About Dressage
Dressage itself is a way of training and riding your horse. The actual word “dressage” is French and evolved from the verb dresseur meaning to train. There are many different equestrian disciplines of horseback riding from classical dressage, western riding, through to jumping, reining and eventing to name a few. Dressage itself is an Olympic discipline and it is enjoyed all around the world through the various levels with Grand Prix being the highest level that is performed internationally and Grand Prix musical freestyle being the real crowd pleaser as this is where the movements are performed to music.
When riding a dressage test the horse and rider are judged on how they perform a series of movements that are in accordance with the level they are competing in. The degree of difficulty of each level increases from training level through to FEI (Federal Equestrian International) levels, which are the same tests performed in every nation worldwide.
The dressage tests are performed in a 20 meter x 60 meter arena with a smaller arena being used at some levels. Within the test there are separate movements that flow from one movement to the next, each movement is marked from 0-10. 10 being excellent, 5 sufficient and 0 no movement was performed. At the end of each test, the dressage judge also gives four general impression scores for the performance. All the points are then added and divided by the total possible score to give a percentage mark for that test performed by horse and rider.
According to the United States dressage federation (USDF ) “Dressage became an Olympic Sport in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm with only military officers eligible to compete until 1953 when the rules evolved to allow both civilian men and women to compete.
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Upcoming Events
| Show | Season | RT Date | Host | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SY27 SDF Summer Classic | Summer, SY27 | March 4th, 2026 | Dani | |
| SY27 SDF Sand & Surf | Summer, SY27 | March 11th, 2026 | Dani | |
| SY27 SDF Summer Classic II | Summer, SY27 | March 18th, 2026 | Dani | |
| SY27 SDF Ocean Waves | Summer, SY27 | March 25th, 2026 | Dani |