When the Pursuit of Perfection becomes the Enemy

Dressage tends to attract a certain kind of person: detail-oriented, introspective, and always pursuing a certain ideal. Thanks to this nature, dressage as an art can reach incredible highs. However, it can also be a downfall. It is all too easy to forget the silent partner’s feelings and try to pick at them until they reach perfection in whatever they’re doing, and while most are saints and tolerate us, others do not.

It’s easy to take old adages, such as mastering simple exercises first before progressing, and obsess over them until they’re contorted far past their original meaning. We see this in lessons where the instructor keeps the horse and rider on the circle for the entire lesson until the horse is exactly on the bit/through/engaged/whatever the instructor is looking for. They’ll stay in these simpler exercises, and if the horse at all falls out of postural perfection when leaving these exercises, they return back to the circle until the horse is “just right” again before they try again.

We also see it in riders that drill an exercise, such as shoulder-in, for half an hour at a time until it is “just right” for the day. They go around the arena again and again until either they give up in frustration or the horse becomes too exhausted to keep going.

Both of these are incredibly wrong. These are indulging perfectionism and obsessive tendencies, and while perfect is a noble aim, it is unfortunately impossible in this plane of existence. After all, the term “perfect” comes from Latin perfectus, which itself only means “finished,” not ideal.

Psychology

How many of us have been frustrated by endless drills of an exercise in school? Or perhaps been discouraged that something is never quite good enough to move on to something else? Now, as humans, we can learn what the ultimate goal is, but the horse cannot be told. They cannot understand that we’re doing this for art/their good/whatever. What’s worse, they struggle to even count beyond the number 3; they can do it, but it starts to become a number they cannot really grasp. So, they can either become frustrated or numb, and neither are what we want to see in our dance partners.

Physical Development

There is also the issue that physically, we can introduce an insane amount of tension by trying to nitpick posture. “Engage here, loosen here…” It more often than not results in rigidity, even in humans. Working the same basic exercises until they are perfect is sometimes unreasonable; sometimes, we have to use bigger exercises to teach smaller postural changes. Often, the results are much better, and the body learns to maintain it on its own (even for humans!). For example, we can work in a chair to have “good posture,” with tweaks such as “engage your core, squeeze your shoulder blades together, drop your shoulders,” or we can do a few crunches, back extension exercises, shoulder mobilizers, and more, and the body will start to learn “good posture” on its own and with a lot less conscious thought and micromanaging. Same goes for the horse. We can try to get the horse to engage its postural chain of muscles just on the straight line, or we can show it through bigger movements and then imply those movements to get a faster, more automatic result. Neurology supports this, and this is why dressage and physical training have worked like this for centuries.

What to do instead

Instead of trying to make something “perfect” through a ride, aim for 80% of the way there and school in sets of 3. If the 20m circle is meeting basic criteria (steady contact, good geometry, maintaining tempo) for 3 reps, then move on! Use other adjacent exercises that use up the whole arena. The Old Masters advised schooling in sets of 3, and the number 3 has many meanings in numerology across the centuries (tying in the “mystery” of riding). Coincidentally, horses count up to 3 very well. So, make 3 circles and move on!

Also, don’t be afraid of not getting it perfect the first try! Starting leg-yield for the first time? It’s going to be messy! Aim for one or two decent steps, and move on. Did you ever do a new exercise perfectly the first time? Of course not; that’s life. Is the exercise still worthwhile? Definitely! We never grow if we focus on doing a few set exercises perfectly before we can embark on others. If a new exercise is just too difficult to do 80% decently in three tries, then step it down. Just like push-ups may be too much at first for some people, there are modifications we can make to make it easier until the full exercise is doable. There is nothing wrong with that, and it will help the horse develop with less frustration and better understanding of what we’re asking it to do.

Avoid falling in the trap of indulging perfectionism, and instead, try to work things in shorter bursts and accept things if they aren’t perfect. Aim for 80% and use the exercises for what they’re meant for: to train the horse’s body so that it can do the task without the rider having to constantly micromanage. The results will be result in a horse that is in true self-carriage and is truly happy in its work. Are you ready to take that step?

-Emily Wright

Looking to take the next step with your horse? Consider joining us at one of our biomechanics events or starting in our lesson program! Lessons offered in Remsen, NY and Hillsdale, NY or virtually through a wide range of video platforms. Contact us for more information!