Leah Stephen Dressage

09/15/2025

My students should go to this class! Alamo Dressage Association members can audit for free!! Wow!

09/05/2025

Check this out -- the "Friesians and Friends" USDF recognized competition, November 7-9 in Texas! And remember, scores earned in dressage and/or in-hand classes at USDF recognized competitions can be applied towards a variety of FSA programs and awards, including: Elite Books, Breeding Approval, the Star Mare predicate, the FSA National Inspection & In-Hand year-end awards, and the FSA High Performance year-end award. Let's support this show with a great turnout of Friesians and Friesian Sporthorses!

08/09/2025

It begins with a reverence for the horse, a desire to understand them. Dressage is a beautiful art!

The Art of Producing the High-Level Horse

In today’s world, where goals are king, results are worshipped, and egos often take the reins, we’ve lost touch with something essential: the art of the journey. The quiet, thoughtful process of developing a horse, not just for performance, but for partnership.

Too often, the pursuit of high-level training becomes a checklist of movements, an external badge of status. Grand Prix as the pinnacle. Piaffe, passage, pirouette all proof of success. But we rarely stop to ask: Success by whose measure? And at what cost?

Because if a horse’s well-being were truly at the centre of our goals and not just a footnote in our mission statements our training would look radically different. It would move slower. It would feel softer. It would sound quieter. And it would be far more beautiful.

Producing a high-level horse is not about simply teaching them the movements required on a score sheet. It’s about cultivating a horse who is sound in body, stable in mind, and joyful in spirit. It’s about shaping one who offers those movements willingly, expressively, even playfully. Not as a result of pressure, punishment, or the clever placement of aids that corner them into compliance but from a place of physical readiness and emotional trust.

And this……….this is where the art comes in!

Imagine dressage as a painting. Each training session is a brushstroke, delicate, deliberate, layered. The impatient artist might throw out the canvas at the first mistake. But the true artist? They work with the paint, blend it, adjust it, stay curious. They know that beauty often lives in the imperfection, in the subtle corrections, in the layers of time and care.

The same is to be said in riding: the art lies not in domination, but in dialogue. Every stride, every transition, every still moment is part of an evolving composition. The rider’s aids are not commands but questions; the horse’s responses are not obedience but answers. Together, you create something greater than the sum of its parts.

The highest levels of dressage are not the goal. They are the byproduct of a thousand conversations, a thousand small moments where the rider listens, adjusts, supports, and receives. When done well, Grand Prix is not a performance. It is the horse’s voice, amplified through movement.

To produce a horse to that level is to understand that their body is not a tool, but a home. Their mind, not a machine, but a mirror. Their spirit, not a resource, but a companion.

This is not just training a horse
It is stewardship.
It is art
And it begins not with ambition,
but with reverence.

08/09/2025

I haven't posted on Mattias in a while- he is working on one-tempis and is getting stronger in piaffe. We are working on rhythm, and well, everything else. I am so proud of my boy! 🥰🤩

Mattias is getting stronger at the Grand Prix moves!

07/28/2025

Order your shirts for Region 9 Champs! The design is beautiful this year! 😍

WEAR YOUR SUPPORT FOR REGION 9!

Our limited edition T-shirts are now available for pre-order.
Online ordering available here: https://usdfregion92025.itemorder.com/shop/sale/
Pick up for free at Championships or have it sent directly to your home for a fee (add the shipping option to your shopping cart.)

Shirts are red with a white design created by Alicia Schordine.

A limited number of T-shirts will be available for purchase at Region 9 Championships. Shirts must be ordered by September 7.

Those picking up shirts at Championships should look for Bess Bruton at the entrance to Arena One at the show!

07/20/2025

Join us at Retama to get great advice from amazing judges! Ride a Test, get advice from the judge, then ride it again! All for only $25!!

06/15/2025

It is about the partnership! ❤️

You are not the missed flying change.
You are not the wonky shoulder-in, the judge’s 5.5, or the test sheet that looks like it was edited by a disappointed English teacher.

You are more than your mistakes, more than your failings, your failures, or your “shortcomings” (which, let’s be honest, often just means your horse didn’t feel like pirouetting today).

Your goals, your scores, your outcomes — they are not your identity.
They are data points. Not definitions.

When we start measuring our worth in percentages or ribbons, we risk turning something soulful and nuanced into a performance review with hooves.

Because at the core of dressage isn’t perfection — it’s partnership.
It’s showing up, rain or shine, for a creature that doesn’t speak your language but somehow understands your soul.

So breathe. Laugh. Cry if you need to.
But remember: the arena doesn’t determine your value.
It reveals your willingness to keep learning, adjusting, and showing up with grace — even when your inside leg is ignored like a politely worded email.

You’re not just training a horse. You’re sculpting a deeper self.
And that… isn’t something you’ll find on a score sheet.

06/10/2025

I absolutely love this and teach this! Wonderful read!! ❤️

Author is believed to be a William Steinkraus
Read , let it sink in, then read again :

“No. 1. Get your tack and equipment just right, and then forget about it and concentrate on the horse.

No. 2. The horse is bigger than you are, and it should carry you. The quieter you sit, the easier this will be for the horse.

No. 3. The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus, you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it.

No. 4. It takes two to pull. Don't pull. Push.

No. 5. For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward.

No. 6. When the horse isn`t straight, the hollow side is the difficult side.

No. 7. The inside rein controls the bending, the outside rein controls the speed.

No. 8. Never rest your hands on the horse's mouth. You make a contract with it: "You carry your head and I'll carry my hands."

No. 10. Once you've used an aid, put it back.

No. 11. You can exaggerate every virtue into a defect.

No. 12. Always carry a stick, then you will seldom need it.

No. 13. If you`ve given something a fair trial, and it still doesn't work, try something else—even the opposite.

No. 14. Know when to start and when to stop. Know when to resist and when to reward.

No. 15. If you're going to have a fight, you pick the time and place.

No. 16. What you can't accomplish in an hour should usually be put off until tomorrow.

No. 17. You can think your way out of many problems faster than you can ride your way out of them.

No. 18. When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around.

No. 19. Don`t let over-jumping or dull routine erode the horse's desire to jump cleanly. It's hard to jump clear rounds if the horse isn't trying.

No. 20. Never give up until the rail hits the ground.

No. 21. Young horses are like children—give them a lot of love, but don't let them get away with anything.

No. 22. In practice, do things as perfectly as you can; in competition, do what you have to do.

No. 23. Never fight the oats.

No. 24. The harder you work, the luckier you get."

Credit believed to be William Steinkraus