Dressage Tips For Beginners

Dressage is an exciting, demanding and sometimes frustrating discipline. That is what makes it so attractive. Whether you are new to the equestrian world or riding another discipline and want to start practicing dressage, this article is a guide to help you change your mindset and prepare you to embrace this fantastic discipline. Read on to find the most essential dressage tips for beginners.

Dressage Training 101

Like good quality flatwork, dressage is similar to taking your horse to the gym. With the right exercises and training, horses develop their core and muscles. Also, dressage helps shift horses’ balance to the hindquarters, lightening their hands. As horses get stronger they start to collect, moving their rear feet under their bodies, below the core, which makes it easier to get them behind the rein. This vicious cycle of collection, weight redistribution and exercise makes horses stronger and enhances their muscular tone. And as they gain muscular mass and become more flexible, they are easier to collect.

You will read and hear a lot about “putting your horse behind the rein”, but they need some help. In all equestrian sports and disciplines, it’s important that the rider moves along with their horse, especially as a dressage beginner. And that’s not all, many riders rush to follow horses’ movements so much that they anticipate their movements, unbalancing their horses. One of the most important things, whether you are training or competing, is to stay behind the horse’s movements.

Dressage is also considered as dancing with horses, but when dancing in couples, someone often leads, and the other follows. Imagine dressage as a dance where you have to encourage your lead to move but follow their movements.

For dressage beginners, it’s essential to start your training with a long and pleasant warm-up and allow your horse to stretch. Plan your training ahead depending on how many times you ride a week. Six days a week is ideal, and five is desirable, but ultimately, train as much as you can and set your expectations according to your training. Also, the training and experience of your horse and dancing partner will determine many things. If you work with a green horse, it’s a matter of patience. Maybe you two are not ready to compete, but it doesn’t mean you can’t set goals and work to achieve them. Sometimes, training can be repetitive.

Dressage requires discipline, so don’t over stress yourself or your horse. Plan your breaks as well, horses get bored of repetitive exercises. Let your horses be horses, get out of the ring and go for a walk in the yard.

Also, if you are practicing something new and it goes well, pat your horse and call it a day. If things don’t go as planned, don’t repeat the same over and over, go back to something simpler and avoid frustration for you and your horse.

Know The Play Field

In dressage, all the important things happen in a 20x60m rectangle. Smaller arenas are 20x40m, but let’s think big. If you are one of the lucky people with a dressage arena to practice, wonderful! Sometimes, for whatever reason, you won’t have a perfect dressage arena. In that case, use your imagination and build your own. Use poles or cones to build the corners, and invent some system to mark the letters. Knowing the letters is as important to dressage as knowing where the net is on a tennis court.

For dressage beginners, start thinking about preparing all your movements with anticipation and practice your transitions. For example, if you have to go from the canter to the pass in E, start making half-stops with enough time so that your horse “falls” to the pass exactly in E. Use all the arena, specially don’t cut corners, take your horse straight, almost to the end and with enough time, slightly bend it to the inside rein and turn. Again, with enough time, allow your horse to get straight and ride next to the border to turn once more at the right spot. You can practice this at the walk, then at the trot, and so on.

In the beginning, you will find the arena pretty narrow, especially if you are used to a larger one, like a show-jumping training ground. Once you are familiar with the arena, start working on 20m circles. You will find out they are more challenging than they seem! Judges are particularly exigent about circles. I don’t want to alarm you, but there is enough material about circles to write several books. Try to practice them as much as you can and read and watch videos as well. Use your Pivo Pod to film and watch yourself doing them and pretend you are one of the judges. Was the circle too big or small? Did you start it in the same place that you finished? Was the horse properly bent, over bent, or without enough bent?**

Some Competition Tips

So, it’s the big day, your first dressage competition, or one of your firsts even. You have trained a lot, and you and your horse are ready and eager to compete. You already know the arena like the back of your hand and are about to take your test.

When I’m about to ride a new test for the first time, I draw it on paper and visualize it. I try to break it into short sections to make it easier to remember. In these first steps, in this beautiful discipline, try to practice the test at the walk first, and if you can get some help, ask someone to read what you have to do in each letter. Then, as you walk the test, tell your friend what you would do. This will help you remember the test without stressing or tiring your horse and will help you with a more relaxed approach. Then, try to do the test at home and see how much preparation it takes you and your horse to do your transitions, turns, etc.
Work your transitions so that you don’t feel overwhelmed when you are in front of the judges. When you are showing, time seems to freeze, but at the same time, it’s natural to feel the exercises approach faster than your horse moves. It’s the adrenaline playing a trick on you. The more prepared you are, and the more you know the test, everything will flow smoothly. Try to forget you are competing and enjoy. Dressage events are wonderful, and just being there is a win for you and your horse. Remember to warm up properly and, if you have enough time, try to watch the contestant before you. I prefer to close my eyes and repeat it in my head, but everyone has their own methods and TOCs.

Don’t forget to film your practice tests with your Pivo Pod Silver Equestrian Pack and follow yourself using the test sheet for even better preparation. Enjoy your new adventure!

Read more: Pivo Blog – Equestrian