Training in the Right Way: What Is an Aid?
Aids are meant to tell the horse what to do. They are not meant to MAKE the horse do it. Let’s discuss why this seemingly subtle difference is key to effective training.
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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When talking about dressage, we often talk about giving the horse “aids.” Most riders who are interested in dressage training have a pretty good understanding that an aid is the means through which we communicate to the horse what we want to have happen. Where things can get a little confusing — and where training can get derailed — is in how the aids are given and why. So, let’s discuss.
To begin with, the natural aids are given by the rider’s legs, hands, and seat (which includes the torso, pelvis and upper thigh — yes, the seat is not just the rider’s bum). The seat is the “anchor” of the other aids. If the rider does not have a good/independent seat, the rider does not have a good base for the other aids to function from. If the seat is moving in the saddle, the arms and the legs become fixed. They may be fixed and “on” or fixed and bouncing against the horse; either way this is problematic. In contrast, the secure, independent seat follows the horse’s movement, allowing the hands and the legs to move INDEPENDENTLY of that movement, and independently of each other.
The circle of the aids must be continuously maintained by the rider in order to create effective aids that promote harmony in the horse’s performance. Photo (c) Gwyneth McPherson
In a similar vein, contact is not just about the reins. Most often people think that contact is what happens between the rider’s hand and the bit. In fact, contact is what happens between the rider and the horse. Contact is the communication of the rider’s body and the horse’s body feeling each other’s movements and responding to one another. The rider is always the party responsible for the initiation and result of the contact.
Interestingly, and sometimes rather frustratingly, the aids must not be given simultaneously (apply leg and hand at the same time) but cannot be developed or applied completely in the absence of each other. This is where the circle of the aids comes in. The circle of the aids implies that the energy that the aids inspire and direct from rider to horse is circular in nature. The energy (this will make more sense in a moment) that cycles through the rider’s and horse’s body must maintain connection but cannot be held or let go.
In this situation, the word energy refers to the idea of forwardness. The horse must go forward from the hindleg to the bit in order to be “on the aids.” The rider is responsible for creating forwardness as well as then managing the circle of the aids. The circle of the aids therefore starts in the rider’s two legs. The legs energize the horse’s hindlegs to swing forward under his body, lifting the back and neck in an arched shape FORWARD through the neck and head to the bit. Then this energy is received through the reins to the rider’s hands, up their arms and shoulders to the back and seat, and lastly the legs of the rider where the cycle restarts. If the rider is bouncing in the saddle, pulling on or dropping the rein contact, or holding their legs on or flopping their legs or holding the legs off the horse, the circle of the aids is broken. Applying the hand and leg together at the same time also stops the circle of the aids. Stopping the circle of the aids stops communication with the horse, regardless of whether it is by releasing or letting go or by pulling and kicking to hang on.
With the above as a starting point, let’s consider how individual aids come into play and how they should be applied. Basically, an aid is what tells the horse (in self-carriage) what to do. It does not make the horse do it (read that sentence again). The whole point of training horses is to make riding easier. If the rider is using all the strength they have to make the horse do what they want, all the time, they are strength riding, and the horse is not in self-carriage. We train horses to be in self-carriage by teaching them aids. Teaching a horse aids means teaching them that a certain feeling of the rider’s seat, leg, and hands (given with discipline, over many careful repetitions, and followed by a clear reward) means to do a specific “thing.” Self- carriage does not mean that the horse now knows what dressage is and can do it on its own. Instead, it means that the horse recognizes a set of aids, and has a learned, rewarded action to those aids, that it can repeat with confidence that it has the “right” answer to those aids. Put another way, self- carriage is the recognizing an aid and completing a learned result. Over time, this repetition also builds suppleness, balance, and strength which allows the horse to perform these exercises with an appearance of ease, harmony, and grace.
Self-carriage is developed by careful repetition, over a long time, of consistent quality aids that produce an understanding in the horse that allows him to move with confidence in harmony with the rider. Photo (c) Gwyneth McPherson
Of note, lightness in the bridle or being over reactive to the aids is often confused with being light to the aids. Sometimes the term lightness in the English language causes confusion in the training process. The English word lightness implies a lack of weight. Like a feather. Lightness in regard to an aid implies “ease” or “harmony.” It does not specifically refer to weight, or the rider’s comfort. Spoiler-alert: good riding is not about the rider’s comfort. It is about the ease and harmony with which a rider can express their aids to the horse and the horse understands them and produces a clear and accurate response to those aids.
This means that there is not one correct weight or strength in the rider’s contact with the horse. It is in fact based only on what the horse requires for contact to produce the result. The problem here is that most riders ride with too much pulling on the mouth, or too much use of the leg. Most often these things occur simultaneously creating the feeling that the rider cannot stop holding the horse in the front while constantly trying to drive the horse forward. Essentially stepping on the gas and the brake at the same time. This brings us back to the circle of the aids paragraph. The hand and the leg cannot be used simultaneously and keep the circle of the aids (flow of energy) from the rider through the horse productive.
Forwardness must be developed from the rider’s leg, and allowed to move through the horse’s body to the bit and then through the rider’s hands and body to create the circle of the aids. (This photo was taken in 1987. There is in fact no harness on the hunt cap which was considered “acceptable” in competition at the time. It is NOT acceptable in competition now, and you should always where a helmet with a harness when in the saddle) Photo (c) Gwyneth McPherson
Sometimes aids are bigger in training (briefly), but that’s not the same thing as forcing (strength riding). When a rider has a good, independent seat, and knows the aids for specific responses from the horse, there may be times that the rider will give a bigger (stronger) aid to increase the horse’s response or increase the horse’s attention to the aid. This is a training aid and cannot be repeated constantly or be the intended end-product aid. It should be used sparingly and used only to prevent holding an aid on, or continuous nagging aids.
Also of note, aids may have to be given more than once and often in rhythm, but that is not the same thing as nagging because there is a specific intent and specific rection with each application. Aids will have to be given more than once, often. They must be given, stopped, and then can be given again— in the rhythm of the gait— and modified each time to create a specific, new but mostly similar, response. An example is that when one rides half-pass (or leg yield), the rider does not press and hold the aids on to make the horse go sideways until they reach their intended destination. Instead, the rider should be giving a half-pass (or leg yield) aid every stride, in rhythm with the gait you are in, with small modifications each stride that match the changes in balance, suppleness, contact, forwardness, speed, and direction that produce the appearance of one smooth, harmonious result of starting the lateral movement in one location and ending it in another. This is not nagging because each aid in each stride has its own intention, purpose, and reaction through the unbroken circle of the aids, producing a harmonious (appearance of ease) result.
With regards to effective training, the use of correct aids is developed through the process of learning how to have an independent seat and being able to move in harmony with the horse. And of course, learning the circle of the aids and what it feels like to close the circle of the aids and not break it is vital to both effective training and riding. It is the understanding that the hands and legs of the rider work together — they cannot be used against each other– and that they must be delivered in the rhythm of the gait the horse is in to create the intended effect and appearance of ease or harmony. This feeling and appearance is what we call lightness to the aids.
Ultimately, creating self-carriage and lightness to aids is a process developed through the use of exercises (created from the use of aids) that allow the horse to learn to move with confidence from the directions of the rider. While it’s true that sometimes the rider may need to increase the strength or pressure of the aid to improve the horse’s understanding, they must know that the increased aid cannot be the only aid, or the harmony will not be developed and the training will be limited.
Remember: limited knowledge is limited judgment.
Gwyneth and Flair in competition at Grand Prix. (c) flatlandsfoto.
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.
