Patience: Just as we need to first listen quietly and empathetically, when we make requests of horses, we also need to maintain tolerance and patience. It has long been mistakenly believed that horses are highly intelligent animals. A horse may have great talent, but even the most gifted dressage horse requires years of partnership and training with its rider to reach GRAND PRIX level. All advanced movements that require collection to achieve near perfection take one to two years of constant repetition and reinforcement. To be honest, most of us are amateur riders on amateur-level horses. Why should we expect our horse, which barely mastered one movement yesterday, to learn another today? Therefore, it’s crucial to recognize that all training must be scientific and progressive. As the saying goes, equestrianism is not a sport for “showing off.” It tests our wisdom and patience in solving problems.
    When you’re stuck, change; when you change, you find a way; when you find a way, you endure. Although horses may not be highly intelligent, it doesn’t mean they are stupid. They are emotional animals, so you can imagine how monotonous it would be if they were made to repeat the same few movements every day. From the rider’s perspective, riding the same fixed routine every day can feel as dull and boring as saying the same things to someone repeatedly. Therefore, we need to introduce more variety. In equestrianism, variation means transitions. There are various interpretations of transitions, but the common view is making shifts between gaits (walk, trot, canter). Another understanding of transitions is making changes within the same gait—for example, asking for an extended stride along the long side of the arena, or requiring more hindquarter engagement through seat and leg aids on the short side. These kinds of transitions apply to all gaits and are excellent exercises because they demand the horse’s constant high focus on the rider’s aids. Another aspect of variation is changing the training approach. For instance, if a horse has poor balance in the canter but much better balance in the trot, and if the horse struggles with canter exercises, it might be better to set aside the canter work for a while and switch to trot exercises where the horse is more confident. Once balance and harmony are achieved in the trot, you can then return to the canter. This way, the horse will be more relaxed and more receptive to challenging tasks. In short, avoid having the horse repeat the same one or two fixed movements every day. Over time, this will completely block the communication channel between rider and horse. Instead of communicating, they’ll just bicker—or worse, do their own thing.
    Find the Rhythm: Every horse inherently has its own specific sense of rhythm—it’s not something the rider needs to teach. And in all our training, one point we must always keep in mind is that no matter what aids we use or movements we ask of the horse, they must be executed within a specific rhythm. Conversely, one key criterion for evaluating the quality of any transition is whether the horse’s rhythm remains unbroken. For example, one measure of a good counter canter is whether its rhythm aligns with the correct leading leg. We need to identify the rhythm of each gait for every horse. An untrained horse, often tense due to the rider, cannot relax enough to find its natural rhythm. The most important thing at this stage is to help the horse relax and find its comfortable rhythm. Once that rhythm is found and established, it marks a very good start to a harmonious relationship between horse and rider. High-level riders inject energy into the horse with minimal, subtle aids and guide it in any direction they wish—all while maintaining an extremely quiet seat. It’s like pushing a child on a swing: with steady rhythm, you only need a slight push to send the swing high. Therefore, all our aids must be based on maintaining the horse’s rhythm—don’t try to alter the horse’s gait with excessive aids, as this will disrupt its rhythm.