Methinks it is another incarnation of the ‘Maestro’ trying to stir up… (you know what)
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Funny I was thinking the same sort of thing, a match made in heaven…
@x-halt-salute it tells me I can only like your post once, there is no justice!
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Sorry you’re insulted. It is what it is. Not going to have a keyboard war with you though question has already partially been answered. I found a tutorial that goes through 1st level, which I’ve already covered, having one that goes through 4th level would be nice, should keep me well and occupied for a good while. Checking out DTO now. I can see how a trainer offering one lesson a week could stretch something out over ten years.
As for the other part of my question, if anyone knows any comprehensive tutorials in a foreign language or in other disciplines that might be available online, I’m sure there’s many people besides me who would also like to know.
Hahahaha.
and Hahahaha.
Oh. Hahahaha.
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Is this for real?
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It doesn’t exist. And anyone who says it does is probably trying to sell you something about as useful as sand in a desert.
To expand on this, I would suggest that perhaps the belief (and approach) that professionals who have dedicated their lives to the continued progress towards mastery of their sport should be giving away their services for free is not the best way to endear yourself to someone that you’re trying to get help from.
Dressage instruction from the ground up in e-form does not exist. You can find various taped clinics, symposiums, etc but most of these are still subscriber services, and are meant to be supplementary tools to be paired with constant riding with instruction. Professionals who are successful in dressage (successful defined, for the sake of this thread, as those trainers who make decent to good money, have a reliable client base, and have people consistently bringing horses to them) do not attain their competency through youtube videos. They do it through years of on-the-ground, hands-on training - often, perhaps yes, in less than gratifying circumstances where they work hard for any ride, instruction, or lesson they get when they are young and learning.
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Don’t feed the trolls.
Except when you want to enjoy x-halt-salute’s masterful retorts!
:lol::lol::lol:
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Wow. I feel badly for the friend’s horse. 
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Oh sorry, did you think I was wiping a tear? I was just gesturing toward the massive hole you’ve dug here…
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What I just can’t wrap my head around is that you refuse to pay professionals for their time/knowledge, but you want to use what you get from them to ultimately charge people money. I’m not shocked you can’t find a decent working position.
As to the cavalry training – most recruits were young men who grew up on horses, not raw beginners.
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I’m just in shock. How can you say you don’t work for free but expect everyone else to? As an adult beginner who had to wait until my mid 20s to take up my dream of riding to have enough money to own and ride, I cannot fathom having your attitude of wanting a golden egg from Willy Wanka’s factory NOW. I rode horses for free all of the time to learn stuff about different personalities, conformation, etc. Before now (mine are being leased), I was riding 6-7 days per week on top of working full time. It takes a long time to learn things, and even professionals take lessons and still learn. It’s an expensive sport, and horses aren’t cheap. Either work for it, or don’t expect much in your future career in the equestrian community because there are hundreds of other individuals who really want it and will put in the time/money, making you obsolete.
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I think it’s also fair to assume that in 16 weeks Calvary officers weren’t riding 4th level tests nor were able to train a horse to any extent. Even going into the Calvary with horse knowledge, It takes way more time to develop the feel, tact, and experience to get to that point. They could maybe ride across the terrain, roughly get through a basic Dressage test, etc but they sure weren’t getting points for softness of topline and accuracy of figures much less the fineness and balance needed to accomplish a 4th level test.
No instructional DVD/video/virtual content is going to be able to adequately describe and instruct someone through the feel and nuance of Dressage, especially up the levels. Save your money, take the time to get the basics right, or find a different passion. Dressage isn’t for those who want to rush. I ride 4-6 horses a day and have been riding for a couple decades and each new horse offered me new lessons. Each riding lesson I take gives me a new outlook and goals. No one is going to give daily or more lessons on their own expensive lesson horses for someone who isn’t putting in 10 plus hour days for less than a month. That’s not the way to works. Knowledge is expensive. Think of how many lessons that person has taken, how many stalls mucked, how many hospital bills, how many sacrifices (monetary or otherwise) to get to a position to be able to charge for that knowledge gained. Go ask for free textbooks, no? You have to pay for them? How about those free college courses? No? Think that Calvary officer got that training for free? No he didn’t. He signed on to serve his country up to and including giving his life and in return they trained him for the job. Think he sat around waiting for someone to give him something? Nope.
Do the work and take the time.
So do you know the signs of colic? Have you seen a founder? Can you identify a lameness? Can you name all the parts of a horse? Do you understand what a balanced hoof looks like? How long is a heat cycle? What is the resting temp for a horse? Can you identify signs of dehydration? Do you know what “floating” is? Do you know how many beats are in each gait? Do you know all the tack on your horse and why you use them? Can you identify good fit?
If you can’t answer every one of those without using google then you need to do some work. Take the time to become a horse person and appreciate the time and effort all those who have gone before you have put in.
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Agreed, but we have to make do with what we have. I’ve found stuff like this on YouTube, but it’s not complete. Considering writing to Ft. Riley for the full program or seeing if a library has it somewhere. Thinking there’s something like this out there in Spanish or Portuguese that I can obtain.
I did actually find a dressage app but it’s not in the store anymore. Not trying to ride the grand prix here, just be competent enough under saddle to handle anything that comes my way. Right now I’m riding with a bunch of rodeo types but there’s obviously a better way. Also not trying to be an elite horse trainer I really just want to exercise other people’s horses and have them get my gas or lunch. I’m not asking for free lessons or coaching, I’m asking for information similar to the above, where old lesson vids may have slipped into the public domain and are available somewhere.
Here’s the thing. You don’t have to magically learn 4th level to learn to handle different situations. Being able to understand different horses and work through problems does not come through watching a video for a short period of time. Most problems are worked out over a series of days to months. Sometimes years. It’s very hard to capture that in a video. Most trainers don’t have access to someone who can video and edit content much less provide it via the internet. Those lessons are best learned in the barn with an experienced trainer as they happen. Watching quality instruction, taking lessons as you can, reading many of the classical books, and taking to people will help you add tools to your toolbox for when you are working with a problem. When you work through those problems you develop feel and a better understanding of the why you are doing an exercise and how it helps not just the one you are on but most horses. It’s often times not the lesson you rode but the reflection and the application of those lessons over a period of time that make the difference. There is no magic aid for a perfect leg yield. More than likely the basics are what you are missing. While I understand you want a comprehensive video series that isn’t really how horse training works. Each horse presents different challenges from the simple beginnings of learning to pick up their hooves to tacking, saddle training, lunging, etc all the way up the levels. Many people struggle for years to successfully complete a training level test. It’s harder than you think. A horse moving freely forward quietly into the hand with good rhythm and relaxation is in fact challenging much less doing so through an entire test while riding figures and transitions. That’s before you add any elements of connection, collection, or lateral work. A happy pleasure horse who can successfully complete a 1st level test, a jumping course, and safely trail ride is a wonderful horse to have without the expectation of ever going up the levels.
4th level isn’t a simple thing with magic buttons to make the horse go on the bit and perform movements. If you are looking for that you will never find it. Good luck on your journey.
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Yes, yes, yes, not every internal organ, yes have worked on hooves, no exp w mares, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes did you not hear me say I’ve been working with horses for over a year intensively to the point where I’m sleeping in the barn with sick horses? I’ve given injections, supplements, gone around to restaurants collecting grease for starved rescues, I carry blue coat and DMSO in my freaking backpack.
I don’t have to do this right you know. I could just throw a curve bit on, carry a rubber tube on my belt and get my way by force, which is what most riders do (don’t even try to argue that). I actually want to do this right, but you restricting information is not going to stop people buying horses and manhandling them into submission like we’ve all seen at public riding arenas. Yes, I expect information to be given away for free, for the sole fact that more people riding correctly means less horses being beat with rubber tubes to make them turn.
No I didn’t hear or see where you have been living in a barn caring for multiple sick horses. From the information given it says you ride one horse. Of that you can ride him over rough terrain (which I generally don’t recommend at speed without significant experience as the risk of injury to the horse is high) it’s incredibly important to become well versed in every aspect of horses from lameness to reproduction. Not just once but dozens of times. It sounds a bit like you resent the time and experience gained from learning these important skills.
These things take living in a barn. Putting hands on dozens of horses. Watching many horses go. Forcing an animal isn’t riding and it isn’t effective in the long run. I assume you understand that or you wouldn’t be wanting to do better. Threatening to do so because people don’t have free resources to hand you isn’t particularly effective either. What everyone is telling you is that learning comes from experience. Experience comes at a price, whether it is money or sweat equity depends on the depth of you passion and your pockets. If you can’t or don’t want to do a working student position, become employed at a barn and use your income to work with a different trainer who can help you. Ultimately what you are looking for isn’t realistic and a change in perspective is needed.
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What is a curve bit?
What do you do with a rubber tube to make a horse do what you want?
Why the hell should knowledge be given away free, my trainer worked hard to get the knowledge she has, I pay her to help me achieve my goals. Without someone on the ground saying NO, you need to lift your hand an inch, move your leg forward, or what ever you don’t get the fine tuning that dressage needs. Once you feel it, you can maybe find it again
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I think perhaps some of the commentary that’s coming here is because you’re making it sound as if you want to be able to ride (or train? I wasn’t entirely clear on this point) up to the fourth level which is a tremendous commitment of skill, time, and education (for both horse and rider). I suppose my next question is why have you settled on fourth level as the marker for “handle anything that comes (your) way”?
The issue RE: “I’m not asking for free lessons or coaching” is that to get an education to become a fourth level rider, you’re looking at a commitment to educating yourself. That, by its very nature, is going to include lessons and coaching. Without eyes on the ground to correct for nuance or working with an instructor to help educate for feel (and you’ll generally have access to riding educated, advanced horses when you work with a legitimate professional, which is another component to assisting your own development as a rider).
I suppose I’m just confused by this entire thing, at this point.
In your OP you mention you’ve been riding for a year and a half and can run a horse through backcountry but mention when it comes to training and more advanced equitation, you’re hitting a wall. And then in the quoted section above you just want to be competent enough to handle things. I’m puzzled by these two statements, as they seem to contradict.
Ultimately, I would be wondering why is it that you want to ride? And if the answer is that you want a meal ticket and not that you’re passionate about the industry or horses themselves, then perhaps you might consider finding another less laborious, time consuming option. If you do have a passion for the equine industry, then it might behoove you to reconsider your goals and then identify practical, reasonable ways to achieve them.
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In the horse world you’re not going to get much for free. Working student is a great way to get lessons, I’ve done it myself. you aren’t going to get the personalized instruction you need from a YouTube video. It’s great that you want to learn but… honestly, lower your expectations. Being an equestrian is expensive, you get what you pay for.
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