6: An effective dressage rider knows success happens one ride at a time, day in and day out, remaining
consistent and realistic in their daily goals and expectations.
The work is a continuum, each ride building upon the last. There are no short cuts. You cannot buy it,
you have to make it with consistent, correct work, realising nobody can do it for you. The amount of
success you have as a rider is directly related to the amount of effort you put into it. Rome was not
built in a day and neither is a Grand Prix rider/trainer, nor a Grand Prix horse. Get up, dress up, show
up and put in another day’s work. Then do it again, and again and…again. The river of trying never
stops flowing.
7: An effective dressage rider has the courage to be creative in their problem solving, the courage to
go beyond the text-book and think independently.
An effective dressage rider innately understands that every horse is different. Every rider is different.
Every moment is a new moment, a new opportunity to create quality. An effective dressage rider
has the courage to experiment and try something different in approaching the problem, all the while
adhering to the core premise of the Training Scale, placing the mental and physical well-being of their
equine partner first and foremost.
8: An effective dressage rider knows they must be an athlete in their own right before they can expect
their equine partner to be one.
The foundation of the Training Scale is the rider’s seat. Every rider strives to be in control and command of their physical being, able to independently apply the aids effectively in both calmness and
chaos. A dressage rider uses every single muscle known to man, and then some! It is imperative that
we cross-train, building our own strength, endurance and dexterity away from the horse. Cross-training keeps the muscles ‘fresh’ ie; not locked into the sole muscle memory of the ride itself but rather
neutral, able to break old ‘muscle memory’ response patterns easily if required. Poorly trained horses
effect the muscle memory of the rider just as poor riding effects the muscle memory of the horse.
Cross-training assists the rider in both developing athleticism and neutralizing undesirable muscle
memory.
9: An effective dressage rider knows there is only one direction to go: forward!
Horses are built to move, they are born to move and most love to move. Effective riders know how to
use this base instinct in the horse as a key ingredient in the work each and every day, much like flour to
a baker. As it is in life, so it is in dressage: if all else fails, GO FORWARD! In this way, an effective rider
creates a fresh moment, a fresh opportunity to try again toward understanding and success.
10: An effective dressage rider works for their horse, not vice versa.
Great riders do what they do for the sake of the horse… and nothing else. ‘dressage’ encompasses all
that we do from the moment we rise in the morning and enter the stable aisle to the final night check
at the end of the day. Highly effective riders know they must stay close to their horses each and every
day in order to build the intimacy required for the Grand Prix. They know their partner’s moods, their
idiosyncracies, their likes and dislikes. The transition from the aisle to the school is best seamless: true
partners from the stall to the aisle to the schooling arena to the s