Schwung is another German term that is often translated as impulsion. Schwung is ‘ the powerful thrust emanating from the hindquarters propelling the horse forward and traveling through an elastic swinging back and relaxed neck’ (USDF Glossary of Judging Terms, 1990)

4 Collection means the horse is gathered together; has more carriage, elevation, and more lightness. Collection cannot be achieved unless other elements are properly established and confirmed. The capability to collect makes the horse ready to proceed to the higher levels of dressage. Collection is the state in which the horse is gathered together. The hindquarters carry more weight, the forehand becomes lighter, and the horse becomes more elevated in the withers and neck.