Dressage vs. Jumping
I’ve been struggling with deciding what to do with Frankie. I’m bored right now just doing our thing. I want to compete, but Frankie doesn’t want to event, I can’t afford to compete in the jumper ring, so I decided why not give dressage a try.
I even got a dressage saddle.
My initial plan was to show this fall. I’m not sure if that is going to pan out with my work schedule so I’m going to play it by ear.
Worst case scenario, I work in the dressage saddle a few days a week. Work on me and Frankie and hopefully 1. better our jumping 2. maybe hit a dressage show in the spring.
We’ve ironed out Level 1 test 1. I sucked in the dressage saddle, but am improving every day I ride in it. Long stirrups is an adjustment and sitting Frankie’s very uncomfortable trot is not easy.
It is a challenge and I’m up for it.
Problem is, it’s not nearly as fun as jumping. Saturday Josh came out to the barn to do some camera tests for Live from Lexington and we jumped around fences 3’6″-4’3″ and had a blast…
did you just say there is no trust in dressage??
dressage is not “trot trot trot bounce bounce bounce”
if someone thinks dressage is boring and there’s no trust involed they aren’t doin it right
Please explain the trust involved with Dressage.
At no point are you letting go of all control to allow your horse to make a decision that could end up with a crash through a fence or a stop which would thrust you over the fence without a horse. OR does your horse allow you to make a decision that could do the same. It goes back and forth, but without that trust neither horse or rider would ever make it over a fence.
Outside of obedience, I don’t really see where trust is involved within dressage.
Maybe “please don’t spook”
Wonder how Courtney King Dye would respond to Kristine?? You certainly don’t have to ask your horse to jump a fence to prove your trust that your horse will stay under you. I absolutely agree with Paigley – if dressage training is not aerobic for you, then you are doing it correctly.
LOL Treat come on trusting a horse not to spook is extremely different than the trust you need to jump. I ride dressage now and have been for 6 years but before then I was a hunter jumper rider. I will never have the same trust relationship with my horse as I did when I jumped and it went both ways. As far as aerobics go most of the people at my barn get a good aerobic workout from their dressage riding but they are all fat so they would get a good aerobic workout from just about anything. I don’t sweat nearly as much as I did when I jumped and I didn’t jump any big fences I think 3 foot was my average. I ride at 4th level and am currently showing at 3rd. I stopped jumping because my horse couldn’t anymore and then when I got a horse that could I was too rusty to try. Plus I’m old! I miss it though.
Kristine I really enjoyed the video it made me smile and remember how much I enjoyed jumping.
“Outside of obedience, I don’t really see where trust is involved within dressage.”
Kristine, I really enjoy your candid thoughts on dressage, but I differ with the perspective you offer in your posts [about learning Dressage]. I think, perhaps, you have melded and consider ‘control’ and ‘trust’ to be the same concept, and unfortunately, they are very distinct when riding a horse.
I am a 40ish male who started riding much later in life as a way to develop my own personal self through all things horse. Currently, I am working with an instructor who follows the “Centered Riding” paradigm with the goal of competing locally in dressage.
Dressage, if practiced and performed correctly is the ultimate in ‘trust building’ between you and the horse…. as you learn to let the ‘horse be a horse’ and follow its natural movements to accomplish your goals. It should not be about total control of the rider over horse, but rather reflecting on the horses natual desire and translating that into a wonderful display of its talents. A very difficult task, to say the least.
Far too often, we want to control and ‘manhandle’ the horse into fitting our needs while riding. We want to pull the bit, shove our leg into the barrel, and direct the horse on rudimentary physical cues. This, as I have learned is counterproductive to the development between rider and horse and ultimately leads to destroying the natural elements a horse brings to the rider.
Rather, it is more important and beneficial to the horse, to subtly guide as a ‘true alpha leader’ the natural talents of the horse to meet your set of goals. This is easily accomplished with soft body movements and careful cues directed towards the horse that will parlay into trust between you and the horse. For some, it is a truly wonderful metaphysical equine experience.
I encourage you not to lose hope and to explore the world of dressage as it is really what a horse was designed to do and you are just there to build trust and enjoy the ride. Perhaps, if you YouTube some of the more accomplished dressage riders such as William Fox-Pitt, Guenther Seidel, or the ever-present, Anki..you can see how they have developed trust in the movements of the horse. I would also suggest reading Horses Are Made to Be Horses by Franz Mairinger., as it will help understand why trust is the crux between rider and horse and is so much more than controlling your horse not to hit the fence.
It can be a wonderful and fulfilling experience that will take you and your horse to an unparalleled equine level and develop a new plateau in your relationshop with him.
I hope this helps and you pursue the dressage element with you and your horse.
I would say respect is more prevalent in dressage AND jumping than trust.
K…that is a good point, but respect is really the starting point to trust. With respect, it is often a mutual understanding of two diffent viewpoints. Sometimes, however, these views may be the same, but not alays. Trust is the acceptance of a viewpoint presented through respect. If we respect each others view points, but don’t trust…then we are at impasse and the horse will never jump and do dressage.
For example, the horse may have the viewpoint that he/she wants to jump the four foot fence at the stable, but the rider doesn’t think the horse can and doesn’t want to jump the fence with the horse as he/she doesn’t feel the horse is ready. Both rider and horse have different viewpoints and each can respect their viewpoints, without agreeing who is right. It becomes trust when either the horse or rider ‘let go’ and trust that one of them (or both) are right and complete the jump. The same can be said for dressage. Trust is ‘letting go’
Put in another way…if there is a tight rope across Niagra falls and a man is standing by the banks and says to you…I can walk you across the falls on the tight rope in this wheel barrow if you let me…” My first reaction is “not safe..bad idea”, but he believes it will work as he has done it many times before with other people. We have two differnt viewpoints and can respect each others beliefs…but trust is when I allow him to carry me across the falls in the wheel barrow…even though I may have misgivings. I allow him to do complete the action and let go of my viewpoint.
A horse relies on the prey instinct and respect has little value in this world. Trust is what allows the horse to overcome the prey instinct and allow the rider to sit atop him and do all the wonderul things he is desinged to do…
Just my thoughts…however, and always open for discussion….
Trust in Dressage is what allows horses like Ravel, Totilas and Fuego XII to perform like they do.
As I am sure you know, you can’t just sit and bang on a horse’s back and expect him to piaffe or even adequately collect his stride. Dressage’s entire foundation is on trust, hence why good Dressage can be applied to all other disciplines. The main idea of Dressage is that you are creating balance for the horse; from the moment you get on his back you make a deal with him– I will help you balance and keep myself in balance if you take me where I want to go. And what is balance according to Dressage? The horse is moving his weight under yours, and your seat in turn, while dynamic (because it’s impossible to be still on a moving back) is consistent. It is even pressure on both seat bones, fluidity so the horse can move through his back, it is consistent balancing aids (i.e. half halts) every stride so the horse knows exactly where you are and he is supposed to be. The horse has to then trust that you aren’t going to drop the balance, give him conflicting aids like tighten your thighs and shut off the energy while kicking him forward, pull on his mouth, etc. These SEEM like little things, but I have watched so many horses just take HUGE sighs of relief when their riders finally get it.
As for the rider, she has to find trust in the balance. When you’re on one of those super talented horses that could just as easily buck you off as Piaffe around the arena, it’s hard to sit up, relax, open your angles and let the horse go. You have to trust your own body to create the balance, let the energy come through, because if you don’t, these horses will explode on you. Been there, done that. not fun. It really is letting go of this scary bit of control to ask them to move out and to ride off your seat. We are so hand oriented that to trust that our weight has the most affect seems preposterous. It’s also a lot harder for us to control.
I’m a jumper turned Dressage rider. I’ve jumped 4ft courses, I’ve jumped strange horses higher. I felt more secure on the hot Selle Francais I rode and broke my personal record on jump height in France than the TB/Hano cross I used to ride at my job at a Dressage barn.
Dressage is about the nitty gritty details, and about listening to your horse. A lot of people ride Dressage without calling it that, and a lot of people claim to ride Dressage but are really just cranking a head around. The trust in Dressage carries over to jumping, imho. Don’t know if this all makes total sense… I guess you have to have really had a good Dressage trainer (and the right horse) to know that feeling of trust…
poor horse