Important Aids in Dressage

The use of aids, including the seat, legs, hands, back muscles and stomach muscles are all very important in dressage, as these aids allow the rider to maintain balance throughout the horse's movements. Discover why the aid of the seat is the most important aid with helpful advice in this video on horse training and dressage.

So it's very important in dressage, the use of your seat and all of your other aids that you would use in dressage. So the most important aid would be your seat, your legs, your hands, and of course, your back. So your core, sort of, area -- back and stomach muscles. So basically, what you learn from first starting to ride is how to just balance in the saddle and balance throughout the horse's movement and be able to sit that movement, which is not easy. It's definitely, you know, looks easy when the professionals do it. But if anyone hasn't tried it before, it's something that is quite difficult. So that takes a lot of time. You would start off working on your seat -- working on a lunge line with someone who's very knowledgeable, knowing how to control the horse, giving you pointers, telling you what to do, a lot of no-stirrup work -- that you become independent with your seat and are not forced to hold yourself in the saddle by holding onto the reigns or gripping with your legs. So that's the most important aid is the aid of your seat. Secondly come your legs that your legs are to hang nice and loosely along the horse's sides, not gripping with your upper leg. And just staying relaxed and keeping your calves lightly on contact with your toes forward, parallel to the horse, and of course, your spurs out. If your toes stick out, your spurs stick in, which is not something you want all the time. You only reserve the spur for when you absolutely need it. So you definitely...like now. So you definitely have to have a quiet, long, loose leg and be able to balance yourself on the center of the saddle from your seat, your upper body nice and tall, staying perpendicular with the horse. And very important to stay upright and straight that no matter what the horse is doing underneath you, that you can stay straight and whether he runs forward, bucks, takes off, that you can sit there and also your hand...that your reign aids basically just give little vibrations, little flexions in the jowl, but not balancing yourself and holding the whole time on the reigns. That horse has a light contact to...you have a light contact to the horse's mouth and give fine aids.