Developing the Young Horse Dressage Horse

In the afternoon we saw young horses. David Wightman, Laurie Falvo-Doyle, and Steffen Peters rode their 5-year-olds, and again Mr. Balkenhol stressed the importance of giving these young horses the time they need. Steffen rode a stallion that looked very muscled due to his conformation and the fact that he was a stallion. Mr. Balkenhol said that this can be dangerous, because people believe that the horse is strong because he looks strong. But all horses need the time to develop their muscles properly, and the trainer cannot rush this process, no matter how good the horse is in conformation or movement. This young stallion had such extravagant movement, and Mr. Balkenhol was very careful to keep the movement correct. Just as an example to the auditors, he had Steffen ride the horse really strongly down one long side and told him to make the trot huge and passage-like. This kind of trot looks impressive because the horse’s neck came very up and his front legs were very flashy. But immediately his back went down and his hind legs went more out behind. Mr. Balkenhol also stressed the importance of keeping the canter correct in such a talented young horse. “When the canter gets too uphill, it becomes four-beat,” he said, “because the inner hind leg no longer lands with the outside fore.”

Walk breaks and stretching was just as important to Mr. Balkenhol with these young horses as with the older horses. He wanted the riders to start with long reins to get the neck loose. Once the neck became loose, then the back became loose. “The back is the center of movement,” he said. The movement of the horses cannot be correctly developed and the musculature of the whole horse cannot be strengthened if the back is tight.