The word dressage comes from the French verb “dresser” which means “to train” in English. In modern times, dressage has two correct meanings (1) the basic schooling of every riding horse under the guise of “flat work”, it is what hunter/jumper trainers do with their horses when they are not schooling over fences (2) A type of rapidly growing competition, open to virtually every kind and size of horse and any age of rider.
Dressage is a programme of supplying, balancing and obedience work that prepares a horse for future pleasure-riding or competition, Western or English. The schooling rules that compose this programme of dressage training have been developed over the past 400 years. Our modern methods come from the Baroque era, from the great military and royal riding schools of the 16 Century. It’s goal is to make the horse pleasant to ride, so the schooling aims at developing the horse physically, relaxing him mentally and giving him the power to respond instantly to light signals of the rider’s hands, body position and legs.
Dressage is one of three Olympic equestrian disciplines. In competition, horses perform tests written by the National Dressage Committee. These tests reflect the movements used in schooling and so, assess the horse’s correct progress toward the goals of suppleness, balance and obedience. Tests are of increasing levels of difficulty, and range from basic levels to the difficult demands of the tests at the international level.
