Flexion in focus

What effect does dressage head and neck position have on a horse’s airway? Peter Green MRCVS finds out, in his latest research round-up

- Peter Green MRCVS

AT the higher levels of dressage, the horse is asked to perform strenuously while his airway is not straight; it is kinked at the throat, where the head and neck meet.

There has been much debate about whether the competition outline and head carriage expected in dressage is natural or unnatural and whether the airway is compromised. In 2010, the FEI held a round table conference at which hyperflexion was deemed unacceptable – hyperflexion being the forcing of the horse’s head into a position beyond the vertical, with the chin pulled into the chest.

Rather, the “low-deep round” (LDR) position has been promoted as a warm-up tool, because it is believed to be more natural and less forced by unreasonable tension on the reins.

Danish vets have investigated the performance, function and welfare of dressage horses and a recent paper has shed more light on this controversial subject. They studied 13 high-performance warmblood dressage horses competing at prix st georges or higher. Each was fitted with a tiny, indwelling (internal) endoscope, to monitor airway function, and with tension gauges in the reins.

The horses were ridden by their usual competition riders, using only a snaffle bit. Each was worked in four different positions: free head carriage, in which the head was completely unrestrained; competition frame, in which the poll was high and the front of the face vertical; LDR, in which the neck was low and round with the poll below the level of the withers and the front of the face beyond the vertical and, finally, hyperflexion, in which the horse was asked to flex his neck as much as possible with the front of his face beyond the vertical.