MULE CROSSING: Dressage Explained
By Meredith Hodges
Dressage had its beginning hundreds of years ago in the military when horses needed to be not only trained to ride, but conditioned to withstand the stress placed upon them by the demands of war. They needed tremendous endurance, as well as the ability to perform certain movements that would protect their riders from enemy assault. When the use of the horse armies diminished, the concept of their “dressage” training became more recreational, commercial and competitive.
The concept of true Horsemanship gained its own unique identity. One need only witness the white Lipizzaner stallions of Vienna, Austria, to see the result of this age-old military training. The stallions are started as three and four-year-olds with groundwork and simple patterns under saddle to begin strengthening muscles and minds and, to facilitate good balance for the more difficult demands placed upon them later. It is a gentle training process and is supported by a lot of positive reinforcement and minimal negative reinforcement, or punishment. The result is a happy, healthy, and willing equine. Intelligent and sensitive equines do not take kindly to punitive or unfair training practices. For this reason, I find that Dressage and Combined Training lends itself particularly well to mules, Thoroughbreds, Arabians, and some of the other more intelligent and sensitive breeds.
Dressage is practiced in an arena marked by a low fence with letters at strategic intervals. A manual outlining the different “tests” tells you what to do and where to go in your marked arena. Once an animal is started under saddle, he begins dressage training at what is called Training Level. There are four tests at each level that increase ever so slightly in difficulty from one to the next. In each level there are certain objectives to be met. At Training Level, for instance, your mule should learn to travel in straight lines and to bend his body to the arc of large circles and in corners, and to make upward and downward transitions through his gaits while maintaining good balance, a steady rhythm and cadence throughout the test in an elongated and elastic frame. At the same time, the rider is also learning and conditioning his own body to react appropriately to the body of his animal. The objective of dressage training is to develop a harmonious balance and understanding between equine and rider physically and mentally.
When your equine is strong, steady, rhythmic, and responsive at Training Level, he can then proceed to the next level, or First Level. At First Level, he learns to initiate more engagement of the hindquarters (collection) and begins to condition the muscles needed for lateral work through lengthening of the gaits and yielding from the leg. As he is better conditioned in his body, he is better able to perform and hold the balance and collection that is needed for Second Level, then Third Level, Fourth Level, and beyond. In order to gain true collection, he needs to possess incredible strength, such that he can step underneath himself with power from his hindquarters, round his back, and bring lightness and suppleness to the front end. This kind of posture makes the fancy upper level movements one usually associates with Dressage fluid and effortless with no apparent movement by the rider.
Each level builds on the exercises from the previous level from Training through Intermediate to Prix St. George and Grand Prix. Combined Training is the addition of gymnastic-type exercises (aerobic equivalent) to the regular dressage routine. The jumping, or gymnastic, exercises can start in conjunction with the dressage tests as early as Training Level and can greatly enhance and improve their Dressage performances. It gives the equine a mental break from the repetition and intensity of the dressage tests. It allows the animal to develop better coordination and stronger forward movement. Jumping also enhances hindquarter development and the variety in routine keeps your equine’s mind fresh, alert, and willing to perform.
Athletes most often get hurt if they are not properly conditioned for an event. Muscles not ordinarily or regularly used cannot support the stress of certain activities. For this reason, the concept of training just “movements” is not really the most beneficial way to train your equine. It allows too much room for unconditioned muscle strain and possible permanent injury.
Using Dressage and Combined Training to condition your equine will produce a well-conditioned athlete that can depend on his own body strength, adding relaxation and confidence to his overall performance. The natural step by step progression of the exercises insures his physical and mental safety and understanding, minimizing resistance and failure. As it is when we progress through school, so progresses the equine through dressage training, learning, and then building on each new foundation with a confident understanding of what is expected.
All the Lucky Three mules will attest to the success of Dressage and Combined Training, particularly Lucky Three Mae Bea C.T., who began to do exercises at the more advanced levels. Before we began dressage training, we were training for each event. With dressage training she developed an incredible responsiveness to seat, leg and rein cues and was able to perform anything easily and willingly. She did absolutely everything you would ask of her and did it all with above average quality and enthusiasm. It has made classes in which she already excelled even better! The other Lucky Three mules exhibited this same above-average attitude and performance across the board with Dressage and Combined Training. This kind of variety keeps life interesting and challenging as we find new uses and events in which we can compete our mules. They have even made their own unique contribution to the equine industry! Volunteers to help set up shows and events are often hard to find.
The Mountain States Combined Training Association is grateful to the Lucky Three Ranch, but particularly to Mae Bea C.T. for her help in dragging logs to help build cross country jumps at Lory State Park in Fort Collins, Colorado. Mae Bea C.T., trained in Dressage and Combined Training, not only jumps those cross-country jumps, but helps to build them as well! She is a strong, healthy and willing mule thanks to the preservation of a 100-year-old or more equestrian art called Dressage!
To learn more about Meredith Hodges and her comprehensive all-breed equine training program, visit LuckyThreeRanch.com, MEREDITH HODGES PUBLIC FIGURE Facebook page, or call 1-800-816-7566. Check out her children’s website at JasperTheMule.com. Also, find Meredith on Pinterest, Instagram, MeWe, YouTube and Twitter.
Covered in TRAINING MULES & DONKEY: A LOGICAL APPROACH TO TRAINING, TRAINING WITHOUT RESISTANCE, EQUUS REVISITED and A GUIDE TO RAISING & SHOWING MULES at www.luckythreeranchstore.com.
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I remember back in 1982 when summer came and we had to search high and low for shows in which we could compete with our mules! As they say, “You’ve come a long way, baby!” Mule shows are now so numerous that it is becoming very difficult to decide which ones to attend. Years ago, our mules were not necessarily welcome at horse competitions, and today that has changed as well – making our decisions about where to compete is even more complicated. It is truly amazing to see the tremendous growth in popularity of the mule over the past 30 to 40 years, but then I guess it was inevitable given all their redeeming qualities! It really isn’t that unusual that people would begin to prefer mules once they received accurate and truthful information about them. Granted, you have to be smarter than the mule in order to train one, but once you train one properly, you have a wonderful companion and a top competitor in the equine world. More and more, the criticism of mules has changed to general curiosity and a willingness to learn more about these unique animals. Many people have taken a great deal of time and effort to bring these animals into the public eye. To name them all would take volumes, but their work is certainly appreciated!
As I said, there are many all-mule and donkey shows that you can attend in most states across the U.S. Most of them are held in conjunction with State Fairs. However, there are others that are promoted with horse and mule races as well. The American Donkey & Mule Society sponsors a National Mule and Donkey Show that floats from state to state. The 1992 A.D.M.S. Nationals were held in conjunction with the South Carolina State Fair. There were some truly lovely mules to see in our eastern United States.
Breed shows are another place you will see mules today. In many places, you will see mules competing in their classes sandwiched between classes for anything from Draft Horses to Arabians and Saddlebreds. Many of these breed shows not only included a mule division, but allowed mules to compete in their Open Classes as well against the various horse breeds. In 1991, our own Lucky Three Mae Bea C.T. competed in an Open English Pleasure class of primarily Saddlebreds and American Show Horses to sixth place of 20 entries. It is nice to know that the judges were taking mules seriously, as well!
The American Driving Society has been quite supportive itself! They encourage mules to participate in the many facets of driving that they offer, from pleasure, to fun events to actual marathon driving. In these shows, the mules are allowed to compete directly with the horses. Shows such as these tend to really test the knowledge and expertise of the trainer and the conditioning and response of the animals. Integrity in progressive learning is encouraged while stark competitiveness and politics take a back seat. This type of situation is much more appealing to the novice who wants to learn and improve his and his animal’s skills.
The United States Combined Training Association left it up to each region to decide whether, or not, to allow mules to compete and some areas are more tolerant than others. Dressage and Combined Training offers the ultimate in fitness and conditioning of both animal and rider. Because it requires so much physical exertion and skill, everyone is accustomed to discussion on gross errors and wrecks with little or no embarrassment. This makes for a great learning environment with a lot of positive social interaction. We have had a lot of fun for three years competing with the Mountain States Combined Training Association and the Windy Wyoming Combined Training Association. They were a great group of folks from the organizers to the competitors. When Lucky Three Mae Bea C.T. came in second in 1992 in the Open Novice Division at the Abbe Ranch Horse Trials in Larkspur in June, organizer Susan Farmer presented our ribbon and warmly said, “We’re not prejudiced here! Congratulations!” I think it is more important to these folks to see that people enjoy the sport and more over, to continue to want to participate and learn. This makes for attainable long term goals, and even more… it makes for long term friendships.
If you are not really the competitive type, but enjoy the simpler side of showing in gymkhana events and pleasure classes, there are a lot of small Open Shows that you can attend sponsored by various saddle clubs across the U.S. They will usually let the mules compete right along with the horses. Learning and having fun are again the key issues here.