Rider Symmetry Exercises

English Riding: Rider Symmetry Exercises

If you haven’t ridden before or are switching disciplines, you’ll find the rigors of dressage much easier with targeted preparation.

Swimming and cycling are excellent ways of achieving the necessary physical fitness. But you can gently condition specific riding muscles and improve rider symmetry in your own home.

Straight Talk

A dressage horse should travel straight. But equines are naturally crooked, and we often exacerbate this, because our horse reflects how his rider is sitting. If we sit crookedly, he has to move awkwardly to compensate for our lack of straightness.

Achieving Symmetry

Like horses, humans tend to have a dominant side. If we are right-handed, this translates into being ‘right-legged’ when we get into the saddle. We sit to one side, exert more strength with our right hand and leg. Meanwhile our left sides are weak and ineffective.

Jon Pitt has developed exercises for discovering your dominant side and training your body to become symmetrical. To simulate the horse, he uses a Rider Stability Ball to develop the balance and core (torso) strength so essential for good dressage.

You can use any exercise ball, such as the inexpensive ($10) Gold’s Gym 55 cm Anti-burst Body Ball, also available in 75 cm, or Tone Fitness 65cm Anti-burst Stability Ball.

Recommended sizes are: 55 cm ball for those 5’7” and under, 65 cm ball for those 5’8” – 6’ and 75 cm ball for those 6’ and over.

To find your dominant side:

1. Sit on the ball with your legs in front as if you were on a chair, and raise one leg off the ball.

2. Replace that leg and raise the other one.

First, you automatically raised your weaker leg, and have now raised your dominant leg. The weaker one is having a harder time supporting you.

Practice this to strengthen your weaker leg.

Open Hips

Relaxed, open hips allow the horse to move freely under the rider.

1. Sit with your legs on either side of the ball, as if you were on the horse.

You’re now opening your hips and adapting them to a wider angle. Since you’re not actually on a moving horse, you can be more relaxed and your hips won’t stiffen.

2. If you’re new to riding, don’t stay too long in this position. Start for 30 seconds or so, and increase the time every other day, to allow your muscles to recover between sessions.

Pelvic Tilts

This exercise teaches the rider to move the pelvis with the horse’s motion, and develops correct posture in the saddle.

1. Still in the riding position, tilt your pelvis forwards, ‘closing’ your belly button.

2. Then tilt it backwards, creating a hollow, arched back.

3. We riders tend to sit in one of those extreme postures, but the ideal position is in between. Practice keeping your torso straight, but not rigid.

Achieving Balance

Sit centered on the ball and take your feet off the ground.

It’s tricky to do at first, but over time you’ll be able to keep your upper body straight while your pelvis moves under you for balance.

Practice these exercises every other day to help build correct muscle strength and achieve symmetry in the saddle.

By developing a soft, independent seat, you’ll allow the horse to move forward with freedom, straightness and balance. This is the hallmark of a good dressage rider.

Resources & Further Reading

10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair

Rider Fitness Tip of the Month: Improve Your Dressage Seat, Stabilize Your Pelvis

Fit to Ride Dressage

Jon Pitts’ Fit to Ride Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okNaMhr7TKk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOizDH3H1_E

Dressage Horse Fitness Program

English Riding: The Dressage Horse Fitness Program

All equine fitness training should be carried out slowly and with consistency, and this is especially true for the dressage horse.

In her excellent book Equine Fitness, Jec Aristotle Ballou stresses that it can take as long as 12 months for a horse to become fit enough to be ridden in walk, trot and canter for a full hour. And yet most riders expect their horses to perform this long after only a few months.

Schooling Does Not Equal Conditioning

Schooling a horse may teach him dressage movements, but it doesn’t improve his physical ability to perform them.

Without incorporating proper strength and conditioning exercises into every work session, your horse will never become strong enough to go up the levels of dressage. Instead he will become stiff with tight neck muscles and a weak back.

Ms. Ballou believes in the 50/50 rule for every session. Half the time should be spent on schooling and the other half used for conditioning work.

From Zero to Fitness in Three Phases

When conditioning the completely unfit horse, allow 4 months as a minimum and up to 7 months. Think about how much time you’d need to get into shape if you were starting from zero fitness! A horse is no different.

The First Two Months: Acclimation

If a horse has not been ridden for a long time, start with exercises on the ground for a couple of weeks. Calisthenics such as backing the horse uphill (beginning with a few steps) coupled with leg and neck stretches are useful.

Equine Stretches should be performed on muscles that have already undergone a short warm-up routine, or after a workout, according to Dr. Christine Woodford of Veterinary Integrative Performance Services. This is “because the soft tissue is more elastic, easier to stretch, and less likely to be damaged.”

If you have access to a horse exerciser, you can warm him up on it before you begin his stretching program.

Dr. Woodford advocates starting slowly and gently. Never force the horse to stretch if he resists: “Simply stop and ask again.” Overdoing it can injure him, so don’t go beyond what he’s comfortable with.

Stretching exercises are a good way to improve the flexibility of your horse over a period of time. Dr. Woodford’s instructions for neck stretches, front and back leg stretches and back stretches are accompanied by photos.

Perform these for 10 to 15 minutes on alternate days for at least 3 days a week, then start riding for 25 minutes at a time beginning with walk. Every 10 days gradually increase the duration and intensity of the exercise. Add short trot sessions after the first 10 days, and finally some canter after the second 10 day period.

You will begin to notice your horse shedding his extra pounds and becoming more muscled.

The Next One to Three Months: Cardio

The basic cardio workout for your horse usually takes 4 weeks but can require 12 weeks or even longer. It focuses on building stamina, so plan to ride 4 or 5 days per week.

Gina Krueger, in Conditioning the Dressage Horse by Gina Krueger explains that “Cardiovascular fitness is derived from repeated muscle contractions that increase the use of the oxygen provided to the blood stream via the lungs. Cardiovascular training is thought of in terms of Heart and Lung capacity.”

She advocates riding cross-country – especially cantering – as “the best cardiovascular exercise you can give your horse,” as well as “two shorter workouts per day (which) also increases significantly his cardiovascular reserve.” His cardiovascular fitness will increase if you frequently change direction and perform transitions “because the horse must overcome forces of inertia.”

This avoids the problem of lactic acid building up in the muscles, which adversely affects the horse’s performance.

In Is Your Horse Fit for the Task? Ray Geor, BVSc, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM explains in detail how to assess your horse’s fitness level. This will tell you when your horse has completed his cardio conditioning program.

Ms. Ballou emphasizes that your horse should “carry himself properly in the correct posture” by the end of this phase before moving onto the strength-building exercises. He must be “stretching his back, pushing nicely with his hind legs and carrying his spine in good balance.” Then he will get the most out of his conditioning and strengthening work.

The Final Two Months: Strength-Building

By now you’ll be schooling your horse in dressage for 2 to 3 days a week, devoting 1 day to maintaining his cardio-fitness. It’s now time to add strength training for an additional 2 days a week.

In Building a Stronger Dressage Horse, (The McPhail Chair Report #9) the McPhail Equine Performance Center states that simple lack of strength is the reason why many horses don’t reach their full potential. “Improvements in muscular strength not only enhance performance, but also prevent injuries by reducing the risk of muscular strains and through stabilizing the joints more effectively.”

Interval Training

Interval training works well for the dressage horse by having him perform “different types of exercise on successive days and by allowing easy days between strenuous workouts.” This avoids specific muscles being overloaded and causing injury.

The report suggests a ratio of work to recovery time of between 1:5 and 1:6. After executing high-stress dressage movements, the horse recovers by performing easy or suppling exercises for five to six times as long as he worked hard.

This allows the heart and lungs to partially recover, while dispersing some of the lactic acid build-up.

Strengthening Exercises

Specific strengthening exercises for your horse at this stage include:

• Hill work: walking and cantering uphill (not trotting) as work, then walking back down for recovery.
• Gymnastic jumping over fences of 18” – 24”: jumping a grid of bounces or one strides (work) and walking or trotting back to the start (recovery).
• Repeating dressage movements which require strength, such as the canter pirouette, for a short time, followed by trotting on a large circle while suppling the horse with shoulder-in or travers before repeating.
• You could perform this on alternate days, three times a week, adding more intensity/repetitions to the exercise each week until the horse is strong enough to perform the required repetitions of that movement.

Keeping Your Horse Fit

You will have now reached the phase in your horse’s conditioning where you simply need to maintain his fitness level.

Ms. Ballou advocates riding for at least 3 days a week, but preferably 4 or 5, to achieve this. At the same time stick to the 50/50 rule of working half the time on your dressage movements and the remaining half on your horse’s conditioning.

This will lead to a fit horse that is able to fulfill his athletic potential.

Resources & Further Reading

Equine Fitness by Jec Aristotle Ballou

This excellent book contains exercises for achieving total fitness in your horse.

Is Your Horse Fit for the Task?

Cross Training for Successful Daily Rides

Strengthen to Lengthen

Conditioning the Dressage Horse by Gina Krueger

An Easy Equine Fitness Plan

Start Your Horse’s Spring Training

Safe Conditioning: A vet’s guide to equine fitness

How to Ride a Horse

Developing Dressage Horse Strength

Dressage Horse Strength

Dressage is beautiful to watch when the horse appears to move effortlessly with imperceptible aids from his rider.

Cultivating this harmonious partnership takes years of patient training, during which time the horse’s muscles become much stronger. This makes it easier for him to carry his rider and perform smoothly.

Straight Talk

In accordance with the Training Scale, the horse is first encouraged to relax under saddle and find his natural rhythm. This allows him to move with regularity in his steps and prepares him for the work which will strengthen certain muscles.

Hilary Clayton writes in Sustainable Dressage that in the early phases of his dressage education the emphasis is on “teaching the horse to move forward in rhythm and increasing the driving power of the hind limbs.”

But if the animal isn’t moving straight, this propulsive power is not being used efficiently.

Think of pushing a shopping cart with a wheel that turns outwards. A lot of energy is wasted combatting that sideways motion to move the cart forwards. On the other hand, pushing a cart with properly aligned wheels requires little effort.

It’s the same with horses. They are naturally crooked and need training to move straight with economy of effort.

In his book The Elements of Dressage: A Guide for Training the Young Horse Kurd Albrecht von Ziegnerexplains that straightness involves getting your horse to release the muscles on his ‘soft’ side.

As an example, a horse’s ‘soft’ side is on his right, if he bends more easily that way than to the left. The right muscles are more contracted than those on his left, and these must become relaxed to allow the horse to straighten out.

Herr von Ziegner suggests the following exercises to straighten the horse:

• Leg-yield
• Shoulder fore
• Riding in counter position (i.e. flexing him to the outside)

When the horse starts to move straight, the rider can feel a sudden surge of extra energy being released from the animal’s hindquarters. The previously wasted energy is now being used to propel him forwards.

Striking the Right Balance

Through traveling straight and using both hind legs equally for propulsion, the horse becomes balanced. Cynthia Hodges, M.A. explains: “As a result, the horse’s soundness is preserved and the gaits are more beautiful.”

The haunches are now being asked to bend more and need strengthening. These exercises help develop the muscles in the horse’s hind end:

• Half-halts, which shift the horse’s weight back onto the hind legs and “increase the engagement of the hindquarters” says von Ziegner.
• Transitions, i.e. the changes up and down between the gaits. Bonnie Walker in Five Ways to Engage Your Horse’s Hind Leg advocates them as “a gentle, low impact way to encourage your horse to rebalance himself and activate the hind.”

Von Ziegner suggests the following exercises to activate the hind feet and supple the horse:

• Decreasing and increasing circles
• Shoulder-in
• Counter canter

As the horse’s center of balance shifts onto his hindquarters, weight is distributed evenly onto all four feet.  This elevates his forehand and prepares the horse for collection.

Dressage horse strength is increased by correctly applying the fundamentals of rhythmic forward riding, straightness and balance, while developing trust and harmony within the partnership.

Resources and Further Reading

What are the Aids to Train My Dressage Horse to Leg Yield?

Straighten Your Horse with the Dressage Movements Shoulder-in, Shoulder-fore, and First Position

Achieving Balance

How to Do a Half-Halt

Transitions, the Secret to Balanced Riding

Five Ways to Engage Your Horse’s Hind Leg

Lateral Work: Progressing to Shoulder-In

Introducing the Counter-Canter

The Training Pyramid – Collection

Increased Weight on the Forelegs

The Horse’s Head and Neck in Relation to Balance

Dressage Today – Cross Training

Easy Dressage Exercises

Seven Easy Dressage Exercises for Newcomer

When beginning dressage, the aim is to let your horse find his natural rhythm and release any tension. But relaxation in the rider is also important. These 7 simple exercises dressage exercises will help both you and your horse unwind and develop mutual trust.

Get Into the Rhythm: 4 Walk Exercises

1. Positioning Yourself for Success
Developing a correct dressage seat is the key to effective riding.

a) Sit tall in the middle of the saddle without hollowing your back, and place weight evenly on both seat bones.
b) Let your legs hang at a comfortable length. If you stretch them down too far, you’ll be ‘fishing’ for the stirrups.
c) Position your legs in such a way that if someone suddenly removed the horse from under you, you’d land on your feet. This will put you in perfect balance.

Holding the Reins

a) Each rein fits through the ring and little fingers of the hand, threads across your palm and out between your thumb and forefinger. Hold your hands in a gentle fist with your thumbs up, a little in front of you. Place them just under two hands’ width apart.
b) Relax your arms at your sides, with elbows bent.

2. Moving Off
Every riding session should begin with at least 10 minutes in the walk.

a) With a light rein contact (feel of the horse’s mouth) move your seat as if you were polishing the saddle from back to front. This is your driving seat: it asks the horse to move forwards.
You may also have to apply some leg pressure until the horse understands that he is to move off your driving seat only.
Your seat is the principal aid (communication with the horse) for controlling the horse’s rhythm, his speed, the length of his stride and transitions (changes in gait).
b) Next, adopt a passive seat, which simply follows the horse’s motion and lets him continue forwards in the regular four beat walk tempo.
c) Walk on a 20 meter circle on the left rein a few times. Relax in the saddle and allow your horse to move freely without rushing.

3. Changing Through the Circle
It’s now time to switch direction

a) Squeeze the fingers on your outside rein, for a brief moment of increased contact with the horse’s mouth. If you’re traveling to the left, your right rein is your outside rein.
This squeezing is called a ‘half-halt’ and tells your horse to be ready for something new.
(Another function of the half-halt is to regulate his tempo when combined with the stilled seat as in Exercise 4 a) below.)
b) Now ride an S shape through the circle to walk in the other direction – called ‘changing through the circle.’
Keep the horse moving at the same tempo in the new direction.

4. Walk-Halt-Walk Transitions
Transitioning between walk and halt improves communication between you and your horse.

a) Transition from walk to halt.
To halt your horse, apply the preparatory half-halt, and use a stilled seat: grow taller in the saddle, lengthen your legs and stop moving your hips with the horse’s movement until he stops.
b) Alternate between halt and walk.
Use your driving seat to move off in walk, your passive seat to continue walking in rhythm, and your stilled seat for halt. Remember to prepare your horse each time with gentle half-halts.
c) Practice walk to halt and back to walk until your horse responds immediately to your seat aid.
Stay relaxed and keep your back supple.
d) To further test your aids, slow down his walk with a stilled seat, but before he halts activate your driving seat to increase the tempo of his walk and lengthen his stride again.

Feel how using your seat aid regulates the tempo and rhythm of his footfalls.

Tension-Free Transitions: Three Trot Exercises

You and your horse will now be relaxed and supple after your walk work, and ready for trot.
1. Trot on a 20 Meter Circle

a) Shorten your reins couple of inches, apply the half-halt, and use your driving seat to transition into posting trot from the walk.
Again, you may need to back up that initial request with some leg pressure.
b) Trot on a 20 meter circle to the left.
It’s easier to control the horse’s speed when on a circle than on straight lines.
c) When posting to the trot, your passive and driving seats won’t come into play. (They are effective at the sitting trot, which comes later in your training.)
Instead, use the rhythm of your posting to create an even one-two-one-two rhythm in the trot. Counting out loud really helps achieve a steady tempo.
If it’s too slow, rise a little faster. If the horse is rushing, deliberately slow down your posting. Your horse will respond to your rhythm.

2. Changing Rein
Once you’ve established your horse’s trot rhythm on the left rein (i.e. riding to the left) it’s time to ‘change rein across the diagonal’ and ride in the other direction.
The usual way is to change rein across the ‘long diagonal.’

a) Draw an imaginary line across the arena rectangle to divide it into two equal triangles.
“Changing across the diagonal” involves riding along that imaginary line to switch the direction of travel. This is the long diagonal.
As you trot across this line, remember to change your posting diagonal by sitting for one stride halfway along it. This mid-point is known in dressage as ‘X.’
You’ll now be on the correct diagonal (rising out of the saddle when the horse’s new outside foreleg moves forwards) as you reach the other side of the arena.
b) Trot a 20 meter circle in your new direction.
Concentrate on moving forwards in a solid one-two-one-two rhythm, so that you and your horse can continue to loosen up and relax.
c) Change rein frequently across the diagonal. This prevents you both from getting too comfortable on one rein and neglecting the other.

3. Transitions from Trot to Walk
Transitioning from trot to walk tests how well your horse is listening to you.

a) While on your 20 meter circle, apply your half-halt and slow down your posting. As your horse reduces speed, sit in the saddle instead of rising and apply your stilled seat.
Your horse will transition down from trot to walk.
b) Walk for half a circle then ask him to trot again.
c) Alternate between walk and trot on both reins.
d) Change rein across the diagonal in walk sometimes and ask for trot on the circle in your new direction.

Mix things up, as this will keep your horse listening and always ready to obey new commands.
Work on the smoothness of your transitions between gaits and into halt, and end each riding session with 10 minutes in walk. This lets your horse get his breath back and allows his muscles to wind down.

These exercises will help you stay stress-free, while creating the harmonious relationship with your horse which is the foundation of all dressage.

Dressage Horse

Do You Need a Special Horse for Dressage?

Training dressage can be an end in itself, or part of the horse’s education in another equestrian discipline. Your ultimate riding goal will determine which equine type best suits your dressage needs.

Here are some common situations where dressage is ridden, and a look at the appropriate horses for them.

The Beginner’s Dressage Horse

You don’t need a fancy horse for starting dressage: he only needs to be sound and able to walk and trot.

Even canter is optional at the very beginning level of competition. To encourage riders to enter shows, the USDF (United States Dressage Federation) has created three Introductory Tests. The first two only require walk and trot, with canter added in the third.

You can then move up to the next level as your equine partnership progresses.

The More Advanced Dressage Horse

If you want to ride at the upper dressage levels, you’ll need a more specialized horse. His conformation (build) must enable him to perform lateral movements (forwards/sideways) and collected (more compressed) work. All three of his gaits must be pure, and he needs the temperament to deal with the stress of difficult, sustained work.

You have a choice of proven dressage breeds which include the German, Swedish or Dutch Warmbloods, together with the Thoroughbred. The Friesian, originally bred as a carriage horse, is also becoming a winner at dressage shows.

Dressage and the Event Horse

If you’re a budding event rider, dressage is only one of three competition phases – the others being stadium jumping and cross-country.  It takes a very versatile, athletic horse to perform well on the flat and over obstacles.

As long as he is fit, any type of horse can compete in low level events. But for the speed and stamina demanded at the upper levels, your best breed is the Thoroughbred or a horse with at least ¾ Thoroughbred in him.

Dressage and the Show Jumper

Another breed with the necessary aptitude is the Irish Draught horse crossed with the Thoroughbred, known as an Irish Draught Sport Horse. The sensible brain of the Irish Draught combines well with the athleticism and swiftness of the Thoroughbred to produce talented jumpers.Warmbloods and Thoroughbreds often have the right build for show jumping.

You’ll enjoy riding dressage on these breeds while you improve their agility round a course of fences and develop their jumping strength.

Dressage for Western and Gaited Horses

Can you ride dressage with your Western or gaited horse?

Most definitely!

Because it maximizes the riding potential of all horses, dressage is becoming widely accepted outside the sphere of English riding. Gaited and Western tests up to Third Level are now available.

The type of horse you need for riding dressage depends on your training goals. If you aspire to the higher levels of pure dressage, you’ll need a more specialized equine partner. But for the lower levels, or if you use the schooling as a foundation for other disciplines, your regular trail horse, jumper, gaited or Western horse should be more than capable.

A Look at Dressage

A Look at Dressage, Part One: What Is Dressage and Why Do It?

My original sport was show jumping, and I thought dressage training entailed riding ever decreasing circles in the sand. Why would anyone pursue such a boring activity?

But dressage has since become my passion, and now I don’t understand why anyone would not include it in their horse training.

Dressage is the art of creating harmony between horse and rider. Surely that’s the aim of every horseman and horsewoman?

So What Exactly Is Dressage?

Far from being a monotonous repetition of artificial movements, dressage develops a horse’s natural athletic talents. From the French ‘dresser’ – meaning ‘to train’ – it fulfills the animal’s potential as a riding horse. Over time he is transformed into a supple, strong and willing equine.

Ideally, his schooling follows a structured program based on ‘The German Training Scale,’ also called ‘The Training Scale’ or ‘The Training Pyramid.’  The six phases of the German Training Scale flow logically from one to the other, with no rigid timetable.

Some horses move easily from one phase to the next, while some take longer or get stuck at a particular stage. If the animal encounters difficulties the answer is always to go back to basics until he is comfortable again.

The German Training Scale

Here is a brief overview of the six steps in the training pyramid. Each has the German term followed by its usual English translation.

Takt – Rhythm

The horse is encouraged to move forward (not rush) under a balanced rider, so he can find his natural rhythm. His gaits become regular in length, with the correct footfall. The gaits of an English riding horse are the four beat walk, two beat trot and three beat canter.

Often a horse has two ‘good’ gaits while one is lacking. For example, the canter may not be ‘pure’ – perhaps it is four beat instead of three beat. This beginning phase helps achieve purity in all three gaits.

Losgelassenheit – Relaxation and Suppleness, or Looseness

Now in a calm state, the horse can concentrate on his rider without anxiety or distraction. Signs that he is relaxed are snorting softly through his nose and beginning to stretch his neck down in walk, trot and canter. Another indication he’s loosening up is that he uses his back: it ‘swings’ as he reaches for connection with the rider’s hands through the bit.

Anlehnung – Contact

The horse now accepts bit contact – i.e. he’s comfortable with the even, gentle pressure of the bit in his mouth. His whole body softens as his hind legs increase their pushing power.

The rider should always ride ‘back to front’ – i.e. by activating the animal’s hind legs and encouraging him to step willingly into the bit contact. The horse’s mouth should never be pulled with the reins to force contact.

Schwung – Impulsion

The forward thrust flowing from the animal’s hind end is contained in front by the rider’s steady yet sympathetic hands. This creates impulsion. The horse’s whole body now becomes supple and elastic as he moves towards the state of Durchlässigkeit, or ‘being through.’

Here is a helpful video of international dressage rider Lisa Wilcox demonstrating how to achieve Throughness. (She is not wearing a helmet, but please wear one when you ride!)

Geraderichtung – Straightness

Every horse is somewhat crooked. This is partly due to the fact that his hind end is wider than his front. His haunches tend to swing to one side, so in this fifth phase he learns to move in a straight line, by placing his hind legs directly in the traveling path of his forelegs.

The total weight is then distributed more evenly over the animal’s body, creating a balanced horse. His strides become increasingly powerful as all his energy is channeled forwards.

Another reason for straightness is to reduce uneven wear and tear on the horse’s limbs.

Versammlung – Collection

Only when the horse is straight and balanced is he ready to begin collected work.

His thrusting strides are now shortened without losing rhythm and regularity, and exhibit extra energy and activity. Over time his hind legs become stronger, taking more weight and thereby lightening his forehand. He is then able to perform the higher levels of movement.

These include piaffe (trotting in place with impulsion) and passage (trotting slowly forward with high, prolonged steps) and canter pirouettes (180° or 360° pivots on the hind legs in canter).

Such movements demand a high level of strength and training, and a horse should never be asked for collection before he is ready.

Why Do Dressage?

The process of creating a capable and willing equine partner is enormously satisfying. A horse well-schooled in dressageis both a joy to ride and enjoys being ridden.

Dressage competitions offer an opportunity to showcase the harmonious partnership between horse and rider, and demonstrate their athletic skills.

This type of training provides the ideal preparation for other riding disciplines, too.

Show Jumping

Show jumping riders school their horses in dressage to develop the balance and strength the animals need to negotiate fences successfully. They become tuned in to their riders, and can easily obey requests to adjust their strides before a jump or make tight turns for the jump-off.

Eventing

Dressage is a vital stage of one and three day events. An event rider, who jumps clean in the cross country and stadium phases but places low in the dressage, has no hope of winning. For good reason is it said that one day and three day events are won or lost in the dressage.

Western and Gaited Riding Disciplines

Western and gaited horse riders are also warming up to dressage. The USDF (United States Dressage Federation) competitions used to be tailored to English riding only, but the tests are now being adapted to suit these other equestrian styles.

This system of training is becoming increasingly popular as more people understand its value for every riding horse.

To the uninitiated, like my former self, dressage might appear to be senseless routine. But the exact opposite is true. It develops physically fit equine partners, willing and able to perform their best. Carried out correctly, dressage creates a win-win situation for both horse and rider.