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Part 1: Introduction to Dressage
Dressage is one of the most important and widely
practiced equestrian sports. The general
principles of dressage date back to the Greeks but
modern dressage has its roots in the renaissance
period. Frederico Griscone founded an equestrian
academy in 1532 where he trained horses to perform
complex and spectacular movements. The sport
became popular with nobility and dressage
developed from a kind of circus performance to the
dressage we know today.
In dressage, the
rider aims to teach their horse to respond to the
slightest aides thus giving the impression that
the horse performs the movements of his own free
will. The horse must do this fully balanced or
poised with its legs relaxed. Dressage is
important for all riders, as a horse is a far
greater joy to jump, hunt, or hack out on if he is
able to balance himself. Unlike in the past,
Dressage is an open sport today. Professional and
amateur riders alike on all breeds of horses are
competing side by side. The modern Dressage show
circuit is very structured. There are numerous
levels of Dressage, Intro Level - FEI Grand Prix.
Each level has it's
own set of tests, one to four tests per level,
with required movements and patterns the
rider/horse combination must perform. These
movements are scored by a judge on a scale of 1 to
10, ten being the highest. There are marks given
for each of the movements of the test. Then there
are what they call collective marks at the bottom
of the test. These marks are:
 Gaits - freedom,
regularity of movement.
Impulsion -
desire to move forward, relaxation.
Submission - attention, willingness to accept bit.
Riders position
and seat - correctness and effectiveness of aids.
All this is tallied
and is divided by the total number of possible
points to arrive at a percentage score for the
ride, the highest percentage being the winner.
Each test within a level and each level gets
progressively more difficult. The level system is
for the purpose of allowing the horse time to
develop the right muscles to continue on to harder
and more strenuous movements. If you were to rush
a horse to fast through the levels you could
easily cause his legs and back to break down.
The level system
was developed by committees of the AHSA - American
Horse Show Association and the USDF - United
States Dressage Federation. Dressage training is
helpful for any breed of horse regardless of the
discipline he/she is in. The objective of Dressage
is to obtain harmony between horse and rider. The
horse should be relaxed and should use his back by
pushing off with his back feet instead of pulling
himself forward with his front feet. He should be
"on the bit" which means chewing,
frothing, and not leaning on the reins. He should
overtrack meaning that his back foot should step
beyond the foot print left by the front foot. His
face should be vertical.
A great team
(horse/rider combination) should appear to
function as one unit, performing the movements
effortlessly. It should appear as though the rider
is just sitting there and the horse is executing
the movements all on his own! This is a very
simple explanation of the Dressage objective but
gives you a general idea of the goals involved.
Any horse who achieves these objectives will be
easier to handle and more relaxed and as a result
will perform better no matter what discipline he
is in. 
Part
2: Dressage Levels
Part
3: Dressage Terminology
Part
4: Movements in Dressage
Part 5: Advanced Movements in
Dressage
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