Cynthia Spalding Dressage

08/18/2026

I really love what he is saying.

Brett Parbery and Nat Foxon dissect a different 'Parberyism' each week, a concept gleaned from Brett's decades at the top of the sport of dressage.

08/13/2026

#50 is here after a break to attend to my health issues! I will also upload it to the blog.

08/13/2026

# 50 Learning to Teach

In 1958 I had an excellent start as a rider from the Ecuadorian Military Police. I was competing by 1959 after intensive training. When I returned to the US, there were very few dressage riders in South Florida. I had no intention of being an instructor at first. I wanted to be a good rider, and that was it.
I started riding horses for people in my teens, and eventually I was asked to explain what I was doing when I rode. All my training had been in Spanish, so finding the right words in English was very difficult. I read lots of books in English to help me with the correct terminology, but it was not enough.
I learned to express myself with mental pictures and off beat descriptions of what I felt. To explain to riders the need to ride every stride, I could say "stir the gravy to get the lumps out " , or to convey the softness and throughness feeling I might say " he has to let your aids go into him like he is a marshmallow, not like an avocado... an avocado rolls away from your aids and remains the same shape, the marshmallow lets you change it's shape".
My riding has always focused on softening the horse's body. I might use restraint on the reins to get the horse's midsection moving, but I never used the reins to pull back. I would walk beside the horse and not allow the rider to pull the horse's head backwards by me holding the bit and keeping walking or trotting at a consistant speed. I called it head speed... and the head speed should always stay the same, and the hind end should speed up to engage.
I would run next to the rider and pull his leg off and on to show him about intermittent aids and to develop feel for the timing. Eventually I learned to long line the horse with the rider on board, and holding on to the long lines to feel what I was doing, and how the horse would respond to correct or incorrect aids. I could use the lunge whip to create the forward a rider might be to afraid to ask for, and control the horse from the long lines so no one got hurt.
I used to think that anyone could be a good rider, just like any horse can do dressage, just some better than others. But I kept failing to get riders to progress as fast as their horses. It occurred to me that controlling a horse is much easier than controlling yourself. Whether it is controlling your body or your mind - riding is about mastery of oneself.
I was now on a mission to learn about people. How they learned, how they handled information and concepts, how they handled fear of failure, whether it was fear of injury or embarrassment.
I read books on teaching.. teaching tennis, teaching piano, teaching martial arts, I learned about different learning styles. I discovered that I liked to teach with physical touch and mental imagery, which worked with the sensory riders. I experimented with a more academic approach with handouts and book chapters to read for the printed word learners. I used music to develop consistant tempo control and breathing for those that were auditory processors. I rode demos for those that learned visually.
I had my students do phycological tests to learn more about them; the Meyers Briggs, the Eneagram, the color tests, the Herman brain function tests...anything to learn how to teach them more effectively!
I studied anatomy of humans and equines to learn what body types would benefit from what system. People who were long waisted had different problems than short waisted riders. And men took a different approach than what would work for a woman.
It was after my back repair that I became a better communicator since I was not going to ride every horse at every clinic. I used my long lining skills still, but I had to find a way to, essentially, teach a feel using words. I developed even more mental pictures and strange descriptions. For example; squeaky toy hips to get people to let go and follow the horse, greasy arm pits to describe allowing the body to move through the arms, the exoskeleton idea of that support comes from all the outside muscles on your body - not the inside ones, the doggie door idea that your back and shoulders are the framework to hold a flexible doggie door of your hips that let the horse's back move through easily...until you firm up your hips and make thd doggie door not move and the horse stops or slows down. I would say hold your hands Iike you have ice cream cones in them...don't drop the ice cream!
I would explain that on the bit is not leaning on the bit, and that it makes no sense to expect your delicate disks to "absorb" the horses movement when your huge ball and socket hip joints are better equipped to both allow movement to go through, or restrict movement by stilling and absorbing movement.
So, I taught for about 15 years or so for free just to learn how to do it. Safety was my first priority, and in my whole career, I have never had a student break anything during a lesson.
I taught pony club, Doctors wives, and trainers. I learned from everyone and I got better. Eventually I was traveling out of state to do 3 day clinics 50 weekends a year. Almost all of the clinics occurred because someone saw me ride. Once in a while it was from referrals. I taught for 30 years without a business card or any ads. It was totally word of mouth or seeing me ride.
I think my biggest draw was that I never had the perfect rider's body. I'm 5'1 and thickly built. I never looked the part and I think that gave many people the confidence to sign up. I have some students that have been with me for 40 years or so.
I have been lucky to have been able to find the kind of students that I can help. I have always tried to find the talent in my students for their benefit, not mine. And although they have been winners in the show ring, they realize that we do this for the benefit of the horse.. he is not our "equipment for winning"... he is our partner, our friend.
My achievement as an instructor was being named an outstanding instructor by the American Riding Instructor Certification Program.
My achievement as a rider is that people wanted to learn from me, and that my horses were always calm and supple partners.

07/03/2026

Checkout the new post # 49 That's not MY Instructor.... in my blog! You are sure to get a chuckle out if it!

Cynthia Spalding Dressage Journey

Cynthia Spalding, a recognized expert in dressage riding, showing, training, and riding instruction, shares her insights from her 68 year journey of learning Dressage from horses and instructors.

06/28/2026

I just uploaded number 48 to my blog.. Lessons I learned from my Parents.

Cynthia Spalding Dressage Journey

Cynthia Spalding Dressage Journey

Cynthia Spalding, a recognized expert in dressage riding, showing, training, and riding instruction, shares her insights from her 68 year journey of learning Dressage from horses and instructors.

06/16/2026

As you might know, I've created a blog about my journey to become a dressage rider. It can now be found at Cynthia Spalding's Dressage Journey at blogspot.

It begins in 1958 in Ecuador, and so far has 46 entries about things I learned from trainers and horses over the decades. As well as overcoming injuries that made me start over.

I will put a link for you at the end of this page, as it will not be on my dressage page anymore to make it easier for me to write and easier to find for you as well.

There is a way to print the entries, if you should feel the need to make a book out of them for your selves.

Don't expect fancy editing, and all typos taken out. It is as real and honest as I can make it for you.

Cynthia Spalding Dressage Journey

Cynthia Spalding, a recognized expert in dressage riding, showing, training, and riding instruction, shares her insights from her 68 year journey of learning Dressage from horses and instructors.

06/10/2026

# 46 Coin Again

In the late 60s, I was asked to come teach a lesson at a big barn. The husband wanted me to come help his wife with her horse. Their horse was a huge ottb that was very inconsistent. At times he would be really lazy and at others, he seemed crazy.

The horse was the most stunning horse, he was a deep red chestnut with four high white socks, and a big wide blaze. He was chunky with a short wide head and huge eyes! He was the most stunning tb I had seen. His name was Coin Again.

Tacking him up was like giving a cat a bath, he wiggled everywhere, he snorted, pawed, and kicked out. He was just beside himself with angst. He didn't seem to be mean, just really nervous and a bit angry.

Right as we got him tacked, the trainer came hustling over, and with an angry voice, he said that we couldn't ride because the horse had not had his vitamin shot. I was only 18, and still, I knew something was weird about the whole situation. The trainer was angry and stated that their agreement was that she had to schedule her rides with him, and not just show up.

The woman said that the horse was much calmer after his vitamin shot, and that we should wait for a half an hour. We did, and the horse was totally different. He was sleepy, dull, and didn't look around, even when the stable dogs ran up to him. It was my first experience with someone drugging a horse.

I told them that I suspected the vitamin shot was actually a tranquilizer. They confronted the trainer and he kicked them off the property. They brought the horse to my place, and quickly discovered that the horse was way too much for the novice wife to handle without his "vitamin" shot.

They ended up giving me the horse, and we became friends. The wife never came to watch me work with Coin, but the husband always did. Interestingly, they were divorcing, and he had bought her the horse during the process.

Life is strange. Years later I saw that trainer giving shots to his horses at a show. I was braiding horses at shows to finance my showing, and I was in the showbarns very early in the mornings, so I saw a lot of things people were not supposed to see. I did report him to the drug tester at the show. Nothing seemed to happen to him at the time, but eventually he was caught and suspended for a while.

So, Coin Again was another of my gift horses. I got him detoxed and he became a fun ride. A few years later, he actually became a lesson horse for beginners. He loved kids, so I sold him to a friend that taught kids. Coin loved the hugs he got from kids that were just happy to be around a horse!

Coin Again never had to be drugged again. It took a lot of hairy rides to teach him that no one was out to hurt him, but underneath all his angst he was a really sweet horse... a kids horse. I only have super 8 film of him, unfortunately. I really need to get my films digitized.

06/04/2026

# 45 Making Sense Of It All

The journey to understanding dressage is often a twisted ball of contradicting information. Not everyone has access to a quality trainer to teach them for decades with a consistant system. Often we have to rely on taking instruction from traveling clinicians, or travel abroad to work with someone who can dedicate years to teach us consistently. We will have to hit the books and learn academically what a movement should feel like. I have heard it said that teaching dressage is like explaining what a peach tastes like without ever tasting one!

The few lucky ones are able to ride an advanced horse, and work with the person who trained it. The horse can teach you feel, and the trainer can teach you technique. That is the fastest way to learn to ride dressage... and it still might take decades.

Riding a dressage horse is not the same as training a dressage horse. Do not be fooled by people riding horses trained by others who promote themselves as trainers. Dressage means training, so to be a good rider it also means that you need to be able to train.

Many of the top trainers in the world actually don't show, so you might not find your instructor in the show ring. But then, some great trainers do show, so check them out first.

There are different methods of training, and sticking to a method can yield good results and be less confusing than hoping from one instructor to another who is perhaps using a different system.

You might be told that a supple mouth is paramount, while another instructor says the noseband needs to be tight to keep the mouth still. One might say to ride with a very long stirrup and keep your legs off the horse, and another says to have a good bend in your knee and keep calf contact. One says to arch your back, and another says to push your pelvis back and brace your back.

A young, tall instructor might not understand how to teach a short older person. Instructors with long limbs will tell a short person to shorten the reins, and then complain when their short arms are too straight. Some instructors want a rider to hold the reins with a fist and use the wrists, others want straight wrists and flexible fingers.

Most of the older books were written by men, for men, so many of the body positions recommended do not work for women.

I started comparing information in books when I was about 11, after having a consistant coach for 4 years. I compared what Podhajsky said against what the German Federation said. I read the United States Calvary manual. I read Froissard, Seunig, Blake, Wright, Littauer, Jackson and many others. Later I found more information in books written by women. All this reading helped me understand when to use the instructions I was given by different instructors, and what to save for later. I have over 2500 books on my shelves, and all of them are important, even if I don't use the techniques they write about... they are tools in the toolbox.

I have decided that almost all techniques can have their place, depending on what you are trying to do. There are books showing you how to force a horse into a dead subservient broke horse (if that is what you want) and others showing you how to relax a horse's mind and body into willing participation. It is all out there for the learning.

The most important thing is to know what you want to have in a horse partner. If he is hot to the leg, you need to close your legs on him, if he is lazy to the leg you need to take them off. If he is afraid of contact, you need a steady hand and arm, if he is heavy in the contact, you will need to be flexible in your fingers, and loosen the cavasson.

It is the correct application of the knowledge that makes the difference. So, in reality, it is the constant assessment of the horse, his mind, his sensitivity, his understanding or lack thereof, that dictates what you will use. So listening to the horse will tell you what to do. Instructors will tell you how to do it...and books will often tell you why you do it, and when.

You cannot blame an instructor for teaching what they know, it is up to you to put the information to proper use. You cannot blame the horse for being difficult...he can only speak with his body. It is up to us to listen to his quiet complaints and not ignore them until he needs to shout it out with dangerous behavior.

05/23/2026

# 44 Driftwood

Living on the coast most of my life has given me plenty of opportunities to reflect on life. I've always noticed shells, and especially driftwood.

Driftwood on the beach is just water scrubbed wood...but Driftwood in a shop is valuable and expensive. The people who pick up the Driftwood are promoters. They understand proper positioning.

As a rider, you can remain on the beach, or you can position yourself properly to give yourself the ability to advance.

A fish will not grow large in a small tank, it will need a large tank to fully develop. So being a small fish in a large tank is better than being a large fish in a small tank.

When I was training in South Florida, I was in a relatively small pond. I produced but was not promoted. I become a good producer and was noticed by the big pond people.

I became the trainer at Mile High Horse Ranch, who was owned by Vanda Werner, a Trakehner breeder and importer. Being surrounded by wonderful horses and people who had been Olympians and Hall of Fame football players was so inspiring.

Vanda had been married to the Skiing Olympian, Buddy Werner. Buddy was killed in an avalanche. His sister, Skeeter Werner, was also a skiing Olympian. Skeeter was married to Hall of Famer, Doak Walker.

I can't tell you how amazing it was to have Vanda give me top horses to ride, with Skeeter and Doak grooming for me at the Steamboat Springs show! Everything in Steamboat Springs is named after the Werners. I have a Sports Illustrated magazine with all of their photos on the cover. I was in a VERY large pond!

Driving a big horse trailer up Rabbit Ears pass as a flatlander is daunting to say the least! But it failed in comparison to being in the huge pond of greatness. It was amazing how much they understood about competing!

People talk about having imposter syndrome, and feeling like they don't belong, or aren't good enough. I have never felt that. Everytime I jumped into a bigger pond it always seemed that I had found my people.

When I went to the USET Screening trials on a free horse that had cataract surgery and pulling my horse trailer with a F100 truck, barely able to climb the hills, my foot wrapped from a broken ankle, I felt at home. I was inspired by the quality of the riders and their horses. I was proud to be there.

My son put it well, he said "some people are busy make excuses for not being where they should be, and others are busy working to be more than they should be".

05/22/2026

# 43 Silly Sally and Reina

When I lived in Oak Hill, in Florida, we had a neighbor, Jim. Jim was an odd guy. He was practicing his quick draw and shot himself four times with one bullet! It went into his hip, out his hip, into his thigh, out of his thigh, into his calf, out of his calf and into his foot! He proudly told this story to anyone who would listen.

One day I was riding by his house and I watched him fall off a red mare over and over. He was trying to train her to be a roping horse, but every time he would try to throw the rope, she would swing around on her haunches, run off in the opposite direction and he would fall off. He tried going faster, and she would just turn around faster!

After a while of watching, I said that she doesn't want to be a roping horse, does she? He called her a bunch of names and declared her useless. So I asked what it would take to buy her. He replied a nickle ninety eight - with a hateful expression on him.

I told him that I had $125 at home, if he would take it...he handed me the reins, took off the saddle and said it's a deal. I was to pony her home and he would drive by to collect his money!

I did pony her home, and gave him the money and his bridle, and he wrote me a bill of sale. I was happy that she wouldn't have to suffer his anger anymore.

I started riding her along the edge of the many sod fields in the area. I discovered that although she had a nice jog trot and a nice long trot if I posted, she absolutely did not have a slow canter! It was a dead run or nothing with her, but she could do a hair pin turn at full speed! I named her Silly Sally.

I decided to try my hand at barrel racing. I bought Martha Josey's book and set up some barrels. She did not wrap around the barrel like I had seen and read about, but boy, was she fast and quick. I worked hard to stay with her, and got used to the speed somewhat. So I entered the rodeo barrel races.

We started winning, and I started traveling to rodeos out of state. It was in Quitman, Georgia, that I was approached by the police. It seems that the mare was a famous barrel horse, stolen right off the grounds in Quitman, Georgia!

I learned that I was not a barrel horse trainer after all! I had my bill of sale, and the cops knew no one would be stupid enough to show up at the very show grounds she was stolen from, if they were the thief! I gave them Jim's info, and the owners had their brand inspection papers, so I handed Sally over. They did say how great she looked, and how happy they were that she didn't end up in a bad place.

So I called Jim and told him what happened and that he owed me $125. He yelled..."OMG you took her to Quitman?!"

When I got back home, he was already out on bail and I went into his house to get my money, which he said he didn't have. I saw a roll of money rolled up in a rubber band, so I said, what about that, pointing to the roll?

He grabbed it up in a flash and said "you don't want that stuff", and said "look around in the yard and see If there is something you would like." His yard was a collection of junk. Junk cars, bathtubs, all kinds of stuff. But there was a dog, chained to a rustedout car chassis. A Doberman, skinny, full of ticks, and evidently mean as all get out. Jim had been pushing her feed bowl to her with a stick. So I took the dog as repayment.

Getting her to my truck was like a scene in Hatari, with both of us leading her from each side while she growled the deepest, meanest growl I ever heard. When she saw my truck, she drug us to it and jumped in the front seat!

She stopped growling once she was in the front seat, so I slipped in beside her for the drive home. I sweet talked her all the way home, hoping she would not attack me, and thinking how dumb it was to not to have chained her to the passenger door.

I stated calling her Reina, and when I got home, she would not come out of the truck. I just fed her in the truck, and the next day she was out, looking for me. It took a while to get her collar off, she growled and grabbed my hand everytime I touched it. But eventually I got it pryed off and a new softer one put on.

Reina turned out to be the best dog, ever. She was a one person dog until she passed after years of being my most loyal protector. She would not let anyone touch me... never bit anyone, but she would put her hackels up and growl like a tiger, and she could send chills down your spine with that growl. She would stand still in a ready to pounce position, and never had to take a bite!

I tried to find out who she was, and where she belonged, but I was unsuccessful. So she was mine forever, it seemed. Jim went to jail for counterfitting. I never had to testify in court. I was happy to have Reina, I'm sure the cops would have had to shoot her.