Training for Suppleness

This article is from the January 2021 Horse Deals magazine.

FEI Dressage Rider and B Level Judge, Ally O’Neill, is passionate about the theory side of the sport, including the Training Scale, and incorporating it into her own riding and training. Currently on the Victorian High-Performance Dressage Squad with Roseglen Toytown, she also has some upcoming young horses.

Suppleness is a word that I have become very familiar with over the years from a dressage judge, rider and coach’s perspective, although I feel like this is a topic where there is always a lot to learn no matter how much experience you have. I remember there was a time when I had heard of the word suppleness but didn’t really understand what it meant, what it looked like, what it felt like, I had no idea what to do to achieve it or realise how important it is for all horses in any discipline to work on, and not just with dressage horses.

There is a reason that the word suppleness is so important in dressage sport, and that is because it is the second part of the Training Scale. The first three parts of the Training Scale are linked together to form the phase of understanding and confidence for the horse, and are Rhythm, Suppleness and Contact. Suppleness is also known in German as “losegelassenheit”, of which there is no real translation in English.

What it means in summary, is the complete absence of tension in the horse’s mind and body, and the way that is translated in the horse’s way of going. There is no resistance, and the horse shows looseness in the paces and in its body, which is expressed by a horse showing freedom and ground cover with regularity in all paces and with an outline that is adjustable. The horse will follow the rider’s hand forward and down as they allow the reins to become longer but also easily come back without stiffening when the rider picks up the rein pressure. When we talk about the horse needing to show relaxation in both the mind and body, this is not to be mistaken for calm, or slow, or flat, nor do we want the horse to appear robotic in its way of going.

A supple horse feels like it is confidently travelling underneath you, and attentive to your aids, accepting the half halts, accepting changes of direction easily and changes within or between the paces. The poll is elastic on both sides, which means, the horse looks both ways and easily shows flexion in the direction of travel without resistance with a closed mouth that is lightly chewing on the bit in response to the riders elastic feel through the reins. The horse’s back is swinging, which makes the strides look loose and free from tension and means that you can see the regular, elastic and swinging steps in the trot, a clear uphill jump in the canter strides as well as a walk that is relaxed over the back and open out of the shoulder with a clear over track in a four-beat rhythm.

Creating a more supple horse through correct training can make horses with average basic paces develop into something quite expressive and elastic, but if you neglect the suppleness, you can turn the most talented horses with natural elasticity in their paces into something very basic and sometimes even cause rhythm problems and deterioration of the basic paces. Even naturally good moving horses need to be suppled, they deserve to have their paces developed and strengthened with correct training too. It’s not just the more basic moving horses need to be suppled, every horse does! The aim of correct training, especially when it comes to suppling, is to help the horse learn to use its whole body without tension in a way that will improve the basic paces, regardless of the quality that you begin with. As the requirements of training go on and especially during movements, horses will tend to stiffen in their bodies and become less supple. This is why it is so important to constantly revisit basic suppling exercises and that they are relevant for every horse, no matter the discipline or the level they are at. The movements are much easier to ride correctly and with quality when the horse is supple, and if you can show quality paces during a movement in a test, this will affect your scores in a positive way. I often hear people say, “but my horse doesn’t have flash paces...” and that might be the case, but you will be surprised how much you can change the paces for the better when you have a supple horse!

After reading and digesting all of that, I hope there is more appreciation and understanding that there are variations in the degree of suppleness that we can expect from a horse, and that there will always be work required to improve the amount of suppleness that a horse can offer or show. It is important that suppling exercises are appropriate to the horse’s age and training level but also continued as the horse progresses through their training so it can be developed even further. There really is no ceiling in what you can achieve here, and as a rider, I feel like each time you unlock more pieces of the suppleness puzzle, you develop more and more throughness. But that is another topic!

Transitions

If you think about what we want to see and feel in a dressage test, we want everything to flow from one movement to the next in a harmonious way. This can be achieved by improving the way the horse responds to your aids in the transitions both within and in between the paces. While this might sound easy, if you take the time to consider in more detail how the horse responds to your aids in each individual transition, you will find that it can always be that little bit better and there is always room for better marks in a test situation. The most basic exercise to improve suppleness for me is training for a positive reaction and response which is easy to regularly test and revise in the transitions, and this can be done with horses at any level. You will be surprised how frequently the higher-level horses need to be reminded to stay on the rider’s aids with transition exercises, especially when it comes to travelling forward!

Transition Exercises

Trot > Walk > Trot
Working trot on 20-metre circle, walk for exactly six strides over the starting marker and trot on. Increase the transition frequency to twice on the circle line (over the starting marker and centreline) with four walk strides. For the more advanced horses, complete four transitions for every quarter of the circle line, with two walk strides.

Canter > Trot > Canter
Working canter on a 20-metre circle, trot for exactly four strides over the starting marker and canter on. Increase the transition frequency, twice on the circle line (starting marker and centreline) and then for more advanced horses, four transitions from canter to trot with two trot strides in between each transition.

The 20-metre circle exercises can be turned into figure of eights and serpentines to incorporate use of the whole 20 x 60 dressage arena space.

With younger horses, you can start on a basic 20-metre circle line and I like to use A, C, E or B as they are lines that we ride in the lower level tests. Make sure that your 20-metre circle lines are correctly ridden circle shapes with correct flexion, bend through the ribs and control of the shoulder and quarter.

Shoulder In > Lengthen/Medium > Working/Collected
Shoulder in for both trot and canter on the long sides. Always use your corner to prepare, with clear positioning around your inside leg, bend through the ribs and flexion. Start the movement at the first letter and ride to the next letter (for example on the left rein, ride from F to P) and then accelerate into the lengthened or medium pace for two letters (P to R) and then a transition to the working or collected pace for one letter (R to M), then prepare for your next corner. You can increase the frequency to make this more difficult, or make it easier, depending on the response and feeling you get from the horse.

NOTE
Perform all exercises on both reins, not just the easier side! Horses and riders are naturally one-sided. It’s our job as the rider to not only work on ourselves and sit independently with good posture so the aids can be clearly delivered, but also work on equal suppleness for the horse to create more symmetry and balance for a horse that will stay sound for longer.

Ally’s tips:

• Be specific with the delivery of your aids! In order to train the horse to respond to your aids in a positive way and learn to offer a good reaction, you need to make sure that the application of your aids remains consistent and that you can sit in a balanced way. If the first response is not what you were hoping for, the repetition is what gets you to where you need to be. If you change your aids to suit the horse’s response, this can become confusing to the horse and then difficult for you to reward at the correct moment, so remember that the repetition of the exercises is what leads to the horse being able to give the correct response and then the reward to follow.

• If the horse starts to become a little flustered or confused, remember to take a break and then start again, there is always tomorrow. Repetition doesn’t just mean in one training session, it means every training session, and this is what develops confidence in the horse to your aids.

• There will be times that tension can occur, but this is up to the rider or your eyes on the ground, to recognise and to make the exercise easier, then reward and stretch the horse. Be disciplined with how you deliver your aids as this is how you will train your horse to respond correctly.

You don’t need to have the most perfectly conformed horse to perform well in dressage sport, or a horse with the most incredible flamboyant paces. Repetition and consistency while performing basic suppling and gymnastic exercises with your horse will help a younger horse achieve its full potential, and an older horse maintain what it has developed and stay sounder for longer, not to mention the harmony for both horse and rider. A word of warning though, the feelings of looseness, elasticity and a soft swinging back that you can create with your horse will become addictive! Enjoy.

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