I am saying things about dressage which I think have never really been said

I am saying things about dressage which I think have never really been said but they are the things that are there. We each carry our own version/brand of dressage with us. This is all that we can share with our horses.

There is a day to day level found in what we do with the horse, but there is always a deeper level also present. In this daily journey we take from one instant to the next, there is a quality nascent in time we spend with the horse itself. We, then through our experience, can choose to see another levels to respond to.

The practical aspect of this is in the deepening of the quality of the moment to moment connection which arises from the greater view. To deepen our dressage in the moment to moment level is to expand ourselves and the relationship with the horse.

I suspect all upper level trainers know this on some level but it is not likely that they would say it. This is because training at the upper level is rather a solitary undertaking. One’s students would likely not catch this and besides many good horse trainers are not always the best communicators to their students.

Many times so called upper level trainers are just as much at a student level as their students are. Assuming that they are really at a teaching level, other trainers at a similar level would rarely openly talk with each other about the work.

The importance of this idea is that once you “get it,” you will look at the work differently. The gaps in the aids start to have more value than the aids in many circumstances. You must look into what you are doing rather than looking outwardly for new “tricks.”

What makes your dressage yours is to examine your own work much closer. Find the gaps. The horse become the mirror of your own work. The truth of your own work is the reflection you see in the horse. Look closer and be closer. This is a most rewarding path and good dressage.