HJ to Dressage - switching when you don't own a horse? (Richmond, VA)

[LulaNo]

I am an adult (late 30s) rider contemplating a ‘career change’ to dressage. I’ve been mostly a hunter person (with brief forays into foxhunting and eventing) and while I have loved every minute of it, I am getting a little bored and thinking it might be time to shake things up. (I am not bored with riding - just with jumping the same course every weekend, no matter where we’re showing…) At the moment, I am leasing a lovely horse but he is very much a hunter and would not be happy elsewhere, and of course the lease states he needs to stay in a program approved by the owner, etc. I currently ride in a program with a hunter pro, so I am used to paying for full board/training/lessons/showing and of course, a lease fee.

So anyway - the question is, how feasible is it to switch disciplines without owning a horse? Obviously my preference would be to take lessons for a while before committing to lease or possibly buy a new partner (say, 3 - 4 months of lessons, maybe?) After searching this forum/the whole of the Internet, I’m really only seeing lessons/programs for people who have a suitable horse already. Would it even be worthwhile to contact some dressage trainers in the area and see what we could possibly work out as far as a horse to lesson on, or is this just Not Done in the dressage world? Are any of you guys in the area and willing to chat about trainer recommendations or how you got started?

[Samantha37]

PM’ed you

[joiedevie99]

Yes - definitely call trainers. While very few keep dedicated lesson horses, and almost none have horses for real beginners (to riding), many have a horse or two floating around that can be used for lessons with competent riders. It might be their very own older horse, that can help bring in some extra income to save up for a new young horse. It might be a schoolmaster owned by an ammy that only comes on Saturdays, and doesn’t need 5 training rides a week - ammy might happily let him do 2 lessons a week to lower costs.

[rockonxox]

Call the trainers. I haven’t owned a horse since I was 18yo and I’m in my early 30s now. I have done hunters, dressage, and now eventing all with lesson horses or for the past couple years a lease. There are definitely options for those of us who are horseless. Contact the local dressage associations if you are not finding success individually calling trainers. They likely know whose who and possible contacts that have what you are looking for. Just because they don’t specifically state that they have school horses does not mean, especially for an experienced rider, that they don’t have a horse available that you could learn with.

[LulaNo]

Thanks everyone! I will do more research this week and start calling around. I just didn’t want to offend any trainers in case this is considered very rude in dressage world!

[MissAriel]

Absolutely start calling dressage trainers (or email - I found that sometimes was better than calling). True, they may not advertise lessons on school horses, but largely because they don’t have horses suitable for true beginners. When I found my dressage trainer after years in hunters, I took lessons on her own horse for about a year because she had stopped showing him.

IME, lease fees are less common for dressage horses than in hunter-land, unless it is a really competitive horse with show miles. You can often find a sane horse capable of lower level dressage for a part lease or a feed lease situation.

I recommend trying a few trainers, and be ready to “go back to square one”. Careful - it is crazy addictive over here on the dark side!

[Knubbsy]

I can’t comment on Richmond (I was in NoVA when I switched) but going from a hunter to dressage is definitely doable without a horse. I was in grad school when I switched so could only manage a ride or two a week. It took a while but generally you can’t tell I used to be a hunter (Linda Zang could tell in a clinic but that’s different). Whenever I move and need to find a new trainer with school master, I ask here and start looking at who has a program with enough riders to maybe have an under utilized horse or says they have school masters and then politely ask if they know of anyone who might have a school horse available for lessons at x level. (It leaves them an out if they don’t want someone with my ability/schedule/whatever.)

[LulaNo]

Thanks Knubbsy! Great to hear you have found ways to make it work.

[merrygoround]

Quite a few instructors have horses that have been retired from the arena, but are still very useful for students in a lesson situation.

[MsM]

Another avenue to explore is the eventing world. There are even some stables around here that do offer lessons on school horses. Otherwise you may find a horse to lease with some dressage training that the owner wants to step down from the stress of eventing.

[LulaNo]

Thanks for the idea, MSM. It does look like a lot of the local dressage folks are connected to eventing barns/offer lessons at eventing barns so that might work!

[Graymaresrule]

Are you near Doswell? Barbara W(can’t spell her name) at Chestnut Oak used to have schoolmasters. http://chestnutoak.net/

[2DogsFarm]

Just curious:
Why would the owner of your current lease not be happy with a dressage program for the horse?
After all, a jump is really just a canter stirde.
Improve the gaits, improve the jump

You can alternate trainers - Hunters one lesson, Dressage the next.
Dressage trainer may come to you or can you trailer horse to another barn?

Is it a question of a proprietary trainer?
Did owner choose or mandate current trainer or is it someone you found?

[maybesmom]

Absolutely talk to dressage riders in your area (attend some dressage shows and chat people up). This will give you a chance to meet trainers and dressage riders nd see a variety in action. And sometimes people advertise horses for lease at shows. Go to some meetings of the local USDF (united states dressage federation) local group organization meetings and talk to people. Go visit some dressage barns and talk with people and let them know what you are thinking about. In your neck of the woods (Virginia) I’d bet there are a lot of eventing barns and organizations and they are also good people to talk to about dressage. Call some local breders who specialize in wrmbloods and ask them who they know in the ara that trains dressage. I would ask around at saddlery stores also. Talking with riders as well as trainers will give you a good idea of who the dressage community near you respects and recommends and this is often a good way to figure out what you want to do. I found that almost everyone I contacted when I made the switch was very helpful.

I completely agree with 2DogsFarm that to start there is no reason not to learn with a hunter and the principles of dressage would probably help the horse and you. When I started dressage, I was riding my jumpers (don’t laugh). The horses and I both learned a lot although they never made it to FEI levels we got perfectly respectable scores through 3rd level which took a lot of work for me more then the horses and by then I was ready for more of a"specialist" dressage horse. You do NOT need a warmblood to learn dressage.

[LulaNo]

@2DogsFarm

Just curious:
Why would the owner of your current lease not be happy with a dressage program for the horse?
After all, a jump is really just a canter stirde.
Improve the gaits, improve the jump

You can alternate trainers - Hunters one lesson, Dressage the next.
Dressage trainer may come to you or can you trailer horse to another barn?

Is it a question of a proprietary trainer?
Did owner choose or mandate current trainer or is it someone you found?

I am currently in a serious hunter program with 1-2 pro rides, 2-3 lessons per week, 2-3 hack days when not showing, etc - plus showing about 1-2x per month at AA hunter shows. I’ve been with my trainer for over 5 years and think the world of her & her program, and have enjoyed great improvements in my riding. Since I am also just an average working adult of average fitness and average income, I would not be able to afford or have time to continue in the current program AND leap into the pursuit of a new discipline at the same time. Apart from a few exploratory lessons, I think I’ll have to make a choice about which to pursue pretty quickly.

My current leased horse is Of A Certain Age and has always been a hunter. He knows his job and excels at it. Considering his age and experience, I don’t think he would appreciate a career change to satisfy my whims. (I have seen him ‘kindly educate’ other riders about how much contact/pace/etc he finds acceptable. We get along because I respect his opinions since his show record is even longer than mine. :)) As far as staying with a trainer the owner approves of, that is fairly standard in the majority of lease contracts I have seen over the years. Could I chat with the owner and get them to approve another trainer? Probably, I guess? Do I think in light of his age, experience, and soundness that it would be a fair thing to ask of him? Not really. He seems very pleased with his life the way it is. I’d rather be bored, and keep him happy, if it came to that.

I am not currently in possession of a truck and trailer, so trailering in to other lessons is not viable for me at the moment.

When our show seasons slows down a little, I am hoping to get out to some dressage shows and see what’s going on in the area. Having been super competitive in the hunter world for a while, I think it would be pretty fun to take a step back and just concentrate on learning and trying something new (not that we don’t do serious flatwork, but still!)

[LulaNo]

@maybesmom

You do NOT need a warmblood to learn dressage.

It would never have occurred to me that I needed a warmblood… although I have had many over the years, my favorite partners for a “I don’t exactly know what I’m doing but let’s try it anyway” riding phase has always been a Thoroughbred.