The Sport

Dressage is the ultimate athletic challenge in equestrian sports because it combines balance, suppleness, and power in a unique gravity-defying manner. A good horse gives the impression of athletic elegance and expressive animation. The gaits are described using terms such as balance, suppleness, and hindlimb activity. The first demand is that the horse be completely obedient, going wherever the rider wants and carrying out movements at his or her request. In doing so the horse has to rely on its rider, trust the rider, and accept the rider as its superior. The key to the training and development of a dressage horse from the lowest levels to International Grand Prix is gymnastic exercises, with the aim of strengthening the muscles and thereby avoiding injury to joints and tendons associated with an increased workload.

The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) dressage rules state that the object of dressage is the harmonious development of the physique and ability of the horse. Through the levels of dressage training, the center of gravity of the horse and rider is placed further caudally, achieved by increasing the degree of flexion and loading of the hindlimbs, while at the same time freeing the front end of the horse to create a more airborne, uphill set of movements. This can be obtained only by increasing the power of the hindlimbs, by synchrony in movement between the forelimbs and the hindlimbs, and through the freedom of movement of the back.

In the German equestrian literature the following terms describe the aims of the correctly trained dressage horse:

Dressage is an international sport, although it always has had its main center of excellence in Northern Europe, most particularly Germany, but in later years also in Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. More recently, teams from Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States have started to challenge for medal positions in international competitions. Dressage developed from the military institutes and only in the twentieth century became a truly civilian sport. Even up to the time of the Second World War, military officers participated at all the major dressage games.

In Europe the competitive sport has been divided into three levels: L, M, and S. L covers novice level (novice and elementary); M covers medium and advanced medium; and S covers Prix St Georges, Intermediare I and II, Grand Prix, and Grand Prix Special. The movements required at each of these levels reflect the horse’s degree of collection, with the L classes expressing balance and freedom of movement, M classes requiring more collection and lateral movements, and S classes demanding ultimate collection to enable movements of maximum collection and suspension, such as piaffe, passage (Figure 116-1), and canter pirouettes (Figure 116-2). However, even the most skilled rider or trainer has difficulty selecting the right horses, because many promising young horses with excellent gaits fail to learn passage and piaffe, probably because of our insufficient knowledge of the biokinematics of collection.¹

Fig. 116-1 Passage. Note the severe extension of the left metatarsophalangeal joint (inset).

Fig. 116-2 Canter pirouette to the left. The horse intermittently takes all weight on the hindlimbs, resulting in extension of the metatarsophalangeal joints and great strain on the suspensory apparatus.

Lateral movements apply specific, unique strains to different structures within the skeleton. In shoulder-in, half-pass, renvers, and travers the horse is bent evenly in its neck and body but moves on more than two tracks. In shoulder-in, the horse moves on three tracks (1, outside hindlimb; 2, inside hindlimb and outside forelimb; and 3, inside forelimb) with the body at an ideal angle of 30 degrees to the direction of movement. In travers (quarters-in) and renvers (head to the wall) the horse moves on four tracks. These movements create an unusual strain on the horse’s back and pelvis and an additional twisting movement on the appendicular joints.

The increased engagement of the hindlimbs developed through collected work allows for greater storage of elastic strain energy in the hock joints and pelvis, which, via the increased lifting of the forehand, allows for high-energy movements such as medium and extended trot. The term cadence is associated closely with working through the back and self-carriage and requires complete freedom without which movements will be inferior. Self-carriage reflects a level of training in which the horse has learned to balance itself and its rider and additionally has developed its musculature to allow movement with greater range of freedom. This process takes time, and it is not unusual to see a degree of hindlimb gait irregularity in 4-year-old horses in the early part of training; normally this is a reflection of lack of balance and will improve with training and time.

Anlehnung (contact with the bit) is an important concept to understand, requiring the horse to move freely forward with impulsion, to take and accept the bit, and to react to it without resistance. The FEI rules require the horse to work on the bit—that is, with the front of the head positioned in, or slightly in front of, the vertical plane. In recent years the tendency has been toward training dressage horses in an over-bent fashion, with the horse’s forehead behind the vertical plane, in its extreme form referred to as rollkur. This is said to be a requirement for developing the trapezius and rhomboidius as well as other muscles of the shoulder and withers region and thus enabling a greater lift of the forehand via the shoulder girdle. Although this method of training contradicts the FEI requirement for the horse’s forehead to be in a vertical plane, top riders are able to place the horse’s head in virtually any position according to what is required. There has been considerable debate about rollkur being a forced and unnatural position; however, to date there is no scientific evidence to suggest that it is in any way detrimental to physical well-being, assuming that it is performed well. Moreover, some of the most successful dressage horses are trained using rollkur as part of the regular work program. However, as with any method of training, it is important that the horse be allowed regular stretching and rest periods to avoid muscular fatigue, which may predispose to injury.

“Contact with the bit” and “working on the bit” are terms that are frequently misunderstood. The horse must move with energy and impulsion and work through the back to enable correct contact with the bit. Stiffness in the back often results in poor and incorrect bit contact. Increased bit lathering as an indication of improved bit function is frequently seen after successful treatment of back pain. Misinterpretation of the role of the bit leads to restriction of the horse by the hands, which inevitably results in loss of action and gait irregularities. Thus inappropriate riding and training can potentially produce clinical problems.

The Dressage Horse

Most dressage horses competing internationally are Warmbloods (WBLs) with a high proportion of Thoroughbred (TB) breeding. Dressage horses today combine the elegance and athleticism of the TBs with the power and trainable mind of the WBLs, which have been selected for many generations for these traits. Few pure TBs reach international standard dressage. The TB has been bred to run fast or show courage jumping obstacles cross-country, which are not of great value when the rider requires complete obedience to perform movements that go as much upward and sideways as forward. Most TBs also lack the strength and quality in all three paces compared with the WBLs, in particular the walk and the trot. Most TBs do not show the same degree of natural engagement of the hindlimbs typical of many WBLs. Many of the greatest TB sires in postwar European dressage breeding (Der Löwe, Velten, and Pik As) have been neither particularly physically impressive nor equipped with more than an average trot. Previously TB stallions in WBL breeding were required to have a minimum general handicap to ensure that they had been physically and mentally strong enough to stand up to training and race consistently and reasonably successfully. Spanish horses have increased in popularity, often being easier to train than WBLs, readily learning and executing piaffe and passage, but lacking the expression and animation of the gaits of the most successful WBLs. Lipizzaner horses are rather similar and are used by the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, but are rarely used as competition horses. Mares, geldings, and stallions are used; stallions may combine competition work with breeding (usually by artificial insemination).

A dressage horse must be naturally well balanced. The head and neck must be set sufficiently high to facilitate working uphill and for easy contact with the bit to be made. The shape of the withers region is important, so that the saddle sits easily in the correct position. The dressage rider spends a lot of time sitting in the saddle in sitting trot; therefore correct weight distribution is critical.

Most dressage horses are broken at 3 or 4 years of age and begin competing in young horse classes at 5 years of age. Medium classes are reached by the age of 7 and many future Grand Prix dressage horses do a small tour at the age of 8 and 9. Once a dressage horse has reached Grand Prix level, the training predominantly involves repetition of movements, maintaining suppleness, and increasing physical power. Thus dressage horses rarely succumb to acute stress-induced traumatic injuries but are more likely to succumb to repetitive, accumulative subclinical injuries that may surface at irregular intervals. This means that with correct training and management, dressage horses can continue to compete at the highest level at an advanced age, often as old as 15 to 20 years. Many of the Lipizzaner stallions at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna are touring and performing adequately after 20 years of age.

A true link between conformation and soundness is difficult to establish, because what creates an outstanding dressage horse in terms of conformation does not necessarily create a particularly sound dressage horse, and vice versa. However, in a study of 4-year-old Swedish WBL horses, highly significant correlations were found between conformation and movement and between conformation and orthopedic health, whereas no correlation was found between the overall conformation score and competition performance.² A series of elite dressage horses had larger hock joint angles and more sloping shoulders than more average horses, whereas good forelimb movements were characterized by a large range of flexion of the elbow and carpal joints during the second half of the swing phase. This is what previously has been referred to incorrectly as shoulder freedom. It is important that a young horse naturally places the hindlimbs well underneath itself, because the approach angle does not seem to be influenced by training.¹

Wear-and-tear lesions frequently occur because of a less-than-ideal joint and limb angulation, but many other factors influence the durability of the horse, including genetic predisposition and management conditions before skeletal maturity. The main requirement must be the ability of the horse to balance itself at all paces, because imbalance and asynchrony in movement apply unusual strains on many structures. Holmström found that a large positive diagonal advanced placement (the time difference between the hindlimb and contralateral forelimb contacting the ground) correlates with high trot scores and suggests this as being an important indicator of the horse’s natural balance.¹ The positive diagonal advanced placement does not change with more collection and therefore may become a useful selection criterion. Holmström also found that a group of selected elite horses with high gait scores had significantly larger stride duration, increased hind stance phase duration, and greater diagonal advanced placement than a group of horses with low gait scores.¹ It should be noted, however, that advanced diagonal placement results in a single hindlimb bearing all the horse’s weight, with increased extension of the metatarsophalangeal joint and thus increased strain on the suspensory apparatus. Medium and extended trots result in greater extension of the fetlock joints compared with working and collected trots, thus stressing the suspensory apparatus. Many talented young horses that are professionally produced for sale by auction are worked in a much bigger trot than a true working trot, which also results in high loads on the suspensory apparatus, predisposing to injury in all four limbs.

Training Surfaces

Dressage horses are trained predominantly on artificial surfaces with a high degree of cushion, providing a consistency in the training surface not paralleled in other equestrian sports. All dressage competitions in mainland Europe take place on artificial surfaces, and only in England does dressage at the lower levels (L) still take place on grass. A multitude of artificial surfaces have been developed over the last 20 years. Most are based on silica sand mixed with a variety of rubber and polyvinyl chloride material, together with a binding and dust-limiting agent such as Vaseline, which ensures that such surfaces remain dust- and frost-free down to at least −5° C. This standardization of working and competition surfaces unquestionably plays a huge role in the low occurrence of many acute orthopedic problems in the dressage horse. Some trainers, however, consider constant working of repetitive movements on ideal surfaces likely to soften the limb structures and therefore recommend that the horses occasionally be jumped or hacked on less ideal surfaces to provide a stimulus for joint, tendon, and ligament adaptation and generally improve proprioception. We believe that working on a variety of surfaces and “cross training” are helpful for maintaining both musculoskeletal soundness and a correct mental attitude.

Arena maintenance is paramount for a good surface. An effective drainage system through central and perimeter drains is also absolutely essential. Dead corners of deep sand predispose horses to momentary loss of balance and may predispose to the development of lameness. Any sudden change of surface integrity also predisposes horses to lameness. Young horses in particular work more easily and confidently on firmer modern artificial surfaces, where they can obtain a more confident grip and are less likely to fatigue. In a recent questionnaire-based study of British dressage horses the effect of arena surfaces on both lameness and undesirable gait traits such as tripping or slipping was investigated.³ The results indicated that wax-coated and sand and rubber surfaces were associated with less detrimental surface properties than sand, sand and PVC, woodchip, or grass. Woodchip was most strongly associated with the detrimental characteristic of slipping, and sand with tripping. Findings indicated that any arena surface should have a base, and limestone was recommended, with crushed concrete best avoided. In a related study, work on sand-based arena surfaces resulted in a 1.36 times greater likelihood of having lameness in the previous 2 years compared with other surfaces.⁴ However, very regular work on sand appeared to have a protective effect. Regular work on an outside arena resulted in a 0.61 times reduced risk of lameness compared with horses worked in indoor arenas. Deep, patchy, or uneven going under normal conditions and patchy, boggy, or deep surfaces in wet conditions increased the risk of lameness.

Tack

The horse must be comfortable in its tack if it is going to work optimally. Dressage saddles are designed to position the rider with a deep seat and with an extended leg position. The surface area over which the weight is distributed must be as large as possible, to avoid focal pressure points. The use of gel pads and layers of numnahs (saddle pads) is not a substitute for good saddle fit. The saddle must fit the horse and the rider and must position the rider in appropriate balance. The fit must be assessed with and without a rider. The shape of the horse’s back musculature may change as the horse develops muscular strength and power; therefore a previously well-fitting saddle may become constricting. It should also be remembered that the withers and back may expand during a training session, sometimes effectively rendering the saddle too small.

Acceptance of the bit is crucial in a dressage horse. Horses vary considerably in the shape of the mouth and the sensitivity of the corners of the lips, bars, and tongue. Great variation also exists in the thickness of the tongue among horses. A slight crack in the corner of the mouth, caused by an inappropriate bit, can cause major problems with proper acceptance of the bit and the horse’s willingness to work straight. At S level, horses have to compete wearing a double bridle—that is, the mouth has to accommodate both bradoon (snaffle) and curb bits. These vary greatly in shape and design, and selection of the most appropriate can be critical.

Lameness Examination

Examining a lame dressage horse does not differ in any great detail from examining any other equine athlete. However, examination frequently requires spending more time observing the horse being ridden, because many dressage horses reproduce the perceived problem, often no more than a resistance, only when ridden and sometimes only during certain movements. This, however, does not mean that the horse should not be examined in hand, including walking and trotting on a straight line and lunging on hard, nonslip surfaces (such as gravel) and on softer artificial surfaces. Not only does lunging on tarmac or concrete carry the risk of the horse slipping, with potentially disastrous consequences, but also in most horses such lunging alters the gait so much that it has little value in a lameness examination of an extravagantly moving dressage horse. Leading the horse on a circle at a trot also tends to alter the horse’s stride. The horse does not have the freedom to move its neck and instead will set its head on the leader’s hand. Many big moving exuberant dressage horses are a safety hazard either to trot in hand or to lunge and lameness is easily masked, especially if low grade. The use of sedatives such as romifidine or detomidine can be helpful, although it is an art to select the most appropriate dose. Repeated sedation may be required to permit accurate interpretation of the response to nerve blocks.

In many horses the usual rider has to be available to reproduce the described problem, if lameness is not overt. However, one should remember that just as bad riders create lameness, so good riders may hide lameness. The latter may take place completely unintentionally and may involve no more than a corrective change of point of balance of the rider through a corner, but enough that for a long time the problem may not be observable from the ground. Most veterinarians who are not competent riders are not experienced fully to appreciate the subtle differences in high-quality dressage horses, and attempting to ride the horse to better appreciate the problem may create an embarrassing situation. They are better advised to spend more time observing the horse from the ground. However, one of the authors (SJD) who is an experienced rider often finds it hugely valuable to ride a horse to be able to better understand the feel of subtle problems.

The veterinarian should not just focus on the limbs when watching the horse ridden. It is important to observe changes such as a change in lathering of the mouth, audible change in the rhythm of the stride, or even absence of teeth grinding or grunting after a particular diagnostic test. The position of the head and neck, the suppleness of movement through the back, the balance of the horse, and its ability to engage the hindlimbs in downward transitions are all important features.

For many horses the veterinarian relies heavily on the perceived observations of the rider during the lameness examination; this may involve the appreciation of subtle changes of gait, or even just an impression of a stronger rhythm or less heavy contact on the bit after a peripheral nerve block. Many riders feel through their own body if the horse is working crookedly, that is, not straight and not in complete balance, and will be able to tell the clinician if this feeling has been altered by any of the diagnostic tests.

In many horses, alternating between lunging and ridden work is useful, often going back to lunging with full tack after the horse has been ridden to see a possible difference in the gait from being ridden. Generally, horses with back pain appear worse while ridden than when lunged, with a loss of freedom and athleticism.

A useful test is to ask the rider to deliberately ride on the wrong diagonal, that is, to sit to the trot in the saddle when the inside forelimb is bearing weight. Horses with forelimb or hindlimb lameness and horses with back pain may alter the gait when the weight-bearing diagonal (of the horse) is changed. The difference in the horse’s outline and attitude when changing between sitting and rising trot also may add valuable information.

It can be helpful to see the horse ridden in two 10-m–diameter circles in a figure eight. A low-grade hindlimb lameness may be highlighted as the horse changes direction, characterized by loss of rhythm and fluidity of movement, swinging the hindquarters outward, and a tendency for the inside hindlimb to cross in under the body during protraction. Careful observation of downward transitions from trot to walk may reveal that the horse does not “sit down” properly behind but stays somewhat croup high and takes slightly shortened steps behind. Low-grade unilateral hindlimb lameness may manifest only in certain movements, such as canter pirouette to the side of the lame limb. The horse may be unable to maintain the three-time canter rhythm and may try to jump out of the movement. The horse may find flying changes in canter difficult in the change toward the side of the lame limb—that is, a horse with right hindlimb lameness may perform flying changes from right to left without difficulty but perform less well from left to right, becoming croup high and/or changing late behind. Half-pass away from the lame limb may be less good—that is, a horse with right hindlimb lameness may find half-pass to the left more difficult than to the right.

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