Movements in one place
There are three movements in place that are commonly used in dressage training: turn on the forehand , turn on the haunches , and the pirouette . Additionally, the pivot on the hindquarters and turn on the center are seen in Western riding. The roll-back turn, seen in jumping events and in reining, is a variation on the pirouette. All these movements are performed in relatively one place, in a circular motion.
The turn on the forehand is the simplest of the exercises, asking the horse to move his hindquarters around his forehand, so that the hindquarters inscribe an arc. The turn on the haunches asks the horse to move his forehand around the hindquarters, so that the forelegs inscribe an arc, with the horse bent in the direction of the turn. It is therefore more difficult than the turn on the forehand, requiring better balance and engagement. The pirouette is the most difficult and advanced maneuver, asking the horse to bend in the direction of movement and remain engaged, and requiring collection.
The pivot on the hindquarters (or spin) is commonly seen in reining, and asks the horse to ground the inside hind leg and pivot forelegs around that point. The turn on the center asks the horse to turn around an imaginary pivot point located at the center of his barrel. The horse bends in the direction of the turn, moving his forehand in the direction of the turn and his hind end in the opposite direction. This allows the horse to turn in a very confined area. Neither movement is practiced today in dressage (although the turn on the center used to be a training movement in the 18th century).
These movements ask the horse to move away from leg pressure while bent, sending the energy of the horse on a circular rather than sideways path, and therefore require a greater application of the restraining aids.
Movements with sideways motion
The side pass (also called the full pass or full travers), leg yield, and half-pass all ask the horse to move sideways.
The leg-yield and half-pass are seen in dressage, and require the horse to have forward movement, resulting in the horse moving in a diagonal line. The main difference between the two movements is the direction of bend: with the horse bent in the direction of travel in the half-pass, and kept straight in the leg-yield. Therefore, the half-pass is much more difficult, requiring greater engagement and collection from the horse. The half-pass is a variation on the three-track movement, haunches-in, although it is a two-track movement itself.
In the side pass, the horse moves sideways without stepping forward, and must be executed from a halt. It originated in the cavalry, to help correct the spacing of two horses that were side-by-side in a line. Today it is seen used in the western disciplines, or by police horses. Additionally, it is seen in the lower-level dressage tests in Austria.
These movements teach the horse to properly move sideways away from leg pressure.
Dressage is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined by the International Equestrian Federation, dressage is described as "the highest expression of horse training" where "horse and rider are expected to perform from memory a series of predetermined movements".
Reining is a western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. All work is done at the lope, or the gallop. Originating from working cattle, reining requires the horse to be responsive and in tune with its rider, whose aids should not be easily seen, and judges the horse on its ability to perform a set pattern of movements. The horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely. A horse that pins his ears, conveys a threat to his rider, refuses to go forward, runs sideways, bounces his rear, wrings his tail in irritation, or displays an overall poor attitude is not being guided willingly, and is judged accordingly.If a horse jogs or breaks gait it is a 0.
The piaffe is a dressage movement where the horse is in a highly collected and cadenced trot, in place or nearly in place. The center of gravity of the horse should be more towards the hind end, with the hindquarters slightly lowered and great bending of the joints in the hind legs. The front end of the horse is highly mobile, free, and light, with great flexion in the joints of the front legs, and the horse remains light in the hand. The horse should retain a clear and even rhythm, show great impulsion, and ideally should have a moment of suspension between the foot falls. As in all dressage, the horse should perform in a calm manner and remain on the bit with a round back.
The trot is a two-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about 13 kilometres per hour (8.1 mph). A very slow trot is sometimes referred to as a jog. An extremely fast trot has no special name, but in harness racing, the trot of a Standardbred is faster than the gallop of the average non-racehorse, and has been clocked at over 30 miles per hour (48 km/h).
The canter and gallop are variations on the fastest gait that can be performed by a horse or other equine. The canter is a controlled three-beat gait, while the gallop is a faster, four-beat variation of the same gait. It is a natural gait possessed by all horses, faster than most horses' trot, or ambling gaits. The gallop is the fastest gait of the horse, averaging about 40 to 48 kilometres per hour. The speed of the canter varies between 16 and 27 kilometres per hour depending on the length of the horse's stride. A variation of the canter, seen in western riding, is called a lope, and is generally quite slow, no more than 13–19 kilometres per hour (8–12 mph).
The airs above the ground or school jumps are a series of higher-level, Haute ecole, classical dressage movements in which the horse leaves the ground. They include the capriole, the courbette, the mezair, the croupade and the levade. None are typically seen in modern competitive dressage. They are performed by horses of various riding academies such as the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and the Cadre Noir in Saumur, and may be seen in other dressage performances. The levade and courbette are a particular feature of the Doma Menorquina, the riding tradition of the island of Menorca. Horses such as the Andalusian, Lusitano, Lipizzan and Menorquín are the breeds most often trained to perform the airs today, in part due to their powerfully conformed hindquarters, which allow them the strength to perform these difficult movements. There were originally seven airs, many of which were used to build into the movements performed today.
Equine conformation evaluates a horse's bone structure, musculature, and its body proportions in relation to each other. Undesirable conformation can limit the ability to perform a specific task. Although there are several faults with universal disadvantages, a horse's conformation is usually judged by what its intended use may be. Thus "form to function" is one of the first set of traits considered in judging conformation. A horse with poor form for a Grand Prix show jumper could have excellent conformation for a World Champion cutting horse, or to be a champion draft horse. Every horse has good and bad points of its conformation and many horses excel even with conformation faults.
The half-pass is a lateral movement seen in dressage, in which the horse moves forward and sideways at the same time. Unlike the easier leg-yield, the horse is bent in the direction of travel, slightly around the rider's inside leg. The outside hind and forelegs should cross over the inside legs, with the horse's body parallel to the arena wall and his forehand leading. The horse should remain forward, balanced, and bent, moving with cadence. The inside hind leg remains engaged throughout the half-pass, and the horse should not lose its rhythm.
A Pirouette is a French word for the Ballet reference, "to whirl about."
Turn on the forehand is a lateral movement in equestrian schooling that involves moving the horse's hindquarters around his front legs. Although a basic movement, it is an important training tool for both horse and rider.
A "baucher" is also a type of bit, named after the man.
Riding figures are prescribed paths a horse is ridden on in a riding arena, usually for training purposes. Figures may also be performed out in a field or other open area, but a riding arena provides markers that can help indicate the correctness in the size or shape of a figure.
The leg-yield is a lateral movement in which a horse travels both forward and sideways at the same time. The horse is fairly straight through his body in the leg-yield, although he may have a slight bend opposite to the direction of travel. It is one of the "three initial movements leading up to true lateral work", the others being the turn on the forehand and the shoulder-fore.
Riding aids are the cues a rider gives to a horse to communicate what they want the animal to do. Riding aids are broken into the natural aids and the artificial aids.
Impulsion is the movement of a horse when it is going forward with controlled power. Related to the concept of collection, impulsion helps a horse effectively use the power in its hindquarters. To achieve impulsion, a horse is not using speed, but muscular control; the horse exhibits a relaxed spinal column, which allows its hindquarters to come well under its body and "engage" so that they can be used in the most effective manner to move the horse forward at any speed.
The turn of the haunches is a lateral movement performed at the halt and walk, used in horse training. It requires the horse, while bent in the direction of the turn, to move his forehand around his hindquarters so that he makes a very small circle with the inside foreleg. The horse should pivot around a hind-leg, as seen in the spin. Additionally, the horse should continue to display basic requirements of dressage, such as an even and regular rhythm, relaxation, acceptance of the aids, balance, and freedom of movement.
Haunches-in, also called travers or tête au mur, is a lateral movement used in the dressage discipline of horse training. It has a close cousin, haunches-out, renvers, or croupe au mur, that is slightly more difficult. Both movements are four-track, meaning they produce four lines of hoof prints in the sand, as opposed to the usual two seen if the horse is straight and to the three-track shoulder-in.
The shoulder-in is a lateral movement in dressage used to supple and balance the horse and encourage use of its hindquarters. It is performed on three tracks, where the horse is bent around the rider's inside leg so that the horse's inside hind leg and outside foreleg travel on the same line. For some authors it is a "key lesson" of dressage, performed on a daily basis.
The term forehand refers to the front half of a horse's body.
The half-halt is a specific riding aid given by an equestrian to his horse, in which the driving aids and restraining aids are applied in quick succession. It is sometimes thought of as an "almost halt," asking the horse to prepare to halt in balance, before pushing it onward to continue in its gait.
Leg-yield
Shoulder-in
Travers (Haunches-in)
Half pass
