It’s good to mix things up sometimes. This dressage exercise from Katy Groesbeck will either make you a better rider or send you into a mental breakdown. (more…)
DRESSAGE
How to… Teach Your Horse to Piaffe
DQs make the piaffe out to be this holy grail of dressage training, attainable by only a select few. Whatever! Teach your horse to piaffe today using our simple, step-by-step guide. (more…)
Video du Jour: Keeping your horse happy
I like Lilo Fore. When she talks about dressage, she makes it sound fun and exhilarating–the premise of this video excerpt from the 2012 USDF Region 8 Adult Clinic Series. (more…)
Video du Jour: Spanish Riding School
“Horse ballet” is a phrase that’s gotten thrown around pretty loosely of late. But this performance by the Lipizzaner Stallions in Vienna is, truly, art. (more…)
A Lesson with Lauren Sprieser (with a special guest appearance by Naked George Clooney)
Recently, I had the opportunity to take a lesson with one of the hottest 20something trainers in the dressage biz, Lauren Sprieser. (more…)
Olympic Happy Hour: August 9
Throughout the Olympics, Horse Nation is capping off each day with a pint-sized synopsis of the most recent Olympic equestrian sporting festivities. Here’s your Happy Hour report for Thursday, August 9. (more…)
Olympic Happy Hour: August 7
Throughout the Olympics, Horse Nation will be capping off each day with a pint-sized synopsis of the most recent Olympic equestrian sporting festivities. Here’s your Happy Hour report for Tuesday, August 7. (more…)
Video du Jour: Olympic dressage dubstep
Dubstep + dressage = a match made in heaven. Check out this video compiled using footage from the first two days of dressage competition at Greenwich Park. (more…)
Let’s Discuss: Your Olympic dressage medal predictions
Is the home team going to hang onto the gold? Will Germany fight them for the top tier of the podium? Enter your predictions in the comments section below. (more…)
From Horse Nation to the USA Dressage Team, with love
You knew it was coming, you just didn’t know when. Presenting: The USA Olympic dressage team, Jib Jab-style! (more…)
Your Turn: In search of the perfect dressage mule
Bernadette Kilcer’s friend really, really, really wants to go trotting proudly down the center line… on a mule. Bernadette tells her story. (more…)
Olympic Happy Hour: August 2
Throughout the Olympics, Horse Nation will be capping off each day with a pint-sized synopsis of the most recent Olympic equestrian sporting festivities. Here’s your Happy Hour report for Thursday, August 2. (more…)
The Idea of Order: ‘The Adventures of Dressage Man’
This week, Morgane Schmidt hands the reins of her comic over to her un-horsey boyfriend, Louis. She apologizes in advance. (more…)
‘I Piaffed It!’: Stephen Colbert’s Dressage Training, Part 2
“After a lifetime of 20 minutes of training,” Colbert gets suited up and earns his horse-ballet tiara with a little help from former dressage Olympian Michael Barisone. (more…)
Stephen’s Dressage Training, part 1
Stephen Colbert kicked off his transformation into a rider of “horse ballet” last night, with some help from former Olympian Michael Barisone. Let the games begin! (more…)
Olympic Flashback: ‘Dressage proves no draw, just a bore’
Equestrian sport is a longstanding tradition in British culture, so London as an Olympic venue feels like a perfect fit. But Hong Kong, site of the 2008 Olympic equestrian events? Not so much. (more…)
Video du Jour: Speaking of dressage silliness…
Check out this riotous video of “Harold the Horse” freestyling it at the QLD Festival of Dressage in Queensland.
Olympics 101: Dressage
Between now and the Olympics, Liz Fletcher is going to be filling us in on everything we need to know to be an informed spectator. She kicks off her series today with a debriefing on dressage–the scoring, the schedule and the U.S. stats. (more…)
Olympic Dressage at 71
By now we’ve all heard that Hiroshi Hoketsu, 71-year-old Japanese dressage rider, will be the oldest to compete in the London Games. But did you know he also show jumped in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics? (more…)
Videos du Jour: Comparing 90%+ Freestyles
Perhaps Totilas comparisons are fundamentally unfair, but Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro recently broke the 90-percentage mark in the Grand Prix freestyle at Hartpury. (more…)
Totilas to Miss Olympics
Eurodressage reports that Totilas, current world record holder in Grand Prix Freestyle dressage, will miss the London Games. His rider, Matthias Rath, 27, is suffering from mononucleosis and not expected to recover in time. (more…)
Deadspin: Hiroshi Hoketsu ‘an inspiration to old dressage riders everywhere’
The irreverent sports website’s “Olympic Field Guide” series spotlights Japan’s 71-year-old Olympic dressage contender. (more…)
Bent Jensen is back… and he brought an entourage
Two great things have happened to dressage this year: 1) Foam fingers and 2) Bent Jensen. On Saturday, he dusted off his infamous “Sexy and I Know It” freestyle for PVDA Ride for Life. (more…)
‘Competitive Horse Prancing’: Colbert is not done with us, yet
Stephen Colbert issued this response to the USEF’s response to his declaration of dressage as America’s new national pastime. Follow? (more…)
Introducing the 2012 U.S. Olympic Dressage Team
On Saturday the following horse rider combinations were nominated for a plane ticket to London, pending final approval from the USEF: (more…)