TRAINING & SHOWING
Why is
Western Dressage
such a
POPULAR
New Discipline?
PALM PARTNERSHIP TRAINING ™
Building a Partnership with Your Horse
Story & Photo By
Lynn Palm
Using the word “dressage” hurt our educational merit in the
beginning. I would have people come up to me at horse
expos, and write letters, emails, and Facebook messages
noting that they were Western riders and “didn’t do” dressage.
Others said that dressage is too difficult to ride, and
they could never achieve it. People would even make
comments saying, “I am a trail rider, and I don’t ride dressage!”
Hearing this over and over made my husband Cyril, farm
manager and friend Marie-Frances and me all agree we
shouldn’t use the term “Dressage Principles” as a basis for
our training and teaching methods at that time. So we
didn’t.
Ironically, 15 years later people started coming to us and
saying things like, “We take dressage lessons and ride
western!” and “I want to learn dressage because I know it is
going to make me a better rider for my horse.” We agree it
wasn’t the right time back then to introduce such a strong
term, but now it is part of the Palm Partnership Training fundamentals.
Dressage principles truly allow you to become
the best partner for your horse!
I am truly blessed to have dressage as my first influence in
riding and training horses. Cyril also learned dressage as his
basis for riding. Cyril is from Europe where dressage is taught
to all riders before they advance to jumping or 3-day event
riding. “Dressage” is a French word that means “training”
a horse. It is the TRUE natural horsemanship of riding and
training a horse, because it allows us to truly understand
what the horse is telling us and how to tell the horse what
we want.
These are the main reasons why western riders are so
excited about this new discipline. They are realizing all the
natural horsemanship techniques that we Americans are
coming up with are both good and bad. However, we
should also follow the dressage principles of classical dressage
Showing
&TRAINING because it has already proven successful for centuries.
76 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com EE
This article really begins with a story:
In 1997, I tried to upgrade my business of training and competing
with horses in multiple disciplines into something else by changing
my approach to basic training. I tried to use the term “Dressage
Principles” as a basis for Palm Partnership Training’s teaching and
education guidelines.
When I learned to ride in the dressage saddle, I would go
home and ride Western the same way. NO difference! It really
works! Western riders are looking to train a willing horse
and not train through submission. Harmony with the horse
is what horse owners want whether they are a recreational
rider or show ring competitor. This is the beauty of western
dressage and why it is going to grow and become even
more popular. The best part of western dressage is that it is
helps people learn the correct ethics of horsemanship and
how to train a willing horse.
The bottom line is that people want to learn more about
correct riding and training. Dressage will give you the tools
to achieve this correctness. It is all in following the Training
Pyramid and the dressage levels. There are western dressage
tests you can access at http://westerndressageassociation.
org/. The perfect way to learn is to practice these
tests.
Western dressage is for all breeds of horses. It is for the firsttime
horse owner and for the owner who has had horses all
his/her life.
I love to hear horse owners say, “the more I ride and learn
the more I realize how much more I don’t know!” Dressage
will fill that gap and give you inspiration. Lastly, dressage
will give you wonderful challenges for riding correctly and
with accuracy during riding tests. It is fun and is similar to
the sport of figure skating. It is done with athleticism, which
brings out beauty and grace. It reveals lightness and the
ability to harmonize with the horse. I promise, if you ride a
test, you will get hooked. Join us, and I promise you will love
it.
We would love to have you come ride with us. We love to
share our dressage backgrounds and knowledge with you.
You can join us at our Ocala, Florida, farm or at one of our
Ride Well Clinics on our USA Tour at a location near you.
For more information about training courses, educational
materials and much more, please visit www.lynnpalm.com
or call 800-503-2824.
/www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
/www.lynnpalm.com