
Training in the Right Way: Effective Aids vs Not So Much
Because it is critical to the training process, let’s take a moment to talk about what effective aids are and what they absolutely are NOT.
Dressage training is supposed to be the process of training ANY horse to be a better riding horse. The more the horse learns, in theory, the easier it is to communicate with and therefore complete more complex tasks with. Although competition dressage training often is more focused on training for the dressage test, that is not what the original intention (and original judging requirements) were for competitive dressage. Initially, it was designed to give riders and trainers a way to determine how their training measured up to the theoretical ideal of the training process. That said, it is critically important to understand the meanings and reasons for some of the terms we use to describe dressage training and what to look for when observing training and competition (and videos and photos), regardless of whether you intend to compete or just train your horse to be a better whatever you do with him. That, ultimately, is the main purpose of my articles. To provide education and knowledge for riders to understand and improve their eye and understanding of what dressage training is supposed to be. While there will always be some differences in practice and theory, good horse training is always recognizable to the educated eye. That said, it absolutely is necessary that we remember and understand that limited knowledge is limited judgment.
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We all know that we need to “be in charge” and “make” the horse do what we tell him to. And we are often initially taught that when the horse “isn’t listening” we need to get tougher — use bigger aids, bigger spurs, a sharper bit, or hit him harder with the whip. Generally, the idea is that if a horse doesn’t do what we tell him to, we have to correct him and force him to be better. Give him bigger corrections and “teach him a lesson.” And then, hopefully, we are taught by someone that this is not at all how we train horses.

Bugatti,a 4 year old PRE being ridden in an age appropriate frame, forward and in balance. Photo (c) Morgane Schmidt
Yes. Sometimes we have to give a bigger aid to get the point across. Yes. Sometimes we have use an artificial aid like spurs or a whip to reinforce our aids. Sometimes it does boil down to keeping your horse from hurting you. But, how we use these artificial aids, or bigger aids, is critical to whether the horse actually learns from our corrections, or just simply gives you a reaction that momentarily feels better than thing you were trying to prevent (but does not mean that he understands what the aid *should* mean).
Ultimately, the most important factor in your daily ride is to make your horse (and you) better at your preferred discipline— all of which I might add, have their foundation in dressage, which is also known as training horses. Training horses means educating them to be better at responding to our aids and the exercises we use in dressage help horses become better at being ridden. But this is IF we give aids that actually help the horse understand what we expect of them; if the horse does not understand the correct response to the aid, you’ve got nothing (productive, anyhow). We must also remember that training is simply repetition over time. A horse is only capable of what he repeats every day.
At the core of our training process, we have to remember that horses have no way of learning dressage (or riding) from anything but us. They can never pick up a book, watch a movie, read an article, or attend a lecture or symposium to learn what they are supposed to do when we ride them. on top of that, they can only learn what we want through the sense of touch. Of course, they might learn a word or two, like whoa, walk, trot, canter, and maybe no, but abstract thought and theoretical discussion are a no-go. Keeping that in mind, if I had to teach people riding lessons while only using the sense of touch, my job would be so much slower and harder to succeed. It would be like teaching a new language without using the old language to translate it. This means that initially, horses have to guess at the meaning of our aids. We have to be consistent and fair, but also firm and confident, for them to learn how to respond to our requests.

Acquired Class, a 4 year old OTTB learning the meaning of the whip aid through Spanish walk. Photo (c) Gwyneth McPherson.
Learning the correct aids for each exercise is the rider’s responsibility. Delivering these aids in a productive way is also the rider’s responsibility. And having the emotional maturity, and intellectual strength to use your knowledge and not use force when things get difficult, is the mark of a great rider (trainer).
I think most riders really intend to be kind, fair, consistent, and responsible. Most of the time they want to do the right thing, but they don’t always know how to be “heard.” Often, when an aid or exercise isn’t giving the desired result, I hear rider’s say “he’s not listening,” which usually actually means “he doesn’t understand.” While these moments are undoubtedly frustrating, this is when, as a rider, you must reassess.
As a place to start, here are the components to making your aids promote productive results (and help you be more confident in your own riding).
You need to know:
- What the aid(s) is for what you are requesting
- How strongly to apply it
- When to stop the aid
- And the timing of the aid
It is common that a rider will give an excellent aid. The aid is correct for the situation. The intensity (strength) of the aid is correct, and it wasn’t kept on too long or too little, but it didn’t work because the timing was a fraction of a second off. The easiest example to understand is in the use of the whip. The riding whip is not meant to be a punisher. It is not for causing pain. It is meant to be used to create greater activity of the hind leg. It only works to create greater activity of the hind leg on the side it is on. And, it can only work when it is not used too hard, too light, or out of rhythm. The only time it has a positive effect is when it touches the horse’s haunch right before that hind leg is lifted off the ground. If you give exactly the same aid, but not when the hind leg is leaving the ground, it won’t have a productive effect (the hind leg moves forward quicker).
Using this thought process, a rider needs to be able to evaluate if their aids are producing what they actually want or if the aid is just producing a reaction that makes them feel as though the horse just “did something.” Again, using the example of the whip, hitting the horse with the whip, out of time, and with too much intensity, will often cause a surge of forward energy which makes the rider feel like something “got better.” And, indeed, there was a reaction. But did the horse stay on the bit? Is he supple? Is he reaching further under the rider’s weight with his hind leg in the rhythm of the chosen gait, and staying in an uphill tendency? Or is he just squirting forward in tension away from the whip in fear, without understanding? This distinction is critical to riding proactively and effectively training your horse. While the momentary squirt forward alone may make us feel better, it is not teaching the horse the correct response to the whip aid, and will likely –ironically—result in a less forward thinking animal as he learns he can ultimately tolerate whatever force you can bring to the table (this is why strength riding ultimately falls apart, but that’s another topic for another day).
Because our feel can lie to us, and timing and the horse’s reaction are so critical to the training process, in order to be a successful trainer for your horse, you will need someone on the ground who knows what they are seeing and knows what well-delivered aids create. And from there, the rider then needs to be able to honestly self-assess if they are giving aids with knowledge and understanding. Recognizing that a horse can only guess at our meaning when we touch them with our aids, it’s true that we do need to give bigger, stronger aids sometimes, but we must always approach the process with an understanding that we are ultimately responsible for delivering aids mindfully, as well as the horse’s response and learning process.
And remember: limited knowledge is limited judgment.
Gwyneth McPherson has over 35 years experience competing, training, and teaching dressage. She began her education in in the late 1970s, riding in her backyard on an 11 hh pony. Her first instructor introduced her to Lendon Gray (1980 and 1988 Olympian). who mentored Gwyneth for a decade during which she achieved her first National Championship in 1984, and her Team and Individual Young Rider Gold Medals in1987.
In 1990 Gwyneth began training with Carol Lavell (1992 Olympian) who further developed Gwyneth as an FEI rider and competitor. Gwyneth achieved a Team Bronze in 1991 and a Team Silver in 1992 in the North American Young Riders Championships, and trained her stallion G’Dur to do all the Grand Prix movements while riding with Carol.
In 2008, while Head Trainer at Pineland Farms, Gwyneth began training with Michael Poulin (Olympian 1992). Michael was trained by Franz Rochowansky (Chief Rider for the Spanish Riding School 1937-1955). Michael has shared much of Rochowansky’s knowledge and wisdom with Gwyneth, completing her education as a Grand Prix rider, trainer, and competitor.
Gwyneth’s teaching and training business, Forward Thinking Dressage,is based in Williston, FL. In addition to teaching riders and training, Gwyneth also loves sharing her knowledge of the sport and art of dressage as well as discussing relevant topics pertaining to the training itself and the current competitive landscape.