[Thelma]

i riding my icelandic horse to dressage and i got an idea to teach him passage and piaffe for more professional look! i think hes ready to do that...

how do i teach those things, all of those ideas on google are so "easy" but it can't be like that, it doesn't make sence you just let him trot and slow im down easy and when he does that you treat him, then you do it again and again until he is down to non-walking!!

or does it?

 

[sillybunny11486]

you're not ready if you dont know how to teach or execute the movements. i would get a trainer to show you on a school master first.

 

[luvmyperch]

There's so much work that comes before the upper level movments. It's not really something you can just "teach" a horse, like a trick. Find a good dressage trainer that can take you and your horse through the steps to that level.

 

[Scoutrider]

I agree with the above posts 100%. High-level dressage maneuvers are not tricks, but the culmination of years of training through the training scale. I suspect that the reason that the instructions that you've found sound so simple is because they assume a high level of training on the horse already and are omitting the assumed years of mental and physical training from the directions.

My advice to you would be to look into finding a good dressage instructor/trainer, and see where your horse does stand, and start taking things up from there. There is so much that goes into high level maneuvers, not only the training background of the horse, but his conformation and physical strength play crucial roles in the ability to perform things like piaffe and passage.

Looking professional is far more about the quality of the training than the quantity of "tricks" taught. :wink:

 

[xLaurenOscarx]

i taught oscar dressage from a book..

 

[Spyder]

i taught oscar dressage from a book..

Which book would that be ?

 

[xLaurenOscarx]

Which book would that be ?

diffrnt ones, on dressage

 

[Kayty]

Yep but is Oscar working 100% correctly?? Doubt it.

 

[ridergirl23]

Yep but is Oscar working 100% correctly?? Doubt it.

99% of any dressagehorse isnt working 100% percent correctly, they all have their little habits or problems. thats why no matter what level in dressage your (not you specifically,everyone) horse is you always have somethign to work on, lol which is what makes dressage fun i personally like to learn from my trainer, and read books just so that i learn even when im not at the barn.

 

[Spastic_Dove]

Im sure her horse works fine. As far as Piaffe, Passage, or other more high level maneuvers, I think one on one instruction is far more beneficial

 

[StormyBlues]

ditto to that ridergirl. Geof braces in the neck sometimes, and I've been working hard to get him off tha habbit and to help myself supple in my hands.
As for the OP I agree, if you are that ready, your trainer will help you get there

 

[xLaurenOscarx]

Yep but is Oscar working 100% correctly?? Doubt it.

i love positive things!
you've never seen him move or anything and your already prejudiced about him!

 

[Spastic_Dove]

Lauren, it's not that she's against your horse...Dressage is hard enough to learn in person and do correctly, it's more difficult trying to teach it to yourself.

 

[StormyBlues]

Yeah, Spastic is right.

 

[ridergirl23]

yup! spastic is right

 

[xLaurenOscarx]

right i just thought it sounded negative

 

[Kayty]

99% of any dressagehorse isnt working 100% percent correctly, they all have their little habits or problems. thats why no matter what level in dressage your (not you specifically,everyone) horse is you always have somethign to work on, lol which is what makes dressage fun i personally like to learn from my trainer, and read books just so that i learn even when im not at the barn.

100% being an exageration, I think you know what I mean. I'd doubt that the horse was consistantly on the outside rein, over it's back etc.


As far as piaffe/passage goes, it's not even so much the fact that it's quite difficult to teach, it's the muscle development required for the horse to be able to physically achieve the movement. Not every horse can piaffe/passage as well, a chunky little QH is going to find it a heck of a lot harder to get this level of collection than for say an andalusian which is bred for collection.
You can teach it on the ground, but again, the muscles required make it so difficult for the horse to support the majority of it's weight on it's hind legs that it's unlikely you're going to get a true piaffe unless the horse is one of those 'freaks' that is build to do it and offers it at a young age.

Dressage certainly isn't a sport for 'tricks' although it make look to be so to onlookers who aren't involved in the sport. It takes years and years of consistant, carefull and skilled training to take a horse to the point where it is able to perform such movements that require a huge degree of collection.

 

[Kayty]

right i just thought it sounded negative

No I wasn't having a go at you or your horse, I'm sure you've achieved a pretty good standard. I just know how incredibly hard you have to work each ride to progress to new levels and this most certainly does not come out of a book. A book can simply tell you one way of doing things, not every horse will react the same way therefore you absolutely cannot rely on a text to train a horse. It can send you on the right track, but you have to adjust things to suit your horse before it will work. The only way you're can do that is to ride as many horses as you possibly can, then you will understand that a book is not going to teach each of those horses how to 'do dressage'.

 

[xLaurenOscarx]

No I wasn't having a go at you or your horse, I'm sure you've achieved a pretty good standard. I just know how incredibly hard you have to work each ride to progress to new levels and this most certainly does not come out of a book. A book can simply tell you one way of doing things, not every horse will react the same way therefore you absolutely cannot rely on a text to train a horse. It can send you on the right track, but you have to adjust things to suit your horse before it will work. The only way you're can do that is to ride as many horses as you possibly can, then you will understand that a book is not going to teach each of those horses how to 'do dressage'.

k i know what ya mean.
aw i know deffintly all horses are different thats why a trainer would kind of put me off because one of mine used to try make me and my horse do everything her way rather then the way that was easiest for oscar

 

[Kayty]

Ah ok yeah fair enough. Trainers like that are a pet hate of mine. I'm very lucky to have one that has a number of tricks up her sleeve so if something doesn't work there's a pretty good chance she'll know something else that will. And on the rare occassion that none of her ideas work, I'll toddle off to a clinic and ask as many questions as possible. I went to one yesterday and even thought I wasn't riding I picked up so much advice. I'd certainly recomend going to clinics to listen in