So you want to get involved in Western Dressage, but aren’t sure if you have the proper tack and attire. Not to worry! You’ll be glad to know you don’t need special tack, equipment or rider attire in order to show in this new discipline.

Your Western saddle, headstall and reins may be used. Riders can perform the tests in either a standard western snaffle bit, which is defined in the current USEF rule book, or in a standard western bit which is also defined there.

I am so excited to do this series on western dressage. I am positive this new discipline following classical dressage with a western horse is going to give the western industry its next step in developing better horsemen. Dressage promotes “Riding Well” and “Being the Rider Your Horse Deserves!”

Dressage education is based on a scale of training where a solid foundation is laid down and then added to as the horse progresses. The image of a pyramid is aptly used for this scale with rhythm as the base and collection at the top.

Often, riders who are unfamiliar with the discipline of dressage think of it as a pretentious style of riding that requires boring repetition to achieve the end result of riding pretty patterns. There are probably some of you reading this right now who are thinking, “What does dressage have to do with my discipline of Western Pleasure?”