Guest Blog post # 56: "Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full!" by Bill Woods

"Pick the right patterns, execute them correctly and they will school the horse." That was Major Lindgren's message to us back in the day, and a dictum we followed faithfully as we wrote out lesson plans to practice-teach demo riders at the Instructors Seminars.

One benefit of this approach is that having a repeatable short term project (the reprise) lets both rider and teacher concentrate less on figuring out  where to be going next and more on refining position issues and/or helping the horse understand our aids. It also gives the rider worthwhile and viable projects for the days she works on her own.

Picking the right patterns gets way easier over time—like knowing whether to grab the oregano or the thyme after you’ve sampled the stew. The patterns must make sense within themselves and they must grow logically in difficulty and complexity both through the work session and as the days and months go by. 

A few examples (bearing in mind the patterns you choose must be individualized so that the rider and horse have at least a prayer of executing them correctly. Prescribe generically at your peril.) Here let’s assume a horse working First Level:

           Sample progression 1:
 

1. Three loop serpentine width of the arena in the trot. Goals: The figure must be accurate, the horse’s spine conforming to the line traveled over the ground.
2. The same serpentine but ridden with no change of bend for the middle loop. The horse must follow the rider’s weight and the directing outside leg, not just his nose.
3. Three loops ridden with the middle loop in canter, asking the horse to be prompt to the aids, balanced, and honoring The Vending Machine.
4. .After “C” works, first and third loops in the canter, middle loop in the trot—a slightly more difficult version demanding of the rider timely preparation and of the horse willingness and responsiveness.
5. First loop in canter, followed by transition to trot at the centerline and directly onto a 10 meter circle before starting the second loop. The circle gives the rider a chance to rebalance the horse before the new lead. Then canter depart onto the second loop. The exercise is repeated between loops two and three.
6. Three loop serpentine with changes of lead through the trot each time over the centerline. 

Sample progression 2:

1. From the wall at the F corner, leg yield in to the quarter line, then go straight, establishing the basic pattern.
2. The same thing in the trot.
3. Leg yield in, go straight. Opposite R, circle 10 meters left and then leg yield back out to the track.
4. Repeat without the aid of the 10 meter rebalancing, repositioning circle.
5. After the first leg yield, lengthen on the quarter line adding power and checking responsiveness to the pushing aids, then gather by making the 10 meter circle to the inside, and leg yield back out to the track.
6. When the transition back from lengthening is working, omit the circle and go directly back to the second leg yield.
7. When all this is successful, finish the reprise with a canter depart at the end of the second leg yield. Circle 20 meters.
8. As a greater challenge, begin the pattern with a 20 meter circle in canter. Transition to trot at A (later at F), and then directly into leg yielding and the rest of the sequence. 

These are simply examples of progressive reprises. I can think of dozens of alternatives. So can you! They needn’t be this elaborate. You can graduate from one to the next at your horse’s own rate, going back to earlier ones whenever necessary. However, it is completely conceivable that a First Level horse could do this entire sequence in one session. 

Looking back (a very long time), I have two thoughts-- One: we never did enough transitions. It's really all about transitions and ensuring the horse stays (Here's the list) soft, round, through, connected, in front of the leg, and maintaining an appropriate balance as you execute them. It’s easy in your youthful zeal to get horses charging (or cruising) around endlessly (brainlessly) to no useful purpose. If dressage is a nonverbal language, transitions are the punctuation marks!

Two: As good little Do-Bees we constructed intellectually coherent patterns that fulfilled the guidelines set out in the Rule Book, e.g.: Never pursuing lateral movements too long (important phrase) without refreshing the horse's desire to go forward with lengthenings or mediums. Looking back, we adhered to the letter but not the sense of the advice. Below: Half pass to 10 meter circle to shoulder in on the centerline, then changing rein on the diagonal in Medium to resume the half pass at the beginning of the long side.

In short we were slaves to the concept but without nuance. Now I know that on a given day or in a horse's life, he only has so many medium trots. The pattern here is fine, but unless you’re on a really sticky horse, you don’t have to do the Medium every single time. Save them, use them judiciously, but don't spend them gratuitously just because you can.