The Training Scale — known in German as the Skala der Ausbildung — is the systematic framework that underpins dressage training and, more broadly, the classical development of any riding horse. It lays out six progressive elements that build on one another, from basic rhythm through to collection, providing trainers and riders with a coherent map of where their horse is in its development and what needs to be established before the next step can be taken.
Originally codified by the German National Equestrian Federation (FN), the Training Scale is now the foundational reference for dressage training internationally and is explicitly referenced in FEI competition guidelines. Understanding the training scale dressage judges use as a framework for their marks is essential for any rider working toward competition.
The Six Elements of the Training Scale
The six elements are traditionally divided into three sections: the Familiarisation Phase (Rhythm and Suppleness), the Development of Thrust Phase (Contact, Impulsion, and Straightness), and the Development of Carrying Power Phase (Collection). Each section builds on what came before; none can be sustained without the elements beneath it.
1. Rhythm (Takt)
Rhythm is the regularity and purity of the horse’s gaits. Walk should be a clear four-beat gait, trot a two-beat diagonal gait, and canter a three-beat gait with a moment of suspension. Without consistent rhythm, nothing else on the Training Scale can be developed — an uneven rhythm at walk, for instance, almost always signals tension or a physical problem that must be resolved before further training progresses.
2. Suppleness (Losgelassenheit)
Suppleness — sometimes translated as “looseness” or “relaxation” — refers to both the physical elasticity of the horse’s musculature and its mental willingness to work freely without tension. A supple horse swings through its back, snorts rhythmically, and shows ease of movement. Tension — a back that locks, a neck that stiffens, a jaw that grips — is the enemy of suppleness. Many training problems that appear to be about higher-level elements are actually rooted in insufficient suppleness.
3. Contact (Anlehnung)
Contact describes the consistent, elastic connection between the rider’s hand and the horse’s mouth through the reins and bit. The horse should seek the contact — reaching forward and down into a steady, yielding hand — rather than leaning on it, evading it, or coming above it. Contact is the channel through which the rider’s half-halts and aids travel; without it, the horse cannot receive or respond to the rider’s communication effectively.
4. Impulsion (Schwung)
Impulsion is the energy generated from the hindquarters and transmitted through a swinging, elastic back into the contact. It is not speed — a horse can be fast without impulsion, and a horse can have genuine impulsion at a collected trot. Impulsion only exists in trot and canter; walk, as a gait without suspension, cannot carry impulsion in the technical sense. A horse with good impulsion feels energetic and elastic beneath the rider, as if coiled and ready to go rather than plodding or running.
5. Straightness (Geraderichtung)
Straightness is the alignment of the horse’s hind feet in the tracks of its front feet — or more precisely, that the haunches are aligned with the forehand so that the horse’s propulsive power travels directly through its body rather than escaping sideways. Most horses have a natural crookedness — they are “handed” just as humans are — and straightening a horse requires systematic work with lateral exercises, transitions, and suppling work on both reins equally. Straightness is a prerequisite for collection because a crooked horse cannot load both hindquarters evenly.
6. Collection (Versammlung)
Collection is the culmination of the Training Scale: the horse shifts its weight rearward, engaging the hindquarters more deeply beneath its body, elevating the forehand, and producing movement that is lighter, more elevated, and more manoeuvrable. Collection is not simply a shortened frame; it is the result of genuine engagement and carrying power. Passage, piaffe, pirouette, and flying changes all require collection as their foundation. Collection without the preceding elements is not collection at all — it is constraint.
How the Training Scale Is Used in Practice
The Training Scale is not a linear progression to be ticked off in sequence. In any given training session, a rider might work on suppleness before revisiting rhythm, then build to contact and impulsion before cooling down. The scale is better understood as a reference for diagnosing problems: if contact is inconsistent, look to suppleness and rhythm first. If straightness is elusive, revisit the quality of impulsion and the horse’s level of suppleness. Each element supports all the others.
For horses being prepared for competition, the Training Scale provides the vocabulary for understanding what tests are actually measuring. A judge awarding a 6 for a movement is often reflecting that the basics are present but not yet consolidated — good rhythm but insufficient suppleness, or impulsion present but straightness letting the score down. Reading the Training Scale into your test marks is a practical way to identify where to focus your schooling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Training Scale only relevant to dressage?
No. The Training Scale originated in classical dressage but its principles apply to any ridden horse. A show jumper needs rhythm, suppleness, and impulsion to jump well; an eventing horse needs all six elements to perform across three disciplines; even a happy hacker benefits from a horse that is supple, rhythmical, and willingly in contact. The specific demands of dressage make the scale most explicit in that discipline, but it describes how horses work best regardless of the sport.
Can a horse skip elements of the Training Scale?
Not sustainably. A horse can appear to perform higher-level movements before the foundations are solid — a talented horse might execute a flying change by natural athleticism without true collection — but the work will be inconsistent, tension will creep in, and the horse will eventually plateau or break down. Every legitimate training system that produces lasting results respects the progressive nature of the scale.
What does “working through the back” mean in the context of the Training Scale?
Working through the back refers to the free swing of the horse’s back muscles in synchrony with its strides, transmitting the energy from the hindquarters forward through the topline and into the contact. It is closely associated with suppleness and is a key indicator that the horse is genuinely on the aids rather than being held in a frame. A horse that is tight through the back will not swing, the rider will feel each stride as a bump rather than a flow, and the gaits will lack the elasticity that underpins everything else on the scale.