Get set to event part one: dressage

To many people, eventing is the pinnacle of equestrian sport. The discipline of dressage, the precision and care of showjumping and the bravery and technicality of cross-country require plenty of preparation at home, as well as organisation on the day. But anyone can have an exhilarating day out eventing, so long as you spend some time on the ground work. That’s where I’m here to help. In this series we’ll look at each discipline to help you get the best results possible, as well as demystifying everything from fitness to packing lists. Eventing is a jigsaw, but once you understand all the puzzle pieces you can put them together – let’s get started!

The key to success

Talent isn’t a prerequisite for enjoying eventing, but you do need to commit enough time to training in order to safely complete on the day. That’s not to say that you can’t enjoy your training, or that it can’t be fun, but simply that in order to have a successful, safe, fun day there is work to put in – on a regular basis. The benefits of this daily work are wide-ranging and will boost your enjoyment of all your riding time, so it’s worth the effort. In fact, daily work builds skill, capacity, ability, technique and confidence for both horse and rider, ensuring a successful partnership.

Top tip

The key to good results is building a relationship with your horse and having fun.

Gilles’ golden rule

It’s important your horse accepts your contact in walk before moving on to trot

What the judge wants

In some ways, eventing dressage can feel more difficult than pure dressage. There is often less ‘going on’ in the test and, with fewer places to hide, any inconsistencies in the way of going can be magnified. 

The flip side? Work on the basics and not only will you have a more trainable, enjoyable to ride horse, but your dressage marks will soar.

So, what is the judge looking for? Certainly, at the lower levels of the sport the key is a relaxed horse who’s working leg to hand in a balanced, light frame with plenty of energy, but not rushing out of his natural rhythm.

Gilles’ golden rule

Be simple and clear with your orders – it’ll help your horse understand and do what you’ve asked without confusion.

Putting it into practice

These exercises are some of my favourites to help you and your horse train effectively and build your partnership together.

Exercise one: circles

Being in control of exactly where your horse places his feet is essential, because lack of accuracy will significantly impact your marks. Circles are a brilliant way to work on this skill – they allow you to choose a precise path for your horse to follow, and make it easier to see if he drifts or wobbles.

Another key benefit of a circle is that it engages the inside hindleg and therefore helps to establish and improve tempo – something every judge is looking to see consistency in.

Make it work for you Ride circles of different sizes, and repeat each size a few times. Be precise in what you ask, but also exacting in what you expect – your horse must stay on the track you specify. Use your legs to funnel him forward into the contact, which will help maintain the amount of neck bend you need. Your reins aren’t a steering device here – think of them as controlling the direction and energy that your legs have created.

Test your skills Ride a figure of eight with one circle in trot and the other in canter. Aim to keep the tempo the same across both gaits, with a focus on a steady rhythm and consistent head carriage and contact.

Pro tip 

Use the whole of the arena. By riding off the fence line you’ll test whether your horse is really focused on you. Circles in the centre of the arena, or anywhere on the centre line, are a great test of this.

Exercise two: lateral movements

While you won’t have to show lateral work in an eventing dressage test until you’ve progressed quite a way up the ladder, lateral movements are essential. They help develop relaxation, suppleness (especially in the neck) and balance, improve bend and teach your horse to work around your inside leg – all core skills for a good dressage test. 

Make it work for you Leg-yield is a one-stop shop to help improve bend – begin in walk and, once your horse is stepping sideways and crossing his legs, progress to trot. Think of moving his shoulder in front of you – this is key to enabling him to properly cross his legs and produce true leg-yield steps.

Test your skills Start on the centre line and leg-yield to the middle of the long side, then straighten up and ride forward in a longer outline. If he uses speed to escape the connection you’ve created with the leg-yield then focus on maintaining contact and slowing his front end to keep the rhythm the same.

Pro tip 

Work around the arena in trot, ensuring he’s accepting your leg and moving up to the contact, then ride an active downwards transition to walk before asking for leg-yield.

Gilles on… turns

Use your leg and hips to turn. Moving your weight like this, rather than moving your upper body, is key. Your hands need to stay still over the centre of your horse.

Exercise three: serpentine

Serpentines are great to help you develop your horse’s focus, and also to develop a better, more consistent, head carriage. The goal is to keep his head at the same height and not move throughout the exercise

Make it work for you Your horse’s head position depends on your hands. The contact needs to be consistent, light and soft to support a steady head carriage. Play around to see what happens when you adjust your contact, but remember to ensure you’re always supporting his outside shoulder on the serpentine.

Test your skills Try riding the entire serpentine with different head positions – sometimes low and long, sometimes round and higher.

Pro tip 

To get a longer, lower outline remember to gradually give the rein. It’s important to keep the dialogue down the rein, too, not just give it away.

Walk this way

The free walk is normally double marks in dressage, so you can gain or lose a lot with a good or bad one.

Spend time practising medium to free walk with an extended neck and back again. Then work on the transition from free walk to medium walk. To do this, hold your horse with your legs and follow with your arms to keep him in walk (rather than slowing to a halt or breaking into trot).

Gilles on… Canter

For some horses it’s tricky to create the engagement a dressage judge is looking for by training mostly in walk and trot. If that’s the case, don’t be afraid to ride these exercises in canter to help create that engagement.

Moving on to medium

While establishing reliable, rhythmical working paces is essential to good dressage marks, as you progress you’ll need to be able to show some medium steps. Mix up the way you teach this, but remember the key elements – your horse must stay focused on you at all times, and not take charge or become distracted. To help with this, mix up what you ask for and when – sometimes asking on straight lines and other times on circles. Your position is key to achieving bigger steps rather than hurried ones, or a change of gait. Don’t change your contact or lean forward – be confident in your position and keep it exactly the same, with your eyes up. 

Did you know?

You’ll need to learn your test – callers aren’t allowed in eventing.

Gilles’ top tips for dressage

• Connection and contact are finger and shoulder actions, not wrist and forearm, which should stay in a straight line from the elbow to the bit. Your hands need to be still and in the same position throughout the test, with relaxed shoulders.
• Your contact needs to be firm until your horse is round and on the bit – then you can soften the contact. Your horse can then feel confident and start to relax.
• Most dressage is on grass, so practise your test on a grass arena and ride with studs in to see the difference between that and riding on a surface.
• Get on 30 minutes before your test time so you can acclimatise your horse to the surroundings before you start your proper warm up for around 20 minutes.
• Find a small square for your warm-up, and practise your centre lines (an easy place to lose marks) with a number of halts to help your horse focus on what you’re asking and tune out the excitement of the warm-up.
• Spend enough time in canter to ensure you’re both relaxed.
• Good balance is the key to a good dressage test. But to help your horse find his balance you’ll need to play with yours to see where the two of you sit naturally in harmony together. 

Get out there

Now that you’ve got the exercises and techniques to help you on the way to dressage success, it’s time to build on them – get out and practise as much as you can in different competition settings. It might not perfectly replicate a dressage test on grass at a busy one day event, but it’ll boost both you and your horse’s confidence and leave one less thing to chance on the day.

Next issue we’ll look at phase two – the showjumping – and I’ll share some exercises to help achieve that elusive fault-free round.