JULY 2025 THE RIDER /27


and unobtrusive. Now we are having fun!


Palm Partnership Training™ Building A Partnership With Your Horse


Western Dressage Level 4 New Requirements Part 1 Let’s get ready to show & grow!


By Lynn Palm Until now, we have been


able to cover each Level in one Part. For Level 4, we will have Parts 1 and 2 explaining New Re- quirements and the Gaits and Definitions. Let’s get into it!


Extended walk— The horse covers as much ground as possi- ble, without haste and without losing the regularity of the steps. The hind feet touch the ground clearly in front of the hoof prints of the fore feet. The rider allows the horse to stretch out the head and neck (forwards and down- wards) without losing contact with the mouth and control of the poll. The nose must be clearly in front of the vertical. This is a necessary task to


do at this level, as the jog and lope has been asked for, now the walk must be shown! The walk is the hardest gait to extend, as the walk is the hardest to control the length of stride. Walk is always


of the steps working walk with- out losing engagement of the hind legs with energy. The horse may shorten his outline without tightness and quick steps. The horse must be relaxed and main- tain a fluid tempo. For the collected walk, the


walk must be shortened from warm up (shorter steps is always better in this discipline, than re- stricting the forward motion). When collected, the rider should always use invisible aids, riding from legs to the hand contact, which will eliminate shorter and quicker steps when training.


the gait that we tend to ride the speed the horse gives us. To ex- tend the walk, the horse has to be obedient to the aids and rider has to extend with seat and leg aids, and allow the head and neck of the horse to slightly extend


lower, with the poll not below the wither, for best results. When the extended walk is perfected, you know that your driving aids are working!


Collected Walk— A shortening


Flying change of lead—The fly- ing change of lead will ideally begin with the sequence of the new hind leg, the diagonal pair and followed by the new leading front leg. The change of lead of the hind and front leg takes place immediately after the moment of suspension without a break of gait. The aids should be precise


There is no better feeling than when your horse is doing flying lead changes! Keeping one lead and changing lead without a downward transition to the new lead, we are in change of keeping the same speed! One must have the skills to position the horse for the new lead, maintain the horse’s correct body position during the lead, when you want transition you must keep your horse straight with the slightest bend in preparation for the new lead, without changing it. The lead change is accomplished by your cue for the change of lead with maintaining your horse’s body position during the change to get it with balance, fluidity and smoothness.


Quarter pirouette—The horse being highly collected for 1 or 2 strides before and then through a 90 degree turn around the haunches in 2-3 strides, main- taining a correct canter footfall. | Although this is a great progression to train the pirouette, it is the beginning of doing the 180 degree turn and more. I like to show the very collected strides, and I will do 3 or more, to allow my horse to know that I am going to make the tightest turn at the canter that is possible!


Half pirouette—The half-pirou- ette is a half-circle executed on two tracks with a radius equal to the length of the horse. The fore- hand moving round the haunches. The forefeet and the outside hind foot move round the inside hind foot which forms the pivot and should return to the


Great Lakes Carriage Classic Pleasure Driving with Dressage and CDE Style Cones


Show Date: July 25 to 27, 2025 Ancaster Fair Grounds, Jerseyville, Ontario, Canada


Entry Due Date July 11, 2025 www.thegreatlakescarriageclassic.ca


same spot, or slightly in front of it, each time it leaves the ground. The horse slightly bent in the di- rection in which it is turning should remain on the bit with light contact, turn smoothly and maintain the appropriate se- quence and timing of footfalls of that gait. The poll stays in the highest point during the entire movement. The quarters are well engaged and lowered and show a good flexion of the joints. When you perfect the quar-


ter turn, the half or 180 degree pirouette comes easy. It is a won- derful feeling of your horse being at his highest degree of collection and to do the canter pirouette which is one of my favorite movements in dressage. To do the pirouette well, keeping the same bend throughout the turn, and moving the forehand around to make the turn is an awesome feeling to ride! I hope you can do it someday with your horse!! There are plenty more new


requirements for Level 4 so stay tuned for Part 2! It has been great sharing


tips and guidelines for under- standing the simplicity of learn- ing (in written format, at least) Western Dressage training from Level 1 to the start of Level 4. Join me on the Journey as we continue!


Palm Equestrian Academy gen- eralinfo@lynnpalm.com 352- 362-7847 Cyril and Lynn offer clinics throughout


the country and


abroad as well as online coach- ing. Join them on their teaching tours or their Palm Equestrian Academy European Journeys.


Photo: Ammie Reid of Ashburn, Ontario Canada Driving Reidell Magic’s Thunderstruck, Welsh


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