www.dressageinstructor.com

10/30/2024

The great Ulla Salzgeber and her star, Rusty, share a training session – and a lot of great training ideas and pics of a great combination…
"We ride them very deep and low, but you always have to control the neck and the head. If you can’t control the neck - that it is long, that it is short, that it is up and it is down - you have problems. Riders ask down with the neck, down with the neck, and they pull the neck, pulling the head between the front legs of the poor horse, and the hindlegs are out behind, far behind."
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2017/09/at-home-with-ulla-salzgeber/

10/09/2024

Christopher Bartle – genius trainer – dressage, eventing:
”Christopher has a very simple system to communicate with the horse. First, you make a POSITION STATEMENT, putting the body into position to tell the horse what it’s going to do. It’s the preparation. Next we use BODY LANGUAGE to tell the horse when it’s going to do it. It’s the action. This is then supported by the SEAT for length of stride and the LEG which is for energy and FINALLY THE HAND.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2023/12/christopher-bartle-this-is-a-truly-amazing-article/

09/01/2024

In traditional riding lessons, the way to obtain more activity always seems to be “more leg”. But that’s not really correct. If you drive more, if you use stronger leg aids, you stiffen your leg muscles, which blocks your hip joints, which blocks the horse’s back and hind legs. Gripping or kicking legs cause the horse to hold his breath and to brace his rib cage, which also kills the impulsion and the back activity.

The secret to better engagement and activity is really not to do anything with your seat that can block or slow down the hind leg movement. “Take the foot off the brake, before you step on the gas” is something I used to tell students who took longe lessons on our horses in the US and weren’t able to keep the horses in the trot. Most of them would immediately kick the horse to keep him going, although they themselves were the reason why the horse fell back into the walk. The less you interfere with the horse’s back movement, the less you need to drive.

04/30/2024

04/18/2024

Christopher Bartle and Ingrid Klimke tell us:
Dressage training in a classical sense was all about training a horse to carry itself, to be able to respond to the rider’s direction, but not to lose its initiative and not to lose its ability to be a true partner to the rider.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/03/top-tip-with-christopher-bartle/

02/23/2024

💯

The late Dr Klimke told us:
“The horse should be happy and going softly with invisible aids. To achieve this the trainer must be very patient and disciplined. The aim is to keep your horse proud so that he accepts you as master. Don’t sit on him but influence him. The horse must carry us easily and only then will you achieve self-balance.”Share more of his wisdom, and enjoy a photo gallery illustrating his philosophy:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/07/wisdom-from-reiner-klimke/

02/06/2024

Reiner Klimke told us:
“The rider who is sitting a little bit forward, who doesn’t make himself heavy, is what I like. When I ride, I always try to not make myself heavy and bring the horse down, but to go with the movement and keep light, but as you can see from in photos from 1936, this is not one of our inventions.”
Read more and enjoy a picture gallery of Ingrid Klimke illustrating her father’s words:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/07/wisdom-from-reiner-klimke/

01/28/2024

Steffen Peters:
"To be true dressage, we go back to self carriage… Show the lightness, expression and beautiful self-carriage that is the essence of the sport. The way she carries herself… Don’t lean back, give her back a place to go, don’t contain her with your seat.”
Read more: https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2023/11/steffen-peters-at-mary-hannas/

01/24/2024

01/02/2024

12/21/2023

Something to never forget, something Bill Steinkraus said years ago---(Something like this)

"When you do well, people tend to praise you too lavishly. When you do badly, people tend to criticize you too harshly."

Basically "people", generally, don't know their ass from their elbow about much of anything. If you have a good day, good round, good show or event, good. Now go home and try to get better.

If you have a bad day, bad round, bad show or event, tough. Now go home and try to get better.

Ignore all the yada-yada-yada from the peanut gallery. What they think has no bearing on anything. Let THEM get on horses and go prove it if they know so damn much.

Do YOUR thing. It's the only thing over which you have control.

12/16/2023

“Christopher Bartle said he doesn’t train piaffe. Instead he uses the environment. “Use their hotness rather than shut them down. Or use exercises so the horse almost offers it by itself, like piaffe on a slight hill as the horse is responsible for its own legs. Then you put an aid on it and the horse associates the aid with piaffe. It really is about putting the horse in a situation that he works things out, and you give him time to do that.” Chris and his eventer/dressage horse, Wily Trout. Read more from this Master:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2023/12/christopher-bartle-master-coach-its-all-about-balance/

11/17/2023

We’re proud to announce another new partnership, this time with the EQUUS Foundation!

The EQUUS Foundation is the only national animal welfare organization in the United States that is 100% dedicated to protecting America's horses from peril and strengthening the bond between horses and people.

As part of our commitment to the equine and veterinary communities, we will be donating a $2,500 scholarship to a veterinary student as well as a product donation to the EQUUS Foundation’s Guardian charities who demonstrate a commitment to public transparency by their willingness to make comprehensive data about their programs, horse care practices, and governance available for public scrutiny.

We’re proud to support this wonderful organization and the incredible work they do! 💙💚

09/07/2023

Merck Animal Health is voluntarily recalling three batches of Banamine/Banamine-S (flunixin meglumine injection) 50 mg/mL in the United States, used for injection in cattle, swine and horses to the consumer level due to the presence of particulate matter. Banamine/Banamine-S (flunixin meglumine inje...

08/28/2023

Back in 1984, Nuno Oliveira told us: “Generally speaking, there is a tendency to break horses too quickly and too roughly, which results in irregularities of gait. How often does one see a sway back effect after the result of bad handling and riding?”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2022/08/nuno-oliveira-talks-about-competition-dressage/

06/14/2023

Wisdom from The Training Scale:
“As the straightness improves, the throughness of the horse will improve as well. The pushing capacity of the hindquarters can now go its way through the horse up to the mouth and makes the horse give to the pressure of the bit, bend the neck and chew on the bit.”“This is the natural way the horse achieves the correct “going through the poll”. It would not be correct to achieve this “going through the poll” by brutally pulling neck and head of the horse. Instead it must be the result of the hind legs pushing towards the quiet still hand. This is the only way to fix the neck to the wither. And only if the neck is fixed to the wither it is possible to link forehand and hindquarter.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2019/10/the-classical-tradition-the-training-scale-part-four-how-old-are-our-principles/