Piaffe is a progress. Just like building the other gaits, improving the piaffe stems from the horse’s increasing ability to collect and to sit. In the beginning, a horse may show no innate piaffe at all, but with a little encouragement it may blossom. With enough time even a poor piaffe can become quite nice. I have had my horse Chicho for many years, and had the chance not just to bring his piaffe along, but to have him photographed at each stage.

Chicho was 14 years old in the first photo, and is 18 in the last photo. He is a half Andalusian, half Quarter horse gelding. I have owned him since he was nine and our partnership has developed over the years until we know each other almost too well. He is schooled almost exclusively in a snaffle, no spurs. Occasionally I will carry a whip, more because of my own knee problems than because of any need with him.

Critiquing photos has its pros and cons. A photo never lies, but it never tells the total truth either. It is very easy to spot problems with photos, but for some reason more difficult to discern what is going right. When I was younger, I found only flaws in photos. Now I see riding as a process rather than a product. I know that a still photo is just a glimpse into time, like opening a window for just a short second. It may be raining now, but it won’t be later. So, things I once considered flaws in photos, I now see as features within the nature of the individual horse and rider. Considering this, I am proud to present my horse and our "features," so that others may learn from them.

The first photo, shown blown up, was taken in 1998. Instead of looking at it at as poor piaffe, look at it as shuffling half steps, the first attempts at a very difficult movement.

Look first at the parallelograms of the diagonal pair that is up. There is very little lift in the hind leg that is off the ground. Nor is there much lift in the front leg that is off the ground. However, the cannon bone of the hind leg is parallel to the forearm of the front leg, and the parallelograms are still in place, indicating that the tempo of the half steps is probably quite good. As in all of dressage, tempo plays a vital role in developing the piaffe.

Then look at the bend in the joints of the legs. The legs that are on the ground are fairly straight. The pastern is upright, indicating that the horse is not sinking into the ground enough to push himself upward. It is only once he can sink into the ground or "sit" that he can raise the other diagonal pair, and the rest of his body, to its utmost. In the hind leg that is off the ground, the hock is only slightly bent, but it is not trailing, a worse fault. What is most lacking is the rotation of the croup. The stifles are not yet coming under, and he has not tipped his pelvis. Notice the "high" set of his dock and the almost sway back look to his back. In this stage of the piaffe, called half steps because he his half stepping slightly forward, Chicho is just learning to use his legs. He is leg moving in piaffe, the same way a horse might fling his legs without using his back in the extended trot.

Chicho shows how difficult the movement is for him at this stage by resisting in the bridle. Although the poll is the highest point, his neck is shortened and his face has come behind the vertical. Even more telling is the fact that the reins are "looped"—offered to him softly, yet he is not comfortable enough to reach for them. In fact, he is opening his mouth and flapping his lip, a sign that he is not accepting the bit and not pushing all the way through his body in one of the most difficult of dressage movements. But, it is a start.

In this picture taken a few years later, the first thing to notice is the "cut" of the muscles in the front of the horse. He is starting to develop as an athlete, and a dressage horse. Look again at the parallelograms of the lifted legs. There is much greater bend in the hock, and the hock is coming more in front of his other hind leg. There is slightly more lift in the forearm, but it does not correspond to the bend of the hind leg, which indicates a likely disruption of the tempo, a horse still on his forehand.

Compare the bend in the fetlocks of the grounded legs to the previous picture. Notice how the pasterns are no longer as upright. In fact, they are almost parallel to the ground.. He is starting to sink lower into the ground, which gives him the ability to push up off the ground. He is starting to really use his legs in the piaffe, but is still not strong enough to use his back correctly. In his raised hind leg, the bend is greater in the hock, the stifle is starting to bend, but there is still little lowering of the croup. At this point in his piaffe, he is starting move his legs with expression, but still without much sit.

He shows his increased confidence with the movement by stretching forward to the bit. His poll is the highest point of his neck, and he is slightly in front of the bit, not necessarily a flaw in piaffe, and certainly better than being behind the vertical. At this stage in his piaffe, letting him out in front of the bridle allows him to bend his joints more. His mouth is closed quietly around the bit.

In this most recent picture, Chicho is finally starting to sit. Now you can start to see "cut" muscles in his hindquarters. My foot looks further up on his barrel, not because I have shortened my stirrups, but because he has put filled out throughout his body, and his girth area is larger. His weight gain is partly due to his older age, but partly due to increased musculature. His neck has developed so that the muscle is no longer bulging in the middle of his neck, as it did in photo 1, but instead shows an even line following his crest.

Notice the pastern of the grounded hind leg is flattening into the ground, showing more bend than the front pastern, which means he is carrying more behind. His hocks and stifles are bending and coming under his body more. His hips have rotated under, so that not only does the dock of his tail look lower, his back is raised and he is pushing "through." As a result of the lowering of his hindquarters, his forehand is becoming lighter. The raised forearm is approaching horizontal. His shoulders are up, and his poll is the highest point. His mouth is closed correctly around the bit, and his face is slightly in front of vertical.

Although he is more comfortable with the movement, the bending of the joints and the and the lowering of the hindquarters, the increased demands of collection, show up in the slight tail swish of his tail.

Could a better rider have gotten a better piaffe from Chicho in 1998? No doubt that flaws in my position impede my horse. A more experienced rider could get more by better timed cues. However, because of the strength necessary for the horse to sit down, it sometimes takes years for the horse to fulfill his promise.