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As the horse trailers were pulling into Glenda Toll's beautiful private stables, our instructor, Josh Coleman, was busy finishing up a schooling session on his own horse, Sally. ""When you ride six to ten client-owned horses a day," explained Josh, "you don't always have time for your own."
Josh has been actively developing a solid horse training business this past year and has earned himself a very favorable reputation in the dressage world. "I went to college and then worked in business for a while," tells Josh. "You can call me crazy, but riding horses is what I love." When he was a wee lad of seven years, Josh started with hunter/jumpers. Then as a teenager he met up with Elli Stine-Masek, who introduced him to dressage. Later, as Josh continued to study with Ellie, he began to work on the Parson's Cattle Ranch and learn natural horsemanship with Ellie and her husband, George Masek. Affectionately dubbed a "dressage cowboy," Josh is especially known for his work with young, unbroken dressage prospects and horses with problems.
This past show season, Josh has successfully shown Ellie's horse, Traxx, at Fourth Level and Prix St. George. And while he looks great in the top hat and tails of the upper-levels, the next occasion where he'll be seen so fashionably dressed will be at his own wedding! This September Josh will marry Jody Quilling in Montana. Jody is skilled with horses herself and will be working with Josh to build the family business. Good luck to you both!
Anyone wishing to consult with Josh regarding downward transitions or any other training issue may call him at 906-3251.
By the time Josh had finished divulging his interesting background, he was faced with eight riders and horses in the ring, all with varied skills and levels of training. After he watched them briefly with his well-schooled eye, he confessed that although he had prepared a structured lesson plan, he would have to act like a dressage cowboy and "shoot from the hip!" With a subject as broad as "downward transitions," the first thing to do was to establish a common frame of reference. Josh threw out a simple question to the class: "What's a half-halt?"
Many intelligent, well-thought-out responses were given which greatly pleased the instructor. Josh let them know that there is no single correct answer because there are many ways of giving a half-halt. The most important thing to consider is the end result.
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The purpose of the half-halt is to get the horse's back to lift up and allow his hind legs to come further underneath himself. Half-halts are given hundreds of times during a schooling session to alert the horse to transition; to rebalance; to change bend, to increase collection, to change tempo, to increase or decrease the length of stride, to change gaits, to change direction, etc., etc., etc.
Downward transitions require half-halts. A downward transition can be a change from one gait to another (for example, trot to walk), or a change within a gait (medium trot to working trot). Josh emphasized that a full bore canter to a sliding stop is a downward transition but that he wouldn't be teaching any reining maneuvers at Dressage University!
What he would be teaching were three exercises that would help to develop smooth downward transitions using half-halts. The first exercise discussed was the one-rein stop.
The One-rein Stop
The one-rein stop is used to disengage the hind-end, or, in other words, to allow the horse to lift his back and bring his hindfeet further underneath himself, thus carrying himself. Josh instructed the riders to proceed at a walk on a big circle. To perform the one-rein stop, he asked the riders to bend the horse by pulling on the inside rein softly towards their inside hipbone while at the same time keeping the inside leg on firmly at the girth. When the horses gave to the pressure and stopped, the riders immediately released their hold on the inside rein as a reward. The outside rein remained quiet with a steady contact throughout. As a result of their efforts, the riders soon had their horses stepping with their inside hind legs forward and across in front of the outside hind into a halt.
Josh reminded us that one should never pull on two reins! "That only gives the horse something to pull back against," he cautions. "Pulling leads to blisters and I hate blisters." Dressage training should develop a horse to be light, supple, and submissive. Bracing and pulling are bad habits brought about by incorrect training.
Shoulder-In
Once everyone had the hang of a one-rein stop, Josh proceeded with the second exercise, shoulder-in. Josh explained that shoulder-in is a Second-Level movement performed on two tracks. He was more concerned with using "shoulder-fore positioning," not quite on two tracks, in order to
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strengthen the back and inside hind with the goal of, once again, disengaging the hindquarters. Dressage riders are always working towards a lifted back and hind legs stepping further underneath the body, towards a lightness and self-carriage.
With the riders using the full arena, Josh had them practice shoulder-fore along the long side, using the fence to keep the hind-end straight on the track. To achieve the should-fore positioning, the riders were instructed to press the inside leg firmly at the girth while bringing both hands slightly to the inside. From there Josh had the riders practice walk-halt and trot-walk transitions. He encouraged the riders to lighten their seats, push their inside leg into the outside hand connection, and softly make the downward transition.
At this point, Josh wanted to clear up any confusion regarding the phrase "drive with your seat." Frequently, when riders are told to drive with their seat, they push down into the horse's back. This contradicts the whole picture of allowing the horse to lift his back. "Remember," says Josh, "a dressage horse should be as light as a snowflake falling in December, or so I'm told, and lightness can only result from a lifted back and a disengaged hind-end."
Head-to-Wall Leg Yield
From there Josh went on to the third schooling exercise he wanted to share, the head-to-wall leg yield. The riders were asked to establish a slight bend towards the wall and then press firmly with their leg behind the girth encouraging the horse to move hind-end off the track. Walk-halt transitions were practiced until time ran out.
Josh quickly recapped his lesson, saying that by using the three schooling exercises he taught--the one-rein stop, the shoulder-fore position, and the head-to-wall leg yield--a horse can develop the ability to carry himself through a downward transition in a balanced and harmonious manner. And eventually, through similar work, the horse can develop collection, the ultimate goal of lightness and self-carriage.
The next TDC University session is July 21st at the Dressage Center of Oro Valley. Shelley Rosenberg's topic will be preparing for flying changes.
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