DS Dressage

01/27/2025

Here’s a few dates to put on your calendar…..
Saddle fitting by Emma weekend of March 8 (she is amazing)

Oklahoma Dressage Society symposium with W***y Arts of DGBar April 5-6

ODS I&II Level 3 Dressage Show Tulsa May 3-4

Central Plains Dressage Show
May 24-25 Stillwater
Central Plains Dressage show
June 21-22 Stillwater

Will be posting more dates soon
Hope everyone is getting some rides in between the Arctic Weather!

01/10/2025

Beautiful winter morning here at DsDressage!

10/30/2024

Exactly!

10/04/2024

At the highly anticipated FEI Dressage Stakeholder meeting, which was held in person at the FEI Headquarters in Lausanne (SUI) on 1 October, (a small group of invited) experts and representatives from across the sport have reaffirmed the core objectives of Dressage and discussed ways of realigning t...

09/17/2024

Much needed work in the arena today, added some new footing. Now just need to get the rubber in.

09/09/2024

Yes!!!!

If someone did to humans what some do to horses by strapping them into various contraptions to force them into shapes that stretch muscles beyond acceptable levels of pain, those people would be thought of as torturers.

But we watch riders crank on horses in rigs and types of bits that use leverage physics that horses are powerless to resist, and these methods are accepted by certain groups as simply necessary training aids.

The people who use these devices are incapable of getting horses to cooperate using gentler methods, probably because they are either ignorant of quieter methods, or because they are in a hurry.

One missing link is education, but even more important than education is attitude. Does the rider think of a horse as something to be mastered and subdued, or as a potential partner? Force is easier and quicker than learning how to train correctly, but if you suggest to those who use force that there are better ways, you know ahead of time the reaction that you will get. You will be told to mind your own business, that you are naive about the way things work, and that you don’t know what you are talking about.

But watch a real master sometime to begin to understand the difference in attitude. Watch the calm, systematic and thoughtful approach brought to the task, the absence of coercion. It can be done.

07/08/2024

July and August Clinic Schedule 2024

July 13-The stables at LaDena Downs
July 24- The stables at LaDena downs
July 31- Happy Town Horse Park

August 3-Double R Farms
August 10- LaDena
August 14- Happy Town
August 19- NWA Stables
August 21- LaDena

September 7-Huntsville Double R
September 14-LaDena Downs
September 21- Happy Twon
September 25- LaDena Downs

06/10/2024

Thanks for the great reminder Lee!

A quick bit of math may help save your horse (and you) from heat stress/exhaustion/stroke on that Sunday ride. High temperatures and/or relative humidity can negatively affect how horses can naturally keep cool. 😎 From the chart below, horses will be in much more danger of overheating if riding at noon today in Louisiana (85 degrees + 71% relative humidity) than in Tucson, AZ (96 + 10% RH). And, yes… it is a ‘dry heat’ 🌞🌵🏜️

04/26/2024

I don’t think River was into our conversation about using the obliques. 

04/26/2024

Imagine the bit being in front of your horse’s mouth. Instead of pulling back, you want to push him forward into the bit for a softer, springier horse. - Phillip Dutton

Thanks to Cosequin Equine for our coverage of the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, including rider interviews, competition reports, horse spotlights, photos, videos and more.

03/29/2024

I got this beautiful text from one of my clinic students and it melted my heart!!!
I love what I do…..my greatest reward is watching my student “get it” and pass that on to their horse. Once that happens the possibilities are endless!

“Just wanted to thank you for teaching. I love our lessons and today I had a super ride with Ellie. Relaxed walk workout and soft trot to the right. Still working on trot to the left but I know what I need to work on. I focused on breathing, my position, my own relaxation and feeling for her - asking the hind end to move under got easier as we went - she was just super 💖”

Thank you!!

01/31/2024

Thank you everyone that reached out to help! Jake will leave on Monday, stop at LaDena for the night then Head up towards Berryville /Eureka Springs, after that he will keep looking for kinda strangers to let him hold up for a night as he continues his journey!

Hey Arkansas horse friends. Do you know of anyone in the Gateway area that could put Jake and his 3 mustangs up for Friday night as he is passing through? He just needs a place for his horses, corral anything. It would be for 1 night! Any help or suggestions would be awesome!