The 1996 GDCTA Dressage Symposium was held at Garland Farms in Dahlonega, GA on September 28 and 29. Gerhard Politz of Glendale, CA returned as the symposium leader. This year's theme was the Pyramid of Training, using demonstration horses and riders to show the elements of the scale of training. The first day was rainy with mild temperatures and the indoor hall at Garland Farms kept everyone dry and comfortable. The second day was sunny and warm, and everyone sat outside at the picnic tables during lunch and breaks. Lunch each day , provided by the GDCTA Juniors and Young Riders and organized by Dana Gillespie and her mom, was delicious. Dana's mom makes the best brownies and they were a big hit with everyone.
Each day began with a theory session and questions and answers. Next, lungeing was presented. For the rest of the day, the auditors saw groups of demonstration riders showing the elements of the training scale, beginning with rhythm and progressing to advanced collection by the end of the day. The lungeing session on Saturday focused on lungeing the horse, while the lungeing session on Sunday focused on lungeing the rider. The work by the demonstration riders on Saturday introduced each element of the training scale to the audience while on Sunday, the focus was on exercises to improve each element of the scale. For advanced collection, Mr. Politz demonstrated work in hand to introduce and improve the piaffe each day.
The emphasis on lungeing each day was in response to feedback from the 1995 symposium. Mr. Politz also feels very strongly that lungeing the horse and rider are important in proper dressage training. He has just recently completed editing the USDF Lungeing Manual which is now available for purchase from the USDF. On Saturday, the auditors saw a young horse being lunged and an older horse being lunged over cavaletti. The young horse lungeing demonstrated proper and improper methods of lungeing the young horse, including how to handle evasions such as turning in on the circle during the walk and halt. Proper lungeing equipment was discussed including the use of the lunge cavesson, proper side reins and adjustment, and proper whip usage. It is important to use a long whip and use it well so that you can lunge the young horse on a true 20 meter circle yet still be able to touch the horse at any point on its body. The whip is an important driving aid in lungeing. The older horse was lunged in sliding side reins over cavaletti in order to encourage proper use of the back and encourage bending the hocks and joints. The cavaletti also encourages proper rhythm. On Sunday, two riders were lunged to improve their seats. The riders first stood their horses on the center line to show the proper outline of the rider, the classic straight line from shoulders to hips to heels. Next the riders turned their horse to face the audience to demonstrate sitting on the seatbones evenly and then unevenly! After this, the lunge work began. Initial emphasis was on exercises to supple the riders and make their seats more secure. Then the riders demonstrated advanced lunge work where they used half halts and their seats to show transitions between gaits and within gaits and improve their horses' way of going and outline. Mr. Politz referred to this later work as active, as opposed to the initial passive work by the riders where they concentrated on exercises and did not attempt to influence their horses.
The demonstration horses and riders began work mid- morning and continued the rest of the day each day. The idea was to show each element of the training scale with 3 horses at various levels of training. For example, for the section on straightness, half-halts, and collection, the audience saw a second level horse, a third level horse and a Prix St. Georges horse and could see the differences depending upon the horse's training. For advanced collection, the last section, a Grand Prix horse and Intermediare I horse were used. The audience was receptive to seeing a variety of horses with different levels of training and different strengths and weaknesses. The exercises on Sunday improved many horses. The Intermediare I horse, initially apprehensive at the thought of work in hand for piaffe on Saturday, relaxed on Sunday and performed some very good steps. Mr. Politz was extremely patient and instilled confidence and trust in the horse. He quickly and thoroughly praised all correct efforts. The rider's positions were also addressed on Sunday and how they can affect the elements of the training scale. One group performed exercises on Sunday without stirrups.
Reactions to the symposium by the audience and demonstration riders were positive. Many evaluations received ranked most elements of the symposium with a 4 or 5, on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the lowest, and 5 being the highest. Comments included: "I have learned more here than any other educational function I have attended" and "Terrific wealth of knowledge, wonderful understanding of the horse psyche and body". Mr. Politz has agreed to return in 1997 for another program. The tentative dates are October 18 and 19.
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