February 3, 2009
Notes on Starting the Young Dressage Horse
To follow up last month’s article and before delving into the meat of the levels, I want to comment on starting the dressage horse as there appears to be a common lack of understanding as to what happens between the time a horse is foaled and the time the horse is actually rideable.
The inspiration for this writing came about on the day that a woman who boards at the facility I train out of (NOT a student of mine) was literally trampled by her young 2 year old, 17 hand warmblood dressage prospect while leading him. I had previously watched him nearly kick her head off while she was attempting to free lunge him in a round pen. Rumor has it that she, an amateur rider, had purchased this animal sight unseen as a weanling. My guess is that she purchased this horse, as opposed to a more suitable trained mount, because he was more affordable and with the notion that she would make her own fabulous dressage horse. Hmmm.
Unfortunately this scenario is far more common than it should be. While there are always rare exceptions, common sense (or horse sense if you will) dictates that should you decide to tackle the years-long project of training a young horse, you should not only know how but have years of experience doing it. Pardon me, but Duhhh.
The beautiful 3 and 4 year old dressage mounts coming out of the best barns in Europe (and a few here in the states) are put through a well defined program that starts when they are foaled. They are correctly trained to be handled, from haltering to foot trimming to trailering, before they are weaned. In addition to having plenty of access to time in wide open spaces where they can physically develop correctly over the next couple of years, they are still handled most often on a daily basis so they do not regress in their training.
When the time comes to begin training under saddle (late in their second year or early in their third), they are accustomed to being tied and groomed and generally have decent manners. They are introduced to the equipment of riding (gradually) and are then trained to lunge correctly to further develop physically before being asked to carry weight. Then the riding begins. Since the young horse is now accustomed to human interaction, backing is almost uneventful and there is no drama or trauma. For anyone. This is not to say that there is not plenty of careful caution applied to this event however. The next months are a process of teaching the horse to be responsive to the aids and further developing the horse physically so he can carry the rider in all three gaits with balance and ease.
So, should you buy (or breed your own) young dressage horse? Well , you can probably guess what my opinion on that is. Take these things into consideration before you do:
Are you a professional equestrian with many years of experience handling young horses?
If so, do you have access to the appropriate facilities (pasture, barn, arenas and footing)?
If not, can you afford to pay a professional equestrian with many years of experience handling young horses? (which, by the way, may end up being more expensive in the long run than buying a trained rideable mount)
The bottom line, no matter what you do, is to use common sense. While we all love our horses, they all carry the potential to be dangerous if not properly trained.
Next month…Training Level.
JW