Demonstrating Riding Competency

USDF developed a certification program to provide a training standard for dressage. Dorie Vlatten Schmitz organized and hosted the first of three workshops January 27-28. USDF Certified Instructor Faculty Sarah Martin was the workshop instructor for the weekend.

The Basic Riding workshop was an educational and growth-oriented experience for participants and auditors. Each day began with a short lecture and discussion. Then the group moved to the covered arena where each of the eight participants had to demonstrate their abilities to conduct a tack safety check, verbally access a horse, show their basic competency to improve the horse through riding, and finally verbalize the results of the riding using correct dressage terminology.

Top 5 takeaways from the weekend:

1. Work toward Conscious Competence.

There are four stages of competency:

Unconscious Incompetence (you don’t know that you don’t know)

Conscious Incompetence (you realize that you don’t know)

Conscious Competence (you know and are aware)

Unconscious Competence (you know but no longer think about it)

2. Always ask yourself the WWH.

What’s going on, and why?

What am I going to do about it?

How will I address it?

3. Keep things simple and basic. Don’t overcomplicate. Rely on your common sense.

This theme threaded the weekend. When asked to explain dressage terminology or provide an analysis, the participants were encouraged not to get lost in the language or speak with excessive detail. Participants were encouraged to be direct and succinct. Despite generalizations, participants were asked not to think of everything said or discussed as a rule. Every ride, every horse, and every situation requires common sense.

During the weekend, participants garnered some great information and reminders. For example, riders are already starting the training before walking off (after mounting) through the body language of horse and rider. During the warm-up, be sure to spend enough time at the walk and circles. Participants were encouraged to do some gentle turn on the forehand before picking up the trot. The reins can be longer for first trot and first canter. Move the dressage test patterns around. Use the quarterline or nose-to-wall leg yields.

Keep student communication simple and real. Don’t get so caught up in analogies that you as the trainer don’t teach the correct dressage terminology or what it means. Just because you know what you mean, it doesn’t mean the student knows.

If the horse can do the work, do it! Remember that a horse needs energy in order to have something to connect to. If there is a connection issue, ask if it’s a lack of hind legs or if the rider is overriding the front end.

Discussing the training pyramid at training level, think of collection in terms of level balance—being off the forehand and having a tendency towards self-carriage. Understand counter-flexion and how it can be a fake fix. Never overdo an exercise that is not working. Watch for muscle fatigue. It’s not reasonable to ask a horse to perform correctly when we drilled that muscle group the day before.

There is a difference between being a good rider and a good trainer.

4. Know the zones! Comfort zone * Stretch zone * Panic zone

Most riders and trainers spend too much time in the horse’s comfort zone. It’s important to ask the horse to stretch beyond that area but not take the horse to the panic zone. One way to get to the stretch zone is by evaluating the hind legs: can I move sideways, can I move longer, can I make them smaller? Another way is to work on the horse’s energy. In building the energy, can the horse go more? Utilize transitions within the gaits and build the elastic band.

An example that came up with a participant’s ride was that the horse showed a lack of balance on the left lead canter serpentine. The horse wanted to fall on the right shoulder or, when prevented from that, would perform a flying change. The workshop instructor advised the participant to not complete the serpentine (comfort zone), but ride straight on the quarterline and address the right shoulder (stretch zone) without allowing the horse to perform a flying change.

5. The trainer’s mantra: observe, analyze, plan, implement

Observe: Tack safety check, physical and mental health of the horse

Analyze: Use the information gathered in the warm-up phase to present a two- to three-sentence assessment. Don’t get into the detail yet. During the work phase you ask the deeper questions such as more bending or more crossing. Understand that there is no quick response with cold muscles and a cold mind.

Plan: Ask yourself, what movements and what figures can I use to help the horse? How long, how strong, how often?

Implement: Think about the muscle circle—haunches and hind leg; withers and barrel (including the shoulder blade); shoulders and neck; and poll and front legs.

This workshop was about demonstrating basic competency to improve a horse through riding and articulating the assessments and results using correct dressage vocabulary. Each of the eight participants and the auditors learned so much from the educational weekend. Sarah is an expert communicator and instructor, and her weekend sidekick, Dolly Hannon, a USEF “S” dressage judge and USDF “L” faculty member offered additional expert insights. The workshop absolutely would not have been possible without the eight horse owners lending their horses for the participants to ride. Appreciation cannot be expressed strongly enough, and the workshop had a wonderful variety of horses!