Dressage conformation and dressage movement study by Dr. Mikael Holmström

Highlights of the clinic with Dr. Mikael Holmström
by Emily Robertson of True North Farm

Thirty-three Canadian riders and breeders gathered Sept. 23 & 24 to study dressage conformation and movement with Dr. Holmström, a Swedish vet who has made a career of studying the biomechanics of elite dressage horses. Dr. Holmström is also a rider, having competed successfully up to Intermediare I, and collaborates with Kyra Kyrklund to keep the emphasis of his work on factors that are important to riders and trainers.

The first day's work involved identifying all the key bones and joint angles in a standing horse, and discussion of which measurements are most important for dressage. It made me realize how much my education in conformation has been based on general sport horses or hunters. Let me list for you the features that are not important in a dressage horse (for performance or soundness).

Not Important:
Length of canon or forearm (radius) (the `well-let-down' leg)
Length of neck, or thickness of neck (the `sculpted throatlatch')
Shape of the croup
Length of the gaskin
`Correct legs' - lack of toeing in or out, etc., in moderation
Length of back, except extremes.

Not very important:
Size ("Should suit the rider")
Well-laid-back shoulder ("Keeps the saddle in a good position")
Length of legs ("Longer legs exaggerate movement, good or bad")

On the other hand, his list of what is important included several items I've never seen much discussion of before:

Important:
Long humerus (the bone from shoulder to elbow)
Long pelvis
Shallow angle of pelvis to the horizontal
Femur angle (from hip to stifle joint) ahead of the vertical
Relatively open angles in the hind quarter - a fairly `straight' leg.
High set neck, `uphill' topline

Most of these features deal with the hind quarter, which provides the spring and power of a dressage horse's advanced gaits. Because many of the joints are deep in the muscle (like the hip), or not really located where the eye `sees' them (like the stifle), the proper placement of paper dots on the horses in the clinic helped us to understand how to evaluate these features. The shape of the croup, for instance, which the eye easily sees, is not always aligned with the length or angle of the pelvis, which is what is actually important in predicting movement.
Holmström emphasized that the horse is not the sum of his bones and angles, and that you must look at the whole picture, not focus on one feature. Most top GP horses (on which his general `picture' of important traits is based) are weak in one area and compensate successfully.

The second day's work, with movement analysis, is very hard to describe! Let me just say that everyone, from a vet and a Level 3 trainer to several amateur riders and breeders, were enthralled by 3 hours of slow-motion video of Grand Prix horses (mostly Edinburg and Amiral) and ordinary horses performing walk, trot, collected trot, passage and piaffe as Holmström called our attention to specific joints and angles.

Diagonal Advanced Placement' (DAP)
The most important lesson regarding movement was `Diagonal Advanced Placement' (DAP) at the trot. The two-beat of the trot, as diagonal pairs of feet strike the ground at the same time, is actually a four-beat gait in a good dressage horse, because the hind foot strikes ahead of the front foot by up to 40 milliseconds; this is `positive' DAP. In a horse that is forging, the front foot is striking first; this is `negative' DAP. DAP is hard to see in `real time', but easy to see when high-speed videos are replayed in slow motion. The good news is that even an ordinary videotape can catch DAP if you tape several strides on a level surface and have a VCR that allows you to examine frame by frame. And Holmström has found that a horse's DAP stays the same from babyhood (3 to 6 months old) through adulthood (with some lapses during awkward growth stages), and whether at liberty, in hand or under saddle. Factors that influence DAP are: unlevel surface, a lot of tension, and head carriage (too high or low).

So, get out that stallion video you've been drooling over, the tapes of those expensive youngsters you'd like to buy, film your broodmares, etc. and check them out. If the horse has a negative DAP, then it is built for speed or pulling, not dressage. If its diagonal feet are striking together, the horse will have limited ability for self-carriage and working off the hindend. And if it has a positive DAP, "It's a dressage horse."!

What about that extravagant action in front at the trot, that we all love to look at? Holmström says that a horse can be taught to do that if he has good action behind and a long humerus. But if he is moving that way in front without good DAP and power behind ("...with his hind end in Copenhagen..."), then it is not really a good trot. "Kyra calls it, `Expensive trot': you pay a lot for it, but it doesn't do you any good. If you have a horse like this, sell it!"

What about tracking up? It is too dependent on the relative length of the horse's back and legs. Instead, look for the amount of swing of the hind foot ahead of the point of the hip.
At the walk and canter, the most important trait to look for is rocking of the pelvis; and again, slow motion replay makes this easier to see. Holmström has found that pelvic flexibility and hind limb angles in youngsters (3 to 6 months) stay very consistent in adulthood and training, barring injury. The ability of the hind quarter to compress ("accept load") and to release energy is critical in correct passage and piaffe; horses that compensate for stiffness in the hind quarter by tucking their hind legs forward will do poor piaffe and have serious problems with passage/piaffe transitions. Holmström illustrated this point using slides of World Cup performances.

Holmström's advice for dressage breeders: choose mares with good DAP and good canters. Avoid low set necks and stiff or `camped-out' hindquarters. Choose stallions for gaits and DAP. Video your foals at 3 to 6 months of age as a permanent record.

The main message of the clinic: a good dressage horse does not look like a good hunter, and much of the talent for upper level dressage is `built in'.

After the clinic, out in the pasture with a herd of broodmares and foals, Holmström's love of horses and genuine interest in their abilities overcame his classroom reserve. How does Holmström do a `pasture assessment' of a foal or yearling? He bops them in the butt! "I see how much they flex the pelvis before running away" (The more `tuck', the better.) "And I see if they canter or trot -- canter is better. Never buy a young horse that doesn't want to canter." He then looks for the balance and roundness of the canter, and whether the flying changes are correct (`through') or not. When the youngster trots, he looks for suspension, not DAP: "On uneven ground and heads tossing, even my eye cannot see it." With this information and a quick assessment of personality, ("They should want to play, not run away or try to ignore you."), he's got much of the information he needs to pick future dressage stars.

If you would like to learn more about Holmström's work, his thesis and 5 papers published (in English) on the biomechanics of dressage horses are available for $45 US from True North Farm, 1525 - 200th Street, Langley, B.C. V2Z 1W5

Direct link to the article: http://www.wbstallions.com/wb/swana/articles/EMILY.HTM