Rushing and Laboured
Dressage or Jumping - it's the same!
You can measure tempo in
miles or kilometers per hour, or beats per minute.
Too
fast: When the horse
"roars down the long-side" too fast, or "runs at the fences", you will probably get the
comment: "rushing". This happens a lot in extended paces,
especially canter. It's often hollow, hard to sit and certainly the
speed is not under your control
Too
slow: The smaller the circle, the slower the
horse. A horse has to show great energy, and a good speed, and
if either is lacking you are severely marked down in dressage and
showing, or just wont make the last part of the staircase for cross
country, or the explosive energy to take the short option in show
jumping.
See
getting
lazy horses to go forward.
Walk
=
dressage music - beats per minute - around 95bpm
= clear "one-two-three-four" sound heard on hard ground
= "clip-clop-clip-clop" sound
= sounds like a "clydesdale walking on concrete"
"1-2-3-4" "1-2-4-5" "1-2-3-4"
Long ago it was
discovered that a horse could walk about 50 miles/day and be able to repeat that,
day after day, without becoming unsound (and the rider surviving as well
*smile*).
Much slower, the
army didn't cover enough mileage, and a horse was capable of more. Much faster and
they couldn't maintain it day after day without illness or injury
In ancient times,
armies would often
have a drummer sounding out the exact time for the walk. The
speed, after all these years, hasn't really changed, even though we have
much bigger horses.
It's interesting
that both the modern endurance rider, the modern competitive dressage rider
and performers seem to agree on approximately the same beats per minute to
be considered "ideal". And, no matter what the size
of the
horse!
Trot =
dressage music - beats per minute - around 150 bpm
=
clear "one-two" sound on hard ground
=
"clip-clop" "clip-clop"
"clip-clop" sound
=
sounds like a little pony pulling a cart
"1-2" "1-2" "1-2"
It is well
documented that a trot can either be "high & springy" (collected trot), or
lengthened strides and longer neck/frame (extended trot).
Modern dressage
requires the display of several types of trot. The most collected
being piaffe (pretty much on the spot at performance level), passage (the most collected of the
"moving" trots), collected trot, working trot, medium trot and extended
trot (the largest)
If you visit the
remaining military schools (Cadre Noire, Spanish School of Riding in Vienna,
Royal School in Jerez), most performances are done to riding music that is, in
itself, quite old...in fact the music is often as old as the schools themselves.
In the days the
music was written, before the invention of the
metronome, the
composer used a word such as "Adagio" or "Allegro"
to tell the musicians at what speed the music was to be played. Too fast was considered "rushing", and to slow
considered "laboured" (and certainly boring to the audience!)
The same word chosen hundreds of years ago to describe trot
(Allegro or "light and lively) is
the same speed at
which we trot today.
Canter
=
dressage music - beats per minute - around 98 bpm
= "one-two-three" "one-two-three" sound
= sounds like a
racehorse
"1-2-3" "1-2-3" "1'2'3"
Jumping jumps was
originally part of all dressage training, and still remains in the form of
the "pre-caprilli" dressage test that includes a jump.
To be able to jump
to its full potential, or to have the power to get around a pirouette, the horse has to maintain a certain speed. Too
fast, or rushing, and the horse will be "flat", and unable to jump maximum
height, or spin around a pirouette. Too slow, they simply don't have the energy to get over the jump, and in
the worst case scenario, they will simply stop in front of the fence.
Both the top
dressage and jumping coaches agree...when a canter gets down to about
94bpm they say it's too slow, and when it gets to 105bpm
they say it's too fast. So, dressage or riding music you
would needs to be exactly within that range.
Dressage free style music
downloads
There
are many different forms of musical riding. Firstly there is
competition dressage to music, or freestyle (Kur) which has a mandatory set of
movements (depending on the level of the horse) which can be ridden in
any order the rider wants.
Then
there are performance freestyles such as you see at the big gala evening
horse shows. They are still to dressage freestyle music, however in those you can do whatever you want, just so long
as you're enjoying it, and the crowd is as well!
Then
there are quadrille rides, pas de deux and pairs, and although there are
a few competitions in the world, they are mostly freestyles as well with
no "required" movements, simply what that group decides upon.
Dressage
to music is now very common and so where to get freestyle dressage music
is no longer a problem as free style music downloads are everywhere now on the internet, but you
have to be careful! I have read several sites where the
information was quite wrong. The speeds they advise simply
are too slow, or too fast, or too broad a range.
When
dressage to music/freestyles first came in vogue about 20 years ago, they
filmed
the horse and sat on the lounge-room floor for hours watching the video
matching music to the horse. The problem is that the horse
might be faster one day than the next, and it doesn't train the horse to
have a consistent rhythm. That's like the ballet dancer
deciding how fast Swan Lake should be played. No, the judges
are the ones who have decided what speed they want the performance, and
the performer has to go within that range.
Judges
are more educated, the audiences are more educated, and no-one wants to
pay $80 a head to watch a horse doing the waltz when the music is square
dance music! Be very careful when you see dressage free style
music downloads that you are definitely following the judge's
requirements.
Extension &
collection
The
problem is extensions rush, and collections are slower.
So, we
have to teach the horse to do longer steps with a longer frame for
extension, and
shorter steps that lift their legs higher for collection.
The easiest way that is measurable and correct that I know is trot
poles to music.
By
riding to music, you've measured the tempo. By riding over
trot poles you've measured the distance.
Read any
pony club manual on all the walk, trot and canter trot pole lengths, and
gradually increase them first, and then as the horse develops they can
be shortened.
TO THE SAME
RIDING/DRESSAGE MUSIC!
A WARNING!!!
Be careful never to put trot poles too
close together, as that's too dangerous – and remember that every book
I’ve read says that poles should be “pinned” or “secured” to the
ground.
Now, I realize that I have NEVER seen this happen anywhere in
the world, however, if you are a teacher, and you are aware of this
rule, and a horse has an accident, then you are certainly negligent as
the books warn us of horses stepping on poles and some pretty bad
injuries.
There are many internet websites where
trot pole distances are
recommended for walk, trot and canter...do not go over poles until you
have a clear understanding of measuring out distances.
There
are lots of websites now offering free downloadable music for dressage
free styles, however email us first for more information, and we're post to you a couple of free tracks to get you started.
Free Dressage Music
Send us your postal address,
and we will post you a CD of free music tracks to get you
started.
Email us
with your postal address
