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USDF L Program
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Rhythm | The characteristic sequence of footfalls and timing of a pure walk, pure trot, and pure canter. |
| Tempo | Rate of repetition of the strides as may be measured by a metronome |
| How many beats is the walk? | Four |
| How many beats is the trot? | Two |
| How many beats is the canter? | Three |
| Throughness | the supple, elastic, unblocked, connected state of the horse’s musculature and a willing mental state that permits an unrestricted flow of energy from back to front and front to back, which allows the aids/influences to go through all parts of the horse |
| Thrust | Propulsive forward and upward drive from hindquarters. Required at First Level to achieve improved balance and throughness; at Second Level required to be in a more uphill direction |
| Topline | Profile from the poll to the tail along the top of the crest of the neck and along the spine. The horse lengthens or stretches its topline by rounding its neck and back and lifting its thorax and belly. |
| Tracking up | The hind feet step into the prints of the forefeet |
| Abduct | To move a limb away from the horse's midline |
| Above the bit | A head position in which the horse avoids acceptance of the contact by putting the muzzle forward and upward, also usually retracting the poll |
| Adduct | To move a limb toward or across the horse's midline |
| Against the bit | The horse presses against the bit with a rigid or unyielding neck/poll/jaw. |
| Behind the bit | An evasion in which the horse retracts or shrinks back from the bit/contact. The head may or may not be behind the vertical. |
| Behind the leg | Slow to react to the leg, or sluggish or unwilling to move energetically forward, especially while accepting the contact/connection |
| Behind the vertical | With the horse’s face viewed in profile, the front of the horse’s nose falls behind a vertical line dropped from the top of its forehead. The horse may or may not be behind the bit. |
| Bend | The laterally curved position in which the horse’s body, appears to form a uniform arc from poll to tail. Lateral flexion at the poll, stretching of the outer side of the body, lowering of the inner hip, and adduction of the inner hind and outer fore legs |
| Biomechanics | The application of the principles and techniques of mechanics (the branch of physics that deals with the motion of material bodies and the phenomena of the action of forces on bodies) to the structure, function, and capabilities of living organisms |
| Blocked | Impaired in the connection due to sustained muscular contraction, creating rigidity |
| Braced | The horse defensively setting/ holding its muscles contracted against an opposing force or an expected opposing force, such as the rider’s disturbing legs, seat or hands. |
| Broken neckline (broken at the third vertebrae) | The position of the neck in which there is excessive longitudinal flexion at the joint between the second and third cervical vertebrae, so that the topline of the neck does not form an even, smooth arc and the poll is not the highest point of the skeleton |
| Cadence | The marked accentuation of the rhythm and emphasized beat that is a result of a steady and suitable tempo harmonizing with a springy impulsion |
| Collection | Lowers and engages hindquarters, shortening and narrowing base of support, resulting in lightness of the forehand. Shorter, but powerful, cadenced strides. The increased elevation must be the result of and relative to the lowering of the hindquarters. |
| Connection | State in which there is no blockage, break, or slack in the circuit that joins horse and rider into a single, harmonious, elastic unit. A prerequisite for throughness. |
| Cross canter | The fore and hind legs are on different leads. |
| On the forehand | Poor longitudinal balance, with failure to elevate the withers and/or lower the haunches |
| Elasticity | The ability or tendency to stretch and contract the musculature smoothly, giving the impression of stretchiness or springiness. |
| Elevation | Raised position of the forehand (head, neck, and ribcage). The neck is elevated from its base with the poll as the highest point and the face slightly in front of the vertical. |
| Engagement | Increased flexion in joints of the hind legs during the weight-bearing phase of the stride, lowering the croup relative to the forehand, enabling the back to assist in elevating the forehand, and providing a springboard for upward thrust. |
| Evasion | Avoidance of the difficulty, correctness, or purpose of the movement, or of the influence of the rider, often without active resistance or disobedience |
| Falling in/out | Lateral deviation of the forehand/foreleg(s) associated with a loss of balance |
| Free walk | A pace in which the horse freely lowers and stretches out its head and neck, and shows the natural longitudinal oscillation of the neck. The hind feet touch the ground clearly in front of the prints of the forefeet. |
| Half halt | A momentary effect of the aids that increases the attention and improves the balance of the horse |
| Hollow back (horse) | Sagging or depressed back caused by slackness of the back and belly muscles (passive) or by sustained contraction of the back muscles, impeding swing and elasticity (active). |
| Horizontal balance | A longitudinal balance between downhill and uphill. |
| Impulsion | Used to describe the transmission of an eager and energetic, yet controlled, propulsive thrust generated from the hindquarters into the athletic movement of the horse |
| Lengthening of stride | A pace at trot and canter in which the stride, frame and phase of suspension are longer than in the working pace, but the degree of uphill balance required in the medium pace is not expected. The tempo remains nearly the same as in the working pace |
| Long and low | Carriage in which the horse lowers and stretches out its head and neck, reaching forward and downward into contact on a longer rein |
| Longitudinal (direction) | In the lengthwise, as opposed to lateral, dimension, that is from front-to-back or back-to-front |
| Lateral (direction) | In the sideways, as opposed to longitudinal, dimension, that is from left to right or right to left |
| Looseness | Freedom from negative physical and mental/emotional tension. Relaxation |
| Nodding | A rhythmic up-and-down or backward and forward action of the horse’s head and neck which is not part of the normal mechanic of the gait. It may be caused by the past use of gadgets, by constraint, or by lameness |
| On the aids | The horse reacts to the rider’s aids willingly, confidently, immediately, and correctly |
| On the bit | Acceptance of contact (without resistance or evasion) with a stretched topline and with lateral and longitudinal flexion as required. The horse’s face line is, as a rule, slightly in front of the vertical |
| Overbent | Excessive lateral displacement of the neck relative to the horse’s body, occurring in the neck itself or at the base of the neck, causing lack of apparent uniformity of the lateral curve of the “bent” horse. |
| Overflexed | Behind the vertical, due to excessive longitudinal flexion at the poll and/or upper joints of the neck |
| Overstep/overtrack/overstride | Placement of the hind foot in front of the print of the forefoot. |
| Out behind | Hind legs operating too far behind the horse, which favors pushing at the expense of carrying. |
| Phases of the limb | Stance phase (foot on ground) & swing phase (foot moving through air) |
| Purity | Referring to the gait, the correctness of the rhythm as determined by the sequence and timing of the footfalls and phases of the gait |
| Quality of the gait | The quality of a gait refers to its freedom, elasticity, flexibility, looseness, fluency and amplitude. |
| Regularity | At walk/trot, denotes symmetry in terms of evenness of the length of the steps, levelness of the height of the steps, and equality of the time interval between the steps of the left and right forelimbs, or the left and right hind limbs. |
| Relaxation | Referring to the horse’s mental/emotional state: calm, without anxiety. Referring to the horse’s physical state: commonly used to indicate the absence of muscular contraction other than that needed |
| Roundness (of the horse) | The convexity of the profile of the horse’s topline, which is accompanied by concavity of the underline of the neck |
| Running | Increased speed (MPM) due to quickening the tempo rather than lengthening the strides with appropriate periods of suspension. |
| Self carriage | State in which the horse carries itself in balance without taking support or balancing on the rider’s hand |
| Straightness | A horse is said to be straight when the footfalls of the forehand and the hindquarters are appropriately aligned on straight and curved lines and when his longitudinal axis is in line with the straight or curved track on which he is ridden. |
| Strung out | Outline too elongated -- horse sprawled out rather than gathered up into connection with good carriage and balance |
| Submission | The horse’s willing cooperation and harmony with the rider, demonstrating an attentive and confident attitude. Willingness to perform the required exercise as well as operate with correct basics. |
| Moment of suspension | The moment or phase of the trot, canter or passage in which the horse has no feet on the ground |
| Suppleness | Suppleness indicates the absence of negative muscular tension, allowing the joints to move with harmonious flexibility. Elasticity describes the horse who is able to stretch and contract the musculature smoothly and fluently. |
| Swinging back | The springy motion that occurs when the thrust off the hind legs is transmitted through a stretched topline with trunk muscles that contract and release rhythmically rather than remaining either rigid or slack. |
| Tracking up | The hind feet step into the prints of the forefeet |
| Uphill balance | Good longitudinal balance, with elevated forehand and lowered croup (engaged hindquarters). The degree of engagement of the hind limbs is balanced with the degree of elevation of the forehand. |
| Wide behind | The horse travels with the hind feet further apart than the fore feet. This is an evasion of engagement which occurs most commonly in piaffe, halting, and lengthening of stride in trot. |
| What do flexor muscles do? | Close the angle of a joint |
| What do extensor muscles do? | Open the angle of a joint |
| What do adductor muscles do? | Bring a limb closer to the body |
| What do abductor muscles do? | Bring a limb away from the body |
| True/False: a horse must show no tension in dressage | False, a horse must have positive tension (a horse with no tension is laying down taking a nap) |
| What gait has no impulsion? | The walk |
| Four parts of the stride | Break (hoof first hits the ground), load (horse loads tendons), push (push against the ground), swing (in the air) |
| Where is the thoracic sling? | Between the shoulders and the trunk |
| When the thoracic sling contracts, what happens? | Lifts the ribcage and withers |
| Where is the lumbosacral joint? | Joins the lumbar spine to the hind legs |
| Can the ribcage bend? | No |
| Where is the nuchal ligament? | Runs from the poll to the withers |
| How much weight should be in the rider's thigh vs their foot? | 80% of weight in the thigh, 20% in the foot |
| What is the correct rhythm for the walk? | Left hind, left front, right hind, right front |
| What is the correct rhythm for the trot? | Left hind/right front, moment of suspension, right hind/left front |
| What is the correct rhythm for the canter? | Left hind, right hind/left front, right front, moment of suspension (right lead) |
| Free forward movement | Moving forward over the ground without rider influence to keep the horse at the pace. Rider influence could be holding the horse from increasing the speed or kicking every step to keep the horse going. |
| What is the purpose of Training Level? | To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, is supple and moves freely forward in a clear rhythm with a steady tempo, accepting contact with the bit. |
| What is the purpose of First Level? | To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, and in addition to the requirements of training level, has developed the thrust to achieve improved balance and throughness and to maintain a more consistent contact with the bit. |
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