From 1000 RPM to 1500 RPM

” You’re at 1000 rpm.When you bring him back to collected canter I want it to be 1500 rpm.” That was my coach Belinda Trussell in a lesson last week. This is about power. Not speed. Revolutions Per Minute. How many times the engine in a car is turning in a minute. This is a perfect acronym for a cantering horse as well. The horse has a rear wheel drive engine. The power comes from the hind end and in the canter Belinda wants that hind end quicker. Snappier! More revolutions per minute!

I understood, straight away, what it was that Belinda wanted. But the execution was not so easy. Coming back to collected canter but increasing the power and the revolutions per minute. Here is a video from one of our lessons.

As some of you may know I have a small pouch for treats attached to my saddle. It fell off and when I rode into the corner I could see it lying on the arena floor. That is why I said to Belinda that perhaps Biasini would not get any treats. But Belinda rescued it and he got his treats.

“Can you piaffe in that walk?” This was Belinda’s question for the walk before a canter transition. Was the walk active enough and engaged enough for me to ask for the piaffe and get it. Or was it engaged and active enough for me to transition to an extended trot from the walk. The reason she wanted the walk to be so active and engaged before the canter transition is that Biasini must push off into the canter from his hind legs. He should not pull himself forward with his front legs into the canter. If he springs into the canter, powered from his hind legs, then the canter is already up and active and my job is to keep it that way! Here is another video with walk to canter to walk transitions.

Today is Monday and the start of another week. Tomorrow I will be having the first lesson of the week with Belinda. It is expected that I will have studied my videos and be ready for whatever we are going to work on this week. I’m looking forward to it!

The featured photo for this post was taken by Carmen Franco at White Fences Equestrian in February this year.

Stay safe and well everyone!

Posted

July 27, 2020

Lessons

anne leueen

Tags:

Active canter exercises, Belinda Trussell teaches dressage., Canter walk transitions, Dressage horse and rider., dressage horse video, dressage rider training, dressage training, Dressage training video

Comments

11 responses to “From 1000 RPM to 1500 RPM”

Alli Farkas

July 29, 2020

More lovely video to watch of you working successfully on the same things Charm and I are struggling with. Some day…

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1. anne leueen
  
  July 29, 2020
  
  It is a circle and we all keep coming back to the same things. For me each time I come back Belinda wants it better and more expressive!
  
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dprastka

July 28, 2020

What a great way to describe what is needed with RPM! And as ALWAYS, LOVE your videos. Love Belinda’s voice and hearing your lessons. So WONDERFUL!! It’s like I’m right there watching you ride your handsome Biasini! Great job! ❤️🐴🤠

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1. anne leueen
  
  July 28, 2020
  
  Thank you Diana. We are in a great phase at the moment. I am trying to be completely focused and make any necessary corrections before Belinda has to tell me. Biasini is working very hard to do what is being asked. It is hard work but also very exciting! Thanks for your comment. I am so glad you get something out of the post and the videos.
  
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susiesopinions

July 27, 2020

I have every confidence that you will master it

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David

July 27, 2020

I like how you think in RPM. The daughters, they think in “meters per minute”. In FEI/CSI events, their speed needs to be in the 300-350 mpm range. They need to have that kind of speed and momentum to get over the tallest fences (1.60-1.80 m) and broadest spread (2.0 m) At Premier AA shows, they can ride slower at 250-300 mpm, but usually are in that 325 range.

O/T: The past few days, have had the RIDE channel in the background, in the morning. Since last week, they’ve showing replays of FEI World Cup Dressage. They saved the best for last – Charlotte Dujardin – on her new mount (after Valegro). I can see why she’s the best. To my untrained eye, it seems she’s the only one that has a freestyle program that works. Everybody else is riding with music behind them. I know Charlotte is pretty, but from this morning’s replay, she looked absolutely stunning. I noticed that too (lol). 😉

Have a good week of riding. 🙂

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1. anne leueen
  
  July 27, 2020
  
  Charlotte Dujardin is a superb rider and she has an excellent coach in Carl Hester. He is “the Master ” in my opinion. Her new mount is Freestyle. Such a lovely and talented mare. I met her when I was at Carl’s yard ( what they call stables in England) to do an interview with their groom Alan Davies. She is a lovely mare.
  On the topic of the RPM I understand why your daughters go in meters per minute. For dressage we want more RPM in the collected canter but we do not want it to cover more ground. We want it to cover less ground than a working canter but we want it to have jump and quickness and lots of activity in the hind legs. So I have found Belinda’s RPM works well for me in trying to attain all that because it makes me think of more “revolutions” in Biasini’s hind end.
  Thanks for your comment I am happy you have seen some of the world’s best dressage and also I like hearing about your daughters jumping techniques. It is a long time ago that I was competing in the jumpers so it does take me back.
  
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  1. David
    
    July 27, 2020
    
    Last week, they showed the European Championships and had Isabel Werth. She is real good too.
    
    A bit of a preview, I’m planning to do a series called “A Conversation With The Daughters”. It’s kind of an interview, but not an interview. We would be talking about horses, competing, becoming an MD, what was it like growing up (their perspective), or whatever comes to mind. I might do individual conversations with each one, then we’d do one with them together. The one together, that would be controlled mayhem. Maybe get a rare three shot of them together. It’s an idea right now. 🙂
    
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    1. anne leueen
      
      July 27, 2020
      
      Sounds like it would be an interesting idea. Isabel Werth is a fabulous rider. She has been around and at the top with a number of horses for decades. She is really interesting to watch. I have written blog post about her Masterclass in Wellington FL and also her approach to her warmup at WEG , Tryon 2018.
      
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popsiclesociety

July 27, 2020

Have a wonderful week 🐎😉

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1. anne leueen
  
  July 27, 2020
  
  Same to you Ribana!🌷
  
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