Crystal System Dressage – Chapter 9

Published on: December 7, 2015December 7, 2015Author: PatriciaComment: 0

Crystal System Dressage, Chapter 9

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi

“… There are a number of essential elements to the way your horse works which are fundamental to your dressage success. They are forwardness, rhythm and relaxation, tempo and straightness. Without a clear understanding of their importance and a basic knowledge of how to achieve them you simply will not be able to perform a basic training test and unquestionably you will not be able to progress the levels. ”

Crystal System Dressage “… Imagine your horse ambling along in walk, jogging instead of trotting, stumbling through a test constantly breaking the three beat canter. Not often do you see all of these faults in one horse but sure as night follows day you will experience these faults, at least to some extent, if you have not focussed your training on rhythm. Because in this small, rather oddly spelled word (should be ritham, right?) you have wrapped up a whole host of skills you and your horse must master; energy, even tempo, clear and regular paces, balance, contact and so on. If you consider that impurities or irregularities in the rhythm, tempo and stride length are serious flaws in your horse’s ability to perform you can begin to appreciate that not only should you begin the training process by focussing on rhythm, but you should remain focussed on rhythm throughout your riding career.”

“… This dressage thing, it’s all about you helping your horse to be the best he can be. If you feel that your horse is not straight, look to yourself. I guarantee that you will be inadvertently asking for the unevenness or you will have trained your horse to be uneven, which is sad, but true. The irony is that in order to rectify issues and train straightness into our horses we almost never ‘go straight’. You need to strive for and maintain suppleness in your horse so that he is flexible enough to use his muscles on both sides of the body evenly. In Chapter 12 we look at ‘Suppling The Horse’ and it is by concentrating on these exercises that we teach ourselves and our horses to be supple enough to ‘track true’. Your horse’s needs are vast and complicated, he may think all he needs is feeding, but all equestrians know how ridiculous this statement is. You have far wider ranging responsibilities and his physical development is one of them. So concentrate on ensuring that both you and your horse are straight in the way you move.”