Opinion piece about current state of dressage and what some want to see changed

[Lunabear1988]

There is such different types of quarter horses though. At my barn there is a quarter horse that is super downhill. She does dressage on him but maybe just for fun? I know he was started Western though. He’s downhill enough that even my 13-year-old daughter commented on it when she rode him (after only riding quarter horses and ponies herself.) It does look like the horse was trained to just put his head in a frame and not really use himself any differently other than that.

My horse is more of level balance but he definitely can move in a more uphill fashion which is what I personally love about dressage. Using it to improve my horse.

What would be a really interesting experiment that I wish I could do would be to ride the really downhill horse versus my horse or one similar in the same tests. Because the downhill one that I speak of is a bit of a bigger mover than my horse but doesn’t engage as well (and has a bit more of a sour expression.) Just curious how the scores would shake out on that one!

I do follow a very downhill quarter horse on Instagram and I believe the lady even got her bronze medal. You could always tell the horse was more downhill but it did seem like she was teaching it to be at least as a level moving as physically possible. So again it was dressage being used to better the horse.

[lorilu]

@MsM

Of course, my question is how much “modification” are judges doing for faults like BTV, tension, etc.

IIRC it’s about half a point or so. Again depends on judge and severity.

[lorilu]

@fivestrideline

The horse comes in with a max score based on movement/gaits/quality, and gets deductions from there for errors?

They can also get higher points than the “gait score”, and remember some movements don’t need brilliance just be correct.

[lorilu]

Really well said and important!

[Jackie_Cochran]

In the past 15 years I have ridden many lesson horses.

A few of them could have become the old-fashioned type dressage horse.

However the horse who responded the best mentally to the little bit of dressage type aids I trained him in was a super bitter butt high sort of sway backed QH gelding who had the added problem that his axis neck bone was so wide that the back of his jaw bones ran into it, precluding any type of pretty, proper dressage head set.

That horse thought that the little bit of dressage I introduced him to was sort of neat. He got all proud of himself when he obeyed my aids and actively cooperated with what I asked him for.

Considering this horse was a bitter horse who hated people when I started on him once (compulsively backed up for a long distance &/or bolted whenever he could) I gave him the basic physical fitness training of the Forward Seat and explained to him clearly what bits are for he became a super pleasant ride. Then I introduced him to the basics that dressage and the Forward Seat use (3 speeds in a gait, TOF, TOH, good responsive contact) and he got truly interested in what I was asking him to do.

I NEVER expected that from that ruined ill-conformed horse, but he thought it was neat and he was so proud of himself when he did the stuff.

[Pehsness]

Aw, I love this!! I get moments of this with my old guy. He literally didn’t know how to trot. His old owner pseudo cowboyed him everywhere. So you can light a bomb under him and he won’t blink, but any contact was like gas on a fire and a whisper of leg and he loped.

I think someone with more talent then I could have turned him in to a cute dressage horse for lower levels. I mean, I’m still TRYING, but it’s 1 forward, 10 back in terms of progress, it seems. Now I can’t get a canter depart out of him, haha.

He’s been a teacher, though. I’ve learned so much.