This scenario assumes, of course, that the rider has an independent seat and can apply aids in a way that influences the horse. If not, then there’s the root of the problem. She needs to keep on practicing, using the horse’s response as feedback that helps her learn when she’s got it right. Until the rider gets better, there will be many more times ahead when the communication is less than perfect. That’s all right. Work with a good instructor who can help you through the rough spots as you develop the independent seat you need for clear communication.
If the horse is an old campaigner who absolutely knows what piaffe means or how to do a perfect rollback, then the rider needs to ask if the horse may be hurting physically or is burned out mentally. If the horse is sore or sour, then they should do something else that day until those problems are resolved.
If those aren’t issues, then the rider needs to consider the horse’s personality. Is this an animal that sometimes has an attitude or that looks for ways to evade its work? Then you may need to repeat your request, reinforcing it by using a greater degree of the pressures you know the horse understands or even enforcing the aids with the spur or crop.
Depending on your own personality, your first reaction to a communication breakdown may be to blame yourself for being inept or stupid. Or you blame the horse for being stubborn or grouchy. Or you blame the instructor for putting you on a second-rate school horse that’s not much fun to ride. Assigning blame does not fix a problem. Instead, look at the communications failure as an opportunity. The best way to improve your riding is to learn from your mistakes. Just keep riding.
Faith Meredith coaches riders in dressage, reining, and eventing and has successfully trained and competed horses through FEI levels of dressage. She is the Director of Meredith Manor International Equestrian Centre (1-304-679-3128,Rte 1, Box 66, Waverly, WV 26184; http://www.meredithmanor.com), an ACCET accredited equestrian educational institution.