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Dressage, from the French for training, pronounced to rhyme with massage, educates horses in being keen, biddable, agile and alive. Dressage, when done well, is seen as like a ballet for horses. Perhaps, this is so because ballet asks the same, flexibility, smoothness and vitality of its performers as does dressage of its horse and riders.

At its best dressage is a sport of beauty and is only possible when there is a true partnership with the horse and rider. Both the horse and rider must be fully in touch with each other and as such it can be seen as the pinnacle of team sport. Dressage, no matter the standard, enhances poise, agility, and compliance with the result that the horse is better at everyday jobs.

The roots of dressage as an activity hark back to the disciplines taught by Xenophon in ancient Greece. It was first recognized as an important equestrian pursuit during the Renaissance in Western Europe. The renaissance horse masters of Western Europe invented a series of training modules which have stayed fairly constant and provide the starting point for the training of the present day dressage.

Due to the formality of dressage, tack is usually black leather, although dark brown is seen from time to time. An English-style saddle is required for riding dressage, specifically a "dressage saddle" which is modelled exclusively for the discipline. Nowadays the saddle has lengthy and straight saddle flap, which as far as possible follows the contours of the rider's legs.

Dressage is practised in many countries and an element of competitiveness is satisfied with competitions being held in many of the countries. With dressage being elevated to an Olympic event at Stockholm in 1912, previous levels of training and riding were left behind. Within the Olympics today dressage is included with eventing and jumping, all three going together for the three day event.

For dressage a rectangular arena, 20 meters wide and three times as long is used. In addition letters are spaced out to highlight specific spots. Certain movements are to take place in the vicinity of specific letters. The ability of a dressage horse to readily react to the rider's guidance and execute complicated movements gracefully and elegantly will show the horse at the peak of development.

Movements such as the piaffe, passage, half-pass, pirouette, and tempi changes are what is required to succeed in competitive dressage. This differs from the movements completed in classic dressage, specifically with respect to the aires above ground that horses no matter how well trained struggle to perfect. The highpoint of any dressage competition is when the rider develops a routine to music that includes certain pre-determined movements and figures; this is called the Musical Freestyle. The requirements within dressage exclude "tricks" to be learned by rote; the point of training in dressage is for the horse to develop both in body and mind, at one with the natural development, and these tests are "pointers" to exhibit the achievement of stability, endurance and attentiveness his training has allowed him to reach.

I hope with this information you are sufficiently interested to look to learn more.

This Exercise article is provided by Articleteller - The Free Article Directory http://www.articleteller.com

Mary Jones is a prolific writer on dressage these can be found at myhorsenews.com/dressage

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A Brief Summary - Dressage

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