02/08/2025
What makes a good classical dressage horse person ?
There's a lot that could be said about this topic and we could have a long, deep conversation but for today I'm going to keep it pretty simple.
There's three main qualities that I believe are the essential foundation for good dressage training and a healthy relationship with your horse.
The first is an absence of human ego. We are first and foremost here to serve and care for the horse. His needs must always come first and are not to be sacrificed for our own benefit. As stewards of our horses, it is our responsibility to ensure his health and happiness, physically, mentally, and emotionally. This means that everything that we do with our horse should have the goal of improving his mental and physical health. We don't train a horse to do something in order to win a ribbon, to look cool, or to impress others (though those things may happen as a side effect, and many horses do enjoy performing). And we don't ever force our horses to do something simply for our own benefit and our horses should never suffer in order to make us happy or to make us look good. Classical training is all about helping our horses to be the best versions of themselves possible. That must always come first.
The second is a holistic approach to training, meaning that you take into account all of the many things that can have an effect on the horse, such as diet, housing, turnout, socialization, physical health, mental well being, saddle fit, bridle fit, farrier work, ground work, stress, body work, and so many more things. Everything about his life has an impact on the horse and will therefore effect how he responds to his training. Oftentimes "problems" with training stem from one of these other areas and it's always worth investigating thoroughly to find and fix the real source of the issue. A good classical horse person is willing to investigate these different areas to find the source of any problems that may come up.
The third is a desire to keep learning. A good classical horse person understands that there is always, always more to learn and that the more we learn the better we can care for and support our horses. When problems come up a good classical horse person will get curious and seek out more knowledge to help them and their horses. And even when things are going well, a good classical horse person continues to learn, grow, and improve.
If you've got these three things, you and your horse are off to a fantastic start and everything else will flow from these key qualities. 🐎