How come there aren't many people..?

Question

who are teenagers and do dressage? I'm fourteen and I LOVE dressage. But I only know a few other people around my age out of a LOT who are even interested in it at all. Even some that are eventers just take occasional dressage lessons because they have to do it for an event.

Then all the people who really don't care just say, and right in front of me, dressage is too easy, it's boring. It's like they haven't even tried to do real dressage.

I know it's "easy" when you have a horse that will drop it's head down from a little jiggling with the reins, but that's completely different from riding your horse from back to front and having them gather themselves up and really use their body!

Answer 1

It's not easy at all, first of all! It's as "easy" as any other discipline... pretty easy to just sit there when you have a schoolmaster horse, but if you actually want to look good doing it, it takes a lot of skill!



It's prohibitively expensive for most teens. Most people who do English start riding hunters/jumpers/eq because it's comparatively cheaper and you don't need as fancy of a horse. Mom and dad would rather have their kid do something cheaper like trail riding. Dressage trainers (and horses, and tack, and everything) are very expensive! Most teens don't have that kind of money.



Second, there's no bragging rights to it. To the untrained eye, all dressage riders look the same... but it's easy to tell who can jump higher, who can go faster, etc.



Third, there's not much thrill to it- it's about precision, control, and finesse... NOT the type of things most teens are into!

Answer 2

Oh, I completely understand! I'm 16 and I'm a dressage rider also. A few of my friends say that dressage is 'boring' and 'easy', like you said. Most of those people who say that don't understand the concept of the dicipline, and they don't want to take the time to learn and train.



I've done dressage for two years now. :) I haven't changed my mind once about the dicipline. There should be more teenagers riding actual dressage! I ride a Percheron Paint cross, and the progression is just..so much fun, I find. =)

Answer 3

Ketra,

Don't lose heart. Most professional riders in any discipline who are successful recognize the value of dressage training. The real problem is that it takes TIME to make a dressage horse or dressage rider. So many riders now will say, "OMG, balance my gelding? Sheesh, I paid 10 grand for him. I'll balance him! Just let me get my cathedral bit and spurs..."



So how exciting is it to spend six months perfecting your horse's walk? Well, if you are trained to feel the real difference, if you recognize the details that make a superbly trained and balanced horse, then it's exciting. If you can't distinguish a piaffe from a western pleasure lope (some days....), and if your answer to lateral work is to kick the snot out of your horse until he jumps sideways so you can say, "See? He does it!", then probably dressage is a waste of time.



Keep your positive attitude about dressage-- you will be recognized by those who matter, and the rest can go hang!

Answer 4

its not a spectacular looking as flying over a jump. Dressage is more exacting, more training. Face it, once you learn to jump and got that down pat, you don't really NEED a trainer anymore, they just happen to be nice to have. Dressage is 'training' and thats endless, and requires somone else to watch to critique, and takes tons ofyears to get to the higher levels.

Jumping doesn't take as long.

Dressage is viewed as 'prissy'

thats why there are 'dressage queens' and not 'jumper queens'

but what they don't know or realize is that if you have a good dressage eventer horse, your jumps are better because the horse has more control over its body and foot placement and is more submissive to your cues.



dressage isn't for everyone. somepeople, just can't hack the pressure. also, its a test. what teenager normally likes taking a test?

Answer 5

OH MY GOSH, you are my new best friend! :D



I haven't yet seen another person on Answers who rides real dressage!



I'm a fifteen year old. I have done mostly hunters, but I'm starting to do combined training and the dressage makes a huge difference. I ride at two barns: at one, the trainers are from polo and Olympic eventing, and at the other, it's a normal hunter-jumper barn (I ride there for my school's equestrian team; I wouldn't ride there normally).



I actually disagree with an above poster that said dressage is more expensive. I can't afford a horse, or even to lease a nice one with which to succeed in hunters. The horse I ride is NEVER going to have the movement for hunters. However, he's big and scopey enough for jumpers, but he's so awkward that getting him around the tight turns can be difficult. We do a ton of dressage, and it really helps. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to get that big boy collected right as he lands and wheel him around to shave seconds off our time, simply because we've had such an extensive dressage background. We're aiming to take him to a combined training show soon, and I am confident that I'll be able to place way better on my cheapie, ugly horse in CT with my used tack than I would in hunters.



I think the REAL problem for teens is that it's too much work for so little excitement! It was a good month before I got my horse really round and forward to get that beautifully balanced, forward trot. Until then, it was a LOT of frustrating, tiring lessons where we didn't seem to get very far. Most teens don't have the patience for that. :( It's a shame: I love that feeling when they're truly round, forward, and balanced (we haven't really started working on collection yet aside from 'getting it together' in jumpers :D ), and I think that's WAY better than soaring over a jump.



I know that, in my area, there simply AREN'T any good dressage trainers! I have the only good ones in my area. The others are either all high-end hunter or jumper trainers. You either do hunters or jumpers, or you don't ride. Period. There is one eventing barn, but I don't think they focus on dressage, either, although I don't know very much about them.



It really frustrates me in my school equestrian team lessons when my trainer asks me to shorten my reins on a green horse when I've just gotten him to begin to stretch down for me, which usually backfires and makes him tense and bracing instead of round... but what can you do? People just want to do front to back instead of back to front because it's quicker. It's a shame.



Where are you? I'm in Georgia, and I know that this whole region is all hunters and some western pleasure people.

Answer 6

i am fourteen and i love dressage!

i ride a quarter horse an i have my first dressage show in october (but it is only introductory level). Dressage is not boring at all!

the people who say it is boring are the people who dont understand the how hard it is!

what level do u do?

Answer 7

WOW second level already. good for you! i live in Wisconsin and at my barn there are tons of teenagers and younger who do dressage and they love it. the instructor requires all of her students to have a basic understanding of it, even the western pleasure riders! but i would have to say anyone who thinks its easy is very uneducated about what dressage really is. i have been riding for over 15 years and i still dont think its easy. maybe you should show the people who think its boring and easy a clip of the Lippizan Stallions and all the awesme things they can do. that is NOT easy! or boring.

Answer 8

I want to do dressage sooo bad! But my trainer says its boring and my only friend that rides, rides western. I live pretty far out in the country and It would be expensive to get a trainer that does dressage. I'm 15 and used to ride western but just recently switched to hunter/jumper.

Answer 9

I'm 19 and do dressage (CALI RULES!).



Dressage is one of the most difficult equine sports.

People that rip on dressage, or any discipline for that matter, have obviously not tried it or are far to inexperienced and feel they need to cover their insecurities by bashing others. Dressage if anything should be the basis of all training whether that be jumping, barrels, roping, etc. Good equestrians use it as a basic for all of their horses even if they aren't doing it consciously.

A horse should be able to walk, trot, canter balanced and supple. They should be able to move off of pressure. They should be able to do circles.



Girl, keep your head high, don't stoop to their level, and have fun.

Answer 10

I think you answered your own question, they arent doing "real" dressage. Also teens dont tend to look at the whole picture, they are just looking to have fun. It sounds like you have a real work ethic. If you are interested in body position and proper body useage, I highly recommend a Book callled Tug Of War-i put a link to it in my sources. It is the way Dressage "should" be headed, depending on how judges start judging.

Answer 11

prolly because most 14/15 year olds get bored easily, so dressage is a hard thing for them to stay concentrated on.

I'm 14 and I love dressage.

Answer 12

they don't understand it. they also have no patience for the hard training. western pleasure riders (no offense to anyone) don't ride. they are the horses' passenger. hunter riders like the speed and power from the jumping, but i do both western and dressage with my 29 yo quarter x gelding, and he would much prefer dressage to western, but the bit he uses for dressage is illegal in my state. i have been complimented many times on my soft hands, i am not kidding around. i never touch my horses' mouth. i have been riding competition for 12 years, and i had really hard hands until i learned dressage with my new trainer, which is to say, my old trainer, i ahve been with this trainer for 5-6 years. i had really bad trainers before, but now i don't.

but back to the answer

real riding is dressage, followed by extreme jumping, and then endurance, then reining, then the other riding styles.

Answer 13

I think its because teens just don't have the patience to do dressage... its not very exciting and its mostly about perfection. Teens mostly prefer jumping, which tends to be more thrilling. Real dressage is also really hard, its easier said then done.

Answer 14

because.



1. lessons can become expensive

2. you have to find someone to teach you learning alone is very difficult

3. you have to have a horse that will be at the same level.

4. tack and clothes can be a whole new kind of bill.



dressage is difficult.

Answer 15

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Answer 16

idk my mom was 19 when she and her late appaloosa went to a state dressage show--they were so good that this guy who was a top performer told her he would give any price for her appy but she said he was priceless to her and that she wouldnt sell him



he had natural movement so he was really good but idk i think dressage is awesome and i would love to learn it



idk about easy, i've never done dressage but it looks kinda hard--it looks well disciplined idk though maybe thats just cause i ride western and i dont really understand many english things

Answer 17

Not sure...I just don't like the way they do things in dressage.

It's not really my thing...