Dressage: Dancing with Your Horse

Several years ago, the following definition of dressage was presented on a website by the Georgia Dressage Association. I acknowledge their clear explanation and pass it on to you as a beginning knowledge of dressage. Our job at camp is to help you understand and apply that knowledge.

Dressage (rhymes with 'massage') is a French term which means, literally, 'schooling of an animal'. In the horse world, it describes a systematic and sequential method of training a horse, with the ultimate aim of producing a mount that is confident, obedient, and gymnastically able to perform required tasks.

Dressage as a training method had its roots in antiquity and probably began as a way of training war horses to increase their strength, stamina, and obedience. As early as 250 BC, for instance, the Greek commander Xenophon wrote a manual of horsemanship in which he described training techniques and movements very similar to those used in modern day dressage.

The system emphasizes a gradual and humane approach to training, beginning with simple, basic exercises and progressing slowly to more difficult movements as the horse develops mentally and physically.

In dressage, the horse is encouraged through kindness and praise and clear but subtle direction from its rider to perform correctly. While a slight touch of a whip or spur is sometimes used to gently back up a rider's aid, harsh bits and rough treatment of the horse are not allowed, as they serve only to produce a sullen and unhappy steed which does not perform willingly for its rider.

A well-schooled dressage horse is one which performs quietly yet enthusiastically for its rider, and in fact seems to be enjoying its work!