Dressage, literally "the schooling of an animal," is a systematic and sequential method of training a horse and rider from the very first step of basic work to the polished elegance of the finished pair. The object is to produce a mount that is a pleasure to ride, confident, willing and gymnastically able to do the tasks required of him.

Guidelines for developing a horse in dressage are established by "tests," compulsory series of movements designed to monitor correct progress of horse and rider, which gradually increase in difficulty through each "level."

Levels for competition in United States are Training Level (the most basic), First, Second, Third and Fourth Levels. Tests for these levels are composed and provided by the American Horse Shows Association and change every few years. The more difficult International levels are Prix St. George, Intermediaire and, the highest, Grand Prix de Dressage and Grand Prix Special. These tests are determined by the Federation Equestre Internationale and performed worldwide.

Dressage competition takes place in a low rectangular arena 20 meters by 60 meters. No one knows where the "letters" came from or the reason for their peculiar sequence, but they mark precise points in the ring at which, to which and from which movements are performed.

Each movement in the test is given a numerical score of 0 - 10, with overall impressions of horse and rider also graded. These marks are totaled for official placings and converted to percentages, making it possible to compare scores class to class, level to level and competition to competition.

Building Horse Power

Beginning dressage asks that the horse move freely forward in each gait, walk, trot and canter, with absolute purity of rhythm. He is asked to move on straight and widely curved lines, with equal suppleness to the left and right. Changes from gait to gait; 'transitions' require balance and obedience.

All of dressage is built on these basics. Each level, and each test within the level, places progressively more difficult and complex demands on the horse, but always within the framework of the basic gaits and in movements natural to the horse at liberty.

At each level the 'frame' of the horse changes. At the beginning he takes only light contact with the bit and is encouraged to carry himself 'long.' Gradually he is 'collected,' indicating a simultaneous willingness to accept more weight on his hind legs and to come into the bridle, bringing his face more near the vertical. He becomes more compact, lowering his hindquarters, raising his back, lightening his forehand, arching his neck. Ultimately it is this lightness and strength of carriage, which permit total freedom and grace of movement, exemplified in the Grand Prix figures.

If the gaits are the foundation, the movements are the building blocks of dressage. Called school figures, each leads logically to the development of the next most difficult; the 20 meter circles and eventually 6 meter circles called voltes. Lateral movement (the horse moving forward-sideways) begins with leg-yield at First Level. This prepares the horse to do shoulder-in, which is the first step to half-pass.

Lengthening and shortening of the stride in each gait lead to collected, medium and extended walk, trot and canter. These 'accordion' movements help develop the VERY collected movements of the International levels: the piaffe, a highly collected, cadenced, elevate & majestic trot on the spot; the passage, a measured, very collected, very elevated and very cadenced trot; the pirouette, a complete revolution of the horse cantering in place with his hind feet.

Some VERY collected figures are so difficult they are not incorporated in the tests but are executed in freestyle rides by the rare horses that can do them. They include pirouette in piaffe, half-pass in passage, double pirouettes in canter.

A favorite of spectators is the flying change of lead at the canter which, done close together, resembles nothing so much as skipping. The highest AHSA levels and the FEI levels require flying changes, a 'tempi,' every fourth, then third, then second stride. Intermediaire II and Grand Prix require these changes at every stride.

The rider communicates his desires to the horse by means of 'aid.' These are not signals, cues or tricks, but a subtle combination of influences that stimulate the horse's natural physiological and psychological responses. The rider uses his seat, legs, back, weight, hands and mind in varying degrees to ask the horse to do his bidding. The more accomplished the rider, the more he is able to communicate with the horse in complete rhythm and harmony, to the point that the aids become almost invisible.