Masterclass Dressage rider
The international dressage rider shares a simple exercise to help you improve your horse’s balance and suppleness in preparation for lateral work
Maria Eilberg
AIM
I FIND that when people come to me for training, their horses are fairly straight, but have limited independent neck bend. Correct neck flexion is where you bend your horse’s neck a little bit on whichever rein you are on, and the horse’s body stays on the same line. Riders are often afraid of bending the neck because they feel they’ll lose control of the body.
Independent neck flexion enhances all lateral work and is good for balance, keeping the horse between your inside leg and outside rein. It is a great tool if your horse is spooky in the arena, as you can flex him to the inside to discourage him from spooking at everything on the outside.
THE EXERCISE
1 Start on a 20m circle in walk and ask for flexion for half the circle, then relax for the other half. To ask for flexion, make your reins slightly different lengths — have the inside rein a little bit shorter to take the bend, and the outside rein a little bit longer to allow the bend.
You can then have your hands together, sitting straight, and not compromise your position. You know when you have the right amount of flexion when you can see the horse’s inside eye. The horse may want to fall in, so use your inside leg to keep him out.
2 You can then go large and ask for flexion along the long side, checking that the horse’s body stays straight on the track. Some horses can be strong initially and lean on the rein, so a few strides of leg-yield from the three-quarter line to the track gets them working into your outside rein and lighter in the mouth.
3 To check your horse is symmetrical, ride a few serpentines, so that you are changing the rein and direction. Once you are happy with the flexion in walk, you can move up to trot and attempt the exercise again. 4 Finish off the session by stretching the horse and asking for flexion during the stretch, making sure the neck is really long.
You want the horse to bend as he does in carrot stretches, so he is nearly touching your toe while staying long in the neck. This can be done at a halt or in walk.
Dressage rider Emile Faurie on developing collection in canter
‘Riders are often afraid of bending the neck because they feel they’ll lose control of the body’