Albright Dressage

05/02/2026

🐴 DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS: Improve your position alignment and seat 🐴

To improve your self-carriage and alignment and deepen the connection to your seat …

Imagine the fascial current as a continuous circle of energy that is both uplifting and grounding. Fascia is an elastic, tensional network that connects all parts of your body. Visualize the energy of the fascial current running up the front of your body lifting the p***c bone toward the breastbone, going over the head, circling down the back to the shoulder blades, the base of the ribcage, through the seat bones and flowing down to the heels. This visualization will improve the connection of the seat bones and uplift and align the trunk over the pelvis, beautifully supporting you in self-carriage.

— Helen Fletcher

🎨 Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

04/17/2026

In 2019, the USDF issued a revision to the Dressage Training Pyramid, changing “relaxation” to “suppleness," Brenner Klenzman writes. The pyramid is a translation from the original German, where the word in question is Losgelassenheit, a term that does not directly translate to “suppleness.”

I majored in German in college, studied in Graz, Austria, and am a “new” rider, having started in my fifties. As I learn more about how to ride, this incorrect translation made me wonder: Have we in the U.S. gotten off track with the overall intent of the pyramid? Did we translate it incorrectly, and then revise that translation in a way that moved us even further from the original meaning?

Losgelassenheit literally translates to “being in a state of having let go.”

- Losgelassen is the past tense of loslassen, meaning “to let go.”
- The suffix -heit means “a state or condition of being.”
- The entire word literally means “being in a state or condition of having let go.”

Does this sound like “relaxed”? It actually feels closer to “relaxed” than “supple,” but even “relaxed” isn’t quite right. It describes a mental state of non-grasping, of letting go. It’s the absence of external anxiety, a state in which learning and performance can happen freely.

What stands out when comparing the correct translation of Losgelassenheit with “suppleness”? The original meaning is psychological, not physical. “Relaxation” was closer to the intended meaning, while “suppleness” moves even further away. “Supple” is purely physical.

The purpose of the pyramid, as described in German, is:

Basis der Skala ist die Zwanglosigkeit – die physische und psychische Entspannung –, die in jedem Stand der Ausbildung erhalten bleiben muss, um die volle Leistungsbereitschaft und Leistungsfähigkeit des Pferdes zu erhalten. Ein Verlust der Zwanglosigkeit hat meist auch einen Verlust des Taktes, immer den Verlust der Losgelassenheit zur Folge.

This translates to:

The basis of the scale is Zwanglosigkeit (freedom from tension)—both physical and mental—which must be maintained at every stage of training in order to preserve the horse’s full willingness and ability to perform. A loss of Zwanglosigkeit usually results in a loss of rhythm and always results in a loss of Losgelassenheit.

A literal breakdown of Zwanglosigkeit is also informative:

Zwang: force, compulsion, coercion
-los: without
-keit: state or condition of being
Zwanglosigkeit describes a state free from force, compulsion, or coercion.

While the USDF interpretation of the scale leans heavily toward the physical, the original intent clearly carries a psychological component. Looking more closely at the first three steps of the scale reveals a very different, and arguably more complete and humane, understanding of the pyramid.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2026/04/16/what-losgelassenheit-really-means-and-why-it-matters-for-the-training-pyramid/
📸 © Olivia Danielle Photography

04/04/2026

I’m writing this anonymously because, frankly, this isn’t about me. For those who feel they need a wall of credentials before they’ll listen, I’ll save you some time: I’m not a social media influencer, and I’m not a big-name trainer.

I’m a professional dressage rider—and a perfectly average one at that. Over my thirty years as a dressage rider, I’ve produced some great amateur horses, won some things, and coached a satisfying number of riders to victory laps at Regional Championships, US Finals, and the AECs. In the grand ecosystem of our sport, that makes me pretty underwhelming. But it’s exactly this averageness that gives me a front-row seat to the fracturing of our community.

Dressage participation is in decline. While we can blame the economy and “ride it out” (pun intended), there is a deeper, more painful issue: the widening chasm between the “Elite” and the rest of us.

When I started at twelve years old, that gap existed, but it was aspirational. We used to host barn parties to watch months-old VHS tapes of European championships. We dreamed of riding like them. Today, that inspiration has curdled into disdain. The “haves” and the “have-nots” are now so far apart that the top tier of the sport, the Wellington and Southern California circuits, feels like a different planet. What used to be a dream now feels entirely unobtainable, even in our imagination.

We need to talk about the term “grassroots.” I kind of hate it. The USDF, our GMOs, and the USEF use it constantly, but consider the imagery. Roots are underground. They are in the dirt, unseen.

This framing suggests that the majority of our riders exist only to be the “underground factor” that supports the flowers at the top. But we aren’t just the dirt beneath the elite; we are the lifeblood of the sport itself. In a world that increasingly values visibility, we need to stop acting like the heart of the industry should be content to stay buried and uncelebrated.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2026/04/02/the-dressage-chasm-reclaiming-the-middle-class/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

04/02/2026

https://chronofhorse.com/en/article/FEI-Sports-Forum-Dressage-Stakeholders-Tackle-Tests-Judging-and-Technology/

Ideas, assessments and statistics came thick and fast Monday, March 30, during the Fédération Équestre Internationale Sports Forum session on dressage and its four-year rule revision. While topics occasionally overlapped, stakeholders in a discipline long seen as resistant to ch...

03/24/2026

In Portuguese, the word Cavaleiro means more than horseman.
It means someone who lives with honor.
A quiet kind of authority.
Not loud. Not boastful. Just steady.

And that’s the truth dressage teaches, if you let it.

It’s not just about contact and cadence.
It’s about the self you bring into the saddle.
The self you sculpt through struggle.
The self that learns to ask, not force.
To notice, not demand.
To respond, not react.

Because when you spend enough time chasing collection, something changes.

You start bringing that feel into the rest of your life.
You relax before you snap.
You pay attention to energy, not just words.
You start to realize that control is an illusion, but awareness? Awareness is everything.

You become the kind of person who can hold big goals, without needing to prove it.

That’s what dressage gives you.
Not just better rides.
But a better way of being.

You don’t become a better rider to win in the ring.
You become a better rider to win in the world.

03/19/2026

Hi guys! Only me… but can you all do me one favour!? 🙃

Get one of these, or a rubber curry comb, and give your horse a good, vigorous groom. Not just a quick flick with the brush, but a proper 20/30 minute rub down.

Yes, coats are changing and it can help to lift the moulting hair and dander… but it is also for another reason — fascia.

I remember when I was younger being taught how to groom a horse. I remember so clearly being told how important it was to use a curry comb vigorously to stimulate the circulatory system, remove debris and moulting hair. I remember my instructor telling me that I hadn’t done it long enough, and making me put down other brushes and go back to curry combing.

Not that I knew it at the time, but this was so important. By using a curry comb, over simply a desheding tool and a brush, we are bringing circulation to the skin, fascia and muscles. This brings warmth, healing, and the break down of tight fascia. I can always tell when a horse has had a groom using this method vs. not!

So, let’s not forget the old school curry combing to promote a healthy coat but also release some fascia! 🤍✨

03/16/2026

Contact, a much discussed topic, especially currently, Jo Hinnemann explains it’s importance:“I really want to emphasize that a rider first rides a horse with the legs and seat; then come the rein aids, as a support to the seat and legs. These three things together subsequently determine the quality contact that leads to the complete harmony and understanding between the horse and rider.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2019/07/jo-hinnemann-on-contact/

03/08/2026

Posting this again for all of my clinic students that have been hearing about these. If you miss the live class, just look on the website for the recording.

Join the class tomorrow! https://www.susannevondietze.com/equi-chair-2026-circular-movements

Don't worry if you can't make the live call—recordings are uploaded within 72 hours! You'll be able to access the replay for one month or one year, depending on your current subscription level, giving you plenty of time to integrate these concepts into your riding.