Dressage training and competition exercises for beginners: Flatwork & collection schooling for horses

*** Winner of the Best English Horse Training Book Award at the EQUUS Film & Arts Festival, USA 2023 ***

Ready to improve your dressage skills? This book is packed full of groundwork and riding exercises to improve your dressage training and competition results. It includes how to get ready for your next dressage competitions, handy checklists for your dressage test day and tips to help memorize your test.

Plus if you’ve ever read ‘needs more collection’ on your dressage test results, this book will show you exactly how to improve your horse’s posture, collection and self-carriage the kind way.

No pulling on the reins or crazy muscles required! Help your horse to stay healthy, reach his full potential and have fun with dressage.

Lessons included inside:

• Origins of dressage
• Why dressage is great for your horse
• Benefits of dressage
• Dressage success tips
• Saddles for dressage
• Bridles and tack for dressage
• Gadgets
• Bitless, barefoot and treeless options
• Finding a great trainer
• How to improve your riding posture
• When to start dressage training
• Why should you do groundwork?
• Halt and backup groundwork exercises
• In-hand forequarter and hindquarter yields
• Walk in hand
• Speed and rhythm groundwork exercises
• Shoulder out groundwork exercise
• Don’t overbend your horse
• When beginner dressage goes wrong
• Collection - what it is and is not
• Dressage riding exercises - The warmup
• Straightness riding exercises
• Energy and impulsion riding exercises
• Weight aids, timing and cues exercises
• Bends and corners
• Transition exercises
• Serpentine riding exercises
• Falling in love with corners riding exercise
• And many more riding exercises
• The 10 step exercise for collection
• Spiral collection exercise
• The teardrop collection exercise
• Shoulder out for collection
• Leg yields for collection
• Going to dressage competitions
• Dressage test mindset
• Checklist: The week before your dressage test
• Checklist: The day before your dressage test
• Checklist: Your dressage test day
• How to get the most from the judge's advice
• The warmup arena
• Tips to remember your dressage test
• Managing competition nerves
• Competition tips
• After your dressage test
• Common dressage test questions and issues
• Dressage mistakes and problems to avoid

As seen at the RDS Dublin Horse Show, the Irish Pony Club Festival,  the Irish Pony Club Minimus, the Irish Riding Club Festival, Clonmel Show, Tullow Show & Iverk Show.

Elaine Heney is the #1 best-selling author, award-winning film-maker, director of Grey Pony Films, and creator of the 'Listening to the Horse™' documentary. She has helped over 120,000+ horse owners in 113 countries to create awesome relationships with their horses. Elaine lives in Ireland with her horses Ozzie & Matilda. Discover Elaine’s series of world renowned online groundwork, riding & training programs at Grey Pony Films.

Publisher - Grey Pony Films (November 28, 2022)

Language - English

Paperback - 224 pages

ISBN-10 - 1915542235

ISBN-13 - 978-1915542236

Item Weight - 10.9 ounces

Dimensions - 6 x 0.51 x 9 inches

eBook & audio book - read online and listen here.