The piaffe is the pinnacle of Dressage. It is arguably the hardest movement to teach the horse to perform and it is very heavily weighted in the Grand Prix test. In the Grand Prix, the horse must execute the piaffe 3 separate times (and it is a coefficient), and the piaffe and passage count for a total of 33% of the overall score in the Grand Prix!!
For many riders, the Grand Prix is a long way off, but it is still important to understand the theory behind how to train it and why it is such a difficult movement for the horse. The piaffe is a trot in place — not too complicated right? The reason that the piaffe is so difficult is that horses are flight animals. Instinctually they are ready to run and flee from predators. Exerting energy and staying on the spot (in the piaffe) is very unnatural. The piaffe also requires a lot of strength in the hind end as well as coordination for the horse.
Here are 3 tips for training the piaffe:
Introduce it from the ground – start from the ground teaching the horse simple leg lifting and how to respond to the whip and your cluck first. (Watch the video for more details)
Focus on the basics – like everything in dressage, the more solid your basics, the better the quicker your horse will understand the piaffe. Every time you ride a trot-walk-trot transition, you are laying the groundwork for the piaffe training!
Give it time!! Like everything in dressage, a horse does not learn the piaffe overnight… it takes a long, long time!!!
Teaching and training your horse a new movement takes a lot of patience and time. Horses don’t have a lot of cognitive or problem solving skills. But horses do have an amazing memory. Horses learn through repetition and they learn what is it you want by breaking things down for them and using pressure, and the release of pressure to get them to understand what you are asking for!
