Whats dressage?

Question

in horse terms ya know

Answer 1

its stupid

Answer 2

I compare dressage to horse ballet!  It teaches horses complicated and difficult moves in responce to very subtle cues.  It is fascinating to watch! It is truly an athletic accomplishment for a horse and rider.

Answer 3

Dressage (a French term meaning "training") is a path and destination of competitive horse training, with competitions held at all levels from amateur to the Olympics. Its fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and appearing effortless. For this reason, dressage is occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet."

Hope this helps...

Answer 4

It's a little hard to explain. It's not literally as such, but it is called Dancing. Dressage is the dance out of most of the disciplines. It's a course filled with many steps and moves that is hard to train and well-trained dressage horses are very costly. Usually ranging from $6,000 to $35,000 dollars. It's quite majestic to watch.

Answer 5

Dressage (a French term meaning "training") is a path and destination of competitive horse training, with competitions held at all levels from amateur to the Olympics. Its fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and appearing effortless. For this reason, dressage is occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet."

Answer 6

Both of the other 2 answers are good ones, but they don't really define what dressage is or what it is used for. I am a classical dressage enthusiast myself, and I have a mare that I am currently training who I hope to show later in the summer. ( She is an Appendix QH mare, and a retired polo horse.)

Dressage is one of the world's oldest horse sports- in fact, it tends to vie with polo for the honor of being considered THE oldest horse sport in existance. It is unique in that it didn't start out as a sport- dressage was invented and developed in the military as a means of training horses and riders for war. The world's first great coach, if you want to call him that, was a Greek philosopher, soldier, statesman, and diplomat named Xenophon, who lived and died 400 years before the birth of Christ. Considered by most historians to have been the founder of classical horsemanship and equitation, Xenophon was the first to document and describe the classical principles of horse training and riding. He wrote an early work on the subject that is still used today at the great riding schools of Europe.

Through the centuries, dressage continued to evolve primarily as a means of training horses and riders for warfare- all of the movements in today's sport have their origins on the battlefield. As the sport and system of training evolved, so did the places where it was taught- and several of those are still in existance today. Among the most famous are the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria, the Cadre Noir in France ( in the southern part of the country) the Reit Institut Von Neindorf in Karlsruhe, Germany, and the National Studs in Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. The British also have facilities for dressage scattered throughout their country. The Spanish Riding School is renowned worldwide for its famous Lippizaner horses- and they are known for the famous leaps and jumps that they do in the public performances. These moves, which are called the "airs above the ground" are the most difficult and demanding movements in the sport of dressage, and with one or two exceptions, are not used in modern competition. All of the movements were developed for and used on the batttlefield- that is the whole purpose for them.  

Modern dressage emerged as a sport in the early part of the 20th century- it was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1912, along with the sports of eventing and show jumping. Gradually, the sport became very popular, and it continues to be so today, as people have realized that it is the foundation of ALL riding- there is NO sport involving horses, other than flat racing, steeplechasing ( racing over fences) and harness racing, that DOES NOT use dressage techniques or principles. Even the Western "cowboy" sports, such as barrel racing, calf roping, pole bending, etc., use dressage to teach the horse manners, steering, and stopping. Reining, which is a sport involving patterns that are ridden at speed and often to music, is the Western version of dressage- some might even call it dressage in a Western saddle. The spins, roll-backs, sliding stops, and patterns are all based on and require the use of dressage techniques.

Dressage tests are frequently ridden to music, and sometimes there can be as many as 8 horses and riders in an arena at one time. This is called the Grand Quadrille, and it is common at places like the Spanish Riding School. When a rider and horse are alone, this is called a "Kuer" and it is like watching ballet. If there are 2 or 3 riders, then the ride is called a pas de deux or pas de trois, respectively - and both of these terms are borrowed from ballet ( they mean a dance for 2  and a dance for 3 ) and if there are 4 riders, then it is called a Quadrille.  

Dressage is a lovely sport- very formal, and very exciting to watch when it is presented the right way. Watching a musical ride ( which is also sometimes called a musical freestyle) is always entertaining and fun, because one never knows what the rider and horse will do in advance. They have a series of required moves, yes, but they can do them in any order they choose, and they can also perform each movement more than once if they wish to- and they will get scored for both, with the higher score taking precedence. I have always enjoyed this element of unpredictability. Dressage is also a universal sport in that any horse or rider can do it and benefit from it- and contrary to popular belief, one does NOT need to be independently wealthy to participate. The only thing one needs is the knowledge of how to ask the horse to do things, and a willingness to learn and grow. So come out and try it some time if you are interested. You'll enjoy it. I hope this answers some of your questions.