Dressage for Wellness Approach

The Dressage for Wellness approach is not “My” approach, it is an accumulation of years of learning from others.  My goal is to pass down my knowledge to others and to develop acropped-img_20180601_112332-e1533914675125 thinking horseperson–one that has confidence, has developed an understanding of the horse and puts the horse’s welfare above everything else.

You will learn:

  • to understand your horse and how they learn

  • what proper body posture is and how it will help keep your horse sound and healthy

  • to develop suppleness and balance in both body and mind

  • to foster a solid connection and a mutually respectful relationship with your horse

Dressage for Wellness focuses on the fundamentals and will give any horse and rider the foundation to go in any direction they choose.

A bit about the word “dressage” — I find that when one hears this word they immediately think of “competition” dressage.  However, I would like to point out that the word Dressage is a French word that simply means “training”.  The definition is, ” the art of riding and training a horse in a manner that develops obedience, flexibility, and balance”.  This is why I say, “The horse is not for dressage”  but  “dressage is for the horse”.

Dressage for Wellness follows a simple building block approach and is easy to understand:

  • The dressage training scale–it is my horse training Bible

  • Never train from fear

  • Understanding how your horse thinks, “why is he/she responding that way?”

  • Understanding the 10 dimensions of the natural asymmetry of the horse

  • The devil is in the details

  • BASICS, BASICS, BASICS; if you don’t have a good seat, hands, and balance, you cannot effectively train your horse

  • Emotional awareness and control

  • Continued education

  • Your horse comes first

Dressage for Wellness is for adults, kids, young horses, old horses, half pass lefthorses who are recovering from an injury or a horse who may have work limitations due to soundness issues.  Because my approach focuses on the fundamentals and basics, incorporating ground work, lunging, long lining and riding, it will benefit any horse and rider.  The Dressage for Wellness building blocks provides unlimited diversity in your daily work.

To learn more about my personal journey and how Dressage for Wellness was developed, please check out the Where it all began page.

To see Dressage for Wellness in action, be sure to check out the Photos and Video Gallery