DressageArena.org

Well, breed, age, and gender really do not play much of a role in it. Any horse that is rideable can do at least the most basic levels of dressage. Some obviously will have more potential than others and not all will make it past the first few levels depending on conformation, quality of gaits, trainability, etc.

I would strongly recommend trying to find a trainer with a school horse (although lesson horses are not quite as common in dressage) and take lessons for about 6 months before you commit to anything. As far as a saddle, different ones fit different body types better. Go to a nice tack shop and sit in a few. Ask for demos that you can take home and ride in for a week. Some will push you into a bad position, and what you want is a saddle that lets you just sit there and naturally fall into a good centered position.

I’ll go ahead and say it, warmbloods are the typical dressage horse. But, there are a lot of different breeds who can do well. (I’m a big advocate for stepping outside of the box and kicking butt with a non traditional breed). Southern VA, honey, you should have no problem finding a trainer. I’m sure there is a dressage club in your area that has a list of trainers. I don’t know how far down NEDA (new england dressage association, I believe is what it stands for) stretches down, but if they don’t make it quite to VA, you can probably email them and ask what dressage club is in VA. The entire east coast is dressage-o-rama, so you’re lucky!

Dressage is all about absolute discipline and repetition with the horse, so that it will perform a routine with subtle, non-verbal directions. If you ride western, my guess is that you would be bored to tears trying to train a dressage horse. It is also a sport for rich people. If you wanted to give it a try, you could buy a fixer-upper dressage horse for $100,000 or so and practice with it for five years or so and it might be a good local horse, not a national champion.

I have always said that dressage is a sport that gives rich people a bad name.

Hate to break it to you, but no one can tell you everything you need to know . It’s a tough sport but a great one, and it serves as a great foundation for every other style of riding (including western) even if you choose not to pursue it seriously. I took several years of dressage lessons and showed through first level, but I didn’t enjoy it like some people do, so I more or less quit. However, I still credit dressage for the foundation that my jumper has, and I even use some of the things I learned from it when working with my green AQHA all-arounder.

If you’re interested, contact a local dressage trainer and ask about lessons. Basic lessons in dressage shouldn’t cost any more than the western lessons you take now (if you take any), but it really depends on your area and the quality of the barn. I wouldn’t go spend tons of money on a dressage horse just yet . First of all, you might decide you prefer western, and then you’ll be stuck with a horse you can’t really use. Second, if you do stick with it, you might decide in a couple of years that you want an even better horse and won’t be able to sell your "starter" horse (since most likely you’d end up with a more basic horse, not a super star, as a first dressage mount)…especially in this economy. Learn on school horses or on your current horse (EVERY horse can do basic dressage and benefit from its principles, even if it doesn’t have the potential for upper levels) until you’ve developed a real understanding for the sport.

Dressage is very complicated to explain, and you can’t possible know everything about dressage in a short paragraph over the internet. Any horse can do dressage. They aren’t all going to be Grand Prix, but most can do a simple training test. When it come to age, older horses (just like any other discipline) are the best teachers. Dressage saddles look like this: http://www.tackroominc.com/images/662185sm.jpg

I personally recommend Amerigo saddles: http://www.worldequestrianbrands.com/AMERIGOMain.aspx?SubcategoryID=3&expansion=0

As for dressage trainers, it all depends on your area. Right now you can get really good dressage horses for a steal because of the economy. I’m glad you are so interested in dressage, it requires a lot of patients, but it’s worth it.

No one person can tell you everything you need to know about dressage. It is a lifetime learning sport. If you want to get into it, that is great. You will need to take dressage lessons with a qualified instructor. He or she will be able to guide you on all the other questions.

In the mean time, you can get some books on dressage. I suggest Riding Logic by Muesler and anything by the German National Federation.

Don’t listen to Oldwhiteguy2earth. He has no idea what he is talking about. Obviously, it will take years of training to learn all about dressage, not just a few paragraphs on YA!. Any horse can do basic dressage moves, but since you are new, you would learn more by getting an old school master that has "been there done that" with dressage. I would reccomend finding a dressage trainer before you buy the horse, because the trainer will be able to help you find a horse that is most suitable to you. You can expect to pay between 15,000 and higher for a really good school master, but this would be just to teach you the ropes. Upper level dressage horses are hundreds of thousands of dollars, but honestly you most likely will never need a horse like this unless you plan on competing in grand prix levels.

No one can do that, especially on this forum.

any horse can be reschooled to do dressage, it is just basically flat work. you must first spend a lot of time having lessons on schooled horses who know their job. sort out your position first of all and the different feel you have trying the different discipline.
If you are thinking it is very easy just to go out and ride the same as andreas van helgstrang then be prepared for disapointment, it takes a lot of time, patience and money to have lessons with the right trainers untill you even start to touch the sides there.