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Welcome to

Dressage Pure & SimpleThe purpose of this magazine is to support and encourage riders on their journey through the levels. The journey is long, and I was once told that you need a lifetime to learn how to ride, and then another to enjoy it! In this amazing Olympic year we have seen records broken, dreams come true and history made within our sport. We all know that horses are the best teachers and also great levellers. When things go right there is no greater joy, but there is much frustration along the way and it is during these times that we all need someone to encourage us to carry on.

Dressage Pure & Simple is an interactive magazine; we want it to become a community where nobody feels afraid to ask questions and where everyone gets the chance to receive help and advice. Whether you ride a cob or a warmblood, whether you are riding affiliated or unaffiliated, we hope to help you get the best out of your horses.

The dressage community can sometimes appear a bit cliquey, but rest assured these riders have travelled the same road and suffer the same insecurities as the rest of us. There is one common denominator and that is the horse. These wonderful creatures are just on loan to us and therefore each day in their company should be a joy no matter what!

I leave you with the quotation that Dorian Williams made so famous:

Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride,Friendship without envy,Or beauty without vanity?Here, where grace is served with muscleAnd strength by gentleness confinedHe serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent.There is nothing so quick, nothing more patient.Ronald Duncan, "The Horse," 1954

Gloria LeverettFounder

What can we do for you?Do you have burning questions that you feel too afraid to ask? Maybe you think you should already know the answer, or maybe it is something everyone you know finds easy but you struggle with? Every time your trainer tells you to *feel the outside rein* do you want to break down and cry because you just don’t know WHAT they are asking you to do? ASK US! Here at D P&S we want to enlighten you, help answer your questions, guide you along the road to your goal and make you happy. We don’t judge, we don’t preach, we are happy to answer your questions free of charge and feature them in our magazine.

If you cannot afford as many lessons as you would like how about letting us give you a virtual lesson? Video your problems and we will help you overcome them. With a range of experts on hand, and guest trainers monthly, we are sure that we can help point you in the right direction! You can simply upload your video to YouTube, publicly or privately, let us know the link and we will email you our findings...simple, effective and great value for money at £5. We are happy to include your virtual lesson in our magazine, or keep it entirely private, the choice is yours. Worried about an upcoming dressage test? Don’t be! Video your schooling test for us and our graded BD judges and trainers will review and critique to help you pick up those extra marks that could mean a qualifying score! All ridden dressage tests must be carried out in a schooling environment, with boots or bandages or yard clothing, we cannot review tests that have been ridden in competition. For £5 I am sure you will agree that this represents great value for money, and again, this can be done publicly or privately.

All feedback is done privately and we are happy to explain any queries you have even after the first email. Of course, we would love to publish our success stories but this is not a prerequisite!

So, fancy giving this fully interactive service a go? If so then please drop me a line to discuss your needs!

Email: editor@dressagepureandsimple.com

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DressagePandS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DressagePureandSimple Twitter: https://twitter.com/dressageps

We will be setting up a forum where dressage lovers can come and chat. This will be a forum where aliases are not permitted, it will be for support and advice and we hope that our members will appreciate a place where nastiness or libellous chat won’t be tolerated...there are plenty of places for that!

Dressage Semptember 2012

P2 - Introduction From Our Founder

P3 - What We Can Do For You

P6 - Less Than Perfect Conformation

P14 - The Seat

P18 - Best Kept Secret? - Exploring the Psoas Muscle

P22 - Dressage Life According To Flossy

P24 - The Scales Of Training

P30 - Who Is Natasha Baker? A Paralympic Special

P32 - How Massage Can Help You Understand Your Horse

P34 - Conditioning The Dressage Horse

P37 - The Thing About Boots

P38 - The Science Of Scenar

issue 1

PURE & SIMPLE P42 - City Slicker To Country Mucker

P44 - A Special Invitation - The Canadian Olympic Team

P46 - London 2012 In Pictures

Meet The Contributors

P32 Lee Harris has been involved with horses since the tender age of 4. Having realised the benefits of massage and physiotherapy during his keen cricketing years Lee decided to study ITEC Human massage, anatomy and physiology. That was followed by learning Equine Sports Massage in 2005 with the world renowned Jean-Pierre Hourdebaigt in Florida USA. For more information about Lee and his work visit his website www.equetouch.co.uk

P38 Roger Meacock MRCVS is a fully qualified veterinary surgeon who has established an international reputation for treating animals and people using cutting-edge medical technology. Working with a wide range of horses, from Olympic standard to family hacks, Roger has been using Scenar technology since 1998, alongside e-Lybra 9, Indiba, orgone energy products, Quinton Marine Plasma, herbs and oxygen therapy amongst other things. For a fuller understanding on how these treatments may benefit your horse, and you, please visit www.naturalhealingsolutions.co.uk

Front Cover The stallion Treliver Decanter - photographed by Gill Clothier

LESS THANPERFECT

CONFORMATION

We all know that there is no perfect horse, but that conformation is important when deciding to purchase a horse for dressage. In this article we will look at good conformation in high performance horses and also that of not so perfect horses that, despite their failings, have competed successfully at advanced level.

What is good conformation?

Conformation refers to the structural make up of the horse and affects how the horse will perform in a particular discipline, in this case dressage. The best time to view young stock is at 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months. “From my experience it is when they are closest in type and balance to how they will be. Certainly foals can get to look awful as they go towards weaning and their quarters get higher. I would not perhaps agree about the three year old, as the best horses also look great in the second half of their 2nd year and a lovely three year old could turn into a croup high four year old since they don't finish growing until 6” Lynne Crowden

Most people start assessing the horse from front to back but as we are taught to ride the horse from the hind leg to the hand, assessment should start with the hind quarters.

Continue reading in Issue 1 of Dressage Pure & Simple

The SeatThe bane of all dressage riders the elusive seat!

How hard can it be to sit on what God gave us? Some riders do it naturally whilst others struggle all their equestrian lives.

In this article GLORIA LEVERETT breaks it down for you...

The anatomy of the seat is made up of the pelvis, its ligaments and muscles, and is also the base from which the legs are attached via the femurs. The seat bones (ischial tuberosities) at the base of the pelvis are what we fundamentally sit on.

Left Ilium

Sacrum

Seat Bone

‘The pelvis, so called from its resemblance to a basin, is a bony ring, interposed between the movable vertebræ of the vertebral column which it supports, and the lower limbs upon which it rests; it is stronger and more massively constructed than the wall of the cranial or thoracic cavities, and is composed of four bones: the two hip bones laterally and in front and the sacrum and coccyx behind.’ Gray’s Anatomy

The pelvis is like the corner stone of a building in that it supports that above and below.

The horse is a mirror image of the rider. If the rider is in self- carriage the horse can carry the weight in a more balanced way.

Yes the human skeleton needs to have his lower leg back more!!

In the walk and trot the horses’ pelvis moves up and forward then down as the other side moves up and forward. It is this movement the rider must follow with his seat. The canter is slightly different in that it is 3 beat with a moment of suspension and the rider will feel his inside seat bone carry forward on the up beat and both sides of the pelvis sink on the down beat. For the rider to follow these movements there has to be suppleness and positive tone.

Try this exercise...

Have someone lead your horse, leaving you to close your eyes and let your legs hang long out of the stirrups. Now, just totally relax and feel the swing of the horse’s back as he takes you up, forward and down on each side of your seat. Repeat this exercise on the lunge in trot. You should begin to feel the up beat under your seat bone. This is the important moment when the rider can use the seat to lift that stride and develop elevation. For now though, it is enough to be aware of it and just follow the movement.

The position a rider takes is between sitting and standing. In Tai Chi this is called the horse stance. Tai Chi is about core and balance, shifting weight through slow gentle movements. Many of the movements are used in riding to position the horse.

The Horse Stance as practised in Tai Chi... The Horse Stance is the most meditative and balanced, allowing firm relaxation. In taking this stance, we set about to achieve the Wu Chi state. Wu Chi, in this context means the body is able to achieve complete active relaxation with no undue stress. The feet are placed solidly on the floor, shoulder width, with toes facing forward and parallel to each other. Each body part is then placed squarely on the one below it, like building blocks, with all joints open and not locked. Locked joints restrict movement, response time, and Chi flow. The joints are filled with fluid to allow compression and movement, so keep this in mind in order to keep from getting stiff. Visualize the joints pumped up (peng energy) like balloons.

Taken from http://www.gilmanstudio.com/articles/index.php?id=92

Up until recently, the answer was innate talent or long hours of practice, but if this were so, then many of us would have achieved a deep and fluent seat by now.

Long hours of practice with tight muscles will only achieve a tight seat, which in turn tightens the horses’ back and prevents him working through.Whilst researching for another article I came across an essay by Tom Nagel describing an observation he had made whilst teaching his wife. Whilst she sat well on her horse, he felt there was something not quite right. He asked her to push her lower spine into the back of her breeches, the result was that her pelvis came up towards her chest and she immediately felt softer in the saddle. Tom researched his patients and found that those who could flatten their spine against the table without tightening their abdominals were in fact, engaging the psoas muscle. No, do not stop reading, this will not get technical I promise!

Like all of you, I have trained with many people over the years, searching for that elusive magical trick that would make me sit like a professional. Pilates, yoga, Tai Chi, I have done them all! Yes, they do help, but I still didn’t feel as one with my horse.

Shoulders back, heels down, hands still, hands down, hands higher, head up, diaphragm up, use your tummy muscles, push your hips forward, the list is endless and the answer unavailable.

How do riders sit in such good balance? Why do their thigh muscles look so loose and roll with the horse? Why do they get those little creases just at the top of their breeches? These are the questions I asked whilst studying some our best riders...... 

   

Best Kept Secret?

Of all the equestrian disciplines, dressage is the most elegant marriage of horse and rider. Well, it is if the rider has a good seat and appears at one with his horse. How do the top riders sit so gracefully and easily in the saddle? Gloria Leverett finds out.

Main stockists of HKM Germany as well as many other leading international brands. Here at Inter Equine we have over 8 years import/export experience within

the equine equipment and clothing retail sector throughout Europe.Our main aim is supplying customers with the very best in customer service as

well as competitive pricing. As horse owners ourselves we appreciate the challenges owners and riders face when buying online. We aim to provide customers with good old fashioned customer service via modern methods of communication.

http://www.inter-equine.com

Dressage Life According To

flossy

The influence of advanced technologies on our life and the advantages they offer is indisputable. At last the Dressage world can also enjoy the benefits of modern science.

For years student riders had to put up with the verbal abuse that a tough dedicated instructor would aim at them, “Sit straight, don’t lean left or right “ etc. etc. etc. but at last all this can be confirmed with the aid of a scientific machine, the body analyser /horse simulator. All those that for years had the inkling, from their trainer, that they sit like a bag full of s**t can now obtain a

detailed computerised print out proving to them that they sit like a bag full of s**t. With this advanced technology there is hope that riders will be able to dispense of the services of a riding instructor that bellows at them “YOU ARE SITTING LIKE A BAG FULL OF S**T”The BEF, which is a modern progressive organisation, insists that all potential team riders should make use of these body analysers.Top Competitor was the first one to make use of the funding available for this purpose and there he was at the Equi

technology centre.He mounted the horse simulator, put his legs in the pedals, and the machine responded...“Please sit comfortably and wait while we analyse your seat in the halt”After a minute or two Top Competitor very discreetly shifted his weight forward reliving some weight off his back side. At that moment the horse simulator/ body analyser burst into life, sirens, flashing lights and a loud voice “SIT BACK, SIT BACK, DO NOT RAISE YOUR SEAT”. Out of the saddle a mechanical arm with a boxing glove appeared from nowhere and punched TC back into the upright position.“Please sit comfortably while the machine analyse your posture in the halt”

A few minutes later TC very discreetly shifted his seat slightly to the left and took some weight off the right seat bone. The horse simulator/ body analyser burst into life again, sirens, flashing lights and a loud voice came from the front speaker “please sit level return to the level position” a mechanical arm came from nowhere, punching TC on the left pushing him back onto right seat bone.“Please sit level, straight and comfortable in order for the machine to analyse your seat in the halt“

A minute or two later Top Competitor very, very discreetly raised his left cheek of his back side ever so slightly, and again the machine came into life, the flashing lights, the sirens, loud instruction, and the mechanical arm so swiftly that top competitor could not assume a defensive position of any kind. “SIT BACK, SIT BACK, DO NOT RAISE YOUR SEAT “The rest of the session was carried out with out any interruptions Top Competitor dared not breath move or even scratch his nose until the printed report appeared confirming that on a totally immobile object Top Competitor maintain a perfect level posture. Some weeks later Top Competitor was asked, by some other top competitors,

for some feed back on how it was and if he felt he had benefited from the experience.Top Competitor paused, looked them in the eye and said “It is OK, but make sure you go to the loo just before you mount the machine because the body analyser/ horse simulator WILL NOT EVEN LET YOU FART while you are on it”

On a serious note a machine can never simulate a living breathing animal with a brain of its own!

...a boxing glove appeared out of nowhere...

RhythmRegularity and Tempo

CollectionEngagement and Balance

StraightnessEqual bend in both Reins

ImpulsionIncreased Energy from Hindquarters

ContactAcceptance of the Bit and Aids

SupplenessElasticity/Freedom of Anxiety

Th roughness

Phase of understanding and

confidence

Development of pushing power

Development of carrying power

The Scales Of Training

What do they mean?In this series we will explore the scales of training and what they mean as well as implement them into daily work plans. Most riders are aware of the scales

of training although not all can recite them in order but how many riders consciously think about the scales when riding? More knowledgeable riders

may instinctively apply the rules but for those starting out or those riding on their own the scales can really help to address day to day problems.

None of the scales can be used in isolation, but for the purpose of this series each scale is explored individually. It should be remembered that the training

scales have been used as a system throughout the centuries to develop the horse as an athlete, making him obedient and supple, and each scale is needed

for the horse to become truly through, and work in harmony with his rider.

Valegro

Dressage Pure & Simple

Team Gold

Individual Gold

Individual Bronze

Mistral Hojris Uthopia

congratulates Team GBR on their golden 2012 Olympic Games

Who is Natasha Baker?

I am still reveling in the wonders of watching Olympic Team GB and their dancing horses coming home with 3 medals, medals we dreamed for but that were never guaranteed.

With this glory still so fresh in our minds, it is no suprise that the dressage world will once again be watching Greenwich and it’s dancing horses, hoping for the Union flag to rise many times again, anticipating bellowing out God Save the Queen whilst unashamedly wiping a tear away, and proudly witnessing many golds being placed around our amazing Para riders’ necks.

The strength and reliance of Lee Pearsn, Deborah Criddle and Sophie Christiansen meant that their names were no suprises when the team list was published, Sophie Wells is a well known name having gained a reserve spot at Beijing and Natasha Baker, well she...ummm, nope, I had to admit defeat and admit that I knew nothing about Team GBR’s fifth member, so I thought I would find out more!

Natasha is in fact already a double gold medallist, having won 2 golds in Belgium last year during the European Championships, she is also reigning British champion, not such an unknown then.

Riding at Grade II level (walk and trot in tests, canter permitted in freestyle), Natasha went to the Euros as “the underdog”, her words, and still gets goosebumps reliving her moments stood on the podium listening to God Save The Queen and feeling the weight of gold around her neck. She rides Cabral in London, a horse co-owned by Christian Landolt who bought JP, as he is known at home, to event but found him to be lacking boldness cross country. Natasha was lucky enough to gain the ride in 2009, and aboard this handsome 11 year old bay Polish warmblood she had quick success, winning the Nationals in 2010 and being selected as reserve for WEG.

2011 saw the partnership unbeaten internationally, winning in France at Deauville CPEDI*** and at Hartpury CPEDI***, on the back of which they got their European call up, underdogs they may

have been but better results are impossible to find!

2012 have seen the pair notch up another impressive clutch of international standard red rosettes, both team and individual, again in Deauville, Hickstead and Hartpury, where a rather delicious 81.35% saw Natasha claim 1st in the Freestyle.

So there you have it, all the credentials are certainly in place, but what about the girl herself? Natasha’s disability was caused by contracting a virus when she was 14 months old. Transverse Myelitis is a very rare neurological disorder which, in short, causes nervous system scars and interrupts communication between the nerves in the spine and the rest of the body. The repercussions are permanent, but that hasn’t ever stopped this vivacious 22 year old from doing anything. “I wouldn’t want my life to be any different. I have never been angry or depressed about it, everything happens for a reason”, Natasha continues with discerning honesty, “If I hadn’t have had this disability I probably wouldn’t be in contention for a gold medal, with so many able bodied people vying for team places”.

Natasha is focused and driven in all the right ways. She is charming and determined, already planning for Rio and forever thanking those who have allowed her “to live the dream”.

A prolific user of Facebook and Twitter, Natasha is keenly using these social networking sites to spread her joy at being selected for the

Paralympics. Photos of Team GB’s lorry being packed and of her selected trunk...that of Nick Skelton and Big Star (“let’s hope it’s the lucky one ;)”) have already been shared with her followers, with promises of more to come with every twist and turn of what is shaping up to be the most exciting Paralympics yet seen.

Due to fierce rules regarding Olympians, this article has been compiled without direct input from Natasha, but with her blessing. See next month’s issue for a full and frank interview with the girl herself, her views of Greenwich and the highs and lows of the Paralympics (we are hoping for 100% highs, and those podium goosebumps again!)

Muscles are amazing things. Each one is made up of thousands of interlocking myofibrils which create a muscle fibre, then thousands of fibres create bundles bound together into a muscle.

In order to then create either movement (concentric contraction) or stability (isometric contraction), the muscle fibres shorten by sliding over its neighbour and pulling towards its start point (origin).

When you think how many muscle groups and chains within the horses body are working simultaneously to produce just a simple step, let alone a specific dressage movement, it really shows what a marvel muscles are.

Dressage does create a specific demand on the horse. To create an engaged, balanced

performance with elegance and finesse, requires the horse to have spent years training, to allow the muscles to adapt and grow in strength and suppleness. The tendons and ligaments need the repetition of exercise to cope with the stresses imposed. The bones also need to accept the concussive forces over time to allow the constant remodelling and repair they undergo, to strengthen them.

Stress points occur within the muscles fibres. They are microspasms involving only a few fibres within the bundle. They are called Dormant Stress Points if there is no inflammation and Active Stress Points if inflamed......

www.equetouch.co.uk

How... Massage Can Help You Understand Your Horse...

Conditioning The Dressage

HorseIn 2007 Dr Hilary Clayton BRCVS PhD. MRCVS gave a lecture at the annual USDF Convention on conditioning the dressage horse. These notes and bullet point are taken from that lecture.

Physiological fitness improves scores and reduces the risk of injury.

Ground rules for conditioning are • Age• Previous fitness• Soundness (is horse returning to work after injury? If so this must be taken into consideration in

the exercise plan)• Level of competition

The principles of adaptionThe horses body adapts to the regular workload i.e. if you gallop for 1 mile it will not be effective but if you gallop for 1 mile 3 times a week this will have an effect but only until the body adapts.

To provide a conditioning stimulus sufficient work and repeat workouts need to be performed.

Intensity = How HardDuration = How LongFrequency = How Often

Progressive loading • New exercises should be introduced slowly and gradually.• The volume should be increased slowly over time to allow for adaption then maintained for a period

before increasing.• Every time there is an increase there needs to be time allowed to adapt this is because exercise

causes microscopic tissue damage and the time between the exercise routine allows for tissue repair. In the long term repeated cycles of microscopic damage and repair build strength and fitness.

• Tissues adapt to regular workload......

Now, I don’t know about you, but I find every time I go to replace a piece of clothing for competition I have to take out a mortgage! No disrespect to retailers, they all have to make a living, but if the money is not there then one really must do some research and find the best bargain. With this in mind I Googled ‘leather riding boot’s’ and started my search for the elusive bargain.

I have tiny feet, size 3, so when I came across a website selling off old styles and in small sizes I jumped for joy. I have always been a Cavallo fan but these did not come with zips and the thought of pulling on and off left me cold, so I opted for a pair of Konig Grand Gester at a considerably reduced price! The shoe size and calf width were exact, but I knew the height of the boot would be too long as designers only make boots for the 5’10’’-6’3’’ dressage models, unless of course you have them made to measure.

Sure enough when the boots arrived they fitted perfectly except for the fact that I resembled a member of the Spanish riding school with their thigh length boots. I took them to a specialist in Amersham, a considerable journey from me, and for £50 had them trimmed down, so now I had a pair of boots made to measure.

There was much trepidation when I thought the postal service had lost them, but they duly

arrived and I was pleased with the alterations. Friends had been kind enough to inform me that I would need to break them in around the house first and to be prepared for sores at the back of my knees and stiff legs! I found a pair of stockings, (yes stockings! Left over from younger sexier years!), and I put them on before slipping on my new purchase. After goose stepping around the house for more than an hour and unable to sit down in them it was time to take them off. The

right one was no problem, but to my horror the left boot’s zip got stuck down by the ankle and, no matter what I did, would not shift! I hobbled to the phone and called a friend who amid much laughter suggested candle wax, which I tried to no avail. Eventually said friend arrived and after making sure she did not have a camera I let her in.

Well, dear reader, it was no easy feat. She wrestled with the zip with no joy and eventually resorted to pulling it off! Huh! Perhaps I should have got

the Cavallo pull ons after all! On inspection I discovered that the zip was catching on the inside leather seam, so with the help of a Bic razor I trimmed it down and it now works perfectly.

I am still goose stepping around the house doing housework and pray each time that the doorbell won’t ring! I am not sure how one mounts a horse in these boots but no doubt I will find out soon and let you know. If all else fails…….there’s always eBay!

...the thing about boots...

Having used Scenar for over 14 years now I still get asked the same questions; “How does Scenar work?” and “Is it scientific?” With regard to the second question, it amuses me to wonder who people think invented an advanced medical device if it wasn’t somebody (or a team of people) appropriately qualified with a degree or higher qualification in at least one biological science and electronics?

It is usually the scientifically qualified people who ask this question who wouldn’t understand the electronics if they understand the biological science or vice versa! Unfortunately it seems to be human nature to then belittle what is not fully understood rather than accept and admit that it is far advanced beyond their knowledge. The fact that the inventor, Alexander Karasev, is qualified in both electronics and medicine should be of no surprise, and the team of scientists he led were all very highly intelligent and highly qualified in their respective scientific fields too. The science is extremely complex in its concept and operation but, luckily for me, you don’t have to be able to build a device to use it very effectively. We accept this every day with TVs

The Science of Scenar

and PCs etc. and I doubt many vets could build an MRI from scratch, but it seems that when it comes to a medical device such as Scenar that is regarded as unconventional, it becomes unacceptable to some that I use a device that isn’t fully understood as to what every signal and chemical released is doing at a precise point in time; or that the body can be triggered to heal itself without having a full diagnosis. I am satisfied that if the body manufactures a chemical mediator in response to Scenar it is capable of safely metabolising it far better than the introduction of foreign chemicals we like to think we fully understand but don’t in reality. Likewise I have found that the body being treated understands far better than anybody else what needs healing and how best to do it.

When asked what Scenar is I usually liken it to a TENS unit with a highly sophisticated brain and an incredibly high IQ of about 5000! ......