What are we doing when we “do dressage”?

One of the surprises from the tour was the diversity of backgrounds who were drawn to my clinics. Some riders had extensive backgrounds in Philippe Karl’s methods. Others had a classical education more in the tradition of Nuno Oliveira, Egon Von Neindorff, Arthur Kottas, and others, respectively. Then there were modern dressage riders, California vaquero riders, a barrel racer, reiners, a professional jockey, eventers, show jumpers, a barn full of fox hunters, and trail riders. There were many professional riders, some who had reached Grand Prix, and even one rider who I was to give her eighth ever riding lesson. These riders’ experiences and backgrounds were rich and deep. They had amazing stories to tell about their life with horses. The questions they posed lead to some of the richest conversations I could have imagined. It was such joy to work with all of them to better understand what we are up to when we “do dressage”. On some level, I think they already understood. 

It may come without surprise that I am unhappy with the general direction “dressage” is going. It is devolving into a sport that takes from the horse what it can get out of him. They focus on the meat of their body as they drill exercises to get more out of their “dressage horses”. That has nothing to do with real dressage. The shortcuts, the force, the gimmicks, their values, their priorities are perversions of what it is to be real dressage. So in a sense, I was more at home with these openminded riders from all backgrounds than I am in more conventional dressage circles. 

Real dressage is for the good of the horse. Every horse. It is about clearly, progressively and kindly educating the horse to bring him to his healthiest form of being in his mind, body and spirit, and to share that being with you, his teacher. To be doing so classically means you work in agreement with the true nature of the horse, which means how they think, learn, balance, and move. Working in accord with their nature is what makes it timeless (i.e. classical), and this was understood long ago by the greats of our tradition. The quality of this education gives the possibility to set the horse free more and more, which allows the beauty and harmony to shine through. This is what it means to work in lightness.

Real dressage is about this alive connectedness between two beings joined by understanding, respect and confidence. This isn’t just poetry - there are principles, rules and a discipline to this art that must be respected to do it well. But my point for this post is that above all - respect of and for the horse comes first. 

So if real dressage is that - why not have it as a base for the many directions you want to take your horse? Is it better to call this simply ‘equitation’?

Of course, knowing the end, shapes the beginning. So yes, there will be differences if your dream is to do airs verses cut cows. But how much? When does it start? How different is the beginning? These questions are philosophical in one sense, and yet there are concrete consequences to their answers. 

All this made me feel like a radical, and I liked it. 

Lessons from 100 riders and their horses. 

I invent nothing. I share what my teachers, living, in print and on four legs, have taught me. 

Photo credit: Piotr Wojcik and his proud horse