Simple dressage exercises?

I am wanting to start doing a bit of dressage and was wondering what some very simple exercises to start with would be!!

Circles, straight lines, serpentines and transitions.

Good luck!

Lots of transition work, focusing on keping a steady pace, half halts, and really working on your position.

That made me giggle! Just a basic riding, huh. Lol! (and yes, I agree, not making fun here...)

True.

The problem is that without a good forward rhythmical relaxed gait nothing further will be perfected without running into some problems later.

This is the part that has no "wow look at what I can do" effect on others around you and where most people jump off the merry go round never to see the end of the ride.

You are right. And here is come the question though... I've seen lots of advices on doing lots of circles (which has a good reasoning behind it, so I don't argue here). However if the horse is not straight and forward to start with, wouldn't be much easier to achieve the straightness (and forward motion) on straight lines first? And when one has that in place go to the circles and serpentines to improve other "flows"...

P.S. OP, sorry for hi-jacking your thread a little...

Straightness/ crookedness was discussed...

Crookedness

The problem is in understanding exactly what straightness really is. It has nothing to do with working on a straight line as opposed to a curving one.

Straightness has everything to do with the horse being straight ( in that each part of its body aligns behind the part in front). It means in short that the hind leg matches the track of the foreleg when the horse is in motion.

This is why you have seen us write the horse is crooked when a shoulder falls in or out for the opposite hind leg is in fact deviating from the straight tract to the outside of the track made by the front leg. This can be because of weakness in that leg, an injury, crooked riding or a propensity of the horse to favor one side.

The simplest correction to crookedness is to sit as evenly as possible and drive the horse forward. Only if unusual circumstances prevail will the rider need to resort to more complicated corrections.

Thankyou so much guys that really helped!!! I am going for a ride today so I will try a bit of this out^^

I think figure eights would be good to practice if your going to start riding dressage.

Alright thankyou I will put it on my to do list!!! ;) ^^^^