Dressage | Medium
To learn how to guide and bend a horse
Prepare your dressage session
Discover our dressage session ideas to improve your work with your horse! Filter the dressage exercise sheets based on your riding level and available equipment. Serpentine, half-volte, lateral movements, transitions... Explore a wide range of options!
142 sessions
Dressage | Easy
Get a nice and soft circle with good contact on the inside rein. When slowing down to walk, make sure your horse is straight and still has kept that forwardness and doesn't slow down more than necessary.
Dressage | Medium
This exercise relaxes your horse and, through its repetitive character, helps both of you concentrate, while preparing you for work in greater engagement.
Dressage | Hard
Ask the horse to vary the exercises while maintaining the same outline and pushing from the outside hind leg.
Dressage | Medium
To vary the trot stride length before and after the canter.
Dressage | Easy
Maintain a steady gait on the figure eight and perform transitions between the two poles.
Dressage | Easy
Improve accuracy by aiming for the center of the poles.
Dressage | Customizable
To be able to manage the horse’s bend, roundness, and accuracy of the track.
Dressage | Medium
To practice halting at the marker, riding a 20-meter circle, and lengthening the trot stride across the diagonal.
Dressage | Customizable
Improve the horse’s responsiveness, balance, and engagement through precise transitions and ground poles.
Dressage | Hard
To supple your horse, work on reactivity, engage the hindquarters, and improve the execution of both movements.
Dressage | Easy
Capture the horse’s attention and improve transitions.
Dressage | Medium
To achieve changes in the horse’s frame at a specific gait.
Dressage | Easy
Improve the direction and stride length of your horse
Dressage | Customizable
Canter over ground poles on the track, trot over ground poles on the diagonal
Dressage | Medium
Alternate between bending and straightening
Dressage | Easy
Master flexion, precision in transitions, control of aids, maintain a stable rhythm in all three gaits
Dressage | Customizable
Improve the quality of close transitions in balance.
Dressage | Customizable
Round the horse.
Dressage | Medium
Work on bending and straightness, reactivity, balance, and transitions.
With Appaloo Equestrian, find dressage session ideas to work with your horse
Learn, train and improve your dressage skills with our riding exercises, suitable for all levels, training areas and equipment setups.
Whether you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced rider, you'll find sessions with a difficulty level suited to you.
Whether you train in an arena, round pen or outdoors, you'll discover exercises adapted to your training environment.
Whether you have no poles or 10, no cones or 15, you'll find sessions that require exactly the equipment you have available — no more, no less.
Our search bar allows you to filter the results so they match your needs as closely as possible. This means you can find personalised dressage session ideas based on your level, training area and equipment.
Did you know that dressage is often described as the art of developing the horse's movements into an elegant and harmonious performance? This discipline is all about creating a true partnership between horse and rider. To succeed in dressage, you need to follow key principles such as relaxation, lightness and harmony.
Our dressage exercise guides
Through flatwork, you'll gradually develop a higher level of dressage with your horse.
We help you achieve your goals with our exercise guides, which you can follow almost like a recipe. Each guide includes a diagram so you can easily visualise the movements and arena setup required.
You'll also find a summary of the type of session, training area and equipment needed.
Once you have your diagram and all the ingredients for your recipe, it's time to get practical. Each exercise is explained in three simple steps: objectives, how to perform the exercise and potential difficulties.
The first section explains which key dressage fundamentals you'll be working on. These may include improving your horse's accuracy, suppleness, balance, bend or responsiveness.
The second section gives you detailed instructions for performing the exercise from start to finish, including the aids and actions you should use.
The final section highlights the difficulties you may encounter and explains how to overcome them if needed.
If you'd like to discover new dressage exercises in a different way and get a sneak peek at what's coming next, while interacting with us and the Appaloo Equestrian community, follow us on social media: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest!
You now have all the tools you need to improve your dressage, which is ultimately the foundation of every equestrian discipline!
And let's be honest: dressage also means seriousness, elegance and dancing with your horse. Not to mention the white breeches, the white saddle pad… and the sore muscles the next day!
Do you have exercise ideas for this discipline that aren't yet available on our website? We invite you to share them with other riders.
Simply click "Submit My Exercise" at the top of any exercise guide and fill in the form. It's simple, quick and easy ;)
Have a great dressage session with Appaloo Equestrian!
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