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| Photo credit: Paul Dobson Photography |
This is the first scale that becomes separate to the scales
prior to it – impulsion. In your dressage training, you must have established
rhythm, suppleness and contact in order to effectively work on & achieve impulsion.
A forward thinking horse that will react from your aids is
ready to take on impulsion training. Premature training towards impulsion could
cause negative effects on the previous scales of training as pushing your horse
to create impulsion when he isn’t ready will essentially put him off balance. The
way he will counteract this is through stiffening (losing his rhythm &
suppleness) and coming against the hand (losing a full cycle of contact).
Before we look at how to achieve impulsion and what the
principles of this scale of training stand for, let’s consider what our desired
outcomes are when we establish impulsion. Firstly, we want him to maintain his
rhythm with cadence in all his work and show a willingness to work to the rider’s
aids effectively. The more established your impulsion becomes, the more your
cadence and moments of suspension will be, which is especially useful when your
work on lateral training exercises.
Next up is that impulsion creates an exciting overall view
of your horse and he becomes something exciting to watch as well as ride. He
will be able to showcase a variety of paces within each pace, expressing good
longitudinal suppleness giving the impression of a determined yet controlled
power.
Finally, you should find a better spring to his work both
longitudinally and laterally, but also throughout his transitions. Your horse
should feel forward and like he steps forward into each change of movement, and
feel athletic underneath the rider.
But what elements do you need to be able to achieve correct impulsion?
Balance is key – your horse must be in balance to achieve
impulsion in his work. He needs a lack of resistance, both in terms his own
body being fully supple and from the rider’s seat and hand aid to allow him to
be elastic throughout the full range of his movement. In order to gain his
power (remember, the engine is at the back!), he will need a quick and engaged
hind limb action that can come forward and overtrack the hoof fall of the front
foot.
If you can’t achieve impulsion, you’ll typically experience a
lack of an elastic feeling with the horse feeling unathletic, he’ll be unresponsive
or slow to the rider’s aids and he’ll find both longitudinal & lateral
movements much more difficult to perform correctly.
Don’t forget, balance is key, so too much impulsion will
often push the horse out of balance, causing him to become tense, stiffen and
be tight across his back. This will most commonly lead to him rushing, shortening
his frame and struggling to keep a true contact.
“The transmission of controlled, propulsive energy generated from the hindquarters into the athletic movement of the eager horse. Its ultimate expression can be shown only through the horse’s soft and swinging back, and is guided by the gentle contact with the rider’s hand”
Impulsion should consider the thought process of FORWARD –
it’s just that, a thought process and not a pace or rhythm. All of you correct
preparation work in the previous three scales will set you up best for
achieving impulsion and mastering this forth scale will seem much easier!
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