Vary your training
Nothing kills the spark of motivation more than repeating the same training routine every day. This is not only true for us riders, but also – or especially for horses. Working on the same dressage movements every day in the way and the same surroundings will probably get your horse bored and reduce the performance of both horse and rider. So, here is how you can vary your training and see improvements in your dressage riding: Regularly providing different training input – both physically and mentally – ensures a more holistic approach to developing the horse. Different muscle groups are trained, which will help prevent injuries and keep your horse fit and sound. But that is not all. Adding variety in your training improves communication between rider and horse and promotes trust and partnership. If the horse is regularly given new “mental input”, he will learn to concentrate and improve focus and coordination. And last but not least, adding variety to your training also motivates the rider.
How can you vary your training?
There are a number of ways to add variety to your training: Lunging with the single lunge or double lunge, training on the racetrack or in a field, ground work as well as pole and cavaletti exercises. These are not only useful for show jumping and eventing horses, dressage horses also benefit hugely from regular pole work in walk, trot and canter. You can use ground poles to improve rhythm and suppleness, to activate your horse’s back, build muscles and work on coordination and balance. Poles and cavaletti can be integrated into lunging work or used for free jumping. Of course, there are some horses that really struggle with jumps and pole work. If that’s the case, you can use soft poles made of foam or plastic to avoid any risk of injury.
Training on a racetrack strengthens the abdominal and back muscles and is actually great fun for all horses. Riding uphill and downhill is very effective for training pushing and carrying strengths. And on leisurely hacks, horses can take in their environment, improve agility and grow their confidence.
The right balance between work and time-off
Varied training also includes regular breaks so that the horse can regenerate physically and mentally. A well-structured training schedule of work units and breaks motivates and challenges, promotes self-confidence and improves the horse’s strength, condition, balance, elasticity, suppleness and coordination. It’s quite simple: varied training = healthy, fit and motivated horse.
Watch the video to learn how we train our dressage horses in Aubenhausen, and what Olympic Champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl focuses on when creating training schedules for her horses.
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