Exercises And Advice From Robert Dover

Three riders share the lessons they learned on throughness, connection and more from this six-time Olympian.

- Abby Carter

When riders attend a clinic with six-time Olympian Robert Dover, they usually come with goals to reach and issues to address. This was the case when Greber Dressage hosted the current U.S. dressage chef d’équipe/technical advisor for a two-day clinic in Whitehall, Virginia, in May. Three clinic riders of differing levels shared their goals and experiences. While Robert quickly spotted the strengths and weaknesses of each horse and-rider pair, he reminded the clinic riders that they all have common goals. Each, he said, should own:

1. The rhythm of the footfalls in all three gaits—how fast or slow each footfall is

2. The tempo—the speed with which you are covering each meter of ground in all three gaits

3. The frame of the horse—how high or low or how short or long

4. The length of stride Robert used a combination of concepts, visualization and exercises to get riders closer to achieving the optimum of all these fundamentals.

Nicole’s Lessons: Throughness, Connection and Straightness

Rider: Nicole Del Giorno

Horse: Hide, a 5-year-old KWPN

Background: Respectable year in the U.S. Equestrian Federation Four-Year-Old Dressage Test level; prior to clinic, they schooled Second Level

Goal: Compete in the FEI (International Equestrian Federation) 5-year-old test before the end of the year.

Issues to address:

Achieve greater throughness

Develop straightness to help produce collection

Sharpen her skills at collecting, simple changes and medium trot