Aisha Salem
What’s dressage?
What’s dressage?
Both the horse and rider are athletes
Dressage is the foundation of most horse riding discipline.
Dressage is all about being in tune with and riding in harmony with your horse in a way that helps him build muscle, balance, symmetry, and strength so that it can use its body properly.
Is all based on being accurate. Dressage tests are a series of movements that are performed in a certain order at certain letters in the ring. While the long-term goal is to have your horse round and on the bit.
Dressage is something that I have loved since the beginning. The magic of seeing a horse and rider dance together is truly a beautiful thing to watch. It requires an incredible relationship between horse and rider and many years of training.
Dressage is the foundation of all equestrian disciplines being incredibly beneficial as it improve horse behaviour and develop a horse natural’s athletic ability, symmetry, balance and rhythm. Dressage increases flexibility and strength so that it can use its body properly. It is all based on being accurate with the hardest part to ride in harmony with the horse and convince that they are capable of remaining calm and focus.
Riding in harmony with the horse requires an ongoing invisible communication between two of us, as both minds melds as one and trust each other. When the connection between us turns into a partnership that is trustworthy our communication is seamless and our performance appears effortless.
Short description of dressage test: if my test says to trot at A, I should start preparing my horse a few strides before the letter for my transition.Sit up tall, half-halt to let my horse know that something is coming and when his shoulder reaches the letter, make my transition.
Bending my horse around my inside leg so his body follows the arc of the circle while I push his body out with my inside leg , adding more or less contact with my outside rein and keep him balanced whilst maintaining a steady rhythm and contact with the bit without tension or resistance. And so on…there are much more ABC rules.
Dressage itself is an Olympic discipline and it is enjoyed all around the world through the various levels with GRAND PRIX being the highest level that is performed internationally and GRAND PRIX musical freestyle being the real crowd pleaser as this is where the movements are performed to music.
Dressage tests are a series of predetermined movements from memory that are performed in a certain order at certain letters in the ring. If my test says to trot at A, I should start preparing my horse a few strides before the letter for my transition.
Sit straight, half halt to let my horse know that something is coming and when their shoulder reaches the letter and make my transition, bending my horse around my inside leg so his body follows the arc of the circle while I push his body out with my inside leg, adding more or less contact with my outside rein and keeping them balanced while maintaining a steady rhythm and contact with the bit without tension or resistance.
And so on there are much more ABC rules to follow.
