Ashley's Equestrian Pin Fever

All About Riding

WHAT IS DRESSAGE?

Dressage Show's should come with a Surgeon General's Warning that you could die from boredom. Everyone at the same level performs the same "test" and after a couple of tests, even the most hard core insomniac will be snoring loudly.

Before I start getting hostile letters from the Dressage Community, let me say I consider Dressage the most elegant and, in some ways, the hardest discipline to learn. If you have ever seen the Royal Lippizans of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, this is Dressage at it's most elegant.

Dressage requires making a series of precise movements in a specially designed arena w/little or no movement on behalf of the rider. It requires the ultimate in communication between horse & rider and it takes years to learn the movements required to make the upper levels of this sport.

The horse/rider combination is scored based on meeting certain criteria such as making the precise move at the precise location, keeping the proper forward movement of the horse, the rider staying in the correct position at all times & the ease & lightness of the movements. The scores in each category are then converted into an overall score where the lower the overall score, the higher you are actually placed.

Tack and clothing are specialized...a dressage saddle, bridle & only certain bits are allowed. People get to wear clothing which can take you right from the dressage arena to the nearest formal wedding. And you get to use cool terms, like "Piaffe" (pronouced like "pee off") to anyone standing around.

Sound too sedate for you, well follow the links below to more exciting English disciplines.