Dressage Question. How to Ask for Piaffe vs Pirouette?
I just got my horse about six months ago. I was told he competed at grand prix level at some point but I have nothing really stating he had. I was happy with a nice pleasure horse. I’ve never been trained in dressage, but with feel I’ve been getting him to do all sorts of different movements. What i’ve noticed when I ask for certain movements is he either gives me a piaffe or a pirouette. What am I doing wrong in asking? I would like to know how to individually ask for the two. He’s absolutely the most willing horse I’ve ever been on, and I know he’s just trying to do what I’m asking. I don’t want to confuse him anymore.
Many upper level horses seem to use piaffe as a way to get out of the work you are asking for; kind of a delaying or avoidance tactic like a kid asking for water at bedtime. They can sometimes use it in a somewhat dangerous way, so it would be a good idea to get some lessons so you know not only how to "push" his buttons, but how to ‘unpush’ them!
Lucky you to have a nice schoolmaster, and lucky him not to have to work as hard as he used to!
At the risk of sounding rude, I think that you should take some dressage lessons. You could just not ask for the movements and ride him for pleasure in just the basics (w/t/c.. although it would seem like a total waste of a well trained horse … lol), or if you do want to try these movements, then I think you need to take lessons. Because telling you how to do it in typed words is one thing, but doing in real life is a whole other story. We can’t make sure you’re doing it right, correct you where you are wrong, etc.
Basically, the horse and rider are so "in tune" with each other that the horse is ready to move from behind and take what the rider gives him through the reins. The rider uses the seat to push the horse underneath himself and the reins to raise and shorten the hind end- but it is such a subtle movement when done by the pros it is difficult to see the difference between the two when watching on the ground.