RC Dressage

09/19/2025

09/10/2025

The movement of your horse’s hind legs can be broken down into the following three phases: thrust, reach, and carry.

Each phase is important, and each one impacts the next, e.g., the more weight the horse takes during the carry phase, the more power he can produce in the thrust phase.

This knowledge is useful because it helps you in timing your aids and influencing the horse.

👉 EXAMPLE 1

During a leg-yield, the horse’s inside legs are required to step in front of and across his outside legs.

Therefore, if you apply your inside leg aid at the same precise moment as your horse lifts his inside hind leg (into the reach phase), then you can encourage the horse to step further under and across with that leg.

This will give you a greater degree of crossing during the leg-yield and a more sweeping stride.

👉 EXAMPLE 2

If you want to encourage your horse to take more weight behind, then apply your half-halt just as the horse’s inside hind leg is coming down to the ground (the carry phase).

At this moment, you can encourage your horse’s inside hind leg to take more weight.

👉 EXAMPLE 3

The horse’s canter stride starts with the horse’s outside hind leg. Therefore, to make a smooth transition from trot or walk into canter, apply your canter aids as your horse’s outside hind leg is in the reach phase.

This means that as that hind leg touches the ground (the carry phase), instead of it being another step of trot or walk, it will be the first step of canter.

This also encourages the horse to reach further under with that hind leg, producing a more uphill transition.

Give it a go!

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09/10/2025

There are eight key mistakes horse-and-rider combinations tend to make as they progress with shoulder-in through the levels. Top dressage judge Janet Foy offers advice on how to fix these common shoulder-in faux pas.

09/09/2025

good description from "howtodressage.com"

08/23/2025

Renvers, also known as haunches-out, is a lateral exercise that improves your horse's flexibility, strength, suppleness, and straightness. However, unlike leg-yield, shoulder-in, travers, and half-pass, renvers is a movement you won't find in many dressage tests, which can lead to it being overlooked in training.

It's the mirror image of travers, and it's a difficult movement to position correctly and, therefore, tests and improves your coordination and ability to influence your horse's shoulders and hindquarters.

Renvers can be ridden in collected walk, collected trot, and counter-canter.

To position your horse for renvers, you can either:
👉 Ride shoulder-in on four tracks and then reverse your horse's bend.
Or
👉Ride leg-yield with your horse's hindquarters to the walk and then ask your horse to bend in the direction of travel.

08/19/2025

When riding corners, you should only ride them as deep as the smallest circle required for the level at which your horse is currently working.

For example, if you are working at British Dressage Introductory level, the smallest circle you’ll be expected to perform is 20-meters. Therefore, the corners you ride will be fairly shallow, not much deeper than the arc of a 20-meter circle. Elementary horses are expected to negotiate 10-meter circles, so the corners you ride will be correspondingly deeper.

This rule ensures that your horse stays relaxed and well within his comfort zone. He’ll be able to maintain the correct rhythm as he moves through the corners without variance in the tempo. He’ll also be less likely to lose his balance and fall onto his inside shoulder or his forehand, and he won’t swing his quarters out in an attempt to evade a degree of bend that is beyond his capability.

However, this rule is temporarily broken if you are preparing to turn down the center line or ride across the diagonal. In which case, you may need to ride the corners fractionally deeper.

08/13/2025

In this Ask the L, Aviva Nebesky explains why riding correct corners is crucial for your success and what judges expect to see from you and your horse through the levels.

08/09/2025

Dressage Excellence Part 1: Olympian Sue Blinks examines the qualities that contribute to rider success at every level.

07/30/2025

One of the worst positional faults is that of inconsistency!

Many riders neglect their position while practicing at home, and they flop around in the saddle. When it comes time for a competition, they suddenly sit up bolt upright and try to adopt the perfect position. This drastic change can make their horse think that someone else is riding them!

Achieving a correct position that is both secure and flexible requires many hours of practice. If you want to have a good position during your dressage test, it is essential to focus on maintaining a good position while riding at home.

07/24/2025

FEI 5* judge Janet Foy explains how attention to detail can earn you those extra points in the show ring—from making a strong first impression to riding each movement with precision, these helpful hints will turn your test from average to great.

06/22/2025

USEF 'S' dressage judge Janet Hannon explains what it means for a horse to be "quick behind" and why this quality is important in developing dressage horses.