The ancient art of dressage is becoming more and more popular in America today. It has many advantages for serious riders. For one thing it can be practiced in a comparatively small place and most urban dwellers do not have easy access to wide open spaces. Another attraction of the sport is its tremendous aesthetic appeal and the rewards of achieving close harmony with an equine partner.

In the lower levels of dressage, it can be relatively easy to train a horse. You'll have to work with them, to make sure that they respond to your aids and listen to your seat. You'll want to work on bending them into your corners and getting round circles.

As you rise in experience and out in more practice to the higher levels, as in most things it will get more time consuming and be harder work to train your horse.

To really want to get him doing dressage work you need to invest the time and money with a proven, successful dressage coach or trainer in your area. If not able to exercise you horse that much yourself, get a good rider to work with your horse and if you are up to it you can get some riding training as well so both you and your horse can become better together!

In dressage, the rider uses his weight, legs and seat to influence the horse. These are known as the "aids". In order to use the aids correctly, the rider's body must be aligned and balanced. From a side view, the ear, shoulder, hip and heel of the rider should be in a straight line at the halt.

By shifting his hips and his weight, the rider can ask the horse to move in different directions and step into different gaits. In simplest terms, the rider should have his hips do what he wants the horse's hips to do and his shoulders do what he wants the horse's shoulders to do.

There have been volumes written on this subject. There are many good books written by reputable dressage trainers and start to begin to understand the whole process and what exactly is involved.

For dressage training you should be working on a dressage arena, with an enclosed space where you can practice exact 20m circles.

The most common form of dressage is called classical dressage. It is about teaching the horse to carry himself properly through conditioning, training, and time.

The only way for a horse to achieve movement in its way of going is for the rider to ride correctly. It will not happen any other way.

It takes about two years from getting on a horse to him being able to move correctly like this and carry himself properly every time, and it can only happen if the rider rides well.

A correct neck frame is the result of a horse working through his body, not the other way around. A horse's head will come down when his back is up and his haunches are underneath him.

It takes years of training before this style and many other upper level movements can even be attempted! Certainly more info that could be conveyed here!

The piaffe is one of the advanced dressage movements. It isn't a simple one, two, three. The horse is highly trained before the piaffe is introduced.

There are some very well known names in dressage. For example, Jan Brink belongs to the world elite in dressage, and with the stallion Briar 899 he has had great success on national as well as international arenas. Jan has been to numerous world championships, including the Olympics, WEG, and World Cups.

Catherine Haddad-USA is popular. In 2009 Catherine was ranked 7th in the Western European League. Catherine Haddad represented the USA in the 2007 Rolex World Cup in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2006, as a member of the US Team she was named reserve rider for the USEF at the World Equestrian Games.

Rafael Soto is an Olympic silver medalist in dressage. He has been described as having an exceptional talent for instruction which is very unusual for Olympic medalists.

Those who take dressage training are learning an equestrian discipline which are millennia old in. A viable training program must have not only an experienced and qualified instructor, but just as critical, are the schoolmaster's ability and knowledge, and the selection of well-schooled horses who allow riders of all levels to gain a deep understanding and feel for the movements and timing which of this demanding art.