Here, Ashker explains how her experience as a five-star eventer helps with her upper-level Grand Prix dressage movements and vice versa. You can also watch a video of her demonstrating this concept below.

From Drop Jumps to Pirouettes and Piaffe

“In eventing, especially when coming down to the head of a lake or dropping into water, you have to create balance in your horse. You can see in the video as I prepare for my left half pirouette turn, I stay behind my horse so he can more easily lift his shoulders for the turn. And then I ride him out. We repeat it one more time. I take my time and am very patient as I continue to stay behind him to keep his shoulders lifted.

“In piaffe, it’s the same idea. You want your horse’s shoulders to lift, not his head. There’s a big difference. And in order for the horse’s shoulders to lift, his back and rear need to drop. You horse can’t do this if you’re ahead of him all the time.

“Here, I’m going to demonstrate my position. You should always be able to draw a straight line from your shoulder to your hip and down to your heel. It’s very similar to our takeoffs over some cross-country jumps because it requires us to naturally balance our horses. The jumps actually help us do this. In dressage, we obviously don’t have jumps, so we have to use our position and posture to achieve that balance.

“In the piaffe, it’s a very light aid with the hand. Then, my legs alternate to ask my horse to lift his front legs. There’s a very fine line here between throwing him out of balance with my position. I continue to stay behind his motion to allow his shoulders to lift, and I might allow him to travel just a bit to keep the steps the same.

“In summary, if you do both eventing and upper-level dressage, be proud of being an eventer. Improving your position on cross country will only make your position that much better in your dressage work, no matter your level, and it will be more supportive for your horse.”

About Laine Ashker

Five-star eventer and dressage professional Lainey Ashker has competed in numerous FEI competitions at the five-star level, including the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CC14* and the Defender Burghley Horse Trials CC15*. The horsewoman, who trains out of her Keystone Acres farm in Chesterfield, Virginia, also won the National Eventing Championship (Advanced Level) in 2013 aboard her long-time mount, Anthony Patch. More recently, she won her first CDI in May 2023 aboard her upper-level dressage horse, Zeppelin.

For more with Laine Ashker, click here.

This video is brought to you by Absorbine.

I often hear during a lesson or a clinic the complaint of why the horse has to show his difficult side today because he can be so much better. And I am always answering that I am there to help when it is needed, and when everything is going fine and smooth I cannot help them as much! I myself have had some of my most valuable lessons on days that were “particularly difficult.”

Stretching Toward the Contact

The photo shows Banana in trot and even though he is active from behind, he clearly a bit too tight in the neck and his nose is behind the vertical. Lindsey is in rising trot, just before landing and looks very concentrated and attempting to be upright in her body. 

Banana is active behind but does not step far enough forward and under. The horse ideally should step all the way under the rider’s seat. When the horse stays a little shorter, the balance tips more forward. So to keep his balance, Banana shortens his neck by curling a bit behind the vertical. He does not look “pulled” back; he needs this to keep his balance. Only with a more forward hind leg will he be able to lift his back and raise the shoulders, and then he can reach out with the neck to the contact without tipping out of balance.

One can imagine that stretching toward the contact is a bit like “looking over a cliff.” It is a great view, but if you are not secure on your base, you will not take the risk. Here, the activity of the horse’s hind leg, the strength of his back and the security of the rider will have to become the anchor for the horse to dare to reach forward into the contact in balance.

Adjusting the Rider’s Position

Looking closer at Lindsey’s seat and balance, I notice that she carries her shoulders, chest and hands beautifully, but her leg position is slightly turning out and her lower back has a tendency to hollow. If you stand on the ground similar to a riding position with slightly bent and spread legs, you can feel that if you turn your legs with the knees and toes out, the lower back will hollow more. Doing the opposite—turning the heels out—will result in more abdominal activity and filling out the lower back. 

When landing back in the saddle with the rising trot, the seat bones should move forward as if the hamstrings pull them toward the knee. The interplay of the hamstrings with the lower abdominal muscles keeps the pelvis more upright and the lower back won’t hollow. In the saddle, this requires secure contact on the stirrups during rising as well as when lowering the seat back to the saddle. This explains why riders should keep a slight inward rotation of the thigh and the knees and toes should point forward. This position allows the most secure balance and allows maximum elasticity to absorb the horse’s movement. 

If you try jumping up and down on the ground, you will quickly feel that the lower back has less stress when the feet and knees are pointing forward. However, when they point out, the lower back and hips cannot be as elastic.

The Rider’s Influence on the Horse

The horse’s topline is the rider’s backline. This statement has been an eye-opener for understanding the balance between rider and horse for my own riding and teaching.

Modern training methods don’t only look into muscles, but the fascial connection is becoming more important. We have a superficial backline fascia that connects top to bottom. It starts at the eyebrows, runs over the head, down the neck and spine, along the hamstrings, past the backs of the knees around the ankles and all the way to the big toes. Any elastic strap will only secure something when it is pulled and stretched. A hollow back can be like a loose rubber band and does not provide elastic stability. Understanding this, the fascial backline connection can become the anchor for the horse to find the balance into a more open frame and start daring to “look over the cliff.”

When Lindsey is riding with more awareness to this backline in her own seat, I would recommend the following exercise—first in walk, later in trot and canter: Ride the horse forward to the bit, then let the reins get longer and allow the horse to follow and stretch. There will be a point when instead of lower ing, the horse will tuck in the nose. At this point, use leg and encourage the horse to move a bit more forward and very slightly lift the neck up an inch before returning to stretch deeper again. 

When you hold a bridle in your hand on the crownpiece, the bit should hang directly under the crownpiece. If the horse has true self-carriage and is supple, the bit should hang under the poll. By tucking in the nose, the horse does not need to provide lift and self-carriage, and the bit hangs more passively under the second and third vertebrae of the neck rather than the poll. It will feel soft in the mouth for the rider, but it is not connected and any transition or change can result in bracing and unwanted tension or movement of the neck.

Playing with the horse’s balance around the point where they can “look over the cliff” and slowly encouraging him for more by supporting him with good activity and a securely anchored seat and backline can be very rewarding.

I am positive that working on this basic element will be the key for Lindsey and Banana to find better balance and self-carriage and advance into the collected movements with more harmony as a partnership.

About Susanne von Dietze

Susanne von Dietze is a leader in equestrian biomechanics. A physiotherapist, licensed Trainer A instructor and judge for dressage and show jumping, she gives lectures and seminars throughout the world, including at the prestigious German Riding Academy in Warendorf. She is a native of Germany and now lives with her husband and three children in Israel, where she competes at the international level. She is the author of two books on the biomechanics of riding: Balance in Movement and Rider and Horse, Back to Back. 

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Practical Horseman.

Watch training videos with Susanne von Dietze on EQUESTRIAN+.

Chances are that if you’re struggling with any of those issues, it’s not for lack of trying but because of subtle misalignments and imbalances in your body. When you’re not balanced and centered in even one area, you overcontract muscles somewhere else to anchor yourself to stay on. Whether you tighten your shoulder, your hip or your ankle—every rider compensates in her own way—you lessen your ability to hear and feel your horse and know what’s going on underneath you. Anything he tries to feel is confusing because you’re sending mixed messages or the message is blocked so there’s no communication at all.

Alignment is the Answer

It seems so simple, but as soon as you’re properly aligned, you can relax, achieve balance and sit totally in unison with your horse. You no longer have to overcontract or tighten any part of your body to secure your position, and your horse no longer has to compensate for this imbalance by shifting his weight among his four feet to stay underneath you. He can just flow because he’s correctly balanced with equal weight on each foot.

In this article, I will explain how to bring yourself into alignment, balance and relaxation. Whether you’re a relative beginner or a more advanced rider, you will feel an immediate difference. But we’re talking about the likelihood of dramatic changes in soft tissue and muscle memory. To develop a truly independent, balanced seat could take one, two, even three years, depending on your skill level and the time and effort you have to expend. Still, even if you’re not perfectly fit or able to ride every day, start today and you can take responsibility for being as aligned and balanced as possible. Get to work, and most of the problems you may be dealing with will just fade away.

But before we start, I want you to meet the all-important …

Rider’s Training Scale

We all know the Training Scale for the horse—rhythm, relaxation, connection, impulsion, straightness, collection—but who ever talks about a training scale for the rider? Well, I do. It starts with …

Balance and Alignment: You’re no longer using any part of your body to hang on, so your horse isn’t blocked or having to compensate and can achieve balance and alignment in himself.

Relaxation: You’re so free of tension that you clearly feel your horse and he clearly feels you.

Understanding: You grasp the purpose and progression of your horse’s training and begin to know intellectually how and why he should respond to the information you give him.

Communication: You provide that information clearly so he understands what you want and willingly responds. You never correct him for doing something wrong if he’s just reacting to incorrect information or an aid given the wrong way.

Control: You now use all the tools and power at your disposal to positively influence and direct your horse’s actions and behavior.

Did you notice that the final quality is control of your horse’s actions? Unfortunately, most riders—and many trainers—seem to want to flip the scale and start with control, control, control. But you can’t truly control your horse until you can control yourself.

Align and Balance at the Standstill

Adjust your stirrups so that when your legs hang down freely, the bottom of the stirrups hit your anklebones. Pick up your stirrups and rest about 90 percent of your body weight on the balls of your feet—not your toes, not your insteps—with your feet level, as if you were still standing on the ground. Of course, if you’re like most riders, you’ve been taught that your heels should be down, but if you try to force them, you’ll end up with tense, tight ankles. Keep your feet level, and eventually, as your seat improves, your heels can naturally come a bit lower because your ankles have become relaxed, elastic and free of tension. With every stride, they’ll naturally flex downward to keep you in unison with your horse’s motion.

From behind, I want to see the left side of your body on the left side of your horse and the right side of your body on the right. Your spine is straight, your shoulders are level and your head is centered over your shoulders with no tipping or turning, which can be very unbalancing. Look straight ahead between your horse’s ears. As I tell my students, “At this stage, when you turn your head, your body follows and you end up misaligned and hanging on. Until you accomplish a fairly balanced seat and know how to separate your head from the rest of your body, you are not allowed to turn your head.”

From the side, the old alignment rule of thumb—ear, shoulder, hip, heel—is still the very basic, correct way to sit. When you tip or lean forward, you get ahead of your horse’s center of gravity. When you lean or fall back, you’re not only behind his center of gravity but yours as well. In either case, you tighten some part of your body to secure yourself.

To bring your seat into the correct position, drop your stirrups and raise your legs in front of the saddle flap. You’ll feel your seat bones where they should be and you’ll have a flat lower back—in fact, you can’t have a hollow one.

Align and Balance in Motion

First read my “Four Rules for Better Progress”—stay on straight lines, stay on the second track, slow down, forget about “round and down”—below. With those rules in mind, stand up in your stirrups, resting your hands on your horse’s neck. This will help you feel even and balanced in the saddle. Once you are comfortable and confident standing without support at the halt, try it in motion at the walk. Anytime you feel yourself losing your position or getting tense, come back to the halt and re-establish yourself.

Next work on maintaining your alignment and balance at the posting trot. Here the biggest problem you may encounter is waiting for your horse to push you up out of the saddle, which puts you ever-so-slightly out of sync and behind the motion, a sure recipe for tensing. How to know? If you feel a bit of a double motion or a “ba-bump,” come back to the walk, reorganize your position and ask for the trot again, this time making an effort to post more in unison with your horse’s motion. As you do, keep your eyes and your belly button looking ahead through his ears at the second track, keep weight on the balls of your feet, keep a connection on your outside rein and close your hip angle just enough to bring you forward into your and your horse’s center of gravity.

The canter is the hardest gait to maintain balance and alignment because it’s directional—the inside of your horse’s body moves slightly ahead of the outside. If you’re like most riders, you compensate by slightly twisting your body to the inside, which makes your shoulders no longer parallel to his withers, pushes your inside hip backward, moves your inside seat bone toward the center of your horse and makes your outside seat bone hover out of the saddle, no longer aligned with his outside hind leg. You not only tighten somewhere in your body to anchor yourself, usually at least your inside leg, you’re in complete opposition to your horse’s motion so his canter becomes disunited and his stride gets hard to regulate. The canter has three phases, so if you’re not in sync with the first phase as your horse’s outside hind leg pushes off, you’ll be less in sync with the second phase (inside hind, outside fore) and completely out of sync with the third phase (inside fore).

Get in sync by slightly rotating your body just enough to the outside to bring your shoulders parallel to your horse’s withers, your outside leg back and your outside seat bone and hip aligned over his outside hind leg. Step down into your inside stirrup, or your inside hip will carry too much of your weight and be compressed. By stepping down, you allow your hip to stay supple so it can follow forward as your horse steps farther underneath and upward as his back rises. With the inside of your body finally somewhat in advance of the outside of your body, you and your horse will be moving in unison.

Turns and Circles

In Rule 1 of my Four Rules—stay on straight lines—I explain how the centrifugal force of a circle (and a corner is one-quarter of a circle) can make you over-rotate to the inside, displace your seat to the outside and unbalance yourself and your horse. This is why I emphasize staying on straight lines, as opposed to riding circles, to initially practice alignment and balance. 

But when you and he are balanced and aligned as you begin a circle or a corner, he can negotiate it just fine as long as it’s not too small for his level of training. This is why our smallest circle at Training Level is 20 meters. It’s only as a horse gradually collects, strengthens and shortens his stride through training that he becomes capable of negotiating turns, corners and circles of smaller and smaller diameter.

While I want you to first practice balance and alignment on straight lines, you will arrive at the end of your arena pretty soon. As you approach a corner on the second track, focus on using your outside connection to keep your horse straight and aligned so he doesn’t wobble, drift out or fall in. As you begin the turn, remember that you and he must always have the same focal point, so be sure to look through his ears and not way ahead of where you want to go. Keep your shoulders parallel to his withers. Make sure his neck comes straight out of his withers. Pay special attention to not overbending his neck. Bend is all about your whole horse negotiating a curved line. When bend happens in his head and neck only, it just makes him lean on his outside shoulder and drift out. By the same token, be careful not to counter flex or counter bend, which will cause him to fall in.

Once you’re in the turn, continue to think about keeping both you and your horse straight. If you do, you’ll find that the turn will take care of itself.

You’re ready to start circles when your horse doesn’t drift out or fall in when approaching or turning a corner and you stay in proper alignment and balance negotiating it. At that point, try putting two corners together to form a half-circle, paying special attention to the second half, which is where you’re most at risk of losing your alignment. After all, old habits are hard to break, so it is better to be aligned completely for a short stretch and gradually add on. At all times, rather than thinking “half-circle” (or “circle” when you get to it), think “two” (or “four”) equal, connected corners. Break it down that way and you’ll be much more successful.

As you continue to work on developing your own skills according to the rider’s training scale, you’ll find that communication and connection with your horse will naturally develop over time.

Sidebar: 4 Rules for Better Progress

1. Stay on straight lines. Nobody ever learned to properly align herself on a circle. I know that must sound contrary to everything you’ve ever learned, but a circle’s centrifugal force—that feeling that you’re being pushed out away from the center—tends to make you rotate your body inward. No matter how slight the rotation, more of your weight and seat shift to the outside, and you try to compensate by tightening some muscle, somewhere, usually in your inside leg. You end up crooked and unbalanced, and if you ride that way for very long, your horse starts moving as crooked and unbalanced as you’re riding. Of course I know that you have to arrive at the end of your arena pretty soon.

2. Stay on the second track. Riding a horse-width away from the rail forces you to focus on a destination. It makes you tune in to balance and straightness and to feel and proactively address your horse’s tendency to bulge, fall, lean or drift. On the second track, you’ll become acutely aware of the slightest wobble, something you don’t necessarily feel when you’re on the rail, the third track or the quarterline.

3. Slow down. Until you’re properly balanced and aligned, you can’t follow a bigger, more powerful stride without gripping and trying to anchor yourself. So tone things down to a slower, shorter stride. At first, it’s going to look and feel as if you’re not going anywhere. I understand that and know that no dressage rider wants to think that her horse is going in a Western jog. But there is never any damage done. The effect is only positive because it allows you and your horse to get in balance with each other. While you’re trying to learn to follow and become one with your horse’s movement, a slower, shorter stride is the teacher to help you do that.

What about showing? By all means, go ahead and show, but prepare yourself for comments like “not forward enough” or “horse too slow.” Then be brave and strong enough to say, “OK. That’s fine. If I stick with this feeling now, there will come a time when I can ride with the impulsion, bigger stride and power I want and the judges are looking for. But I’m going to get it the right way!”

Then, every once in a while, try a bigger gait with more impulsion and ask yourself, “Am I truly staying with this motion without holding on anywhere?” If you can answer “yes,” that’s great! But if you have to say, “You know what? I am holding on a little bit,” come back to the shorter, slower step. One day, when you truly are relaxed and inside the slower step, you’ll discover that your body can absorb a bigger step and more power.

4. Forget about round and down. Do yourself and your horse a favor and stop trying to control his head and neck. Just let them do what they’re going to do, including coming up and out from time to time. Just because you’re doing dressage does not mean your horse has to first be round in his neck. His head and neck are the last part of the connection, and trying to pull him in is the very thing that sets you on the wrong path and damages your ability to learn how to ride. Work on yourself according to the rider’s training scale, and connection and control will come naturally.

About Lena Wedenmark

Lena Wedenmark doesn’t actually think of herself as a teacher. “At the end of the day,” she says, “nobody can teach you how to ride. I can stand there giving instruction from the ground, but I’m just giving you suggestions on what to do. It’s you, the rider, who has to teach yourself how to put it into practice. This is why my dream horse would have only two legs. When riders got sick and tired of their horses tipping over all the time, they’d quickly achieve true balance and alignment.”

Headquartered in Wellington, Florida, Lena is a U.S. Dressage Federation instructor certified through Fourth Level. She has preached her philosophy during lessons at home and clinics in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Jersey and California and the Caribbean nation of Barbados. She is a two-time Pan American Games coach, and she has students whom she started teaching as much as 18 years ago who have earned medals at FEI World Dressage Challenge competitions.

She is so single-mindedly focused on relaxation, alignment and unity with a horse’s movement because it makes a rider feel comfortable. “When you’re comfortable, you can ride with more power because you can absorb that power in your body. And that’s when you enter into that place of feeling collection and true energy from your horse’s hind end.” 

Thanks to Elizabeth “Betsy” Juliano for the use of her Havensafe Farm as the setting for the photographs in this article.

This article originally appeared in the October 2013 issue of Practical Horseman.

In this photo, Tessa Davis is competing her 17-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Shadowfax, at Training Level. Tessa wrote that she is now currently schooling First and Second Level.

Shadowfax looks light and elegant, with long legs and harmonious conformation. He is in a nice frame for Training Level. I like how he appears willing and eager to follow his rider’s aids. There is slight tension visible in his back—behind the saddle—that causes his hind leg to lift more from his back than from his haunches. When I look at the space between his front legs, I notice there appears to be a nice open triangle formed between his two front legs and the distance between his hooves on the ground (see photo, above). When I compare this triangle to the triangle formed with his hind legs, I can see that the latter is a little narrower and the distance between the hind legs (length of the stride) appears shorter. In a balanced working trot, we would like to see a more equal stride between the front and the hind legs. It does not mean that Shadowfax is not active. This moment simply shows that there is some tension in his back causing a shorter stride.

When I look at Tessa, my first impression is that she is a very caring rider. She is attempting to sit lightly and keep her legs long with her heels and hands down. She clearly does not want to disturb her horse. The picture is probably taken when she is in rising trot at the moment she is just sitting down. This explains why her upper body is in a slightly forward position.

Next, I notice that her hands are a bit too low. The classical line from her elbow to her hand to the horse’s mouth is not straight. Her downward hands are breaking this line and her elbow looks nearly straight. When I look carefully at Tessa’s arms, I can see that her upper arm is not very long. Her elbow joint is located pretty much in the middle of her upper body. The length of the upper arm can vary from person to person. The location of the elbow joint determines the degree of angle a rider needs in her elbow to establish the correct line to the horse’s bit. The shorter the upper arm, the straighter the elbow joint will need to be. I do notice slight tension around Tessa’s shoulders and this may cause her to move her hands together with her body. This would cause her hands to move a little bit up and down with her body in the rising trot. In her attempt to keep her hands quiet, Tessa is stabilizing them by holding them a little low. She is not pressing her hands down, or restricting the horse’s frame, but she is not supporting the forward movement enough.

Simply correcting Tessa’s hand position will not fix this underlying issue. If she merely carries her hands higher, that will most likely cause stiffness and more tension. Tessa needs to open her shoulders and learn to feel how the reins are not just from her hands to the horse, but how her whole arm is part of the reins and contact.

The following image can be very helpful: Imagine that you are riding in a snaffle bridle with one continuous rein—the inside and outside rein are part of the same rein that is running in a circle. The circle of the contact is running from one hand along the rein to the horse’s mouth, along the bit through the horse’s mouth to the other side, up the rein to the rider’s hand, continuing up the arm and shoulder, then following the shoulder blades around the rider’s back to the other shoulder, down the arm and into the rider’s hand. The ultimate image is that the rider is carrying a copy of the horse’s bit between her shoulder blades, too.

To keep a soft and elastic contact, the rider must be able to be supple and elastic in all joints: fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders. Also think of the connecting muscles that run from the shoulder blades to the spine as the foundation for an elastic and controlled arm position. Elasticity needs to be secured at the ends. To stretch and create length, one end needs to be securely anchored. For example, I can only stretch an elastic strap if I fasten one end and extend the elastic part.

To apply this idea specifically to Tessa’s riding, she needs to control her shoulder blades in order to allow her arms to function with elastic, forward movement and to feel steady contact with her horse’s mouth. However, in order to effectively do this, she actually needs to move them. It is more complicated than simply moving her shoulders up or down or pulling them back, as it is more a rotational movement that will help her coordinate between her shoulders and hands.

Try this: Imagine the strap of a backpack around your shoulder. This strap symbolizes the line of the rotation of the shoulders. If you move your shoulders following the direction of the strap around and forward, this will cause your hands to drop down. If you rotate your shoulders in the opposite direction, this will help you carry your hands. If Tessa learns to activate this little rotational movement with every step of the horse, it will make it easier to ride with better hand carriage and light, forward elastic contact.

Here’s another exercise to try to help you get a feel for soft and elastic contact: If you hold the reins only between the thumb and index finger, it will suddenly give you a clear feel of the direct connection into the horse’s mouth. It will help you feel how your arms are 50 percent of your reins and how you must move your elbow and shoulder joints to maintain a steady and soft contact.

Once this elastic contact is established, you need to learn to move your hands without disturbing the contact. A rhythmic juggling movement of your hands up and down or opening and closing your hand position a bit can enhance your horse’s lightness and self-carriage within the contact. Eventually, you will learn to use rein aids in harmony with your horse’s movement and rhythm of strides. This is essential for both you and your horse to maintain balance while moving forward.

When I first ask riders to juggle their hands up and down, I often get the looks of disbelief, as we are so often told to keep our hands quiet. But quiet does not mean still, and posture is learned through movement. When you correctly juggle your hands, the reins slide along the ring of the bit and the contact to the horse’s mouth is not disturbed. Often, the horse prefers a rhythmically moving hand to a rigid one and becomes lighter. Over time, the visible movement of the juggling should then be minimized to tiny up-and-forward movements. This will teach correct hand carriage to the rider and self-carriage to the horse. I am sure that Tessa and Shadowfax will be able to use these ideas and incorporate them in their training. Anything that helps elasticity will help an older horse to stay young!  

About Susanne von Dietze

Susanne von Dietze is a leader in equestrian biomechanics. A physiotherapist, licensed Trainer A instructor and judge for dressage and show jumping, she gives lectures and seminars throughout the world, including at the prestigious German Riding Academy in Warendorf. She is a native of Germany and now lives with her husband and three children in Israel, where she competes at the international level. She is the author of two books on the biomechanics of riding: Balance in Movement and Rider and Horse, Back to Back.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2020 issue. 

I mentioned last month that we need to go back to basics, and I wasn’t kidding. Over the next several months, I intend to review the fundamental mechanics of each of the three positions used by eventers (dressage, show jumping and cross country) and to provide exercises to improve each. The result of sound basics in each of the disciplines is better communication with your horse, which leads to improved performance. Practicing your basics is hard work, but it is absorbing and intriguing and it pays off in better results

Show-jumper Bill Steinkraus, the first U.S. Olympic individual gold medalist, says the rider’s position “is a stable platform from which the skilled rider can apply his aids with the precision of a surgeon.” This is especially true of our dressage position, where we begin our return to basics.

At the halt, you should sit in the saddle on three points: the two seat bones and the pubic bone. If you are aligned correctly, an imaginary vertical line will pass from your ear through the point of your shoulder, your hip and your heel. In The Gymnasium of the Horse, Gustav Steinbrecht says your upper body will form a right angle with the horse’s back. This explains why upper-level dressage riders appear to sit with their shoulders behind their hips: Their horses are collected, which causes a lowering of the croup. While the relationship between your position and your horse’s back should not change, your horse may change the relationship between his back and the ground.

While seated, maintain a slight forward arch in the small of your back. There are good reasons for this. First, it is the natural shape of the human spine. In addition, it allows you to have the maximum range of motion possible in your waist. Sitting in this position at the halt is easy. The difficult part is maintaining a correct position while your horse is moving. I can take a person who has never ridden, buy her thousands of dollars worth of boots and breeches and put her on a horse at the halt. By adjusting her limbs, I can photograph her exactly in the shape we are discussing. However, the moment the horse moves, that person will dissolve into terrified gripping and pulling.

We can learn to follow our horse’s motion only by ceaseless practice, and the best way to practice maintaining the correct dressage position in motion is on the longe line with no reins or stirrups.

Get Started

I am going to suggest exercises to help you develop a deeper, more balanced three-point position. By moving your arms while keeping your legs still or applying your legs while your arms remain quiet, you will ­increase the independence of your position.

Before you begin, make sure the horse you use is suitable–he’s quiet, preferably with three good paces. You also need an experienced person holding the longe line. Tack up your horse with a snaffle bridle and elastic side reins.

For safety reasons, practice the following exercises in an enclosed area only. Wear an ASTM-approved helmet but no spurs. A safety vest is optional, as is an air vest. (If you’re wearing an air vest, make sure the lanyard will allow your full range of motion during these exercises; otherwise, you might accidentally cause the vest to inflate with interesting results.)

Some of my more-advanced exercises will test your balance and the security of your three-point position. If your coach or friend holding the longe line suspects that you are even slightly dislodged, he or she should bring the horse to the walk or the halt until you regain your balance.

Start each of these exercises by holding the pommel with your outside hand and putting your inside arm behind your waist as shown in the photo on the facing page. You can maintain this position while engaged in leg exercises; however, if you are engaged in your upper-body exercises, you will have to release the pommel and perform the exercise without using your hands for security.

In between exercises or if you feel insecure in the saddle, grasp the pommel to pull yourself forward into the deepest point of the saddle and hold yourself in the correct position. While holding the pommel, allow your legs to hang as straight as possible and let your toes point down. (When you regain your stirrups, have the feeling that the stirrups push your toes up, rather than push your heels down past the stirrup.) At first, you will have to resort to holding the pommel quite often when you work on a longe line without reins or stirrups; use the pommel rather than grip with your legs.

Your ability to maintain your position without either holding the pommel or gripping with your legs will improve with practice. You want to develop as deep a position as possible, and any grip with your knees or thighs will cause your position to become shallower rather than deeper. As your position improves, you will need less and less contact with the pommel until finally you have a dressage position that is truly independent of your horse’s motion, one you can maintain without reins or stirrups.

After you have briefly warmed up your horse, you can begin the following exercises at the halt, walk, trot or canter, depending on your horse, your fitness, the stability of your position and your confidence. Take great care that when you move one part of your body, you keep the other parts quiet. This is easier to say than to do, but it is an essential skill if your aids are to be precise. Once you progress to doing the exercises in motion, practice them for a few minutes in one direction, halt, change your horse’s side reins for work on the other hand and repeat the exercise.

Basic Exercises

Take your time with all of these exercises–be smooth, not fast.

• Roll your ankles: Point your left toes down and your right toes up, and make alternate circles, moving both feet at the same time.
• Keeping your legs straight, swing one leg in front of the knee roll and the other leg as far back as possible. Then smoothly reverse your leg position. You will find this is very difficult to do without compensating with your upper body. Remember to keep the other parts of your body still while you concentrate on moving one part.
• Starting with the following exercise, you will be removing your hands from the pommel and the back of your waist. After doing each, return your outside hand to the pommel and your inside hand to the back of your waist to deepen your seat and solidify your position.
• Bring your right heel toward your buttocks by bending your knee so it starts to point down. When it is close to your right hand, grasp the arch of your foot and pull your heel closer to your buttocks, keeping your knee pointed straight down toward the ground. Remain centered in the saddle with your shoulders level as you stretch your thigh. Hold a pleasurable stretch but release if you feel any pain. Alternate this stretch with both legs an equal number of times.
• Raise both arms straight out to your sides at shoulder height with your fingertips extended and joined, palms facing down. Imagine there is a string from the palm of each hand to both anklebones. Now move one leg at a time up that imaginary string. Keep both arms up, both knees straight and your toes turned slightly down and in toward your horse as you lift each leg. While you move your leg, concentrate on keeping it straight and your shoulders level. Your range of motion will be very small during this exercise, with your knee lifting only an inch or two away from the saddle. Make your leg movement smooth and controlled up and down the string.
• Extend both arms out to the sides to shoulder height, with your fingertips extended and joined. Keep both hands slightly behind your shoulders. In rhythm with the movement of your horse, turn your upper body at the waist until you reach the limit of your range of motion. Then return so you’re facing forward. Repeat, turning in the opposite direction. Eventually you should be able to see your horse’s opposite hip when you turn. Make sure you keep an equal weight in both seat bones throughout this exercise. You will find you have a tendency to tip as you turn. Don’t.
• Describe circles with your arms. Extend both arms straight down at your sides with your fingertips extended and joined, and your palms facing to the rear. Smoothly raise one arm forward and up until it is above your shoulder. At the top of the arc, your palm will be facing forward. Then move your arm back behind you until you reach the starting position with your fingertips again pointed toward the ground and your palms facing the rear. Repeat the exercise, but as you reach the top of the arc and start to move your upper arm back, begin moving your opposite arm forward and up to describe a circle. Time your movement so that when one arm is at the top of the circle, your other arm is straight down. Keep your shoulders level throughout this exercise and your weight distributed equally throughout your three-point seat.

For the More Advanced 

The following exercises are for more-advanced students and should not be attempted until you are quite secure in the saddle. During both of them, your longeur must be prepared to stop your horse if there is the slightest concern that you are out of balance and might tumble off.

• At the halt on the left hand, hold the pommel with your right hand and swing your left leg over the pommel into a sidesaddle position. Reach back with your left hand and hold the cantle as shown in the photo at right. Allow your right leg to hang straight with your ankle relaxed and your toes pointed toward the ground. This exercise entirely removes your ability to grip and requires you to remain absolutely centered above your three-point seat. During the exercise, do not just hold the pommel and the cantle; grip them very firmly, using the two points of support to pull your hips forward in the saddle, keeping your shoulders level and an arch in the small of your back. While this exercise can be executed at all three paces, I suggest practicing it at the walk and later the canter, as the trot in a sidesaddle position is a difficult pace to follow at first. I usually avoid it during my longe-line lessons. After a few minutes at the walk or canter, change direction and repeat this exercise to the right. Remember to reverse your leg and hand positions to conform to the different direction.

As a rule, I do not ask for the next exercise until my student is getting ready for her first international-level competition.

• At the halt, cross your arms at your chest and bend forward as far as you can while keeping your seat bones on the saddle. Then sit up again and, with your arms still crossed, lean all the way backward until your helmet touches your horse’s croup. Next, using your abdominal muscles only, sit up again. Repeat this five times at the halt and a few times at the walk in both directions. This is a strenuous exercise at the walk; at the canter, it is an extreme test of balance and confidence. It is possible at the trot, but the rhythm of the horse’s paces does not lend itself to the execution of the exercise.

I’ve included these exercises only to show you how far you can progress using longe lessons. I would not expect you to be able to do them until we have worked together for an extended time.

To obtain the full benefit of these exercises, you will need to repeat them daily for one week. Typically, students feel uncomfortable the first day, quite stiff and sore the second, a bit better the third and increasingly stable in succeeding days. These observations are based on students taking a series of longe lessons. Your experience may vary if you are able to take only occasional lessons.

Longe lessons are the bedrock of your dressage basics, and your dressage position must provide a stable platform from which you can apply your aids with the precision of a surgeon. Your dressage results will determine to a great extent your final place in events, so you need to get back to basics and get them right.

About Jim Wofford

Longtime Practical Horseman columnist Jim Wofford competed in three Olympic Games and two World Championships. He also won the U.S. National Championship five times. Additionally he was also a highly respected coach. For decades beginning in 1978, he had at least one student on every U.S. Olympic, World Championship and Pan American team. He passed away February 2, 2023.

This article was originally published in the February 2013 issue of Practical Horseman.