Sympathy and Dressage Robots

Dressage riding is a dull and graceless pursuit when it does not primarily aim at satisfying the basic principles of good horsemanship.

Sympathy towards the horse is a first essential if we wish to preserve his enjoyment of life and his personality. Not all riders, unfortunately, possess this quality. It does not occur to these riders that nature designed the horse to move swiftly over great expanses of land and they become ill at ease whenever the horse shows exhilaration at feeling the turf under his hooves. For these riders, dressage is an object in itself. Fearing loss of control, they bridle the horse in tightly and never allow him to take an interest in his surroundings. They never trust him to take care of himself and to adopt a natural position suitable to the requirements of self-preservation; their ideal is a dreary, subservient dressage robot.

Udo Bürger
‘The Way to Perfect Horsemanship‘

It's very easy to get locked into a pattern of work with the horse, doing daily drills inside a riding arena. Particularly when the weather is poor or footing isn't ideal outside.

As we transition into spring take stock of the footing outside and make a point to get out of the arena, let your horse stretch himself and take responsibility for his own balance. How does it change the quality of your work when you return to the arena?

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