Part 3

     Impulsion is step four of the training pyramid. It is (like suppleness, connection, straightness, and collection) a condition that improves and grows through the correct training of the horse. So far our goal has been to familiarize the young horse with his work under a rider. We also helped him find his balance with extra weight on his back and asked him to step forward with confidence into the bit. By doing this his movement became rhythmic and his back relaxed, allowing him to stretch forward over his back into the bit and connect with his rider. If the rider has taken great care not to ask too much too soon and has been generous with praise for every little improvement that the young horse has shown, he has made him confident and willing to try more.

     “Wow”, you say, “It has been only three months and I am already halfway through the training pyramid! Another three months like that and I will be done.” Not so fast, please. Do you remember that I said the hard part of training was the development of strength and the change of direction in which the horse must move? You have not done any of that yet. Students and readers often ask me how long it takes to fulfill the requirements of the pyramid. As with most answers regarding training it starts with “that depends”. So many factors play a roll in the speed in which you progress. Some of them include your horse’s talent, attitude, and conformation as well as your riding ability, experience, and time available to ride. Your horse should be able to perform a second level test comfortably, jump a course of small fences confidently and canter in balance cross country. In most cases this will take about two years.

     At liberty, your horse moves forward-downward and it still does. To help me explain the reason why this may now appear as a moment of pause in your progress while you prepare your horse for the next big step upward on the pyramid, I want to introduce a new term: Momentum. Imagine yourself running down a hill. It does not take much to keep you going forward since momentum carries you and you use more strength to maintain your balance than to run. This is how a horse feels that is trotting along on the forehand. One important difference is, however, that your horse has four legs and his front legs are built perfectly for bracing. Next, imagine yourself running down that hill again and somebody is pushing on your back every step of the way. You would find yourself running faster and faster until you need something to brace against or fall down. Your horse will feel exactly like that when, while he is still on the forehand, you prod him to go forward more and more in order to create impulsion. He will look for and find an additional brace in the reins; a highly undesirable outcome.

     It is definition time again. What exactly do we mean by forward when it comes to the horse’s movement? I would like to define it as the horse’s attitude “to want to move” and the resulting activity of the hind leg, not to be mistaken with speed. This is also how I describe the term, impulsion. It is the horse’s desire to go forward, controlled by the rider. Forward also indicates a direction. In this article we distinguish between forward-downward (on the forehand), forward (in balance), and forward-upward (collected).

     In order to illustrate the difficulties the horse has with its balance while on the forehand, I have used the problems of a person running downhill. If this person now were to run on level terrain, it would not encounter those difficulties. The same holds true for the horse. The level terrain is like a balance in the horse that distributes equal weight over all four feet. We must, therefore, ask the horse to adopt an artificial direction of movement; from the natural forward-downward to forward. Many of you will disagree with me on the term artificial. While I admit that a horse will, when in an excited mood move in this balance, it will only do so for a very short period. The rider expects the horse to maintain this balance at all times while working, without the benefit of excitement. You will not see a horse at liberty do that and, therefore, I see it as artificial in a horse. There is also no conflict with the idea that in dressage we will only ask the horse to move in ways that are natural to it since we do not change its gaits, only the direction of its balance. The reason is to help it better deal with the load on its back.

     We have branded the horse leaning on the bit as highly undesirable yet even with the best of careful riding it is almost inevitable that it will happen. Do not let those moments of imbalance bother you. Your horse wants to be on the forehand because that is natural to him and, therefore, he loses his balance forward and you wind up with his weight in your hand. With correct training, those occasional imbalances will become less frequent and shorter in duration.

     It always frustrates me when a so-called expert writing an article advises me to improve my horse through correct training. Of course I want to train my horse correctly. That is why I am reading this article! I would like some concrete advice about what to do and what not to do. Also, to me advice makes a great deal more sense and I would be more inclined to use it when it comes with an explanation of why the author believes I should give his way a try.

     In order for me to be concrete in my advice as to how to proceed, I must first make sure you clearly understand where you are with your horse. You also should have a clear picture in your mind as to where you are going. Those of us who have trained young horses before know how they can run us up and down an emotional roller coaster and, therefore, I call this moment a reality check. As I stated earlier, in the high your horse gave you after the last ride, you believed you had fulfilled the requirements of step three of the pyramid. You have, but please remember the fact that steps two and three are progressive and you are, on the scale of one to ten, at one. To start at this point with serious work on impulsion would be counter productive, but by continuing to improve steps two and three you are laying the groundwork that will allow you to proceed toward that goal later on. Steps one to three are labeled the familiarization phase and as of step two, you have also begun the development of the horse’s pushing power. Please read the sidebar (click here to view the sidebar) that deals with the overlapping of steps and phases of the training pyramid.

      There is a good reason why I am so emphatic about slowing down and taking baby steps at this point. I see too many horses at this stage of training just run off their feet. You just simply cannot ask your horse to move stronger than it can balance. Fast does not mean forward and slow does not mean without impulsion. Remember the movement called Piaffe? It is rather slow but full of impulsion. Of course I am not suggesting that you slow your horse down to that extreme. I simply want you to help your horse find the strongest movement in the gaits that it can balance at this time. Then ride it at that pace on straight lines, through corners, and on circles. In the corners and on circles he may at first need some active intervention from you to maintain his balance. You will find that as he becomes stronger and learns to bend better, you can venture onto smaller circles and deeper into the corners. I personally like to spiral in and let the horse show me how small a circle he can travel before balance becomes a problem. When a fifteen meter circle is no longer a problem, I try a little lengthening for a few steps on the open side of a twenty meter circle and see what happens.

     You may ask, “see what happens”? Yes, how else are you going to know where your horse’s limits are at that time? Ask him by pushing him so you can find his maximum level and then respect it by not continuing to want more. Working him at that level will strengthen him and soon he will be ready for more. See yourself barely able to lift 100 pounds and then imagine someone with authority over you giving you 110 pounds to lift and threatening you with punishment if you fail. You may do it but it may be the beginning of the end of your healthy back and you will be sore the next day. Now comes the next day and you will be asked to lift 110 pounds again and if your sore back just can’t handle it, you are punished for being lazy. Justification: You did it yesterday! This is not good for morale and you have learned that the best way to protect yourself is not to try too hard in the first place. Horses cannot reason like that. The best will continue to give their all and they are, therefore, the first ones to physically break down. To return to our example, had you been given time to strengthen your back by lifting 100 pounds for awhile, you then could move up to 110 pounds without inflicting any harm.

     If you were to ask an expert for some exercises you could ride to help you develop impulsion in your horse, he would probably tell you to ride in active gaits, ride many transitions from gait to gait as well as within the gaits, from working gaits to lengthening and back. He would also warn you to stay within your horse’s power and tolerance to deal with stress. Most of all he would ask you to listen closely to your horse for signs of fatigue or confusion. Loss of, or change in rhythm would usually be the first indicators that it is time for a break. Since the exercises that have been recommended to you are the same that you have gradually worked your way up to already, I think it is time for us to take a break also.

                                          End of Part 3  

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