Which brings me to the point of this post... We have all heard how important dressage is to jumping, but dressage itself is so much more than keeping the horse in a frame and hoping nothing bad happens that will bring your score down. Dressage for the event horse, or the trail horse, or the jumper, or the dressage horse should make the horse much more responsive and therefor, much more pleasurable to ride. For many years, I fully subscribed to the idea that upper level dressage makes the horse dependent on the rider for everything, that the increased difficulty in the advanced eventing tests would lead to more cross-country falls, and that too much dressage created a dangerously submissive horse. All of which, I have now decided, are a cop-out, used, taught, and carried on some pedestal, by legions of event riders like myself who struggled with dressage.
Now, to be clear, I'm not advocating pulling Totilas out of his stall and going out for a spin around Rolex. Physiologically, upper level dressage horses and upper level event horses are two very different critters. Just as you wouldn't expect a fully muscled grand prix horse to gallop easily or efficiently, you can't expect your event horse to have the strength to sustain the collection and self-carriage needed for upper level dressage (I think PSG and up, although conformationally, some horses who are great gallopers and jumpers would struggle even with 3rd level). But, just because you wouldn't do a full test, doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to perform at least some of the movements. So, maybe your event horse will never do one-tempis, but having good, clean, changes isn't that hard, and it sure is nice to be able to ask for a change in the show-jumping! What about doing a roll-back to save some time on course? You don't have to have a canter pirouette, but knowing how to keep a horse balanced and engaged on a ten meter circle would sure be helpful!
All this brings me to my next point... Preparation instead of reaction. As event riders, we value our reactions above pretty much all else. Reactions keep you safe, they keep you in the saddle, they allow you to roll out of the way when you fall, they allow you to instantly change your mind when your horse jumps into the coffin and wavers, making what was a tight two stride suddenly a long two, or a super scary three. But, preparation is still necessary. We talk a lot about getting the right canter to jump from, but getting the right canter is about much more than just pulling on the reins. The horse must be schooled in such a way that he both understands the request, and performs it willingly and promptly. In short, the horse must be on the aids. Always. Its not physically hard, but it does require the rider actually train the horse, not just expose it to all manner of possible jumps and questions. This is where dressage comes in. It takes long hours spent establishing an aid system, so that the horse reacts in a predictable manner, whether its rebalancing from a half-halt or moving forward off the leg up the the hand to ride up to the base of big fence. The horses you see charging down to things with little regard for the rider are simply not on the aids. They may be good in the dressage phase, but all of those principles cross over into jumping. Just the act of doing dressage, as in practicing tests, schooling movements, or riding in the little white sand-box, mean very little unless the rider schools the horse with an eye towards the same degree of submission while on course, on hacks, and while doing gallops.
Our responsibility as riders, trainers, and students, is to prepare our horses to the best of our ability, and when we reach the edge of our ability, to enlist the help of someone with more knowledge than ourselves to help further our education. We owe at least that to our horses. Just as in all disciplines, there are good and bad dressage trainers. The good ones have happy, willing horses, and students who progress. I've truly not encountered nearly as much ram and jam schooling in the dressage world as I have in the event world, although my experience is admittedly more limited in dressage-ville. Which brings up an interesting question- why, if event riders are so concerned about making their horses too submissive, do they resort to gadgets, instead of learning how to progress a horse up the levels? Now, not all event riders do this, obviously, but I do have to wonder when I see half the horses schooling in draw-reins the thursday before an event.
Event horses love their jobs (or, the ones that keep going love it, at least). They are likely to get high on cross country. This is normal, especially for an upper level horse. Here's a secret... Upper level dressage horses do this, too. Seriously. They aren't robots who just plod around doing zig-zags and canter pirouettes. Those horses are physically strong, and very often, pretty darn hot. Submission is what keeps the horse in the ring, and listening to the rider. Wouldn't you want your event horse to listen and accept your half-halts out on cross country? I would! Those horse and rider combos you watch cruising around, effortlessly rebalancing, accelerating, and who seem to meet the fences correctly time and again? That's a submissive horse. In eventing, I hear it referred to often as "partnership," which is true, if not a bit misleading. The rider may have to use a bigger bit, or a martingale, or go to the whip occasionally, but the overall impression is one of a happy, willing, rideable horse. That's the kind of submission we should all strive for. The sooner the event world starts talking about it, instead of perpetuating the myth of "dressage ruins event horses," the sooner we will consistently start producing truly world class horses and riders in this country, as well as seeing safer rides at the lower levels.
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