Photo courtesy WDAA You may have heard of a growing new equestrian sport that has a place for every horse and every rider: western dressage. It blends western horses and traditions with dressage principles, and it’s really no surprise to see these two come together. Both western riding and dressage are based on solid horsemanship and timeless riding. The Basics of Western Dressage “Western dressage is a sport that follows a method of training the horse,” explains U.S. Equestrian Federation ‘R’ western dressage judge Joanne Coy. “The horse learns the fundamentals of how to be athletic. With the ..read more

Photo by Shelley Paulson When you think about dressage, you might conjure up an image of a fancy horses piaffing in the ring and a plethora of blue ribbons. But you might want to think again: While the sport of dressage does have a competition aspect, dressage at its core is simply the basics of training a horse, meaning every horse can do it! Basic Training “The actual word ‘dressage’ means training,” says Reese Koffler-Stanfield, a Grand Prix dressage rider and U.S. Dressage Federation (USDF) gold, silver, and bronze medalist based in Kentucky. “It really helps you learn how to make your hor ..read more

No matter what kind of riding you do, dressage work can make it better! Correct dressage practice makes a horse stronger, more balanced, more supple, and more comfortable to ride. Two main dressage tips —keeping your horse straight and riding accurately — are two things any rider can practice in schooling sessions to make their horse more fun to sit on. Photo by Elizabeth Moyer “Dressage work helps all horses,” says dressage trainer and judge Katy Barglow. As a national examiner for the United States Pony Clubs, Katy works with many youth riders who are earning their Pony Club certifications ..read more

Andie Sue was recently named reserve overall winner of the U.S. Equestrian Youth Sportsman’s Award for 2021 (Pictured on Aniko at Tryon). Photo by Sharon Packer My name is Andie Sue, and I’m a 16-year-old para-dressage rider. I first rode a horse when I was about 2 years old, so I have been riding for as long as I can remember. I didn’t have a riding leg (see below), so it was easier to just ride bareback, which I am very thankful for because it developed my seat and balance. I started to ride every day with my mom. We played “follow me,” and I would trot along a few horse lengths behind her ..read more

Photo by Leslie Potter Dressage is all about being in tune with and riding your horse in a way that helps him build proper muscle and improve your communication. While it might seem intimidating to watch grand prix superstars float around the dressage ring, learning how to get started in dressage is possible for every horse and rider, especially when you apply the ABCs below! “A” is for Accuracy A lot of riding is based on being accurate. Remembering your jump course and nailing your strides is a test of accuracy and uses very similar skills to accuracy in the dressage ring. Dressage tests ar ..read more

Horse Illustrated presents the latest information and daily updates from the Tokyo Olympics on equestrian sport for the three disciplines of dressage, eventing, and show jumping.  Schedule U.S. Dressage Team U.S. Eventing Team U.S. Jumping Team U.S. Paralympic Team   Current Olympic and Paralympic Medal Count Scroll down to each individual sport for Official Results. Gold Dressage Team: GERMANY Dressage Individual: JESSICA VON BREDOW-WERNDL AND TSF DALERA BB (GER) Eventing Team: GREAT BRITAIN Eventing Individual: JULIA KRAJEWSKI AND AMANDE DE B’NEVILLE (GER) Show Jumping Team: SWE ..read more

Roxanne Trunnell and Dolton during the fight for a freestyle medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Photo by Liz Gregg/International Equestrian Federation American Roxanne Trunnell broke the 9-year-old Grade I Paralympic Freestyle record today in Tokyo in a stunning Freestyle medal competition, which also saw Great Britain’s Sir Lee Pearson take his third gold of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. The Highest-Scoring Podium Grade I was the only Grade to have three athletes with a score of over 80% on the podium. Trunnell scored 86.927% on Dolton to break the previous record of 84.750% set by Sophie Chr ..read more

Team USA with their team bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Photo Courtesy U.S. Equestrian The United States Para Dressage Team finished with the bronze medal at the conclusion of team competition at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Kate Shoemaker and Solitaer 40 were the final combination to record a score for the team, earning a 71.825 percent from the ground jury in the FEI Grade IV Team Test to Music to help the team finish on a final total of 224.352. This is the best team finish for the U.S. Para Dressage Team at a Paralympic Games in the history of the program. Three U.S. combinatio ..read more

Roxanne Trunnell and Dolton in the Grade I Team medals competition. Photo by Liz Gregg/Courtesy International Equestrian Federation With day one of the para dressage team competition complete, the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics team medal winners remain impossible to call. On current standings, any combination of The Netherlands, Great Britain, USA, Belgium and Denmark could take a place on the podium, and in any order. All team riders from Canada and Singapore have now competed, leaving Canada at the top of the leaderboard with a combined score of 211.699, ahead of Singapore with 200.792. How It Work ..read more

Individual Grade I medal ceremony at Equestrian Park, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. (l-r) Rihards Snikus, who rode King of the Dance (LAT) to silver; Roxanne Trunnel, who rode Dolton (USA) to gold; and Sara Morganti, who rode Royal Delight (ITA) to bronze. Photo by Liz Gregg/Courtesy International Equestrian Federation The second day of para dressage competition in Tokyo saw the remaining two Grades, I and III, battle for the individual test titles and the important qualification slots for the upcoming Freestyle To Music test, and it saw Roxanne Trunnell capturing a gold for the United States a ..read more