What is Dressage?
Dressage is the systematic development of horse and rider, resulting in a balanced, harmonious team. In its most basic stages dressage helps the horse and rider communicate with each other and develop balance, strength, flexibility and accuracy. For this reason, riders with different backgrounds and competitive goals – jumping, eventing and barrel racing – often use dressage as a way of creating a pleasant, athletic mount and improving the horse’s performance. At its highest levels, dressage improves the horse’s ability to use his body, producing a horse that is light and balanced and seems to float effortlessly through the arena. The communication between horse and rider becomes so subtle that the horse seems to be performing on its own without any input from the rider. As horse and rider become more proficient in dressage, they begin to perform the more spectacular movements, such as the collected and extended gaits, lateral movements (where the horse travels sideways and diagonally)
Dressage is another of the eventing disciplines. It requires the rider and horse to execute a precise series of manoeuvres in a marked out arena, at a range of paces between walk, trot and canter. For example “perform a 20 metre circle at a trot between A and E”. Marks are awarded for precision, control and obedience, and this is a real test of your riding ability and control of your pony. You will be expected to make correct use of aids, transition smoothly between the various paces, ride precisely the course specified and have your pony under perfect control at all times. The dressage arena is marked out in a strange sequence of letters, which can be remembered by the following acronymn: All King Edward’s Horses Can Make Big Fences The Pony Club has a range of dressage tests that are used for events. These are available online at http://pcuk.
Dressage is a considered by many equestrians to be the most advanced form of riding, as it requires years of training on the part of both horse and rider. During a dressage routine, horse and rider will perform a series of complex maneuvers in a ring while they are graded by judges on their form. To the untrained eye, dressage resembles dancing, especially when performed by a highly trained horse and rider team, as they appear to move effortlessly and in a relaxed fashion through the ring while carrying out complex and physically demanding tasks. The rider communicates with the horse in a series of subtle motions and shifts in weight which are almost imperceptible to the observer. In addition to being recognized as an Olympic sport, dressage is practiced by men and women all over the world, and, like other Olympic equestrian sports, men and women compete on the same field. The term dressage is French for “arrangement,” or “training.” Dressage has its roots in European riding, and proba
