Sunday, January 10, 2010

Dressage in the Fourth Dimension

Dressage in the Fourth Dimension is not 'market driven'. It's not about what the 'market' wants. It's about the work that, after three decades of teaching dressage, I know needs to be done.

"While it's true that economic survival depends in large part upon providing society with what it wants, we all have beliefs as to what is good and what is bad in terms of what the world wants. Not paying attention to your beliefs and indiscriminately providing what the world wants can cause a lack of self-respect and well-being. It is called an absence of integrity."

Bruce Levine, Ph.D., Surviving American's Depression Epidemic: How to Find Morale, Energy, and Community in a World Gone Crazy, p. 120.

The 'world' wants blue ribbons, accolades and awards. But, the work that really needs to be done is:

"Mentally, the horse must perform every exercise we ask without fear and with confidence. He must not have a 'mind of his own,' bolting and shying or galloping off, but he must not go around dull or dispirited or in constant worry of the rider, protecting himself by going behind the bit or not freely stepping forward...They must trust the rider completely, from the handling in the stall through daily work, at shows, and when we introduce new ideas." (Italics added.)

Walter Zettl, Dressage in Harmony, pg 86.

This is Dressage in the Fourth Dimension!