Re: Dressage Riders

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

>This is an interesting list.  Not too long ago it was a good thing to be a
>dressage rider.  There was a whole thread where people wrote in and
>mentioned what discplines other than endurance they used their horses for
>and it appeared to me that dressage topped the list.  Now dressage riders
>are snobs who don't want to ride as much or have as many demands as "we"
do.  
>

One of the things I noticed hanging out at dressage shows for a number of
years was the fact that *yes*, some of the people appear very
snobbish...but it's not a discipline that invites joviality around the
campfire. ;-)  Dressage riders tend to be very focused on the tests they're
about to ride and don't socialize a lot beforehand.  After their classes,
they often pack up and leave since there isn't a lot of reason to hang around.

Personally, I hate showing...but I love dressage and the benefits every
horse can get from the training.  For a couple of years I ran the dressage
shows hosted by the riding club I was involved in -- and learned a *lot*
from this aspect also.  The people I met during this time were not the
tiniest bit snobbish...actually quite friendly...but very, very focused and
oftentimes quite nervous about their rides coming up.  There's a lot of
tension connected with those short 5 minute rides -- a lot of very serious
individuals who aren't there just to have fun with their horse.  They
desperately want a good score since they see this as verification that
they've been doing their training correctly...and it's embarrassing to them
to get a low score.  I wish I had a buck for every time I said "hey, it's
just one test -- just keep working and you'll do better next time."

The higher up the levels you go in dressage, the more opinionated and
snobby the competitors are.  They have had several years to be influenced
by instructors that are also very opinionated and geared towards
competition.  This is evidenced in one way by more acceptance of Arabs at
lower levels but less as you go up the ladder...at which point they firmly
believe you should be riding a horse designed for this level and costing
somewhere in the 5 figure area in order to be competitive.  Also, in the
higher levels, the riders are not allowed to have a "reader" for their
tests and have to have everything memorized...and these tests are
impressive!  You'll often see riders walking around with their little books
in hand doing the pattern on the ground and totally oblivious to anything
going on around them.

I'll take the friendly, helpful endurance crowd any day of the week but I'm
also a firm advocate of dressage schooling for every horse and rider (which
is why I've angled my instruction in that direction)...and it starts with
good riding, balanced position, adequate knowledge of the biomechanics of
the horse, and effective aids on the part of the rider -- in other words --
good basic dressage. <bg>

Sue   

sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.