A good warm up routine is valuable, whether you are about to school your horse for your latest test in Western Dressage, or are just heading out for a trail ride. Your horse needs a pre-exercise warm-up routine to help loosen and limber up his muscles. A warm-up also prepares the horse’s mind for the work you will be asking him to do–whether it is schooling, trail riding, pleasure riding, or showing.

PALM PARTNERSHIP TRAINING ™ Building a Partnership with Your Horse There are so many training...

Now that you’ve gotten into Western Dressage, you’re eager to do well. But what are the best ways to improve your horse at his current level and move on to advance to the next level?
As you ride each day, make a plan before you get in the saddle. You are teaching your horse every time you work with him, whether you are taking an actual lesson or not. Be sure he’s learning something positive!

When it comes to practicing your dressage test, you can use a “call person” or memorize the test. The choice is yours. The length of a dressage test can be very intimidating to remember, but I think it is always better to memorize the test.

One of the best things about dressage is that it builds upon itself and every step is based upon a training pyramid. When you understand all the “building blocks” in this pyramid, you increase your ability to achieve your goals.

In Dressage, it is tradition to receive score sheets from the judge. Horse and rider are judged on each component of the test; a score and comments are recorded. Each element of a test will be scored and most elements will have a comment from the judge.

So, you and your horse have been training in anticipation of entering your first Western Dressage show. But how do you know when you’re actually ready to compete?

This is a question of confidence. Your instructor or coach should be realistic and give you advice on whether or not you are ready to compete. If you don’t have an instructor, a video camera is your best tool to see yourself ride. Watch for willingness and smoothness from your horse when you are riding. This will give you a better perspective to whether or not you are ready to compete.

Keep your Western Dressage horse in top health by paying close daily attention. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That old saying especially applies to your horse’s health and safety. You can head off many potential problems—or catch them early—by doing a daily wellness check. When you do a daily check, you can often catch the “little things” before they turn into serious, expensive issues.