In this series on EQUESTRIAN+, U.S. Olympic dressage rider Laura Graves helps a horse-and-rider team understand the difference between contact and connection. “When I use the word contact, I’m referring to the contact between the bit and rider’s hands. When I talk about connection, this includes contact, but it also involves the rider’s leg and the horse’s hind legs, back and topline,” she explained. “So connection is a lot more complicated than contact alone.”

Graves also stresses the importance of keeping your horse in front of your leg and said it’s essential that you time your aids correctly and that he promptly responds to your forward aids. Here, she breaks down the differences between contact and collection and explains how you can improve both and make them work together.

Contact Versus Connection, Part 1

“To create proper connection, you must start with good contact. I take a lot of time educating my horses on the contact. This is important to make sure your horse is as comfortable as possible in his mouth and learns how to properly accept the bit.”

“Your horse must also respect the contact. It’s like teaching a horse to pick up his foot. If I run my hand down the back of his leg, I expect him to pick up his foot. I have the same kind of training technique when thinking about the bit. I want the horse to know if I touch you like this, this is the reaction I would like you to give me.”

“You must get your horse in front of your leg before you can address contact or collection. Commit to the tempo you think is best for your horse. When it comes to maintaining tempo, every horse has a different one he’d prefer and sometimes that’s a little slower and more behind the leg than we would like. That’s when you need to introduce the correction with your leg. He might not like the correction. But you need to call to his attention that you asked him nicely first and he didn’t listen. The correction, however, has to happen in a very short amount of time, so that your horse can relate it to his action or inaction.”

“Your horse has to learn to say there [in front of your leg] by himself. If you take your leg off and he slows again, he’s continuing to make the same mistake. That means one of two things about your correction was off. It either wasn’t strong enough or your timing was wrong. So if he keeps repeating the same mistake, ask yourself which one of those things you need to change.

Contact Versus Connection, Part 2

“With every horse you have to play with different aids until you find that sweet spot where your horse is properly reactive. It is for sure a challenge, but the first thing horses must learn is that respecting the leg is not optional and staying in front of the leg is not optional.

“Remember the correction itself doesn’t have to make your horse do the right thing. I don’t want the whip to be the thing that makes him canter. Instead, the whip serves to bring his attention to your leg. You might not always be able to ask so politely at first if he’s ignoring what you’re telling him. Our job is to sit in the saddle and when he makes a mistake to train him so the next time that mistake is not even a possibility.

“Even if he’s walking on the buckle, he should be walking like he walks in a free walk in the test. Those are the only walks he needs to have when he’s in the ring. And while you’re walking, think about establishing a kind of internal metronome.

“When we talk about connection, if your horse isn’t going forward the same every stride, I can almost guarantee that when you start to touch the bridle, you’re going to run into problems because he’s not thinking about going there.

“If the horse is not 100% honest and in front of the leg, we can’t start to have a conversation about the bridle being a boundary. Otherwise, he’s always going to choose the easy way out, which is to slow down and to push out behind. And not necessarily because of bad character. It would be a foolish for a horse to volunteer to do things the most difficult way, which is what we ask of them. So they’re just smart because they’re choosing the easier way out.”

Contact Versus Connection, Part 3

“When a horse starts to understand the boundary of the bridle, it really starts to change his athletic ability, because as he becomes more respectful of the hand and knows he can’t slow down, he will really start to use himself.

“If you maintain a bent elbow, you can always soften your hand forward like a hinge that can open and close. Also, if your horse pulls on you, having a bent elbow will help lock your center of gravity into your core. If your hands are flat, he’s likely to pull you forward out of the tack.

“You have to find the right moments in training to make changes in the bridle and your collection. Be aware of your horse’s level of sensitivity because that will also determine the level of any corrections you provide. Every horse is different and you have to understand each’s limits and when you need more or less on any given day.”

You can watch the full series on contact versus connection with Laura Graves here.

For More:

• Read more about collection and how to help your horse achieve it here.
• From short training tips to how-to videos and insider-access to private clinics and lessons, learn from top dressage experts on EQUESTRIAN+.