An Introduction - Dressage

Dressage, from the French for training, pronounced to rhyme with massage, educates horses in being keen, biddable, agile and alive. It is regularly described as similar to a ballet for horses. This is after comparing the requirements, elegance, vitality and openness, in both ballet and dressage.

At its best dressage is a sport of beauty and is only possible when there is a true partnership with the horse and rider. In fact dressage can be seen as the ultimate team sport, with horse and rider competing together in harmony. All levels of dressage improves balance, litheness, and tractability, this in turn assists in the horse achieving the upgraded execution of everyday tasks.

Dressage as a discipline has its roots in classical Greek horsemanship, mainly through the influence of Xenophon. It was not until the renaissance that Western Europe identified the usefulness of dressage. The renaissance horse masters of Western Europe invented a series of training modules which have stayed fairly constant and provide the starting point for the training of the present day dressage.

With the degree of ritual black is the predominant colour for tack in dressage. Riding dressage utilises an English-style saddle, which is known as a dressage saddle and is produced solely for dressage. The dressage saddle is specifically shaped with a flap, both long and straight, that fits with the leg of the rider, a large block at the knee where there is a minor bend.

Although very formal there are many competitions in dressage throughout the world, these cater for all abilities.AWith all this it is perhaps a surprise to discover that all over the globe there are hundreds of minor dressage events. The biggest addition to dressage competitions was its entry into the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, this galvanised the levels of training and hence riding. Within the Olympics today dressage is included with eventing and jumping, all three going together for the three day event.

Dressage is performed in a 20 x 60 meter arena with a set of letters, A-K-V-E-S-H-C-M-R-B-P-F. Certain movements are to take place in the vicinity of specific letters. Dressage horses when they are at the top level of development can be endlessly adaptable to a rider's persuasion and accomplish whatever is required with a minimum of fuss or apparent effort.

Dressage at competition level is judged on movements such as the piaffe, passage, extended trot, pirouette, and tempi changes. By excluding the aires above ground, due to the physical limitations of the horses and not related to standard of training, competitive dressage is unlike classic dressage. For many the focus of any dressage competition is the Musical Freestyle, this is when the rider needs to build a routine taking into account certain required movements and figures; the routine must also be set to music. The requirements within dressage exclude "tricks" to be learned by rote; the point of training in dressage is for the horse to develop both in body and mind, at one with the natural development, and these tests are "pointers" to exhibit the achievement of stability, endurance and attentiveness his training has allowed him to reach.

Dressage is a large subject, of which I have only been able to touch the surface.