Biz Stamm shares some exercises designed to help your horse shift its center of gravity backwards, thus lightening the front end. (more…)
DRESSAGE
Dressage Spooktacular: Glow-in-the-dark pas de deux
Morgane Schmidt and her trainer, Seana Adamson, painted two horses with neon paint and then rode a pas de deux under black lights. Genius! (more…)
Maat van Uitert: Devon or bust!
Grand Prix dressage competitor Maat van Uitert is Devon bound. She updates us on her preparations. (more…)
Dressage: A tour through the Grand Prix Special
Have you ever wondered what goes through a Grand Prix competitor’s mind when they are performing a test? Our “Snowbird Diaries” columnist Maat van Uitert talks us through a recent ride. (more…)
Biz Stamm: Collection demystified
In which Biz uses a tiny plastic pig, a slinky and a live rabbit to explain one of dressage’s most sophisticated concepts. (more…)
Visualize This: Mentally rehearsing for improved show-ring performance
Is it possible to “think” your way to a better dressage score? Megan Rust shares a powerful technique she learned from her dressage instructor. (more…)
EN Today: Spanish Riding School opens its doors for the first time in 400 years
Kate Samuels reports that the Vienna institution is opening its hallowed halls to the equestrian public for symposiums and training sessions. (more…)
Brainteaser: Can you pass this ‘AP Dressage’ exam?
It’s good to mix things up sometimes. This dressage exercise from Katy Groesbeck will either make you a better rider or send you into a mental breakdown. (more…)
How to… Teach Your Horse to Piaffe
DQs make the piaffe out to be this holy grail of dressage training, attainable by only a select few. Whatever! Teach your horse to piaffe today using our simple, step-by-step guide. (more…)
Video du Jour: Keeping your horse happy
I like Lilo Fore. When she talks about dressage, she makes it sound fun and exhilarating–the premise of this video excerpt from the 2012 USDF Region 8 Adult Clinic Series. (more…)
Video du Jour: Spanish Riding School
“Horse ballet” is a phrase that’s gotten thrown around pretty loosely of late. But this performance by the Lipizzaner Stallions in Vienna is, truly, art. (more…)
A Lesson with Lauren Sprieser (with a special guest appearance by Naked George Clooney)
Recently, I had the opportunity to take a lesson with one of the hottest 20something trainers in the dressage biz, Lauren Sprieser. (more…)
Olympic Happy Hour: August 9
Throughout the Olympics, Horse Nation is capping off each day with a pint-sized synopsis of the most recent Olympic equestrian sporting festivities. Here’s your Happy Hour report for Thursday, August 9. (more…)
Olympic Happy Hour: August 7
Throughout the Olympics, Horse Nation will be capping off each day with a pint-sized synopsis of the most recent Olympic equestrian sporting festivities. Here’s your Happy Hour report for Tuesday, August 7. (more…)
Video du Jour: Olympic dressage dubstep
Dubstep + dressage = a match made in heaven. Check out this video compiled using footage from the first two days of dressage competition at Greenwich Park. (more…)
Let’s Discuss: Your Olympic dressage medal predictions
Is the home team going to hang onto the gold? Will Germany fight them for the top tier of the podium? Enter your predictions in the comments section below. (more…)
From Horse Nation to the USA Dressage Team, with love
You knew it was coming, you just didn’t know when. Presenting: The USA Olympic dressage team, Jib Jab-style! (more…)
Your Turn: In search of the perfect dressage mule
Bernadette Kilcer’s friend really, really, really wants to go trotting proudly down the center line… on a mule. Bernadette tells her story. (more…)
Olympic Happy Hour: August 2
Throughout the Olympics, Horse Nation will be capping off each day with a pint-sized synopsis of the most recent Olympic equestrian sporting festivities. Here’s your Happy Hour report for Thursday, August 2. (more…)
The Idea of Order: ‘The Adventures of Dressage Man’
This week, Morgane Schmidt hands the reins of her comic over to her un-horsey boyfriend, Louis. She apologizes in advance. (more…)
‘I Piaffed It!’: Stephen Colbert’s Dressage Training, Part 2
“After a lifetime of 20 minutes of training,” Colbert gets suited up and earns his horse-ballet tiara with a little help from former dressage Olympian Michael Barisone. (more…)
Stephen’s Dressage Training, part 1
Stephen Colbert kicked off his transformation into a rider of “horse ballet” last night, with some help from former Olympian Michael Barisone. Let the games begin! (more…)
Olympic Flashback: ‘Dressage proves no draw, just a bore’
Equestrian sport is a longstanding tradition in British culture, so London as an Olympic venue feels like a perfect fit. But Hong Kong, site of the 2008 Olympic equestrian events? Not so much. (more…)
Video du Jour: Speaking of dressage silliness…
Check out this riotous video of “Harold the Horse” freestyling it at the QLD Festival of Dressage in Queensland.
Olympics 101: Dressage
Between now and the Olympics, Liz Fletcher is going to be filling us in on everything we need to know to be an informed spectator. She kicks off her series today with a debriefing on dressage–the scoring, the schedule and the U.S. stats. (more…)