French Classical Dressage

In classical dressage, "balance before movement" is a fundamental principle that ensures the horse performs with proper posture, harmony, and control. It refers to the importance of establishing and maintaining balance before asking the horse to move or perform specific movements. Here's how balance plays a critical role in classical dressage:

1. Posture and Collection: Before executing any movement, the horse should be in a balanced, collected state. This means the horse's body is aligned correctly, with the hindquarters engaged and the shoulders free. A horse that is properly balanced will have the ability to move fluidly and with power.
2. Straightness and Suppleness: Balance involves both straightness (keeping the horse’s body aligned along a straight line or curve) and suppleness (maintaining the ability to bend and adjust without resistance). A horse that is supple and straight will perform movements more accurately and comfortably.
3. Rhythm and Tempo: Before asking the horse to execute more complex movements (such as piaffe, passage, or pirouettes), the rhythm and tempo must be established in a balanced manner. If a horse is unbalanced, the rhythm and tempo can be compromised, leading to awkward or disjointed movements.
4. Energy and Engagement: A balanced horse is able to properly channel its energy from behind, creating impulsion. This engagement of the hindquarters gives the horse the ability to move forward with power and lightness while maintaining control.
5. Precision in Movements: In classical dressage, every movement is performed with precision. To achieve this, the rider needs to ensure the horse is balanced first. A horse that lacks balance may struggle with transitions, lateral work, or executing changes of direction correctly.

In summary, "balance before movement" ensures that the horse's body is positioned correctly to perform every movement with ease, grace, and correctness. This foundational balance is essential for both the rider's aids and the horse's physical capabilities, creating a harmonious partnership between horse and rider.

In contrast to the French classical dressage approach, which emphasizes "balance before movement," German classical dressage has a slightly different perspective on the importance of balance and movement. While balance is still a crucial component, German classical dressage often places more emphasis on the movement first, with balance being developed and refined as the horse progresses through training.

Here's how movement before balance plays a role in German classical dressage:

1. Forwardness and Impulsion: In German classical dressage, the first priority is to establish the horse's forwardness. This means the horse must be moving actively, with energy coming from the hindquarters. The horse is encouraged to move forward freely and energetically, which helps build impulsion. Once this forwardness is achieved, the horse can then be guided toward proper balance.
2. Training the Horse’s Ability to Move Freely: In the early stages, movement is prioritized to allow the horse to develop the necessary freedom of the gaits, stride length, and natural rhythm. This approach assumes that as the horse moves more freely, balance can be gradually worked on and refined. The theory is that through proper movement and forwardness, the horse will naturally start to engage its body more effectively, eventually achieving balance.
3. Building Strength and Flexibility: By working on forward movement, the horse builds muscle strength and flexibility, which will support balance later in training. The focus on movement helps the horse develop the correct posture, suppleness, and engagement of the hindquarters, which will then allow the horse to maintain balance in more complex movements and transitions.
4. The Role of the Rider’s Aids: German classical dressage encourages the rider to maintain a correct and supportive position, helping the horse develop the ability to move forward energetically and with lightness. Through precise aids, the rider encourages forward movement, which gradually leads to the horse becoming more balanced and responsive to subtle cues.
5. Progressive Development of Collection: Once the horse is moving forward and has established a good rhythm and impulsion, balance is then developed through more advanced exercises, such as collection and lateral work. The goal is to gradually shift the horse’s weight onto the hindquarters as it becomes more balanced. This progression allows for refined movements like piaffe, passage, or extended gaits.

In summary, while German classical dressage still emphasizes balance, the approach often starts by focusing on encouraging free and energetic movement, with balance being the result of progressive training. By establishing forward movement and impulsion first, the horse can then be trained to refine its balance and perform with more precision and harmony.