Some Thoughts on Conditioning Dressage Horses - USDF

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Some Thoughts on Conditioning Dressage Horses - USDF
horse-health connection                                                                                                  editorial@usdf.org

Some Thoughts on                                                                                 Foals Need to
                                                                                                 Behave Like Foals

Conditioning Dressage Horses                                                                     It has been established beyond doubt
                                                                                                 that the first two years of a horse’s life
                                                                                                 are the critical time for the develop-
From playful foals to interval training, the latest                                              ment of joint cartilage, ligaments, and
science on developing sound and happy equine athletes                                            tendons. Exercise is essential during
                                                                                                 this time period to optimize growth
By Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, Diplomate ACVSMR, MRCVS                                            and development of these tissues so
                                                                                                 that they will be able to withstand the
                                                                                                 loads imposed during dressage train-

T
                                                                                                 ing later in life. Beyond two years of
        he most important fitness                 ing session without becoming fatigued.
                                                                                                 age, these tissues have limited ability
        requirement for dressage                      One of the functions of the
                                                                                                 to strengthen in response to the stim-
        horses is strength. If you look           ligaments and tendons is to help the
                                                                                                 ulus of exercise, and they have limited
up a definition of strength, it includes          muscles to support the joints by limiting
                                                                                                 ability to heal if they are injured.
wording indicating the capacity for               their range of motion. For example, the
                                                                                                     The most effective way of building
exertion or endurance but also the                suspensory ligament and the digital
                                                                                                 strong, resilient articular cartilage, liga-
power to resist force. Dressage horses            flexor tendons support the fetlock
                                                                                                 ments, and tendons is through turnout
require both of these types of strength           and limit sinking of the fetlock during
                                                                                                 with other foals during the early weeks
in different locomotor tissues.                   weight-bearing. These structures are
                                                                                                 and months of their lives. Foals’ normal
                                                  somewhat elastic, so they stretch as the
                                                                                                 exercise and play behavior have proven
                                                  fetlock sinks and recoil as the fetlock
                                                                                                 superior to any structured exercise
                                                  rises. Strength allows the ligaments and
                                                                                                 program for this purpose. Play behavior
                                                  tendons to resist the loading forces dur-
                                                                                                 is beneficial because leaping, bucking,
                                                  ing weight-bearing.
                                                                                                 rearing, and play-fighting load the limbs
                                                      A dressage horse needs muscular
                                                                                                 in a diverse manner that stimulates mul-
                                                  strength and endurance to perform
                                                                                                 tidirectional adaptations of the locomo-
                                                  the movements without becoming
                                                                                                 tor tissues.
                                                  fatigued, which would result in dete-
                                                                                                     Take-home message: Horses that
                                                  rioration in the quality of the perfor-
                                                                                                 are destined for athletic careers need
                                                  mance and could lead to a muscular
                                                                                                 the opportunity to run and play as foals
                                                  strain. Dressage horses also need to
                                                                                                 and yearlings in order to develop into
                                                  have strong ligaments and tendons to
                                                                                                 sound, resilient athletes. Try to find out
                                                  support the limbs when they are load-
                                                                                                 how your dressage prospect was reared
                                                  ed. Tendon and ligament injuries are
                                                                                                 before making a decision to purchase.
                                                  most often repetitive-strain injuries,
                                                  which implies that they are the result         Start the Young Horse Slowly,
NATURE’S CONDITIONING PROGRAM:                    of repetitive, relatively low-level load-
Foals’ natural play behavior is the best way to   ing rather than a single catastrophic
                                                                                                 and Progress Gradually
build strong bones and soft tissues during the    event, such as stepping in a hole. The         Opinions vary as to the ideal age
crucial early years of life                       injury takes the form of a strain, such        to start a young horse. Some train-
                                                  as suspensory ligament desmopathy              ers prefer to wait until the horse is
    The muscles are the motors that               (pulled suspensory) or superficial digi-       skeletally mature, at four or five years
drive locomotion. Muscular contrac-               tal tendinopathy (strained tendon).            of age; others start earlier in order to
tions generate propulsion, support                    Going back to our definition of            be ready to compete in young-horse
engagement, elevate the forehand, and             strength, muscle requires the capacity         classes. As a rule of thumb, the earlier
maintain a rounded posture of the                 for exertion and endurance, whereas            the horse starts work, the more slowly
neck and back. The type of muscular               ligaments and tendons must be able to          the workload should be increased.
strength required for dressage is differ-         resist tensile forces. In this article, I’ll       Modern-day sport horses are im-
                                                                                                                                                JACQUES TOFFI/ARND.NL

ent than the explosive power required             discuss some management and training           mensely talented, and this makes it easy
for jumping; instead, dressage horses             tips to influence the development of ap-       to forge ahead with training the techni-
need muscular endurance so that                   propriate types of strength in a dressage      cal skills. The problem is that this rapid
the muscles can contract repeatedly               horse, with the goals of maximizing per-       progression may not allow sufficient time
through the duration of a test or train-          formance while maintaining soundness.          for the muscles to adapt and strengthen.

12 December 2018/January 2019 • USDF CONNECTION
Some Thoughts on Conditioning Dressage Horses - USDF
Strong muscles help to support the      Higher Levels of Competition              interdependence of technical skills
joints and relieve some tension from        Require Highly Sport-Specific             and muscular strength. Muscular ad-
the ligaments. Without appropriate                                                    aptation is specific to the joint angle
muscular strength to share the load,
                                            Conditioning                              and speed of contraction. It is not
stress on the suspensory ligaments          Although early diversification is         sufficient simply to activate a muscle;
and flexor tendons increases, setting       beneficial to a young horse’s health      the muscle must be worked repeat-
the stage for a possible future repet-      and development, there comes a point      edly in the same manner, as in the
itive-strain injury. It is the trainer’s    in dressage training when specializa-     dressage movements. This means that
responsibility to control the horse’s       tion is necessary to develop the highly   the horse needs to be able to perform
rate of progress up the levels to allow     sport-specific muscular strength          a movement correctly in order to
time to ensure the development of ad-       required. One of the reasons that         strengthen the appropriate muscles.
equate muscular strength and fitness        it takes so long for a horse to reach     As the muscles get stronger, perfor-
for each new level of competition.          the higher levels of dressage is the      mance of the movement improves. [
Moving up the competition ladder too
quickly risks activating an injury that
may plague the horse for the rest of
his career.
    Take-home message: Athletically
talented horses may learn the move-
ments more quickly than their less-
gifted peers, but they need just as long
to develop strength and fitness, and
this limits the overall rate of progress.
Allow time for strength development
at each step of the training process,
and avoid the temptation to move up
the levels too quickly.

Diverse Activity
Benefits Young Horses
Diversification implies that an athlete
is involved in a variety of sports and
activities through which they acquire
an array of skills, many of which apply
across different sports. In training
dressage horses, early diversification
facilitates learning a range of motor
skills and building a strong foundation.
     Any benefits from early concen-
tration on a single sport tend to be
offset by the limitations in motor-skill
development, a greater risk of over-
use injuries, and boredom. Young
horses undoubtedly benefit from early
diversification, and statistics show
that if horses compete in two or more
disciplines before they are seven years
old, they have longer competitive
careers than those that participate in
only one sport.
     Take-home message: Diversity
in the training program benefits the
young horse’s physical and mental
development.

                                                              USDF CONNECTION • December 2018/January 2019                13
Some Thoughts on Conditioning Dressage Horses - USDF
horse-health connection                                                                                             editorial@usdf.org

                                                  interval-training format. Interval              One caveat: In order to improve
                                                  training is a conditioning technique        strength in a beneficial manner,
                                                  in which periods of intense exercise,       the horse must perform the move-
                                                  called work phases, alternate with rest     ment correctly; otherwise the wrong
                                                  intervals that allow partial recovery       muscles or the wrong coordination
                                                  and reduce the accumulation of lactic       patterns are trained.
                                                  acid in the muscles. An example of              Take-home message: Incorpo-
                                                  interval training for dressage is to per-   rating the movements of the sport
                                                  form a set number of steps of a move-       into the conditioning exercises yields
                                                  ment that requires muscular strength        highly specific improvements in
                                                  (such as half-steps or pirouette steps)     muscle strength and endurance.
                                                  as the work phase, followed by mov-
                                                  ing forward in an easier, more relaxed      Cross-Training Is Beneficial—
                                                  gait, which is the rest interval. Several   but Maybe Not for the
                                                  repetitions of alternating work peri-
                                                                                              Reasons You Thought
                                                  ods and rest intervals form a set, after
                                                  which the horse has a longer rest,          Cross-training is a popular method
                                                  usually at the walk, before performing      of building sound, fit, all-around
                                                  another set. Over time, the number          athletes, both human and equine. For
SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:                   of steps that form the work period          the equine athlete, a huge benefit of
Cross-training, like this treadmill session,      is increased progressively, leading to      cross-training is that it gets the horse
helps to relieve horses’ boredom and varies the   improved endurance in the actively          out of “the sandbox” and doing some-
physical workout                                  contracting muscles so that the horse       thing other than drilling the dressage
                                                  becomes stronger in a highly sport-         movements. This has mental benefits
    A good way to develop strength                specific manner. For more tips on in-       in relieving boredom and also—very
for upper-level dressage is to re-                terval training for dressage, see “Intro    important—the variety reduces the
peat the dressage movements in an                 to Interval Training” below.                risk of repetitive-strain injuries by

Intro to Interval Training

  H
          elp your horse build the strength he needs for                    of repetitions in each set as before.
          dressage work through interval training, in                     • Maintain the same number of repetitions, but
          which periods of work are interspersed with                       gradually increase the amount of very collected
  periods of rest.                                                          canter until, after a few weeks, it occupies half of
      Here’s an example of dressage-specific interval train-                each circle.
  ing. On a 20-meter circle in collected canter, increase the             • Change the pattern: Ride the very collected canter
  degree of collection for one-quarter of each circle, and                  in a straight line along the long side of the arena
  ride the remaining three-quarters of the circle in collect-               for 10 meters, followed by a 20-meter half-circle.
  ed canter. The increased collection is the work interval,                 Repeat on the opposite long side. The distance cov-
  and the “regular” collected canter is the rest interval.                  ered in very collected canter can be increased each
  Perform four circles; that’s one set. Then allow your                     week, but now the horse must remain straight.
  horse to rest for two minutes in a free walk on a long                    These are examples of how an interval-training
  rein. Repeat the entire sequence on the opposite rein.                exercise can be made progressively more challenging to
      Practice the interval-training sequence three days                strengthen the horse. You can devise your own varia-
  a week as part of your training session. In week two,                 tions to address weaknesses in your horse’s perfor-
  increase the number of circles from four to five in each              mance.
  direction; in week three, increase to six circles; and in                 What distinguishes strengthening exercises from
  week four, to seven circles. By the end of the fourth                 regular training exercises is the adherence to perform-
  week, your horse should be getting stronger, and it                   ing a set number of repetitions and the regular in-
  should feel easier to maintain the very collected steps.              creases in the distance or intensity of the work periods.
      At this point, you could change the exercise in one               Always pay attention to the quality of the work. If
                                                                                                                                         LISA DIJK/ARND.NL

  of the following ways:                                                the horse becomes fatigued, cool down carefully and,
    • Split each set: Ride four sets, each with four repeti-            if necessary, cut back on the work periods for a few
      tions of the canter circles; then build up the number             workouts.

14 December 2018/January 2019 • USDF CONNECTION
Some Thoughts on Conditioning Dressage Horses - USDF
imposing different loading patterns on        Take-home message: Cross-                            efforts to improve performance are,
the limbs. Therefore, cross-training      training is a valuable addition to a                      however, tempered by the need to build
falls under the category of diversity     dressage training program as a means                      and maintain a resilient musculoskeletal
rather than specificity.                  of preserving orthopedic health, but it                   support system that can withstand the
     Cross-training can take many         is not the key to elite performance; this                 rigors of training and competing. There
forms, depending on the availability      requires highly sport-specific training.                  is a delicate balance between doing
of equipment and facilities and on the                                                              enough work to stimulate strengthening
rider’s preferences. It might include     A Delicate Balance                                        and doing too much, which has a dam-
hacking, hill work, galloping, jump-                                                                aging effect. When in doubt, err on the
ing, swimming, underwater treadmill,      Through the use of physiological condi-                   side of caution because repetitive-strain
cold-water spa, or working equitation;    tioning, we aim to improve the horse’s                    injuries are a serious risk to the horse’s
it just needs to be something differ-     performance by increasing his strength,                   health and indeed to his entire career as
ent from schooling in an arena. We        power, stamina, and brilliance. Our                       a dressage horse. s
should realize, however, that cross-
training does not specifically enhance
dressage performance; rather, its value
lies in preserving soundness and pre-        ADEQUAN®/USDF FEI-LEVEL

                                             Trainers Conference
venting boredom.

Meet the Expert

  D                                                                 January 21-22, 2019
           r. Hilary Clayton is the
           professor and Mary Anne
                                                             High Meadow Farm • Loxahatchee, FL
           McPhail Dressage Chair
  emerita. She
  was the origi-
  nal holder of
                                                                                                                Featuring
  the Mary Anne
  McPhail Dres-                                                                             Debbie McDonald,
  sage Chair in                                                                         US Dressage Technical Advisor
  Equine Sports
                                                                                                                and the
  Medicine at
  Michigan                                                                               US Dressage Coaches
  State University’s College of Veter-
  inary Medicine, East Lansing, from                 Debbie McDonald
  1997 to 2014. At the same time,
  she was a professor in MSU’s De-
  partment of Large Animal Clinical
  Sciences.
      A world-renowned expert on
  equine biomechanics and condi-
  tioning, Dr. Clayton is president of
  Sport Horse Science, LC, which is
                                                     Christine Traurig               George Williams                Charlotte Bredahl
  dedicated to translating research                 US Dressage Young Horse Coach     US Dressage Youth Coach      US Dressage Assistant Youth Coach

  data into practical advice for
  riders, trainers, and veterinarians
  through lectures, articles, and                        For attendance criteria, registration, curriculum, and travel information, visit
  private consultations. A USDF
                                                                                    www.usdf.org
  gold, silver, and bronze medalist,
  she is a longtime USDF Connec-
  tion contributing editor and a
  past member of the US Equestrian
  Federation’s Dressage Committee.

                                                                 USDF CONNECTION • December 2018/January 2019                                          15
Some Thoughts on Conditioning Dressage Horses - USDF Some Thoughts on Conditioning Dressage Horses - USDF Some Thoughts on Conditioning Dressage Horses - USDF Some Thoughts on Conditioning Dressage Horses - USDF
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