“He needs to be more through.”
If you’ve taken a dressage lesson, you’ve heard this. Maybe hundreds of times. But here’s the thing: most riders can’t actually define what “through” means - and that makes it nearly impossible to know when you’ve achieved it.
Let’s fix that.
What Throughness Actually Is
Throughness isn’t a mystical quality reserved for FEI horses. It’s a physical state where energy flows from your horse’s hindquarters, through a supple back, into a soft contact in your hands - and back again, uninterrupted.
Think of it like water flowing through a garden hose. When there are no kinks, the water moves freely. But if there’s tension anywhere - in the back, the poll, the jaw, the base of the neck - the flow stops. The energy gets stuck.
A horse that’s truly through has:
- Active hind legs that step under the body, not trail behind
- A swinging back that moves with the gait instead of bracing
- A relaxed poll and jaw without grinding teeth or a locked throat
- Steady, elastic contact that feels alive in your hands, not dead or pulling
The German training scale calls this “Durchlassigkeit” - literally, “letting through.” It’s the result of everything before it: rhythm, relaxation, connection, impulsion. You can’t fake it. You have to build it.
What It’s NOT
It’s not just “on the bit.” A horse can have their nose on the vertical and still be completely blocked through the back. If the underneck is bulging, the back is tight, or the hind legs are inactive, there’s no throughness - no matter what the head looks like.
It’s not just forward. You can push a horse faster without creating throughness. Speed without suppleness just creates running, not power. True throughness has a quality of contained energy, like a coiled spring.
It’s not passive. A horse that’s given up and is just going through the motions might feel quiet, but that’s not through. That’s disengaged. Throughness has life to it.
How to Feel It
This is where it gets practical. Here’s what throughness actually feels like in your body:
Your seat moves with the horse. When a horse is through, their back swings. You feel it in your seat bones - a rhythmic, wave-like motion that carries you along. If you’re bouncing or bracing, the back isn’t coming through.
The contact breathes. A through horse doesn’t hang on the reins or duck behind them. The contact feels elastic - there’s a gentle give and take, like holding hands with someone who’s walking beside you. You can feel them at the other end, but they’re not pulling you off balance.
You can influence with your seat first. This is the big one. When a horse is truly through, they respond to your seat before your hands. You think “slow down” and feel the weight shift back. You open your hips and they lengthen. The aids go through because the horse’s body allows them to.
Transitions feel smooth. Upward transitions come from behind, not from running faster. Downward transitions have no resistance in the jaw or neck. The horse stays balanced and soft through the change. If transitions feel rough or hollow, throughness isn’t there yet.
How to Build It
You don’t find throughness by pulling your horse’s head into place. You build it from back to front, starting with the hind legs.
Start with rhythm and relaxation. A tense horse can’t be through. Period. If your horse is tight, work on long and low, stretching, and letting the back swing before you ask for anything else.
Use transitions. Walk-trot-walk, trot-halt-trot, trot-canter-trot. Frequent transitions ask the hind legs to step under and the back to stay supple. Don’t drill them - give breaks - but make transitions your primary tool.
Think about the whole horse. If you’re only focused on what the head is doing, you’ll miss the bigger picture. Feel for the hind legs. Feel for the back. The head position is a result, not a goal.
Be patient. Throughness develops over months and years, not days. A young horse might have moments of throughness. A schooled horse has it consistently. Charlotte Dujardin’s Valegro was far more through at the peak of his career than when he started - that’s the result of systematic training, not luck.
When It Clicks
You’ll know when you have it. The horse feels like they’re carrying you instead of you carrying them. The aids feel effortless because the body is unlocked. There’s a sense of power contained and ready to use, not power leaking out or being held back.
And here’s the honest truth: it’s a process. You’ll have it one day and lose it the next. The circle of throughness is rhythm to relaxation to connection to impulsion and back again. You’re always riding the circle, always refining.
But once you’ve felt it - really felt it - you’ll never settle for less.
Working on suppleness is the foundation of throughness. If your horse is stiff one direction or resistant to bending, that’s where to start. Check out my From Stiff to Supple in 28 Days course for the exercises I use with my own horses every single day.
