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An Introduction to Dressage

By: Simon Hurst

Dressage, a French term meaning "training", teaches a horse to be obedient, willing, supple and responsive Ballet is seen as the closest humans have to what horse do in dressage. This is probably as the elegance and understated power in ballet is very similar to that shown in dressage.

Dressage at its very best is full of artistry and grace, this is only achieved when rider and horse and in perfect harmony. Both the horse and rider must be fully in touch with each other and as such it can be seen as the pinnacle of team sport. All levels of dressage improves balance, litheness, and tractability, this in turn assists in the horse achieving the upgraded execution of everyday tasks.

Present day dressage has many parallels with the work of Xenophon on the classical Greek command of horses. Dressage became noticed in Western Europe as a very useful training of horses in the renaissance period. The renaissance horse masters of Western Europe invented a series of training modules which have stayed fairly constant and provide the starting point for the training of the present day dressage.

Tack used in dressage is mainly black, with dark brown figuring from time to time, reflecting the seriousness. An English-style saddle is required for riding dressage, specifically a "dressage saddle" which is modelled exclusively for the discipline. The dressage saddle is specifically shaped with a flap, both long and straight, that fits with the leg of the rider, a large block at the knee where there is a minor bend.

Dressage with a somewhat stuffy image may not be everyone's idea of a serious sport but there are hundreds of places throughout the world where horses and riders can compete. The biggest addition to dressage competitions was its entry into the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, this galvanised the levels of training and hence riding. With eventing and jumping, dressage now takes it place at the Olympics.

For dressage a rectangular arena, 20 meters wide and three times as long is used. In addition letters are spaced out to highlight specific spots. The letters designate where movements are to be executed; the letters also assist the rider in judging specific distances, such as the size of a circle. Once a horse has reached the required level, procedures should be undertaken easily and elegantly with only the merest assistance from the rider.

Movements such as the piaffe, passage, half-pass, pirouette, and tempi changes are what is required to succeed in competitive dressage. By excluding the aires above ground, due to the physical limitations of the horses and not related to standard of training, competitive dressage is unlike classic dressage. For many the focus of any dressage competition is the Musical Freestyle, this is when the rider needs to build a routine taking into account certain required movements and figures; the routine must also be set to music. The tests within dressage are not designed to catch out the horse; dressage training should be aligned to improve the horse in all aspects, at one with nature, and the tests are opportunities to display the quality of agility, awareness and strength he has found in the training.

I hope with this information you are sufficiently interested to look to learn more.

Article Source: Main Articles

Amanda Bruce has also written other well-written and helpful articles relating to dressage and eventing these can be found at myhorsenews.com/dressage/sitemap.php

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