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Reminder: Sample articles are shown to promote Dressage & Sport Horse Education     ~ Most articles will not be online. Magazine is only available in print and by paid subscription ~ Publication is printed bimonthly.

     Until the 1912 Olympics, dressage was not a competitive sport.  Yet it has been practiced, studied, and written about since at least 400 BC.  Dressage was the means by which horses were trained for battle.  Empires and the lives of individual soldiers depended upon it.  It had to work.  It was practical.  All of the movements we see now in the show ring originated as ways to avoid being run through by a sword or impaled by a spear.  A standing horse needed time to get going again, while a horse in Piaffe, a trot in place, could immediately move forward, likely saving the life of his rider.  Agility, calmness, the ability to work off the hindquarters, and trust in his rider was mandatory for war horses.

     During the Renaissance dressage became an art form, supported by kings and practiced by noblemen.  It remained the tool for training war horses until the cavalry was mechanized in the early 1950’s, but the art was honed and preserved in royal riding schools all over the world, especially in Europe.  There are those who believe that dressage competition has not been in the best interest of preserving the art, but that is material for another article.

     My own journey as a rider began in 4-H.  I later showed Western horses in breed shows, and after that discovered jumping.  During that time I learned a technique for this, and a trick for that, but never felt I had a whole, logical picture of how to train a horse.  I wasn’t sure how all the pieces fit together.  I longed to reach that feeling of being one with my horse, both physically and mentally.  Then one fateful day I made a trip to Lincoln, Nebraska to meet Lowell Boomer, who had founded the United States Dressage Federation.  By the end of that weekend I knew I had found what I’d been looking for.  Lowell, who is now in his 90’s, had been taught by the renowned cavalry officers from Fort Riley during the 1930’s.  He had studied dressage as a tool for training jumpers, and frequently bested his top rival, August Busch Sr.  Over the next twenty years I made many trips to Lincoln.  I called them my pilgrimages to Mecca.

     Working with Lowell, I learned how the seat of the rider is critical. The slightest stiffness or imbalance is transferred to the horse and directly affects him, but the seat can also be used to help and influence the horse.  I was worked on the longe line to develop a balanced, symmetric, and stable seat. After thirty years I still work on it daily.  I began to learn more about the biomechanics of the horse, what he needs to do with his body to become a better athlete and to reduce the wear and tear on it so he stays sound. I learned how to step-by-step develop the strength and flexibility of the horse. I learned that these things also make the horse more graceful and beautiful, and willing to work happily with his rider.  I began to see how the building blocks must be laid in a specific order to prepare the horse mentally and physically for more advanced work.  The parts all began to fit.

     As I progressed in my training I became a better Western rider, a better jumper rider, and my horses were starting to reach their potential.  The more I learned about dressage the more it fascinated me, until I started forgetting to jump.  Jumping was fun, but connecting with my horse in an almost spiritual way was even more of a thrill.  I was hooked!

     Dressage is not just about showing.  That can be fun and you will get some useful feedback from the judge, but competing in a dressage show does not necessarily mean you are practicing dressage. There is much more to dressage than that.  It is not about movements.  The movements are tools to develop the strength, suppleness, and balance of the horse, but if they are not done correctly they are only tricks.  Dressage is about making the most of the horse you have and developing your relationship with him.  Fine horsemen in any discipline understand the mind of the horse, and how he uses his body.  Dressage takes it several steps further into a deeper understanding of the biomechanics of both horse and rider, and a very systematic way of  gradually developing the horse’s body.  Because he is not asked to do work for which he is not yet prepared, he will not burn out and break down.  My first dressage horse was sound and being ridden until his death this year at the age of 35. 

     What can dressage training, in the time-tested sense of the word, do for you?  It can help you understand what it takes to make your horse the best athlete and partner he can be, no matter what his breed or what his job.  It can help to keep him sound and performing for many more years than you might expect.  It can refine the communication between you and your horse to the point of almost reading each other’s minds.  Whatever you do with your horse, consider looking into dressage as a tool help make him the best he can be!

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