Dressage Terms, Explained
Dressage Terms
What does it all mean?!
Calmness and relaxation: Absences of mental or physical tension.
Rhythm: The pattern of footfalls or beats of a gait. Rhythm must be correct, clear, and steady.
Tempo: The rate of rhythm. Tempo should remain the same within a gait.
Forward: Moving forward with powerful strides from the hindquarters. Not to be confused with speeding up or quickening the tempo!
Jack showing a nice forward canter
Obedience: Attention to the rider and willingness to listen to the aids without disobedience
Submission: The horse yields to the rider’s aids willingly and without resistance, evasion, or stiffness
Bend: When the horse’s body is curved around the rider’s leg.
Contact: The connection of the reins and the horse’s mouth. The horse should reach out and take a steady contact with the rider’s hands and accept the bit.
Brooklyn shows a steady contact and good connection with Hades here
Balance: The horse is carrying the riders’ and its own weight in the best way. The weight is on the hind legs, not on the front legs (the forehand).
Suppleness: The horse’s ability to shift his balance smoothly forward and back as well and left and right, especially in transitions.
Straightness: A horse’s alignment in motion. The horse is straight when he has equal thrust from both hind legs, takes and equal contact on both reins, and moves symmetrically.
Frame: The placement of the head and neck. A horse can be in a “high frame,” (the neck is higher than the withers), “level frame” (neck is level with the withers), or “low frame” (neck is below the withers). A frame is usually being held in place by rein action (the hands), and the horse may be hollow and disengaged while maintaining a frame. The best way to tell if your horse is simply holding a frame or is actually round is if it does not maintain itself without either constant pressure from the hands, or momentary jerks on the mouth to communicate to the horse that it should keep its posture in place.
In this moment, Leo is showing a frame rather than being truly on the bit.
On the bit/Round/Through: When the horse has rounded his back, has accepted your weight, has engaged his hindquarters, has accepted the contact in the mouth and has arched his neck. He has given himself up to the rider’s aids. The hind legs reach further forward underneath the body, and the hind stride length approaches the same distance as the front legs. The hind end may dip down slightly while the front end levels out or rises slightly higher than the withers. The rider’s weight is carried more evenly with a lifted back, and a release of the reins allows the horse to stride forward toward the contact, not away from it.
Connection: When the rider and horse are moving together with no blocks or breaks. There is an unrestricted flow of energy and influence from the rider to the horse, and back to the rider.
On the Aids: The horse accepts and responds to the rider’s aids (seat, leg, voice, hands, etc.).
Impulsion: Thrust from the hindquarters which sends the horse forward and energizes his movements. Desire to go forward WITH straightness and balance.
Behind/In Front of the Leg: The horse is in front of the leg when he willingly and promptly moves forward or sideways when he receives a leg aid.
Self-Carriage: The horse “carries himself” in a state of balance without needing prompting from the rider.
Lightness: When the horse moves with impulsion, suppleness, and the right degree of self-carriage.
Collection: This is a state in which the horse is gathered together using his muscles. As he engaged his hindquarters, his hind legs bend more in every joint and carry more weight. His balance shifts to the rear, and his back and neck rise, making his forehand lighter. His steps become shorter, more elevated, more elastic, and he moves with lightness and energy. It is the highest level of training for the horse and requires a sophisticated level of balance, mental/emotional control, physical ability and understanding from the horse.