“Real Life Dressage”, a book by the great Carl Hester
Carl Hester is the name behind one of the best dressage trainers of our time. His reputation precedes him, as much in terms of his fascinating technical abilities, as of his fair, modern management of sporthorses. Horses at Carl Hester’s yard have the rare chance to live like actual horses: outdoors, with other buddies, living older than most dressage horses of today… There are many things to learn from Charlotte Dujardin’s mentor! In this article, you’ll find a summary of one of his books, Real Life Dressage, published in 2004.
The dressage horse conformation
The book starts with a little presentation of his horses (reminder: the book dates back to 2004). He immediately insists on the fact than no horse is perfect. The very idea of dressage is to do with what we have, even when the situation isn’t ideal - in terms of conformation and locomotion… Something than many riders out there sometimes seem to forget, frustrated by their equine partner’s limitations. Carl Hester offers a positive and open-minded message on that matter, stepping outside from the very elitist dressage world usual framework.
Of course, this book is about dressage horses intended for Grand Prix, not your regular leisure horse… The horses’ descriptions are absolutely on point and riveting: it’s a good moment to exercise our eyes to compare different horses and look for a globally pleasante frame (we’re not talking about good looks, but mostly function: back length compared to the legs, neck, shoulders, problems or qualities these may arise).
One particular focus seemed quite intriguing: he’s looking at the horse’s mouth very carefully. He wants to make sure that the bit will find its place, avoids big tongues, etc. He also mentions that different sizes of jaws may signify different ways of managing the contact.
Equine temperament is also part of his analysis: he underlines that not all horses are naturally available to train with us in the beginning… Giving numerous “real life” example from his own career, Carl Hester asserts that his goal is either to transform anxiety into positive energy during training, or to give motivation to uninterested horses. I really appreciated his thoughts on horse’s temperament. This guy seems to manage his horses with a nice focus on their uniqueness, in terms of both personality and conformation. He takes the time needed, a concept that echoes throughout the book, and something which feels like a universal reality on all things equestrian.
Finding the perfect horse?
If you already know Carl Hester’s method, then you know that he’s a big advocate of focusing our attention on a good walk and canter. “You can work with the trot” he writes, however, a good walk is quite hard to find. The little tale around Valegro’s acquisition says that he was bought at Van Olst in the Netherlands for less than 5000€… Maybe one proof that Mr Hester has a hell of nose for good deals.
He divides horses in two categories which will remind you of Parelli’s horsenalities: the “whoa” and “go”. In other words, horses who naturally love to move, and horses who like it a bit less 😉 easily comparable to introverted/extroverted horse from the Parelli framework! Or, in a more scientific context, comparable to high spontaneous movement horses and low spontaneous movement horses.
For Hester, it seems vital that horses love what they do… Otherwise, something will break along the way and nothing valuable will be accomplished.
He tests young horses with little taps on the croup. When they naturally lower the hinds joints, it’s preferrable - but he underlines that he bought some horses which didn’t show the natural “lowering” reflex, that he can work with that. This reflex indicates it’ll be easier to flex the hips when the time comes.
He advises to trust what we feel in the saddle rather than what we see: first, we are easily blinded by a great trot, forgetting the walk and canter; then, because really extravagantly-gaited horses have sometimes trouble being fast with their hindquarters... This is a problem when we consider that this is the first quality Carl Hester looks for. Finally, note that short backs have more trouble with lateral work but more ease with piaff, while long backs have the exact opposite qualities.
Training
Supported by the various horses introduced in the first part of the reading, he details recurring problems we might encounter during training. He works with the German Scale of Training:
1- Rhythm
2 – “Suppleness and looseness”: horse is freed from any physical or mental tension
3 – Contact: a quiet but mobile mouth
4 – Impulsion: horse is willing to move forward
5 – Straightness: a constant work during the entire training c
6 – Collection
He highlights that numerous horses are very clever: respecting their timing, being patient, trying to see things from their perspective is vital. During training, you better focus first on solving problems and then finish on well-known, easy exercises to finish with a feeling of positivity.
A nice example of his approach to equine education is dealing with new venues during competitions. He always makes sure, he writes, to show the place around to his horse with long reins, freeing the neck, allowing his horse to observe things by himself. He noticed that keeping the contact and controlling the head and neck only increased anxiety - something that many equine behaviourists could easily approve.
His horses are trained 6 days per week, a typical session is built as follows:
15 minutes walking around the yard.
30/35 minutes of actual training involving stretching, then higher neck/competition attitude to work on one exercise or two, then finishing in stretching again.
15 minutes walking around the yard, then back to turnouts.
Carl Hester is the best advocate of transitions, which he highly values as one of the most important thing to include in trainings.
The british rider works differently with “go” or “whoah” horses:
“go” horses train with long periods within one gait, lots of cardio and a big focus on halts quality, and downward transitions.
“whoah” horses, on the opposite, will not stay long within one gait because it bores them, but they will benefit from multiple transitions to keep them interested and involved.
Young horse training
He starts young horses training by teaching separately legs from reins actions. The goal is to teach the horse that legs send energy towards the reins. He never uses both aids together in the early stages of the training, because he feels it creates a conflict in most horses, making them anxious at the apparent conflicting signals. Later in the horse’s life, he will use legs during downward transitions: but at this stage, the general communication has become subtle enough to associate legs to = activation of hindquarters, not the basic legs = forward movement.
Every young horse gets unbalanced when turning: most of the work is about supporting them through the internal leg. He suggests using shoulder-ins, leg yields, to make them more able to connect to the external rein.
The second very common problem with young horses lies in the contact. Why, according to him? Well, quite simple: youngs lack necessary strength and suppleness to maintain equal and constant activity from the hindquarters, which is the only way to keep a supported back during sessions. This is why he shows a great tolerance towards contact and sees it as a proof of results, not a means to an end.
Around 4 to 5, he considers that most horses should be able to move with a nice, constant rhythm, in total relaxation, straight in straight lines, bended in turns, easy soft transitions, staying calm when halted… But nothing fancier.
Training, the Carl Hester way
When there is a problem, don’t avoid it: in dressage, you need to be seriously ready to work with lots of rigor, while also alternating with exercises the horse loves, to make the training comfortable and always end on a positive note.
The stretching
With Carl Hester, stretching feels like an essential foundation to riding! He trains it like any other exercise, especially with youngs, because he feels like it’s very difficult for them to stretch while keeping active hinds at the same time. But beware: when we talk about stretching, it’s no simple extension of the neck! It is combined with a real work on hindquarters engagement to keep the pelvis flexed. He feels that, otherwise, the topline isn’t really stretched enough.
The most common mistake, according to Hester, is to force the stretching. It should come from the hindquarters and be received naturally through the reins, not the other way around. If we let the reins slip a little, the horse should stretch naturally and follow the hand, otherwise, he might have lost balance; if he breaks contact, he’s not stretching anymore.
Longitudinal and lateral work
A pretty long part of the chapter is dedicated to leg yielding: it’s not a collection exercise, but a suppleness training! The exact opposite of half-passes. He really loves leg yields, which, from his standpoint, really help in teaching the function of internal legs and straightening horses. Of course, he does a lot of shoulder-ins, as soon as training starts and during the entire career of each horse.
Carl Hester is famous for his love of transitions, which are extremely important. He recommends doing at least 50 to 60 per training… Quick technical note: the horse must push foward during the upward transition, and slow down with his hinds during the downward transition, if you want it to be an efficient gymnastics exercise.
On stress management
When the horse spooks, he advises to let him watch whatever feels scary, even to go and look the threatening object, and above all to let them manage their heads! He writes “don’t get too dressage orientated”, avoid controlling the head at all costs… Let the horse manage and observe, rather than exacerbating the general anxiety.
When talking about common fear of corners, he recommends a very well known method among natural horsemanship practitionners which is to pause in the corners. He also underlines the need to avoid punishment, but to build trust through gentle repetition. If your horse spooked during a competition test, stay until the end to go back to the arena and work on trusting the environment. He advises to take young horses to various arenas and ride with many different horses around to train his confidence for future competitions.
To finish, he expresses his viewpoint on horses turnouts, which he considers vital to any horse - another really great point for a high level athlete such as Hester! His horses get daily turnouts all year long; some of them such as Nip Tuck even live outdoors 24/24.
