WHAT IS DRESSAGE?
Dressage is all about harmony between horse and rider. It’s about balance and clear communication, where riders guide their horses through a set series of movements that show off suppleness, accuracy and partnership – all while making it look as effortless as possible.
At Pony Club, dressage isn’t about being fancy or perfect. It’s about learning the basics that make every ride better: good position, effective aids and a horse that’s happy and confident in their work. Whether you are aiming for high scores in your dressage test or you just want your pony to work correctly, dressage gives you the skills to do it – whilst having fun along the way.
DRESSAGE TRAINING AND COMPETITION INFORMATION
In addition to the flatwork training received at working rallies and camps we are lucky enough to have specialist dressage sessions at Palace House with Fiona Van Tuyll.
Former International event rider Fiona Van Tuyll represented her native Holland at Junior, Young Rider and Senior Level. She was a team silver medallist and was placed 5th at Punchestown European and 6th at Burghley European as well as competing in the Barcelona Olympics. Since retiring from competitive riding Fiona has trained many successful horse and rider combinations in all disciplines, including William Fox-Pitt and Bubby Upton (an ex N&T PC member!).
Dressage lessons are aimed to give confidence to the horse/pony and rider, to be fun and to teach you how to get your horse/pony to be balanced and responsive to your commands. This will not only provide you with test preparation but will help form a basis for your show jumping and cross country. Sessions are open to all levels of riding. Riders must, however, be safely off the leading rein. We run over 20 individual dressage sessions a year so please do check the yearly schedule to see when the next sessions are. Those interested in being selected for the Dressage and Eventing teams must have been seen by Fiona at least once (preferably more!) prior to team selections being made.
More information about dressage, our Pony Club dressage competitions and all the Pony Club dressage tests can be found here
Our Dressage Secretary is Debbie Plumb who is always happy to chat to anyone with any questions about dressage. Whether it’s to ask what to wear, what level it’s suitable for, whether to aim for Teams, etc – if you have a question, please do get in touch and she will be very happy to help! You can find her contact details on our Contact Us page.
