4 Exercises To Develop Balance

& Strength

With Heather Blitz

Dressage Today 2

Correctly develop these essential qualities with straightforward, cause–and–effect methods.

By Heather Blitz with Hilary Moore • Photos by Susan J. Stickle

As I near about 25 years of practicing dressage, it’s become crystal clear

to me what the bottom line is and what it’s all about. Dressage train-

ing is not just about winning blue ribbons. It’s about becoming com-

petent riders who can develop our horses into healthy, balanced and

rideable athletes. The point is to give our horses a sense of strength

and body awareness, which makes them better throughout their lives. Keeping this

in mind helps me understand what my horses need in daily training.

The end result of a well-trained dressage horse at Grand Prix is a horse that

presents a beautiful picture: The haunches are lowered and the back is strong and

supple. The withers are lifted, giving the shoulders lots of freedom to flow and

show expressive movement. The neck is naturally carried in a beautiful, round and

supple shape, and the poll easily accepts the contact. The balance is so exact that

you could imagine the horse being able to work on a gymnast’s balance beam. All

of these attributes are natural for the horse in certain states of excitement. That’s

something important to keep in mind.

Because getting to Grand Prix is usually a dressage rider’s ultimate goal, it’s likely

that this beautiful picture of a well-trained Grand Prix horse is in her mind while

practicing. The problem is that all the necessary ingredients and steps underlying

the finished product aren’t always obvious or instinctual. In this article, I will go

through the things I find are effective in getting a horse to offer the rider the end

result in a way that feels “equine-made” and not man-made.

Whether you are starting to train a young horse or trying to raise the quality of

the work with your advanced horse, the following exercises can apply. The green

horse can learn from precise riding from the start, but advanced horses can benefit

from going back to the basics, too. With my competitive horse Paragon, I have used

nothing other than basic, clear and simple communication to train him, keep-

ing him balanced, bringing out his highest athletic potential. Whether you have

a horse like him with tons of talent or one with average abilities, the physics and

equine psychology used are the same. If you understand them, you can bring out

your horse’s potential, too.

Balance, Strength & Body Awareness

Rider Position and Biomechanics The first thing you have to start with is

your responsibility for your own body

awareness and your ability to under-

stand the biomechanics between you

and your horse. Biomechanics is not

about sitting in a pretty position but

understanding the forces put on your

body by your horse’s movement and

how to match those forces in the proper

directions at the proper times. Sitting

well on your horse is much more diffi-

cult than just relaxing and following his

movement. If that were the case, many

more riders would be quite good. Who

can’t chill out and relax? It’s not that

difficult until the seat you are sitting on

starts moving with lots of power and

motion and in many directions, and

you try to create expression and move-

ment. Really good riders who seem to

expend little effort while sitting on big-

moving horses aren’t up there simply

being loose and relaxed. It’s the same

with an elite figure skater making her

routine look easy or a ballerina seeming

to defy gravity as she floats across the

stage. They are all athletes working hard

to look relaxed and understanding bal-

ance, strength and body awareness to

an amazing level of detail. It’s very nec-

essary for riders, too. My biomechan-

ics coach and mentor, Mary Wanless,

talks more about this in the article on

page 54. In order to assume that your

3 Dressage Today

communication with your horse will

be clear and fair, you have to be sitting

on him in a way that your balance does

not negatively affect him or or cause

conflicts of information (see “The Good

Seat” on p. 49).

There is more to learn about biome-

chanics and, in fact, the higher I go in

my own riding, the more detail comes

up and with fascinating effects on my

horse. But every rider’s body is different

so their lessons should all be differ-

ent too. It’s a great idea to get with a

biomechanics expert to find out what

you need because it’s almost impossible

to do alone.

When I describe the following

exercises to help your horse with his

performance, I am assuming your body

is well-aligned and sorted out.

Exercise 1, Walk–Halt–Walk Transitions These simple transitions can do a lot,

but only if you’re strict and picky. Break

down the transitions so you pay close

attention to the forward and slowing

aids. Let’s first confirm the forward aid:

1. Starting from halt, ask your horse

to walk by using a very light kick with

both lower legs and nothing else. Since

horses can feel something as light as a

fly on their side, that should be enough.

2. If your horse moves off with no

delay whatsoever, that’s a good re-

sponse, and you can praise him and

move on.

3. If he is delayed in his response or

lacking “Yes, Ma’am” enthusiasm, quick-

ly give him a disciplinary kick (or tap of

the whip in some cases) to tell him he

was wrong for not listening. Important

note: That’s a punishment, not an aid.

4. Go back to halt and try it again

with a light aid. Until your horse goes

with an instant “Yes, Ma’am” from a

light aid, you need to repeat the process.

When you get this simple concept

through to your horse, you’ll have what

I consider a “forward” horse that’s in

front of the leg.

Forward is only useful if your horse

is equally adept at stopping. Stopping

muscles are more often neglected or

misunderstood in training dressage

horses. The muscles a horse engages

to stop and move his center of gravity

back onto his haunches are his core and

the thoracic sling. The thoracic-sling

muscles attach the front legs to the

body and, when contracted, raise the

rib cage. Teaching your horse to stop

with promptness is a way to get him to

engage these muscles.

1. Start from walk on a straight line

then close your hands, without pulling

them back, to tell your horse to stop. Do

not lean back and push your feet any

harder into the stirrups while doing this.

As soon as he halts, release the rein.

2. If he stops within two steps, with-

out hesitation or pulling on your hand,

Exercise 1, Walk–Halt–Walk Transitions

Blitz demonstrates the simplest form of the halt transition (from walk) with Jimmy Choo, an 11-year-old Rhinelander gelding owned by Diane Rodich. A prompt, balanced halt helps to move his center of gravity back on his haunches and engage his core and thoracic sling. At first, it is less important that he halts squarely; that will come with time.

Dressage Today 4

and stays in halt when you give the

rein, that’s a very good response, and

you can praise him.

3. If he takes too long to stop or it

takes too strong an aid, once you get

to halt, take a step backward. Once he

does that, release the rein and pet him.

The step backward is a chance for him

to engage his thoracic-sling muscles.

When he does and gets praise for it,

he’ll associate the closing of the hand

with engaging those muscles as the cor-

rect response. A helpful hint that he has

successfully engaged his thoracic sling

is when you give the rein away after

the transition, he shouldn’t accelerate

just from the lack of rein. Lack of rein

shouldn’t mean go. If he remains on

the forehand after the down transition,

he’ll most likely move forward when

you give the rein even if you didn’t tell

him to go from a leg aid.

If he won’t take a step backward,

sometimes it helps to have someone on

the ground tap him on the chest with

the handle of a whip just strong enough

to help influence him to step backward.

I don’t suggest kicking to make your

horse go back since I believe the leg

should mean forward.

4. Repeat these halt transitions until

they happen easily and consistently.

Now that you have your horse doing

quality, prompt and enthusiastic walk–

halt–walk transitions, we can go on.

Exercise 2, Trot–Halt–Trot TransitionsOnce your horse does walk–halt–walk

transitions well, moving up to trot–

halt–trot transitions should be fairly

easy. But keep it simple. It’s important

that you don’t focus directly on your

horse’s frame when first breaking down

these transitions. Since the trot–halt–

trot transitions are more difficult, your

horse may not stay perfectly round

until he understands the exercise and

has the strength and awareness that

it’s about his core and balance first. He

must maintain the instant “Yes, Ma’am”

to your aids as before. Moving up to

trot–halt–trot transitions makes it even

more demanding that he remain obedi-

ent to the aids and that he’s aware of

his balance. Many horses make forward

transitions by first letting go of their

thoracic sling, moving their center of

gravity forward, going in front-wheel

drive and probably becoming resistant

or heavy in the bridle because of it.

With this in mind, don’t be tempted

to try to keep the roundness in the

bridle. In this case, going above the

bit is just a symptom and not a cause.

I don’t ever suggest trying to prevent

symptoms but instead recommend stay-

ing focused on the cause. The very mo-

ment you recognize you horse has made

his forward transition like that, and

his head going up is the result, quickly

show him another halt transition that

Exercise 2, Trot–Halt–Trot Transitions

As the halts become more prompt and square, your horse will become more aware of how to engage the proper muscles to stay balanced and lift the rib cage.

As a result of new body awareness and strength, transi-tions into trot (or walk or canter) will gradually improve and he will develop an equine-made way of going.

1 2

5 Dressage Today

will remind him of his thoracic sling.

If you catch it every time, he’ll learn

quickly what you’re after.

1. Start from halt.

2. Ask for the trot with an almost

invisible, light kick with both lower

legs. Keep a light rein contact that is

not restricting your horse’s reaction to

go forward, even if his head goes up.

3. If he responds with an eager “Yes,

Ma’am” and tries his best to do it as

quickly as possible, that’s a great re-

sponse, and you can reward him for it.

4. If he delays his response, pro-

ceed the way you did in the halt–walk

transition. If you have to use discipline,

always come back to the starting point

and try again as soon as you can.

5. When you ask for trot, if his

response is delayed, he loses balance,

pushes his hind legs out behind him

or tries to pull on your hand, quickly

bring him back to halt to remind him

of his thoracic-sling muscles and that

they must stay engaged. Try to do this

quickly, as soon as you feel it happen.

6. If it takes you a long time to get

back to halt or when you get there, you

don’t sense that he moves his balance

back where it should be, again take a

step or two of rein-back to show him

where to be in his body.

With repetition of these simple tran-

sitions, your horse will learn to keep his

balance in a more consistent place, mak-

ing it easier for him to accommodate

the rein contact and come naturally

into a much better equine-made frame.

Exercise 3, Canter–Walk–Canter TransitionsOnce your trot–halt–trot transitions

are good and your horse starts to prove

to you that he is becoming more body

aware, you can try these concepts in

canter–walk–canter transitions. Since he

is now prepared to listen with sensitiv-

ity and balance, your horse should find

it easy to go from walk to canter, or

canter to walk, at your request.

1. Starting in walk, test that your

horse will listen to the aids for quick

go–stop transitions several times before

asking for the canter. If he doesn’t, then

spend time on that before looking for

the canter transition.

2. Once he’s in the right mindset and

balance, signal him to canter with the

following aids: a very light tap of your

outside leg a bit farther back than its

normal position and your inside leg in

its normal position at the time that his

inside front foot is touching the ground

in the walk.

3. If he goes into canter immediately,

without accelerating too much, and

stays in balance, that’s a great response

and you can praise him for it.

4. If there is a delay in his response,

immediately abandon trying to get the

canter and go right away to the disci-

pline of keeping him sensitive and reac-

tive. Then come back to the walk and

try again, making sure that when you

ask for canter you keep your aid very

light and easy. It’s a natural instinct for

riders to come back for the second try

with a stronger leg aid since the horse

didn’t react quickly enough, but that

just teaches the horse that the rider will

work harder than she has to and it will

end up being much too difficult and

inaccurate and it will result in aids that

are too strong, in the long run.

Try not to think of the canter transi-

tion as a large amount of acceleration,

but just a change of gait with the same

balance and rideability you had in walk.

Canter–walk transitions require a bit

of collection in the canter before you

make the transition:

1. Try to engage your horse’s thoracic

sling in canter before you ask for walk.

Without leaning back or pushing your

feet into the stirrups harder, close both

hands, without pulling back, to ask for

the walk. Leaning back will not engage

your horse’s hind legs, it only pushes

your seat forward, forcing your horse’s

Try not to think of the canter transition as a large amount of acceleration. Instead, think of it as changing into a new gait with the same balance and rideability as you had in walk.

Exercise 3, Canter–Walk–Canter Transitions

Dressage Today 6

The Good SeatGetting lined up vertically from shoulder to hip to heel is a good place

to start (see Photo 1). Your pelvis should remain in a vertical position

throughout the ride with your seat bones aiming directly down; your lower

back is neither rounded nor hollow (see Photos 2 and 3). Your abdominal

and lower back muscles should be toned enough to keep that part of your

body stabilized and still. Your vertebrae should not articulate to absorb

the up and down of your horse’s movement. Your thigh should be resting

snuggly, inwardly rotated and on the saddle at a 45-degree angle, and there

should be a defined amount of bend in your knee to maintain leverage

and stability in your half halts. Your foot should be lightly resting in the

stirrup, without pressing your heels lower than your toe. The old-school

theory of having your legs as long around the horse as possible makes

it almost impossible to have an independent seat. Even if you’re short,

dropping your stirrups and extending your knee so that you seem to have

a longer leg is not effective. You will rob yourself of leverage and become

stronger in your shoulders, stirrups and hands. Photo 4 shows how these

mistakes in your position could cause you to make half halts in much the

same way as a waterskier pulls on the tow rope.

2. Incorrect position (rounded back)

1. Correct position

3. Incorrect position (hollow back)

4. Incorrect position (“waterskiing”)

7 Dressage Today

balance forward onto their forehand

2. If he comes to walk and stays in

balance and doesn’t continue to pull on

your hand, that’s a great response, and

he can be praised for it.

3. If he isn’t balanced enough in

the canter when you ask for walk, he’ll

probably trot a few steps, be heavy in

your hand and possibly resist and be

above the bit. In this case, don’t worry

about his frame, just try to get to walk as

quickly as possible and then halt and, in

some cases, rein-back to get to the point

where he has engaged his thoracic core.

4. Resist the temptation to try to

keep him round if this is how he does

the transitions at first.

5. Do a few repetitions and see how

quickly he learns to do the canter–walk

transition in a better balance with his

core engaged, increasing his chance of

staying nice in the bridle.

I started Paragon as a 3-year-old, and

since he was such a tall, gangly young-

ster, he needed this approach even

more so than others. But it was a good

eye-opener for me to understand what

horses are going through and what

really causes the end result that we all

love. I never put direct work into him

being on the bit until I felt he had the

appropriate amount of body awareness,

core strength and balance to be there

without resistance. With that training

as his background, his natural talent has

flourished and developed without him

feeling pressured to do it. He has offered

his amazing movement to me since the

day he understood how to keep himself

ready for prompt transitions at any mo-

ment, in any direction. Even going from

his extreme extended trot back into pas-

sage is easy for him since he always first

controls his center of balance.

Always remember: The frame of the

horse should be the ultimate natural

result of balance, reactivity and

precision, not a means to an end.

Heather Blitz was a trainer at Oak Hill Ranch in Louisiana when she rode a broodmare she loved so much she

decided to match her breeding. The colt, Paragon, by Blue Hors Don Schufro out of Pari Lord by Loran, stole Blitz’s heart and she decided to buy him. The pair has taken the small tour by storm, scoring as high as 76.7 percent at Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire. Their goal is to represent the United States at the 2011 Pan American Games and 2012 Olympics. Blitz is an international Grand Prix competitor and trainer based in Wellington, Florida (heatherblitz.info).

Compared to Jimmy Choo (left), who has not been working on these exercises as long, Paragon (right) shows that he is further along in developing his equine-made frame. He has a comparably higher wither, freer shoulder and lower croup, which allows him to round his neck correctly without being incorrectly forced into a man-made frame.

Develop the Equine-made Frame

Beginning development of the equine-made frame Advanced development of the equine-made frame