Do you ever feel like you’re working too hard in the saddle, as in your rides seem to require super-human cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength? In her video series on EQUESTRIAN+, Grand Prix dressage trainer Jackie Kinney helps a rider learn how to do as little work as possible by teaching her horse how to be more responsive to subtle aids.

“A lot of times I’ll see riders wearing spurs on a giant horse like this one, but the rider looks miserable because it’s so much work and they’re constantly pushing and pulling,” she noted. “In that case, I tell them take off the spurs and go back to the very basics.”

Here, Kinney helps this rider feel her horse’s rhythm and teaches her how to use body language to encourage a forward walk and trot. Their goal is to get the horse to be more responsive without the rider resorting to pulling and kicking. They focus on an active walk to a working trot before moving on to warm-up canter.

Rhythm and Relaxation Are Key at First Level

“Rhythm and relaxation are on the bottom rung of our training pyramid and are things we really want to pay attention to. It’s our foundation with every horse. Keep in mind that because your horse is a prey animal, he’s very conscious of body language so he’s going to be keyed in to how your body is moving on his back and follow that. When you go to trot the rhythm completely changes.

“Simply start by thinking and feeling trot. It’s kind of like bouncing a basketball. It’s a slower dribble at the walk and then faster at the trot rhythm. Even though I’ve done nothing to cue my horse to trot yet, I feel it inside me, and the next thing I know my horse is trotting. This is especially important with a big horse like this and something you have to think about it all the time because otherwise it’s going to be an uncomfortable push-and-pull ride. And he doesn’t deserve that.

“As you go to ask for trot, soften your arms and think about his hind legs trotting before his front legs. Then, we’re going to do a conventional leg yield and come down the centerline like you would in a First Level test. If you get into trouble, make it easier and take it down a notch.

“Always pay attention to determine if your horse resists or just didn’t understand what you wanted. If you forget about riding the rhythm, he’s likely going to throw something out that maybe he thinks you want. If you have trouble getting him sideways, focus on turning your body with him.

“Next, we change direction with one loop of a serpentine. Move him off your leg like he’s a big bean bag and you’re trying push all the beans to the outside. Then, move the beans in the new direction. Now, quicken your posting to tell him you want a shorter, quicker trot.

“This horse was born with a beautiful, natural metronome, but sometimes that can be tricky and you have to take over as the leading dance partner. You must be the one he’s following.

“It should never feel heavy. Let’s go down the centerline once more and try to make it more like a First Level test leg yield. So, you’ll start at I, between S and R, and you should already be looking at F. Keep your horse’s shoulder on a line to F and you’ll end up in a little shoulder-fore.

“A lot of the old dressage masters hated the leg yield. Why? Because they said you’re letting the horse through the outside shoulder. Well, they’re a little bit right. We use that desire to fall out to our advantage sometimes; for example, instead of using your inside rein to bend the horse think about displacing the shoulders to the outside and invite your horse to fall out a little bit. People might think I’m crazy and try to run me out of town for saying that, but it really works. It’s the easiest way to get a horse to bend. And once he does start to bend and show suppleness, then he can go sideways.”

Canter Transitions and Riding With Intent

“You must always be steering a prey animal. So even when you’re wandering around, you must direct his movement. Otherwise, he’s going to say, ‘Well, she’s not paying attention, so I’m going to pick our line of travel.’

“Next, we move to canter transitions, but first we’re only going to canter six strides and then back down to trot. When your horse canters off and his tail swishes a bit, he might be a little tight in the back, especially on the first canter when he hasn’t fully stretched his back yet. In this situation, a lot of riders tend to send their horses forward. But when you do this, you’re asking him to do more too soon. Instead, you want to make it easy for him.

“Without leaning forward, try to stay light on his back and only canter six to 10 strides at a time. Then, he’ll start to relax and his hind legs will come underneath him to create a nice canter.

“We always have a game plan, but sometimes you can’t stick to that same plan every day. Today, he needed to loosen up his back first and foremost. It’s so important to listen to your horse and trust your own intuition when something feels different. Every time you’re on your horse, you’re his trainer. You’re either going to train a positive thing that day or you’re going to train a negative thing.

“This is why it’s so important that when we’re on our horses we have a clear brain and a clear picture of what we want. We ride with intent because that’s what prey animals seek—when you constantly show your horse intention, he interprets that as your willingness to take care of him.”

For More:

• To watch Parts 1 and 2 of Jackie Kinney’s video series on “working less to get more,” click here.
• For more hands-on training tips and live video demonstrations with Kinney on EQUESTRIAN+, click here.