Piaffe

The piaffe is a dressage move where the horse is in a trot."Piaffe", Cheval-haute-ecole.com, 2010, web:   CH-Piaffe. The front end of the horse is highly free and light. The horse should be in a calm manner.Carlos Henriques Pereira, « Le piaffer », dans Dressage et Ethologie, Editions Amphora, 2011, 285 pp. 202-211.  The piaffe had was used in battle to keep the horse moving and ready to go to war. Also, piaffe is needed to help the levade grow.

 Correct piaffe work 
This is the correct piaffe work:Albert-Eugène-Édouard Decarpentry, Préparation aux épreuves de dressage : Piaffer et Passage, PSR Editions, 1997 ()

 The piaffe is straight and happens when the rider helps the horse feel like it is going forward. The horse's legs are straight and do not move out to the side or cross each other.
 The horse lowers its back end and lifts its front by putting weight on the back legs.
 The horse is not to raise the hind legs higher than the front, which comes when the horse is on the forehand, nor show exaggerated bending of the front legs without true collection.
 The horse stays relaxed. An wrong piaffe has short, jerky steps.
 The horse does not move his front legs backward.

 References 

 Other websites 


Category:Dressage