Beginning dressage

[RockingJ]

I’ve recently started taking dressage lessons (my background is primarily saddleseat as that was most available and then I rode at a western barn for a year). The facility and horses are beautiful and well-maintained – it’s like my dream barn. But I’m not finding it that fun or interesting (I want to be a better rider, and I thought this would be a good direction to go in). I don’t know if I just need to give it more time.

I don’t enjoy working on myself so much. For example, I’m posting, and I know one hip is slightly more forward than the other, because the horse’s movement is throwing me that way. I don’t know how/why I correct that. I mean, I understand how very slight shifts in my weight will tell a horse something, but I’ve also always been taught to let the horse do the work and follow the horse’s motion. Or I’m told to move my chin one centimeter to one side – how do you even see that, and does it really matter?

I like figuring out how to ride different horses and working on the horse, and I know that requires a solid seat, but striving for perfection in myself… it doesn’t speak to me.

I am trying to keep an open mind. I want to care more – dressage is the foundation of everything! One of my friends that is a dressage rider suggested learning dressage at an eventing barn (there’s none in the area, but maybe it would be worth trying different dressage instruction).

After most non-dressage lessons, I’ve felt energized, excited, happy. After dressage, I am like, ugh, I have SO much to think about and that was a lot of work! I don’t know if I am being too impatient with the building blocks (I feel like a total beginner), but I just don’t get it. Is this normal for beginning dressage, or should I be considering a different direction?

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

Doing a little reading may help as you make your transition to dressage. It’s a sport that intricately links rider and horse, so it does matter that you are as correct as your four-footed partner. It’s great that you seem to have found a trainer who is concerned with your position and correct use of aids, because only when you can control yourself can you truly begin to positively influence your horse to the degree that produces excellence in this discipline.

As a dressage rider you’ll be doing more than following the natural motion, and more than enhancing the natural motion by adding obedience and brilliance. Ultimately, we’re actually changing the natural motion, by asking the horse to alter his balance, and to maintain that altered balance throughout his work, through exercises that target strength and suppleness with ever-increasing demand.

But it’s hard work, for sure.

Try “Feeling Dressage” by Ruth Sabine Shafer… and “Dressage in Lightness” by Sylvia Loch. I think both are easy-to-digest and helpful for the rider beginning a dressage journey.

[Shagyas_Rock]

First, congratulations for wanting to be a better rider - that is a very horseman-like attitude and is commendable.

Dressage is a discipline, and it means training, for both horse and rider. And it can be difficult, and challenging. But if you commit to it, you will most certainly become a better rider and the horse will be better, too. Dressage not only makes a better riding horse and a better rider, but it contributes to long-term soundness as well.

It’s a matter of deciding whether or not this is worth the effort for you. I hope you would find that it is.
If one is going to make demands on the horse - any kind of competitive demands. . . dressage can help the horse do the job being demanded whether it is competitive dressage, jumping, reining, etc.

There is nothing wrong with just wanting to have fun and go down the trail, either. But that is much less demanding.

However there can be a great deal of satisfaction in sticking to something difficult - and then discovering the joy of achieving something, however small, it and this is what keeps us dressage students devoted to this discipline.
Best wishes.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

I would certainly try a different instructor before giving up on dressage.

[merrygoround]

You certainly can try a different instructor. One who has a slower approach, and you also want one with a strong sense of humor.

And another good book is “the Classical Seat”, by Sylvia Locke.

[retiredhorse]

@RockingJ

For example, I’m posting, and I know one hip is slightly more forward than the other, because the horse’s movement is throwing me that way. I don’t know how/why I correct that. I mean, I understand how very slight shifts in my weight will tell a horse something, but I’ve also always been taught to let the horse do the work and follow the horse’s motion.

Just as an example, if you have a horse that naturally (or from previous riders) travels crookedly, you can influence the horse to travel straighter and more correctly, if you are straight in the saddle. If you let this horse affect your hips, you can also transfer this crookedness onto the next horse(s) you ride, just from the way you sit and muscle memory.

[Scribbler]

My horse on a good day will trot loops and circles with no reins and no deliberate leg or seat aids, just by me turning my head to look in that direction. I think of this as more a sign she has unexplored Western cowhorse talent but it also shows that yes, the weight and position of your head matter.

Saddle seat is about fast forward fancy. Aspects of competition dressage like the extended trot might bear a superficial resemblance to that. But good dressage basics are taught slowly and systematically. The extended trot is built on the collected trot, and the collected trot is built on lateral work.

You can’t get good lateral work if your hips aren’t even and your body isn’t balanced.

When the horse collects and gives at the poll, the horse should be giving to the bit and light in front, not held up by the rider.

All of this is taught without bitting rigs or riding in draw reins, so the rider needs tact, balance and feel. The most you will see is that some trainers longe in sidereins. Other dressage trainers refuse to do even that and get great results.

Changing disciplines is always humbling. Changing from saddle seat to dressage would be a much bigger leap than it might apoear because despite the similarities in the big gaits, dressage training and riding has very different focus. It is about detail and precision.

Yes you will need to relearn almost everything just like if you were transitioning from team cow penning. If you are finding the coach obnoxious as a person try another coach. Otherwise the feedback you are getting is excellent and will make you a better rider in all disciplines even just trail riding.

[MissAriel]

Welcome to Dressage Land! I came over from Hunterdom, so I can relate to some of your struggles of learning a new style of riding. It is definitely a challenge at the beginning when you feel like you are starting all over again, but I do think it is worth the effort (or I guess I wouldn’t still be here). I am not sure I have ever been as sore as those first dressage lessons, and I had been riding for years! There are a million things to keep in mind, and new ways to use your aids, and aghghgh where is B again???

First of all, not all dressage instructors are the same - and that is a good thing as we don’t all learn the same way. It sounds like you may have found one who isn’t a good fit for you and your learning style, although s/he may be a very good instructor for someone else. I suspect that it might help you to have instruction that explains WHY you need to move your chin one cm and how it will help direct the horse. But before you go hunting for another instructor, I would recommend you ask your current instructor for more HOW and WHY and not just the WHAT in your instruction. It is perfectly acceptable for you to ask “why” or “how” and even to let your trainer know that these explanations help you learn better if that is the case.

There are certainly dressage trainers out there who fit a certain very direct stereotype where they are peppering students with a near constant stream of terse commands and limited positive feedback. They can be very good, however, I think especially when you are beginning or beginning over it helps to have one with a good sense of humor and a quick affirmation when you do something right.

You didn’t say how long you have been taking the dressage lessons. I would try at least 4-6 lessons after talking with your instructor about giving some additional background instruction before considering switching trainers or disciplines.

[TMares]

Try another instructor, if only via auditing a couple of clinics.

I find this interesting:

"I like figuring out how to ride different horses and working on the horse, and I know that requires a solid seat, but striving for perfection in myself… it doesn’t speak to me."

Are you SURE you want to learn more about riding? That’s not a challenge or an ugly question- I’m serious. I too enjoy riding catch horses and figuring out how they like to go and working with them…but that’s nothing like learning how to maintain relaxation and rhythm, and executing good movements via a rider who is balanced, engaged, and working as a rider, thinking about am I balanced, am I breathing, am I where I should be?

It’s OK if it’s not your jam, but I would audit a little first and see if you’re fascinated and challenged, or bored.

[RockingJ]

Thanks for all the great insights! I’ve so far only had 4 lessons, some time on the lunge line, some time being set free. The instructor is great and the feedback has been valuable. I think I have been a little intimidated and everyone seems so serious, so haven’t asked a lot of questions. I am paying twice as much as used to pay for lessons, and while I’m not headed for the Spanish Riding School, I thought why not learn from the best? So, I need to make sure I am also getting what I need (explanations, etc.)

[Manahmanah]

She is telling you to move your chin because the spine follows the head. You also mentioned your hip - she is fixing a posture issue. When you’re just going around trotting then you’re right it doesn’t matter, but if you’re concerned about getting correct bend or straightness then you need to first be even.

It all depends on your end goals. If you dont like working on yourself and are happy being an up down rider then do that. If you want to be a better rider then working on yourself is mandatory, unfortunately.

[Scribbler]

You may also find you have some hardwired postural imbalances or weaknesses that you may need help with via a physiotherapist, chiro, or excersize program.

If one hip goes forward at the trot you could have problems when scooping with the pelvis is the cue for canter, for Instance.

[outerbanks77]

Does developing a horse up the training scale speak to you? If it does, then I think you’ll want to stick with it. I’ve been dabbling in dressage for a long time (had my first taste of dressage lessons 20+ years ago, focusing on it for the last 10 years) and I feel like I’m just now starting to really understand it, even though I’m still a lower-level rider. I can see it in that, regardless of talent, my string of young horses have each improved more upon their natural abilities more than the last, as I’ve added more skill. It’s a great feeling when you realize that the basic dressage training has actually improved the way a horse moves at liberty, and even how it stands in the cross-ties.

Dressage will teach you to get the best out of your horse by being the best rider. For instance, learning to use aids at the optimum timing of the footfall sequences is something that a good dressage instructor will teach you.

Since you’re focused more on improving the horse, I’d suggest that separate from your lessons, you do some studying on the biomechanics behind why your hip position is critical, how to apply the weight aids to achieve a lateral movement, etc. It will help you understand what your instructor is telling you to do in your lessons. Sure, you can ask questions, but there is only so much time to talk in a 45 minute lesson, so augmenting that with studying will help you get more out of your pricey lessons.

However, if you think the horse should just do the work, and you sit and wait to issue corrections, then dressage might not be for you. It’s very much an intense, interactive dialogue between horse and rider, with the horse being “on the aids” and responding to each small signal from the rider.

[Texarkana]

Coming from arabians and hunter/jumpers, I rode with at least 4 or 5 dressage instructors over the years who completely turned me off of the discipline. I thought I just hated dressage and I never made any progress. Then I finally found an instructor who made things “click.” Now I can ride with the types of instructors from my past and actually understand what they are asking of me.

So I echo others who suggest finding another instructor if you want to continue with the sport. Dressage is a tricky discipline in the sense that it requires a different mindset and level of awareness than some other horse sports. Not all instructors are good at teaching the “feel” needed, nor are they aware of how things might be done differently in other disciplines.

[RockingJ]

I will definitely do some reading - thanks for the suggestions!

I am certain my posture has been affected by having a desk job, and I try to sit “correctly” at work but I have to consciously think about it. I do go to the gym about 3x weekly to workout.

I think there are a few things I am just not understanding, but I need to give it more time.

[Snowdenfarm]

@Texarkana

Coming from arabians and hunter/jumpers, I rode with at least 4 or 5 dressage instructors over the years who completely turned me off of the discipline. I thought I just hated dressage and I never made any progress. Then I finally found an instructor who made things “click.” Now I can ride with the types of instructors from my past and actually understand what they are asking of me.

So I echo others who suggest finding another instructor if you want to continue with the sport. Dressage is a tricky discipline in the sense that it requires a different mindset and level of awareness than some other horse sports. Not all instructors are good at teaching the “feel” needed, nor are they aware of how things might be done differently in other disciplines.

This^^ Change instructors. Yours may be excellent – but not for you, not right now. Do not be afraid to move from one instructor to another. You will find the one that makes you smile all the way through your lesson and finish absolutely exhilarated.

[Cat_Tap]

Sometimes you have to go through a rough patch before you see the light. I switched from hunter/jumper many years ago. I have video from one of my early dressage lessons. It was an exercise of frustration for all three of us, rider, horse and instructor. We did persevere and several years later horse, trainer and I did very well.

Working on dressage, trying to be correct, made riding so much more interesting and rewarding. Over the years I have watched some of my subsequent videos and was able to see the progress we made.

It all depends on what you want. Do you just want to have some fun or do you actually want to become educated. The word dressage comes from the French language meaning “training”.

[RPM]

Ultimately, we’re actually changing the natural motion, by asking the horse to alter his balance, and to maintain that altered balance throughout his work, through exercises that target strength and suppleness with ever-increasing demand.

Hmm. I was taught that dressage (which BTW is simply the French for “training”) was about learning to ride well enough that the horse can move as freely and naturally under saddle as he does at liberty in the pasture.

Watch a horse galloping at liberty, then watch a horse galloping with a rider on his back. Then think about dressage.

Of course, this begs the question, why is there no galloping in dressage?

Good question.

[Cat_Tap]

I would think that the extended canter is pretty close to a gallop. Can’t do much more in the confinement of a dressage ring.

[Scribbler]

@RPM

Hmm. I was taught that dressage (which BTW is simply the French for “training”) was about learning to ride well enough that the horse can move as freely and naturally under saddle as he does at liberty in the pasture.

Watch a horse galloping at liberty, then watch a horse galloping with a rider on his back. Then think about dressage.

Of course, this begs the question, why is there no galloping in dressage?

Good question.

Well, how he moves at liberty in the pasture might be valid if your reference is a Lippizanner or Andalusian stallion that has piaffe and passage factory installed. Or a high quality warmblood that floats a foot off the ground just doing a working trot. For really talented horses, yes you are trying to stay out of their way.

Not so much regular horses. For them dressage is a series of gymnastics that slowly improve how they move. My mare has a better trot and canter at liberty than she did 5 years ago. She also stands four square when tied up instead of one foot forward/back behind.

She needed to learn collected trot and medium trot. She will never have warmblood level suspension but these days there is a spring to her trot that wasn’t there in the early days when she was a sewing machine verging on fox trot fast or slow.

Maybe we needed to do more remedial work than most horses that get ridden dressage and maybe if I’d started with a dressage talented horse we’d have something more to show for it by now. But the work we’ve done to get her to move correctly has been deliberate and useful.

As far as gallop, I don’t think many flat classes have a true gallop in the arena, just a hand gallop/ extended canter. There’s no reason you couldn’t take your dressage horse out to a track or safe dirt road and blast away for fitness and forward. Would probably be good for rider and horse. But I can’t see how you’d incorporate that in the arena and the full out gallop isn’t something you school.

Now my idea of gallop is what we did at 15 on the Gravel Pit Road, which was flat out max warp speed.

I have not yet found the right circumstances for this as an adult returning rider