Dressage--To Read or Not to Read

I'm a dressage book junkie. I admit it. My bookshelves are crammed with every possible dressage book, classics, out of print, and new releases.

I used to loan them out to anyone who asked. Not so much anymore because so many of them were never returned. What is it with people who don't think they need to return a book they've borrowed? Especially one that isn't available anymore.

I've often wondered how a rider learns to ride dressage without reading. There's so much to know, I don't see how it can be learned during a weekly riding lesson. I learned how to ride most of the movements in my head before I ever rode them on a horse because of my obsessive reading of dressage books. In theory, I think I could ride Grand Prix, if I could coordinate my body. Of course, reality is a different story, but I do know how to ride all the movements whether or not I've ridden them on a horse. Dressage is the one horse sport which seems to require an intellectual component, and many will tell you it requires an artistic component as well. Regardless, in order to ride dressage properly, you need to understand the theory. You can't just jump on a horse trained to Grand Prix and ride the movements.

Now I don't mean to stomp on anyone's toes, so if you think I'm wrong and your horse sport requires the same, please point it out. The next closest horse endeavor would be learning natural horsemanship, which requires an extensive knowledge or how a horse thinks and his body language.

I'll often be riding in the arena when my trainer is teaching another student. Often this student is an upper-level rider. Yet, when the trainer asks theory questions or quizzes the rider on basics, they haven't a clue how to answer the questions. It always blows me away. Dressage is such an intellectual pursuit. I make the false assumption that dressage riders are avid readers like me. Not true, I realize. Yet, if you don't get the knowledge from books, it seems you'll waste a lot of precious, expensive lesson time learning the movements.

Which brings a different type of rider to mind, the one with tons of theory knowledge and no practical knowledge. There's always at least one in every barn I've ever boarded. This person is usually smug and self-righteous. They spend most of their time grooming their horse or criticizing other riders behind their backs or to their faces. They rarely ride. When they do, they often have some phobia, such as being afraid to canter. You'll find them at horse shows, hanging out with their pals, who are just as critical as they are. I avoid people like this. Several years of showing a difficult horse have humbled me. I keep my mouth shut when I'm watching dressage classes, except for words of encouragement. Dressage is hard to do and until I've achieved the expertise of an Olympic rider, I'm not saying a word.

So back to dressage books. If you do feel the need to read and increase your knowledge of dressage theory and riding, here are some of my all-time favorites:

The Dressage Guide: This book examines how to ride the movements in the Training through Second Level tests, including the basics. It's not for everyone, but I loved it. The author quotes the classics then interprets the masters' words into modern-day English. For example, when discussing how to ride Shoulder-In, the author quotes paragraphs from several classics then give their own opinion on how to ride a shoulder-in.

The Beginning Dressage Book: I learned how to properly lunge a horse from reading this book. This is the best beginner's dressage book I've found. The author goes into detail on the proper seat and dressage basics in easy-to-understand and read language.

That Winning Feeling--I love this book. There's really no theory in it, but the message regarding the power of positive thinking is priceless.

Centered Riding--I'd like to post some of Sally Swift's visualizations on the arena walls. This book is crammed full of great information.

The Dressage Formula--When it comes to theory, this is one of the best.

Riding Logic--A classic and a must for every dressage rider.

Practical Dressage Manual--Another classic

Dressage Questions Answered--I love the format of this book. It literally does answer most of the basic dressage questions.

Next time, I'm going to cover a different type of dressage book, more of the artistic bent.

Gailey Update: I've been back in the saddle for a week. We've walked, trotted, and cantered. The swelling is still there, and she's stiff, but she is sound.

Reflections on 2009

This isn't really equine-related, so I hope that's okay. Is anyone with me that Christmas seems to have lost its meaning?

I used to love Christmas. These last few years, I've dreaded it. Christmas is for families, and my husband and I don't really have any immediate family to celebrate with.

I couldn't get in the mood, no matter what this year. I've talked to so many people this year who didn't even bother to decorate. The only reason I decorated is because I had the barn Christmas party at our house. Next year, I don't believe I will. I'm not looking forward to taking the decorations off of a twelve-foot tree. Ugh... I think next year we'll go to Hawaii for Christmas. We went to the San Juans for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time. Treating ourselves to a trip sounds a lot better to me than buying each other a bunch of gifts we don't really need.

I managed to get a cold the day before Christmas. I'd planned this wonderful, old-fashioned Christmas Eve party, which to my surprise about a dozen people accepted my invitation to attend. I purchased prime rib, which I've never cooked before but thought I'd give it a shot. A friend was bringing his karaoke machine, and we planned on singing Christmas carols. It sounded like great fun to spend the evening trying to recapture the original spirit of Christmas. Unfortunately, I was too sick so I had to cancel. We did end up having a nice Christmas day and dinner with very good friends and my stepson and his fiance. I even felt well enough to enjoy it.

As I'm sitting here, reflecting back on 2009, I had to remind myself of the good things that happened this year. All in all, it truly was the best year ever for us.

My husband and I were not affected directly by the economic crisis. We are fortunate to have very good jobs. I'm happy to have both of my stepsons back in our lives after long absences for both. I'm thrilled with our new "man cave" addition. I'm glad my husband quit smoking. I'm grateful we were able to take several trips as we love to travel. I'm appreciative of our good friends and their support over this past year. They say people come into your life when you most need to learn the lesson they have to teach. That is the case here. Also, we both have our health.

I'm also thankful that the mystery behind my husband's identity theft has finally been solved, as best as it can be. Now there's a post for another day, even though it's not horse-related. It's certainly a lesson regarding protecting your identity, as the consequences of his identity theft are still with us in many ways.

As far as writing, The Gift Horse was published in February. It went into print in July and is available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble (online). I really loved writing this book, and I hope you'll love it, too. I'm toying with several projects in 2010. I may try my hand at a suspense novel set in my hometown of Oroville, Washington. I'm finishing the last edits on Fourth and Goal as we speak, then I'll be submitting to several publishers. I have tentatively agreed to write four more books for my current publisher and need to get started on those.

Horse-wise, this was a very different year for me. I didn't show in one show. Of course, up until her bout with cellulites Gailey was going better than she ever has. I hardly rode at all, which is strange for me, maybe once or twice a week. As a result, I put on ten more pounds. Dressage really does burn calories. I'm also considering that I may not have a dressage-sound horse when all this is said and done. Which brings up a dilemma I haven't dealt with in years. Do I want another dressage horse? Will I just bring her home and trail ride if that's the cards fate hands me? After building the man cave, we really don't have any expendable income left for another show horse. So this may be something I'll need to face in the future.

Gailey is feeling good. She's been turned out every day and is leaping and bucking around her paddock. I'm going to ride her on Monday for the first time in over two months. At first, I'll just walk her. Her leg and hock are still swollen but not painful. I've had several people tell me that she needs exercise at this point to get the swelling down.  So that's what I'll tackle next. We both need the exercise.  ;)

Last, but not least, I'm thankful for the success of this blog and all the people we've met because of it, as our readership continues to grow.

Please send me a bio and picture so we can all get to know our readers for our Readers Write Saturdays. You don't need to use your real name, if you'd prefer not. We'll welcome anything that's appropriate, such as an equestrian-themed piece of writing, a story about a horse in your life, or just a bio about you. Just send me an email to jamidavenport@att.net.

This has been a rambling post, but I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great 2010!!!