Dressage is a competition in which horse and rider are judged individually against an ideal score, performing a specific sequence of movements in a specially designated arena. The complexity of the tests increases through many levels, and at the highest level is included as an Olympic event. Dressage requires precision and sensitivity on the part of the rider who works to school the horse to increasing levels of suppleness, obedience, and fluid movement. At high levels, and when set to music, as in the Kur, this is ballet on horseback. A judge's eye view of the moves required in a lower level dressage test.
Competition adds spice to the joys of horseback riding.
Winning requires practice, perseverance, precision, and patience. Ready for an equitation class. Note the nice straight line from the rider's elbow to the bit in the horse's mouth. This rider has riding boots with her short braces. Formerly she directed the Learning Disability Program at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, CT, and was an adjunct lecturer at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.