Accelerating into Straightness

Straightness is one of the most elusive dressage concepts for the simple reason that while it’s near the top of the training scale, it’s also one of the most important elements in the education of the horse from the very beginning. At the lower levels, we often call it “alignment” or “balance” as the horse doesn’t possess the strength and suppleness to be truly straight. As the horse and rider are starting out, most have crookedness or asymmetry to contend with, and it’s very easy to overcompensate with your correcting aids as a result.

At the beginning, one of the first concepts you teach young horses is to stay on a line consistently, with the hindquarters following the shoulders, whether it be a long side, a diagonal or a large circle. Being able to maintain that line without much waivering side to side requires coordination and a degree of strength from a horse, and so it may take a little while to accomplish. Once the horse can follow the line in a relatively good balance, we can start installing things like genuine bend, which requires the horse to have a fairly good understanding of the half halt. Often the transition between bend and no bend – or rudimentary “straightness,” – is a tough one for the horse to navigate, and for the rider to assist with.

If the rider tries to “chase” the balance by applying reactive aides to counteract the horse falling in or out, it can often result in something like a pinball effect, where the horse is wobbling side to side or drifting in or out. A better and more proactive correction is for the rider to ask the horse to speed up, or accelerate into the contact, to help correct his loss of lateral balance. Effectively, you are making a longitudinal correction to a lateral problem.

Why? There are a few reasons. First, horses are longitudinal creatures. They are long and narrow, much like a bicycle. When you are riding a bike slowly, it is much more prone to wobbling side to side. When you ride at a greater speed, it stabilizes the balance. The same is true of the horse. In general, the more ground they cover, the more stable the horse is laterally. It’s why all lateral movements require a degree of engagement, and at the higher levels, collection – because in sideways movements inherently the forwardness must be partially restricted (or de-stabilized) to create the sideways dynamic.

Second, when the horse is going, the whole horse cannot be stable by virtue of its own movement – and we don’t want the horse to try, because this usually results in tension. To stabilize one part of the horse, you must allow another part to move more to maintain the equilibrium and retain looseness and swing. In this case, when a horse becomes crooked it is either because it is falling on a shoulder (which stabilizes the shoulder downward) or drifting out in the hindquarter (same effect), or both. The horse’s natural inclination is to stabilize its own balance, and the easiest way to do so is to “go to ground” in front. By asking the horse to accelerate, we change that dynamic because it momentarily stabilizes and lowers the hindquarters, which means the shoulders can become the moveable part, allowing the horse to more easily accept the rider’s corrections. You’ll find just by virtue of the acceleration, the horse naturally enters into a much better balance.

So, if you think of accelerating out of each corner and after a circle or lateral movement, you’ll be helping your horse stay in a better balance more of the time. By doing this, you’ll help him get stronger by utilizing his carrying muscles, you’ll teach him to solve balance issues by pushing, you’ll be setting the foundation for him to genuinely lift the forehand. Difficult movements will become easier for him, which then improves his fluency and confidence.

It’s a great habit to get into as you move up the levels to prepare him for the next movement in a test, and as you progress, for more advanced movements like medium/extended gaits, changes and lateral movements. Building the habit of accelerating into straightness sets both of you up for better progress, balance and success in your training.