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Dressage


Dressage (a French term meaning "training") is a path and destination of competitive horse training, with competitions held at all levels from amateur to the Olympics. Its fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and appearing effortless. Dressage is occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet." Although the discipline has its roots in classical Greek horsemanship, mainly through the influence of Xenophon, dressage was first recognized as an important equestrian pursuit during the Renaissance in Western Europe. The great European riding masters of that period developed a sequential training system that has changed little since then and classical dressage is still considered the basis of trained modern dressage.

Early European aristocrats displayed their horses' training in equestrian pageants, but in modern dressage competition, successful training at the various levels is demonstrated through the performance of "tests," or prescribed series of movements within a standard arena. Judges evaluate each movement on the basis of an objective standard appropriate to the level of the test and assign each movement a score from zero to ten - zero being "not executed" and ten being "excellent." A score of nine (or "very good") is considered a particularly high mark, while a competitor achieving all sixes (or 60% overall) should be considering moving on to the next level.

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

108 Ways to Show Yourself Love

 I started a new project, 108 Ways to Show Yourself Love. It seems unrelated to dressage, but to me it is related. Horse people tend to take care of everyone else first. We take care of the horses, students even the dog before we spend a couple of minutes on ourselves. Luckily, being active is a big part of health! And riding and training horses is an active lifestyle. However! there are other things we could do to boost our health, and they do not have to be overly time consuming.

   I hope you will join me in this project. On my Carousel Coaching page on Facebook there is a new idea everyday. Try some of these out! #108waystoshowyourselflove to see them all. I would appreciate knowing which ones have more of an impact, and I will love it when you share with others who need to pay a bit of attention to themselves.

   It is easy to get running these days. We are lucky to have horses to keep us in the present. Take time with the horses, do not overschedule and rush through the training. Mr. Schumacher always amazed me how much he could get out of one training session, how? Because he was willing to dig into the big rocks, the most important aspects of the horses learning and then go from there. When we are in a hurry we gloss over the deeper issues so that we don't have to unpack them and spend time on them. These issues will turn into monsters when not addressed. Take time every day to set an intention for your ride, warm your horse up slowly and thoughtfully and after your workout go for a hack and enjoy the relationship. If you are taking a lesson, feel comfortable to set the intention with your trainer. As a trainer I will come to a lesson with an idea of what I believe we need to focus on, but if I am not on the same page as my student, most of the lesson will be spent trying to get on the same page. Feel free to talk about your problems, goals and experiences prior to getting started so that the time can be spent well. 

                 I hope this benefits you! Please share with someone who might need to hear it today!

Be youthful in your approach, connection is the key and remember! Anything is possible.

                           Love to Ride!

                                        Nancy

    

    

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