Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Dressage Engagement. Retraining a schoolmaster. Walk/halt. S4 dressage i...




"Would you like a horse that is more comfortable to ride and easier to influence?  Than you are ready to practice, engagement.  If you ride dressage, you have heard that word.  What does it mean?"


All it really is, loosely defined, is that a horse is in an uphill balance and is carrying most of it's weight on its back end (sitting) while staying connected.  This is, as you probably know, easier said than done. Now you can watch a horse that is re learning how to stay engaged and see the what happens. In this series Susan is asking Darrien, an upper level dressage horse, to stay engaged in the walk and halts.   Darrien is not sure how to stay straight between the rein and legs from side to side so Susan is adding the "Two Steps to Connection" to check if he is really connected on which ever side she is focused on.  

Can you see how Darrien changes as he become more relaxed and allows Susan to keep him "engaged"?  

No comments:

Post a Comment