Part 1

     Among the serious students or participants of Dressage there are few who are not aware of the Training Scale and its importance in training and riding a Dressage horse. Ask about the six steps of the scale and their ascending order and you will be surprised how few actually can answer that question correctly. Of those who did come up with the correct answer many will have to admit that during their daily work the training scale rarely enters their mind.

     It is clear to me that many experienced trainers will follow the guidance of the scale without consciously thinking about it. Theirs are the lucky horses and fortunate owners. The rest of us just have to stop and think every now and then to evaluate our horse’s progress against the demands of the training scale and make sure we are still on the right track.

     In 1912, the German army published its new service manual Hdv 12. It not only wanted to provide its Cavalry with a description of the best way of training the remounts from the first saddle through about second level, the army was also very much interested in keeping the young horses sound. This service manual did not contain the training scale the way we know it today, but the entire manual was an explanation of the Training Scale. By 1936, the soldiers using the manual had condensed its content to those six words. Look at the steps of the training scale as goals the trainer must achieve to have the best system working for her. Just as importantly, she must reach them in the order described by the scale.

     Of the many reasons why the training scale does not quite receive the attention it deserves, I would like to discuss the three I consider to be the main ones. First, in my opinion, is the trouble with the translation of the words. “Takt” is the German word for the first step, while the American version says, “Rhythm.” While they do not really mean the same thing exactly, they do conjure up the same picture in the reader’s mind. That is a horse moving with a correct and clean beat in a rhythmic fashion. In this case the translation worked. In my opinion it missed its mark by a great margin at step two.

     The term, “Losgelassenheit,” step two on the scale, describes the condition of the horse “having let go.” For the rider this means that the horse is hard at work without any physical or mental tension. That is a far cry from what most people think relaxation means. We associate the term relaxation mostly with kicking back and drinking a beer. Yet relaxation is what the second step on the scale is called in English. To me the term suppleness would much better describe the condition the rider is looking for in step two of the scale.

     “Anlehnung” is translated as “Contact.“ That is not even near what the German rider means. I have, however, also seen it as “Connection.” This comes much closer to the intent of the German word. “Anlehnung” actually means, “leaning on.” If we now look upon connection as the horse connecting with the rider by stretching into the bit, both the German word as well as the English translation describes an action of the horse. In many of the mental and emotional aspects of the horse’s training I like to compare the horse to a child. Both are dependent to a large degree on their partner, parent or rider, for their well being. So they are tuned in to the emotions of their partner and will react to them. How often do you experience horses that are quite strong willed at home become careful and submissive at a strange place? Just like the child that wants to run free as long as it can keep an eye on mom, it will be quite glad to hold mom’s hand in a crowded mall. Their insecurity demands a connection with a confident person to settle their anxiety and allow them to feel secure. The rider establishes the contact with the horse but it is the horse’s desire to stretch to the bit and connect with it’s rider that satisfies the intended meaning of the word, “Anlehnung”.

     “Schwung” is the next step. “Impulsion” covers the physical aspect of “Schwung” quite well. A German would, however, also say that someone who went about a task with a great deal of enthusiasm worked with much “Schwung”. The German word has a physical as well as a mental aspect to its full meaning and that is often hard to translate with just one word. To me the condition that we are trying to describe in step four of the training scale is a horse with power and a great desire to move forward. The willingness to have this desire controlled by its rider, was established in step three.

     Just about all horses naturally travel crooked. That is to say, their front and hind legs are not perfectly aligned. For a horse to be considered straight its inside front and hind leg must travel on the same track on straight lines as well as on circles. Like us, horses are one sided. We have the need to train them to where they work equally well on both sides and this process is also a part of straightening the horse. Such a straight horse is much more capable of using its strength efficiently and obeying its rider equally well on both hands. The German term, “Geraderichten” and the English term, “Straightness,” have the same meaning and there should not be any confusion because of translation.

     For the English speaking rider as well as the German speaking rider the terms, “Collection” and “Versammlung,” seem perfect to describe the condition of the horse we expect in step six. Yet ask the person on the street and the closest he will come in Germany is a “meeting,” while a religious American might reach for his wallet when he hears “collection.” So, riders have given the word a meaning quite different from Webster’s definition. This then needs to be explained to the person new to riding. What we mean by a horse working in “Collection” is a horse that has adjusted its center of gravity a bit further back by stepping more forward with its hind legs and bending more in its joints. This creates a relative elevation and a greater lightness in the forehand. This way of moving allows the horse to instantly execute the order of its rider and to do so with more power. “Collection” also makes the horse more comfortable to ride and more beautiful to watch.

     I do not know exactly when the term, “Versammlung” was first used by German horsemen to describe what we now call “Collection.” It was many centuries ago at a time when just about everybody who rode or otherwise worked with horses also had grown up with them. Most of today’s riders do not grow up with horses and therefore are not familiar with horsemen’s terminology. Today’s professional cannot expect that she is being understood when she speaks horse lingo to a person new in her world. Please do not assume, but explain.

     Reasons two and three why the training scale has not gained the attention it deserves from so many riders, even professional trainers, is that many do not necessarily agree with the order in which these goals must be achieved. I for one believe that there is a compelling logic in the training scale. I hope I can convince you to agree with me by having you look at the scale from the top down.

     Start with “Collection,” which is stepping farther under the center of gravity to carry more weight, bending more in the joints and lightening the forehand. It is so much easier to carry weight when the base of support is under the center of gravity, not along side of it. If you have any doubts, put a heavy backpack over one shoulder and carry it for a while and then place it over both and feel the difference. The horse will always want to work the way Mother Nature intended it to and that would be just fine if we did not want to ride it. It is up to us to help the horse carry us and itself by making it straighter before we weigh its hind legs down more.

     This now brings me to reason number three. Please stay with me, I will return right back to the logic of the order. The reason is that all the terms, except “Rhythm,” describe a condition of the horse that is variable. You could put them on a scale from one to ten. Let us look at “Suppleness.” Compare the degree of suppleness necessary to fulfill the requirements of a training level test vs. a Grand Prix test. The four-year-old horse will stay physically and mentally relaxed while working hard at maintaining self-carriage on the straight lines. Ask the same horse to Passage and the result will be tension. This horse’s suppleness is maybe a two or three but it needs to be a ten for the horse to stay cool at Passage. The same holds true for the other conditions, including “Collection.” We will talk more about this when we discuss the practical application of the scale. Now back to the logic of the order of the Training Scale.

     We agree, that a horse can “collect” easier the “straighter” it is. In order to help the horse to travel more straight, we must work it a great deal on bent lines. That, however, tends to slow a horse down and, therefore, we must have created in the horse the desire to go forward (“impulsion”) to maintain a good “rhythm.” This impulsion is the result of correctly ridden transitions particularly within the gaits. That again is impossible to accomplish with a horse that is not properly “connected” and on the bit. Remember we established that this connection is the result of the horse accepting the rider’s contact and stretching into the bit. In order to do that, the horse must have let go of all tension and work with “supple” muscles. This suppleness is best achieved through “rhythmic” movement. “Rhythmic” movement also is necessary for good circulation in the muscle which is needed for the muscle to grow. This looks like good logic to me.

     Up to this point I have explained the theory behind the training scale. Next we must discuss the practical application of the steps. Before I do that there is one more term that needs to be translated and that is, “Durchlaessigkeit”. We, the horsemen, have for lack of a satisfactory English word created a new one. It is called “Throughness.” My computer immediately complained about my spelling, as it likes to do a great deal, but this time I was right. We define “throughness” as the complete absence of resistance in the horse, so that it will allow the energy created by its hind legs to travel over its back through the neck to the bit and into the rider’s hands. At the same time allowing the signals of the rider to travel through neck and back to the hind legs and there responding correctly to the will of the rider. “Throughness” is also a variable and increases along with the other conditions as the horse progresses in its training. While it is not a part of the training scale, it is the ultimate goal of the trainer’s work and a great indicator of the progress the horse is making.

     If for some reason you should feel that this is something only trainers need to know, you are mistaken. Every time you ride your horse, you should warm it up according to the scale and then ride it in such a way that it will maintain the conditions you have created in the warm up. This way you will receive maximum results of your work and keep your horse physically and mentally fit.

     To breathe some life into this theory and make it outright exciting, we need to get on our horse and give it a try. Unfortunately it is late, but we will get started first thing in the morning.

                                        End of Part 1