The German Training Scale
Competition dressage is in an abysmal state world wide. This is evidenced by the fact that top riders are now using hyperflexion to produce collection, that world champion horses can not stand still when saluting the judge, that more and more often we see tight and resistant horses winning at the highest level. It would seem that in order to win these days one only needs to have a horse with spectacular movement and mediocre training. Genetics is now determining the direction of dressage and training is taking a back seat.
The German Training Scale was developed as a guide to the training of the dressage horse. The steps are not meant to be rigidly adhered to, but as a framework to help the dressage trainer assess and establish the training of the young horse. Elements of the scale are also used in the judging.
The terms originate from the German language and exact translations are not always possible. For the purposes of this article I have taken the definitions and descriptions used by the USDF on their web site. I will follow these with my own personal interpretation of each element of the training scale. I will give the USDF interpretation of each element of the scale (in order) and follow it with my own thoughts.
The recurring characteristic sequence and timing of footfalls and phases of a given gait. For purposes of dressage, the only correct rhythms are those of the pure walk, trot, and canter, and reinback and piaffe (not those of amble, pace, rack, etc.). [Note 1: "Rhythm" is sometimes used mistakenly to mean "tempo" (rate of repetition of the rhythm). This usage is not consistent with the correct English definition of "rhythm" (per Webster), nor with its normal usage in music. Note 2: In English, there is no one term that covers both the rhythm (as defined above) and the tempo, as does the term "Takt" in German. This has caused confusion because "Takt" has commonly been translated as Rhythm. For purposes of the Training Pyramid, the German term "Takt" is translated as "Rhythm" and is used as shorthand for both the rhythm itself (as defined above)
and the suitable rate of repetition of the rhythm (tempo). See Foreign Terms and Pyramid of Training, in Appendix.]
Note that the USDF talks about a pure gait, but does not interpret what that means. They limit their meaning to the timing of footfalls. I don't have a problem with this meaning and most riders should be able to feel the purity and rhythm of the gait.
1. Referring to the horse's mental/ emotional state: calmness, without anxiety or nervousness.
2. Referring to the horse's physical state: commonly used to indicate the absence of muscular tension (contraction) other than that needed for optimal carriage, strength, and range and fluency of movement.
Often the physical and mental/ emotional states go hand in hand. [Note: For purposes of the Training Pyramid, the German term "Losgelassenheit" is translated as "Relaxation" by the USDF and as "Suppleness" by the FEI (see Foreign Terms and Pyramid of Training, in Appendix).]
I find it interesting that they separate physical from emotional states. I believe the emotional tension determines the physical tension. It is extremely rare these days to find competition horses that are relaxed. The lack of relaxation or tension is the determinant of the resistance in a horse. The more anxious a horse is emotionally the more resistance he will maintain in his body. This is because a horse's emotions direct his thoughts and it is his thoughts that we tap into and try to direct in our training.
Where I believe modern dressage begins to lose it's way is two fold. Firstly, most people (including judges) are not trained or adept at recognizing what is going on behind the surface. It is my experience few folk can see anxiety in a horse except when a horse is jumping out of it's skin. I think that there is so little awareness about this aspect of training that it is the first place to begin in re-training our trainers and judges.
Secondly, I think the approach to training is philosophically flawed these days. When I was younger and worked with a master trainer I was taught that you begin at the beginning with a horse. At first the horse exhibits tension and confusion, but as he progresses and understands what is being asked, he will gain confidence, relaxation and strength. At that point you move onto more difficult exercises. Again, the horse shows some tension and confusion until these exercises become confirmed in his mind and body. He becomes more relaxed, softer and stronger. Then you move onto even more difficult maneuvers and so on and so on. The idea being that you work at the horses level to get softness and relaxation before moving onto the next level. So as the horse advances he becomes softer and more relaxed. This does not appear to be the philosophy of modern training. It would seem that as a horse progresses today that he becomes more and more tense and bothered. It would seem that the movements and their mechanical accuracy are what is important and not the quality with which the horse executes them. I believe it is a mistake to sacrifice the quality of how a horse is feeling for the sake of doing the exercise. It restricts how much effort a horse will put into his work and limit his potential.
The reins are stretched so that they form a straight line, not a loop. "Correct contact" or "acceptance of contact" is determined by the elasticity of the connection between horse and rider. [Note: The third tier of the Training Pyramid is represented by the concept of "Connection" in the US, and by the concept of "Contact" (translation of "Anlehnung") by the FEI (see Foreign Terms, in Appendix).]
Contact-the third level of the pyramid-is the result of the horse's pushing power, and should never be achieved by the pulling of the rider's hands. The rider drives the horse into soft hands that allow the horse to come up into the bridle, and should always follow the natural motion of the animal's head. The horse should have equal contact in both reins.
This is a most controversial topic. Everybody has their own definition of contact. For most riders it means holding the reins in a way that when the horse drives forward he meets a small resistance of the reins to encourage him to raise the base of his neck and reach forward into the bit. The idea being that contact is the amount of feel between the horse and reins that allows the rider to change the horses movement and posture. In other words, it is the amount of feel in the reins that allows communication between rider and horse.
One must ask why? What is the purpose of contact. I agree that contact is the amount of feel on the reins that allows a rider to direct a horse. But my problem lies in that for modern dressage practices this feel is so heavy that it is one of the reasons why horses are so tense. For me, contact is when 'X' amount of change in the reins results in 'X' amount change in the horse. If my aim is to have the softest and most responsive horse possible, then clearly the goal should be to have a loopy rein and yet still be able to direct a horse's movement and posture. The dressage fraternity does not believe that you can have both a loose rein and a responsive soft horse that exhibits all the requirements of Grand Prix dressage test.
Compare this short clip of Bent Branderup on a Knapstrup stallion riding a half pass with a change of flexion on a loose curb, one handed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=294nfabaSKQ
In my mind, there are close parallels between the strength of the contact the riders use and the resistance and anxiety of the horses. It is more evidence that in modern competition dressage there is the tendency for a horse to exhibit greater resistance as he progresses to more advanced work leading to the need for riders to use more contact. To me, this just seems to be the opposite of the principles that dressage was built on.
Thrust, releasing the energy stored by engagement. The energy is transmitted through a back that is free from negative tension and is manifested in the horse's elastic, whole-body movement.
[Note 1: Impulsion is associated with a phase of suspension such as exists in trot and canter, but which does not exist in walk or piaffe. Therefore, impulsion is not applicable to the walk or the piaffe.
Note 2: Compare the original French with the later English translation of the FEI score sheets under "Impulsion." The English translation of the French reads "the desire to move forward," whereas what the French actually says is "The desire to carry itself forward" ("Le desire de se porter en avant").]
ImpulsionNote 3: For purposes of the Training Pyramid, the German term "Schwung" is translated as "Impulsion" (see Foreign Terms and Pyramid of Training, in Appendix).]
I think it is nonsense to suggest that a horse can not have impulsion at a walk and piaffe because there is no moment of suspension. The walk can still have engagement with a release of energy from the hindquarters. Secondly, I think it is a very limiting view to consider that impulsion is all about carry the horse forward. While I accept that forwardness is an important attribute in any training, I don't believe forwardness has anything to do with what we desire when we think of impulsion. The word that comes to my mind when I train is 'effort'.
I believe that impulsion should really equate to effort. A horse should be putting in an effort no matter what he is doing. The notion of effort incorporates energy, focus and precision irrespective of whether he is performing an extended trot, rein-back or a halt. For many folk impulsion is about getting a horse to go faster or bigger and I think this is where the notions of forwardness and impulsion get confused. But impulsion should be more than just engagement of the hindquarters for forward propulsion. I think this concept helps create horses that are rushing or fleeing in their forward movement. But effort is really about a focused and directed energy that is independent of speed or gait. A horse can show effort in his long rein walk or his tempi changes and never flees or rushes. It is interesting that most agree that impulsion is an important component of collection (in order to achieve the degree of engagement required). You can train a collected walk, but according to the definition you can't have impulsion at the walk? Piaffe is consider the highest degree of collection in competition dressage, but you can't have a piaffe with impulsion?
Effort is hard to develop in a horse because it means the horse is forever mentally focused and participating at a high level in his work. He can't be working on autopilot or working in a purely mechanical sense. It is hard to achieve because it requires that the horse never becomes bored and his work never becomes routine. Take a look at the Branderup clip again (above) and you will see a horse working at a slow tempo, but with a lot of effort.
1. Parallelism to required line of travel (e.g., haunches neither left nor right of centerline or circle line), or to line of reference (e.g., in leg yielding -haunches neither leading nor trailing).
2. Proper alignment of the horse's body parts from poll to tail (e.g., not a popped shoulder or twisted neck).
3. Directness of line of travel (e.g., not weaving).
A horse is straight when his hind legs follow the path of his front legs, on both straight lines and on bending lines, and his body is parallel to the line of travel. Straightness causes the horse to channel his impulsion directly toward his center of balance, and allows the rider's hand aids to have a connection to the hind end
When a horse is traveling in a straight line the left fore and left hind legs should fall on the same track. Similarly, the right fore and right hind should fall on the same track.
But on a bend or circle is where I disagree with the USDF definition. If a horse is straight and on a bend his inside fore will follow the curvature of the bend. But his inside hind leg will travel to the outside of the bend - almost like he is fish-tailing to a small degree. It is an old myth that the front and back legs follow the same path on a bend. It ain't true. Just watch a video or watch your own horses and you will see what I mean. The line that the USDF uses is the same line that most dressage coaches and riders use. It has been passed down for generations without question. But it is wrong. You don't have to believe me. Just watch horses. If the back legs do follow the path of the front legs on a circle, then the horse is crooked - not straight! It only happens when a horse is falling out on his shoulder or drops in on his shoulder.
Crookedness in a horse comes about by a resistance in his body. Usually the resistance is stronger on one side than the other side and that's why he appears crooked. Most training will teach that to make a horse straight again that you correct the wayward portion of his body by using leg, seat and/or rein to put him back on track (so to speak). In my experience, this can help for a little while but it never fixes the problem. It never addresses the resistance, it only tries to hide it. For me, the best way I know to correct crookedness is to teach a horse to bend softly. Break down the resistances by teaching them to be soft and supple in their bends - like they were a flexi-curve. A good example of incorrect training to cure crookedness is the over use of the outside rein in a turn. Riders use outside rein to prevent the shoulder from falling out of the turn. But by using the outside rein you are not addressing the cause of his shoulder leaving the turn which his inability to follow the feel of the inside rein. Instead, the outside rein is used to act as a brick wall to stop the shoulder from leaking. You will never get the horse soft and bending correctly if you don't fix the problem and will always have to use more outside rein to fix the crookedness. I believe it is the use of the outside rein in a turn that is the cause of so many dressage horses being laterally stiff.
Straightness is hard to achieve because it is a function of relaxation. Since most horse are tense, most horses are crooked. Even in straight lines at high levels of competition you see many examples of crookedness. For example the clip of Hors Martine Blu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQgTiqhPbw shows examples of rope walking (where the horse crosses her front legs in front of each other as if she was tight rope walking) and in the piaffe there are many times where the horse does the opposite of rope walking and the front feet hit the ground in a splayed fashion so it appears that the shoulders are rocking from side to side. Both these examples are caused by tension and show a lack of straightness. Yet the performances continues to wow audiences and judges. Why?
Increased engagement and lifting of the forehand, with shorter steps relative to the other paces of the gaits, while maintaining energy and self-carriage. The horse's outline becomes shorter from bit to hip, with the neck and withers stretched and arched upward.
At the apex of the training scale, collection may be used occasionally to supplement less vigorous work, but is only focused on (through the collected gaits and more difficult movements, such as flying changes) in more advanced horses. Collection requires greater muscular strength, so must be developed slowly. When a horse collects, he naturally takes more of his weight onto his hindquarters. The joints of the hind limbs have greater flexion, allowing the horse to lower his hindquarters, bring his hind legs further under his body, and lighten the forehand. A collected horse is able to move more freely. When collected, the stride length should shorten, and increase in energy and activity.
Collection is the "holy grail" of dressage. Everybody is aiming for it, but few understand what it is or how to achieve it. Most people never achieve true collection and are left with a horse that can only mimic the appearance of collection. There have been an abundance of gadgets invented to help a rider on the road to collection - side reins, market harborough, chambon, pessoa, draw reins etc. But the purpose of these items is to help a rider "out-muscle" the resistance a horse has to yielding. They are not designed to alter a horse's feelings in order to help him have a more yielding frame of mind, but only to force his body to yield to what many riders are looking for when they try to achieve collection. That's why I say most horses only mimic collection. The softness that is required to achieve true collection comes from the inside of a horse. However, in modern competition there is little evidence that riders and coaches pay little more than lip service to this concept. Most top level riders and instructors agree that collection is something a horse gives you and not something that you impose on a horse, but very few actually walk that walk.
This is why the growing popularity of "rolkur" or hyperflexion has found a home in top level dressage. If you are unsure what I am talking about watch this video to see what I mean www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz9r9zqGKhE
You can see here that Anky is working Bonfire in a frame that stretches the top line to an extreme and she does this by using the curb bit with an lot of force (note the angle of the curb). The idea of this practice is to stretch the horse over his back so much that it breaks the physical and mental resistance of releasing the top line in the competition ring where it is required that the horse be in front of the vertical. In other words, it is like taking a spring and over stretching it so that it is not so tight a spring when you come to use it. But again, the hyperflexion is all about physically forcing a horse to yield with no consideration for the horse mentally yielding. You can see in the clip that Bonfire is pretty tense, but he is such a powerful athlete that he is able to still move forward easily despite the restriction that Anky places on his front end.
Anky van Grunsven is considered among the top dressage riders today and is probably the most successful rider competing at the moment. So she is no doubt a role model for many riders and who will try to emulate her and train their horses using hyperflexion. There is nothing good about hyperflexion, but while judges reward the results it will continue to become popular and perhaps one day be common place.
I feel that anybody who believes they should use mechanical devices and tricks to help achieve collection is not ready as a rider to be asking for collection. The understanding and feel required from a rider for a horse to learn to give from the inside can not come from gadgetry and trickery (like hyperflexion). True collection will remain elusive for these riders even if they are adorned with blue ribbons awarded to them by judges who don't know better.
The problem with competitive dressage is not so much the German Training Scale, but the corruption of the concepts it attempts to convey by the need to win. Where once dressage was a pastime of the wealthy and purest of equine pursuits, it is now a pursuit based on adversarial principles. That is it is a competition between horse and rider and rider and rider. Few people train for dressage at the higher levels and don't compete. It is assumed these days that if you train dressage you must compete. Hardly anybody trains for movements that are not required in competition. Many consider levade, canter to the rear, Spanish walk etc to be circus tricks and not something that serious dressage riders would bother with.
Competition has corrupted the system and ideals of dressage. It has encouraged short cuts, gadgetry, the training of 5 year old horses to Grand Prix and the loss of classical principles. It is the nature of people to take healthy competition and turn it into an unhealthy pursuit where
The German Training Scale was developed as a guide to the training of the dressage horse. The steps are not meant to be rigidly adhered to, but as a framework to help the dressage trainer assess and establish the training of the young horse. Elements of the scale are also used in the judging.
The terms originate from the German language and exact translations are not always possible. For the purposes of this article I have taken the definitions and descriptions used by the USDF on their web site. I will follow these with my own personal interpretation of each element of the training scale. I will give the USDF interpretation of each element of the scale (in order) and follow it with my own thoughts.
Rhythm
The recurring characteristic sequence and timing of footfalls and phases of a given gait. For purposes of dressage, the only correct rhythms are those of the pure walk, trot, and canter, and reinback and piaffe (not those of amble, pace, rack, etc.). [Note 1: "Rhythm" is sometimes used mistakenly to mean "tempo" (rate of repetition of the rhythm). This usage is not consistent with the correct English definition of "rhythm" (per Webster), nor with its normal usage in music. Note 2: In English, there is no one term that covers both the rhythm (as defined above) and the tempo, as does the term "Takt" in German. This has caused confusion because "Takt" has commonly been translated as Rhythm. For purposes of the Training Pyramid, the German term "Takt" is translated as "Rhythm" and is used as shorthand for both the rhythm itself (as defined above)
and the suitable rate of repetition of the rhythm (tempo). See Foreign Terms and Pyramid of Training, in Appendix.]
Note that the USDF talks about a pure gait, but does not interpret what that means. They limit their meaning to the timing of footfalls. I don't have a problem with this meaning and most riders should be able to feel the purity and rhythm of the gait.
Relaxation
1. Referring to the horse's mental/ emotional state: calmness, without anxiety or nervousness.
2. Referring to the horse's physical state: commonly used to indicate the absence of muscular tension (contraction) other than that needed for optimal carriage, strength, and range and fluency of movement.
Often the physical and mental/ emotional states go hand in hand. [Note: For purposes of the Training Pyramid, the German term "Losgelassenheit" is translated as "Relaxation" by the USDF and as "Suppleness" by the FEI (see Foreign Terms and Pyramid of Training, in Appendix).]
I find it interesting that they separate physical from emotional states. I believe the emotional tension determines the physical tension. It is extremely rare these days to find competition horses that are relaxed. The lack of relaxation or tension is the determinant of the resistance in a horse. The more anxious a horse is emotionally the more resistance he will maintain in his body. This is because a horse's emotions direct his thoughts and it is his thoughts that we tap into and try to direct in our training.
Where I believe modern dressage begins to lose it's way is two fold. Firstly, most people (including judges) are not trained or adept at recognizing what is going on behind the surface. It is my experience few folk can see anxiety in a horse except when a horse is jumping out of it's skin. I think that there is so little awareness about this aspect of training that it is the first place to begin in re-training our trainers and judges.
Secondly, I think the approach to training is philosophically flawed these days. When I was younger and worked with a master trainer I was taught that you begin at the beginning with a horse. At first the horse exhibits tension and confusion, but as he progresses and understands what is being asked, he will gain confidence, relaxation and strength. At that point you move onto more difficult exercises. Again, the horse shows some tension and confusion until these exercises become confirmed in his mind and body. He becomes more relaxed, softer and stronger. Then you move onto even more difficult maneuvers and so on and so on. The idea being that you work at the horses level to get softness and relaxation before moving onto the next level. So as the horse advances he becomes softer and more relaxed. This does not appear to be the philosophy of modern training. It would seem that as a horse progresses today that he becomes more and more tense and bothered. It would seem that the movements and their mechanical accuracy are what is important and not the quality with which the horse executes them. I believe it is a mistake to sacrifice the quality of how a horse is feeling for the sake of doing the exercise. It restricts how much effort a horse will put into his work and limit his potential.
Contact
The reins are stretched so that they form a straight line, not a loop. "Correct contact" or "acceptance of contact" is determined by the elasticity of the connection between horse and rider. [Note: The third tier of the Training Pyramid is represented by the concept of "Connection" in the US, and by the concept of "Contact" (translation of "Anlehnung") by the FEI (see Foreign Terms, in Appendix).]
Contact-the third level of the pyramid-is the result of the horse's pushing power, and should never be achieved by the pulling of the rider's hands. The rider drives the horse into soft hands that allow the horse to come up into the bridle, and should always follow the natural motion of the animal's head. The horse should have equal contact in both reins.
This is a most controversial topic. Everybody has their own definition of contact. For most riders it means holding the reins in a way that when the horse drives forward he meets a small resistance of the reins to encourage him to raise the base of his neck and reach forward into the bit. The idea being that contact is the amount of feel between the horse and reins that allows the rider to change the horses movement and posture. In other words, it is the amount of feel in the reins that allows communication between rider and horse.
One must ask why? What is the purpose of contact. I agree that contact is the amount of feel on the reins that allows a rider to direct a horse. But my problem lies in that for modern dressage practices this feel is so heavy that it is one of the reasons why horses are so tense. For me, contact is when 'X' amount of change in the reins results in 'X' amount change in the horse. If my aim is to have the softest and most responsive horse possible, then clearly the goal should be to have a loopy rein and yet still be able to direct a horse's movement and posture. The dressage fraternity does not believe that you can have both a loose rein and a responsive soft horse that exhibits all the requirements of Grand Prix dressage test.
Compare this short clip of Bent Branderup on a Knapstrup stallion riding a half pass with a change of flexion on a loose curb, one handed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=294nfabaSKQ
In my mind, there are close parallels between the strength of the contact the riders use and the resistance and anxiety of the horses. It is more evidence that in modern competition dressage there is the tendency for a horse to exhibit greater resistance as he progresses to more advanced work leading to the need for riders to use more contact. To me, this just seems to be the opposite of the principles that dressage was built on.
Impulsion
Thrust, releasing the energy stored by engagement. The energy is transmitted through a back that is free from negative tension and is manifested in the horse's elastic, whole-body movement.
[Note 1: Impulsion is associated with a phase of suspension such as exists in trot and canter, but which does not exist in walk or piaffe. Therefore, impulsion is not applicable to the walk or the piaffe.
Note 2: Compare the original French with the later English translation of the FEI score sheets under "Impulsion." The English translation of the French reads "the desire to move forward," whereas what the French actually says is "The desire to carry itself forward" ("Le desire de se porter en avant").]
ImpulsionNote 3: For purposes of the Training Pyramid, the German term "Schwung" is translated as "Impulsion" (see Foreign Terms and Pyramid of Training, in Appendix).]
I think it is nonsense to suggest that a horse can not have impulsion at a walk and piaffe because there is no moment of suspension. The walk can still have engagement with a release of energy from the hindquarters. Secondly, I think it is a very limiting view to consider that impulsion is all about carry the horse forward. While I accept that forwardness is an important attribute in any training, I don't believe forwardness has anything to do with what we desire when we think of impulsion. The word that comes to my mind when I train is 'effort'.
I believe that impulsion should really equate to effort. A horse should be putting in an effort no matter what he is doing. The notion of effort incorporates energy, focus and precision irrespective of whether he is performing an extended trot, rein-back or a halt. For many folk impulsion is about getting a horse to go faster or bigger and I think this is where the notions of forwardness and impulsion get confused. But impulsion should be more than just engagement of the hindquarters for forward propulsion. I think this concept helps create horses that are rushing or fleeing in their forward movement. But effort is really about a focused and directed energy that is independent of speed or gait. A horse can show effort in his long rein walk or his tempi changes and never flees or rushes. It is interesting that most agree that impulsion is an important component of collection (in order to achieve the degree of engagement required). You can train a collected walk, but according to the definition you can't have impulsion at the walk? Piaffe is consider the highest degree of collection in competition dressage, but you can't have a piaffe with impulsion?
Effort is hard to develop in a horse because it means the horse is forever mentally focused and participating at a high level in his work. He can't be working on autopilot or working in a purely mechanical sense. It is hard to achieve because it requires that the horse never becomes bored and his work never becomes routine. Take a look at the Branderup clip again (above) and you will see a horse working at a slow tempo, but with a lot of effort.
Straightness
1. Parallelism to required line of travel (e.g., haunches neither left nor right of centerline or circle line), or to line of reference (e.g., in leg yielding -haunches neither leading nor trailing).
2. Proper alignment of the horse's body parts from poll to tail (e.g., not a popped shoulder or twisted neck).
3. Directness of line of travel (e.g., not weaving).
A horse is straight when his hind legs follow the path of his front legs, on both straight lines and on bending lines, and his body is parallel to the line of travel. Straightness causes the horse to channel his impulsion directly toward his center of balance, and allows the rider's hand aids to have a connection to the hind end
When a horse is traveling in a straight line the left fore and left hind legs should fall on the same track. Similarly, the right fore and right hind should fall on the same track.
But on a bend or circle is where I disagree with the USDF definition. If a horse is straight and on a bend his inside fore will follow the curvature of the bend. But his inside hind leg will travel to the outside of the bend - almost like he is fish-tailing to a small degree. It is an old myth that the front and back legs follow the same path on a bend. It ain't true. Just watch a video or watch your own horses and you will see what I mean. The line that the USDF uses is the same line that most dressage coaches and riders use. It has been passed down for generations without question. But it is wrong. You don't have to believe me. Just watch horses. If the back legs do follow the path of the front legs on a circle, then the horse is crooked - not straight! It only happens when a horse is falling out on his shoulder or drops in on his shoulder.
Crookedness in a horse comes about by a resistance in his body. Usually the resistance is stronger on one side than the other side and that's why he appears crooked. Most training will teach that to make a horse straight again that you correct the wayward portion of his body by using leg, seat and/or rein to put him back on track (so to speak). In my experience, this can help for a little while but it never fixes the problem. It never addresses the resistance, it only tries to hide it. For me, the best way I know to correct crookedness is to teach a horse to bend softly. Break down the resistances by teaching them to be soft and supple in their bends - like they were a flexi-curve. A good example of incorrect training to cure crookedness is the over use of the outside rein in a turn. Riders use outside rein to prevent the shoulder from falling out of the turn. But by using the outside rein you are not addressing the cause of his shoulder leaving the turn which his inability to follow the feel of the inside rein. Instead, the outside rein is used to act as a brick wall to stop the shoulder from leaking. You will never get the horse soft and bending correctly if you don't fix the problem and will always have to use more outside rein to fix the crookedness. I believe it is the use of the outside rein in a turn that is the cause of so many dressage horses being laterally stiff.
Straightness is hard to achieve because it is a function of relaxation. Since most horse are tense, most horses are crooked. Even in straight lines at high levels of competition you see many examples of crookedness. For example the clip of Hors Martine Blu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQgTiqhPbw shows examples of rope walking (where the horse crosses her front legs in front of each other as if she was tight rope walking) and in the piaffe there are many times where the horse does the opposite of rope walking and the front feet hit the ground in a splayed fashion so it appears that the shoulders are rocking from side to side. Both these examples are caused by tension and show a lack of straightness. Yet the performances continues to wow audiences and judges. Why?
Collection
Increased engagement and lifting of the forehand, with shorter steps relative to the other paces of the gaits, while maintaining energy and self-carriage. The horse's outline becomes shorter from bit to hip, with the neck and withers stretched and arched upward.
At the apex of the training scale, collection may be used occasionally to supplement less vigorous work, but is only focused on (through the collected gaits and more difficult movements, such as flying changes) in more advanced horses. Collection requires greater muscular strength, so must be developed slowly. When a horse collects, he naturally takes more of his weight onto his hindquarters. The joints of the hind limbs have greater flexion, allowing the horse to lower his hindquarters, bring his hind legs further under his body, and lighten the forehand. A collected horse is able to move more freely. When collected, the stride length should shorten, and increase in energy and activity.
Collection is the "holy grail" of dressage. Everybody is aiming for it, but few understand what it is or how to achieve it. Most people never achieve true collection and are left with a horse that can only mimic the appearance of collection. There have been an abundance of gadgets invented to help a rider on the road to collection - side reins, market harborough, chambon, pessoa, draw reins etc. But the purpose of these items is to help a rider "out-muscle" the resistance a horse has to yielding. They are not designed to alter a horse's feelings in order to help him have a more yielding frame of mind, but only to force his body to yield to what many riders are looking for when they try to achieve collection. That's why I say most horses only mimic collection. The softness that is required to achieve true collection comes from the inside of a horse. However, in modern competition there is little evidence that riders and coaches pay little more than lip service to this concept. Most top level riders and instructors agree that collection is something a horse gives you and not something that you impose on a horse, but very few actually walk that walk.
This is why the growing popularity of "rolkur" or hyperflexion has found a home in top level dressage. If you are unsure what I am talking about watch this video to see what I mean www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz9r9zqGKhE
You can see here that Anky is working Bonfire in a frame that stretches the top line to an extreme and she does this by using the curb bit with an lot of force (note the angle of the curb). The idea of this practice is to stretch the horse over his back so much that it breaks the physical and mental resistance of releasing the top line in the competition ring where it is required that the horse be in front of the vertical. In other words, it is like taking a spring and over stretching it so that it is not so tight a spring when you come to use it. But again, the hyperflexion is all about physically forcing a horse to yield with no consideration for the horse mentally yielding. You can see in the clip that Bonfire is pretty tense, but he is such a powerful athlete that he is able to still move forward easily despite the restriction that Anky places on his front end.
Anky van Grunsven is considered among the top dressage riders today and is probably the most successful rider competing at the moment. So she is no doubt a role model for many riders and who will try to emulate her and train their horses using hyperflexion. There is nothing good about hyperflexion, but while judges reward the results it will continue to become popular and perhaps one day be common place.
I feel that anybody who believes they should use mechanical devices and tricks to help achieve collection is not ready as a rider to be asking for collection. The understanding and feel required from a rider for a horse to learn to give from the inside can not come from gadgetry and trickery (like hyperflexion). True collection will remain elusive for these riders even if they are adorned with blue ribbons awarded to them by judges who don't know better.
German Training Scale and Competition
The problem with competitive dressage is not so much the German Training Scale, but the corruption of the concepts it attempts to convey by the need to win. Where once dressage was a pastime of the wealthy and purest of equine pursuits, it is now a pursuit based on adversarial principles. That is it is a competition between horse and rider and rider and rider. Few people train for dressage at the higher levels and don't compete. It is assumed these days that if you train dressage you must compete. Hardly anybody trains for movements that are not required in competition. Many consider levade, canter to the rear, Spanish walk etc to be circus tricks and not something that serious dressage riders would bother with.
Competition has corrupted the system and ideals of dressage. It has encouraged short cuts, gadgetry, the training of 5 year old horses to Grand Prix and the loss of classical principles. It is the nature of people to take healthy competition and turn it into an unhealthy pursuit where