How to Condition a Horse for Dressage

Training a horse for the equestrian sport of dressage requires patience and dedication to condition the animal's body so that its muscles and joints can perform the intricate movements required during competition. By slowly introducing new movements and new steps as your mount becomes accustomed to the learned ones, you and your horse can achieve integrated riding that is fun for both of you. If you are not qualified to teach and condition your horse, hire a trainer certified by the American Riding Instructor Association or the U. S. Equestrian Federation to instruct it for you using proven training methods.

Things You'll Need

  • Halter and lead rope
  • Lunge line
  • Long-reins
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Teach your horse proper ground manners to establish a partnership with it. Learning how to be lead by a halter, how to pick its feet up for cleaning and shoeing, how to back up on a lead, how to stand still for tacking up and mounting and how to load and unload easily in a trailer shows your mount that you can be trusted as its potential leader and rider.

    • 2

      Lunge your animal in a round pen or arena, focusing on teaching the horse how to respond to vocal and body language commands at the walk, the trot and the canter, and during gait transitions. Train both the right and left leads for the same amount of time during each session to allow for proper muscle development on both sides of the horse. Use side reins to help your mount engage its neck and back during forward impulsion, and strengthen the muscles in its hindquarters while moving it in and out of 10- to 20-meter circles around you.

    • 3

      Train your horse on long-reins once the horse is at ease working in smaller circles on the lunge line to increase impulsion. By working the animal on the ground with two reins, you show it how to give its head and neck to the inside rein, while positioning its body according to the dictates of the outside rein. Working on long-reins at all three gaits in both directions teaches the horse how to bend its body around the outline of a circle, allowing for its hindquarters to develop so that its back hooves begin tracking up under its belly.

    • 4

      Ride circles, transitions and straight lines in all three gaits after your horse is comfortable long-reining. You want the animal to move forward off your leg with the slightest squeeze while maintaining contact with the bit and the proper bend in its body. The animal needs to have the energy and strength to maintain the trot and the canter without continuous urging from you, and affect the downward transitions when asked for them. Learning this type of self-carriage trains the horse to be self-confident while still listening to its rider.

    • 5

      Introduce the half-halt, rein-back and counter-bend to the horse while moving at all three gaits to advance its self-carriage even further. The half-halt and rein-back should encourage the animal to shift its weight onto its hindquarters, while increasing the understepping and flexion of its hind legs. By bending your horse in the opposite direction of your previous training, you teach it to move forward on a different track in preparation for learning the lateral moves necessary in dressage competitions.

    • 6

      Teach your horse the extended trot and extended canter by using cavalletti and ground poles. These moves are necessary in the upper levels of competition. Trot and canter your horse over the training aids, gradually expanding the distance of the poles to allow your horse to lengthen its stride without increasing the tempo of its steps. This stretching shows the animal's flexibility and muscular suspension.

    • 7

      Instruct your horse on the lateral moves of leg-yielding, shoulder-in, travers, renvers and half-pass by using your leg and seat aids to cause the animal to go freely forward while bending its body around one of your legs. The horse's front legs move on a different track from the back legs, and either set, depending on the specific movement, will cross over each other, eliciting both a forward and sideways movement. Lateral work makes the horse more obedient to the rider while making it more flexible, elastic and balanced in the rear end.

    • 8

      Begin training for the advanced, suspended movements of flying lead changes -- also called "tempi" -- pirouettes, piaffe and passage once your horse is fully comfortable at all lateral moves. Tempi occur when the animal performs a change of lead in the air during the canter stride; a pirouette happens when a horse canters in place, moving its front end around the hind on a circle. Piaffe and passage are advanced, suspended trot movements -- piaffe while the horse is standing still, and passage while it is moving forward. All four movements engage the hindquarters in a sitting down action and bend the hock, while encouraging elasticity and collection of the horse's muscles.