Dressage Today

19/06/2025

🐴"A good way to tell that your horse has enough impulsion is to determine the amount of time it takes your leg aid to be answered. If you have the sensation that you could prepare and execute an upward or downward transition within three strides, your horse is probably where you want him to be."🐴
~ Heidi Chote on what it means for your horse to be "in front of the leg"

"In front of the leg" is often used in dressage, but rarely defined. In the first installment of our dressage-vocab series, we take a look at what it actually means for your horse to be in front of your leg.

Whether you're new to dressage or could use a terminology refresher, click on the link below to expand your riding education. (Take notes: We'll be having a pop quiz!)

Heidi Chote explains what it means for a horse to be "in front of the leg."

18/06/2025

🐴"To lower their core temperatures, horses shed 65 to 70 percent of their body heat through sweating. When a horse doesn’t sweat, it severely limits his ability to maintain a safe internal body temperature. This can be extremely dangerous and lead to heatstroke and even death."🐴
~ Robert J. MacKay, BVSc, PhD, DACVIM, explaining the risk anhidrosis poses to horses, especially in the heat

Click on the link below to read about a Dressage Today editor's first-hand experience managing anhidrosis with her Thoroughbred gelding and learn how you can cope with the condition even in hot, humid climates.

If your dressage horse has been diagnosed with anhidrosis, don't sweat it! Learn how you can manage the condition even in hot, humid climates with these smart strategies.

17/06/2025

🐴DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS!🐴 How To Know If Your Inside Leg Is Effective?

To help you determine if your inside leg is effective in sending energy to the outside rein …

Imagine that, as a result of using the inside leg, the outside of your horse’s neck seems like a balloon filling with air and the outside rein feels like a bungee cord with positive tension and an elastic connection.
— Martin Kuhn

🎨 Sandy Rabinowitz

16/06/2025

🐴9 Tips To Extend Your Breeches' Lifespan🐴

Are you properly caring for your expensive breeches? Click on the link below for 9 tips to keep your breeches squeaky clean and prolong their value. Plus, learn how to prevent white breeches from yellowing.

Use this advice to ensure you're properly caring for your expensive breeches to extend their value and learn how to prevent your white breeches from yellowing.

14/06/2025

🐴🚨Enter the Win & Hydrate with Ritchie contest!🚨🐴 Win a premium Ritchie horse waterer—built to last and designed to keep your horses healthy and hydrated year-round.

Ritchie's automatic waterers reduce standing water and support better digestion, hydration and pasture hygiene. Because hydration isn’t optional—it’s essential. Click on the link below to enter now!

Enter the Win & Hydrate with Ritchie contest for a chance to win a Ritchie Waterer and keep your horse hydrated.

13/06/2025

🐴"Aim your sternum toward your horse’s third cervical vertebra and try to keep it there as you’re walking. Most riders find it moves up and down depending on the phase of the walk. So challenge yourself to keep it there and you'll find your thighs remain more attached at the front.”🐴
~ Stephany Fish Crossman on how understanding correct rider biomechanics can help better influence your horse

Here, she evaluates an adult amateur to explain how biomechanics are key to a successful partnership with your dressage horse. Click on the link in the Comments below to learn more.

12/06/2025

🐴"For any horse, a buildup of body heat leads to fatigue and can have serious health consequences. The combination of prolonged hard work and hot, humid weather can be particularly deadly."
~ Duncan Peters, DVM, MS, on the dangers of heat stress in horses

Summer gifts us with more daylight hours with our horses, but it also brings biting and disease-carrying bugs and brutal heat.

Click on the link below for our Summer Survival Guide on how to fight flies and beat the heat to keep your dressage partner healthy, happy and performing his best this summer.

Protect your horse from biting and disease-carrying bugs and extreme heat to keep him healthy, happy and performing his best this summer.

11/06/2025

🐴"It’s just the small things like the first time you get a clean flying change with your horse and it’s like wow. Or even just getting a good transition when you feel the hind legs come up underneath your horse and they’re in your hands. It’s just like the Holy Grail.”🐴
~ Neve Myburgh on her passion for dressage and what's kept her involved in the sport for so long at this year's USDF Trainers' Conference

Click on the link in the Comments below to watch our full interview with Neve at the 2025 USDF Trainers' Conference, where she talks about the insights she gleaned from Monica Theodorescu at the conference, her young superstar mare Firiet and her lifelong passion for dressage.

Plus, learn how you can watch the training sessions from this year's conference on Equestrian Plus!

10/06/2025

🐴“Many horses are on edge all the time due to modern management practices, and CBD can help them stay calm and forgive and forget. CBD doesn’t make horses stoned like THC. Their brains still function normally. Horses may seem calm but if there is cause for alert, they're still capable of being alert.”🐴
~ Joyce Harman, DVM, on how CBD can help horses with chronic stress or anxiety

You've probably heard about CBD for horses, but here we take a deeper dive into how it actually works on the equine system, the benefits it can offer for both stress and pain and what types of products are currently on the market. Click on the link below to learn if your horse might benefit from CBD.

Discover the surprising benefits CBD can offer your horse—without getting him high—and learn what types are available and might be best for him.

09/06/2025

🐴"We all dream of achieving collection, the state in which the horse carries his rider with power and balance. No matter the level, dressage helps improve a horse’s balance so he can carry the rider with ease—and the half halt is key to shifting his balance onto his hind end and lifting his forehand."🐴
~ Kathy Connelly on how to simplify the half halt

Click on the link below for simple exercises to help you practice and perfect the half halt with your dressage horse.

Kathy Connelly teaches you simple steps to practice and perfect the half halt.

08/06/2025

🐴DT Gallop Poll: What's on your horse-life shopping list this summer?🐴

✔️Fly Gear (Sheets, Masks, Boots)
✔️New Show Clothes
✔️Fun Saddle Pads
✔️Fly Spy
✔️UV Protection for You or Your Horse
✔️Helmet
✔️Saddle
✔️Apparel to Keep You or Your Horse Cool
✔️Therapeutic Gear for Your Horse
✔️Other

Click on the link in the Comments below to cast your vote!

06/06/2025

🐴“When you take the time to connect with your horse from the ground, he’ll learn to read your intentions. So, even in a chaotic environment, he'll look to you instead of just reacting. The stronger your connection is, the less likely he’ll be bothered by uncertain things."🐴
~ Chelsea Canedy on how to use groundwork to foster a successful partnership with your horse

In Part 1 of this two-part series, we look at why connecting with your horse from the ground is crucial to your relationship as well as to your under saddle work. Click on the link in the Comments below for simple exercises to get you started.