Dressage Theory
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How to Increase Your Horse’s Engagement
Developing engagement is essential if you want to progress up the dressage levels, and engagement is a term that’s often used by judges on ... -
How to Free Your Horse’s Shoulders
You might have noticed the directive, “Freedom of the shoulders,” referenced in certain exercises on your dressage score sheet. In this guide, we explain ... -
How to Change Your Horse’s Frame and Outline
The dressage horse’s frame changes depending on what stage of training he is at and what movement he is being asked to perform. Likewise, ... -
How to Improve ‘Suppleness of the Joints’ for Dressage
Suppleness is a quality that’s crucial for success in dressage and is the second of the dressage Scales of Training. There are four areas ... -
How to Improve Mental Suppleness in Both Horse & Rider
To be successful in dressage, your horse must be supple longitudinally and laterally. But both the horse and rider must be mentally supple too. ... -
How to Improve Your Horse’s Longitudinal Suppleness
Suppleness (longitudinal) is the second item on the dressage Scales of Training and is crucial to the horse’s correct way of going. If your ... -
How to Improve Your Horse’s Lateral Suppleness
Just as people are right or left-handed, most horses are naturally more supple to one side than the other. That means your horse bends ... -
How to Get Your Horse to Track-Up & Overtrack
Have you ever had a dressage scoresheet where the judge has commented that your horse needed more “overtrack” in the free walk or was ... -
How to Create Cadence in the Dressage Horse
You may have heard the term “cadence” mentioned when describing the way in which a dressage horse moves. So, what is cadence? Why does ... -
How to Recognize an Unhappy Dressage Horse
It’s well-known that humans experience depression and times when they have “the blues,” but what about your dressage horse? Well, there is evidence to ...
