Lipton - Dressage Seat Equitation - Beaujolais 2007 (Part 1)

[sr14225]

It sounded like it was pretty windy, which can be a bit distracting for a horse and make them a bit fresh. Is your horse a mare? I couldn't really tell from the video. If so, maybe she was just being a bit....well...marish when passing the other horses. Nothing against mares or anything, but they can sometimes get what I call mare pms. Pretty horse though. Overall the equtation wasn't bad but I thought that several of the riders could have kept their lower leg a bit more still.

[starlightrider]

He's actually a gelding, but he gets studdy sometimes. He's a bit claustrophobic which contributed to our issues that day. Thanks!

[dressageluver4]

WOW It just shows what people know about dressage if they think Seat Equitation dosent play in to rideing.

I really like how you handle that.

I think you only get to be a better rider if you know how to handle your horse with more people in the ring.

[starlightrider]

Thank you. I fully agree with being a better rider when handling your horse with more people around. I have gotten this horse to where he's comfortable in a warm up arena with several horses, but I will not be entering him in any more classes like this! I reserve that for my Appaloosa. =p

[katymego]

this is the first time i've heard about this--how is it judged? do you get comments back similarly to a dressage test?

i also think some people tend to forget that horses are thinking, breathing creatures who have minds of their own. so no matter how well you ride, these things are bound to happen, unless you've ridden your horse into the ground.

[starlightrider]

It's judged similarly to a dressage test. You get a score 1-10 on your position at the walk, trot, canter, and I think there's also one for general impression, but I might be wrong. They average your three-four scores and make a percentage out of it. Some shows will post the percentage, some will only post the placings. The only time I've gotten comments back on paper was when I was the only one in the class, other than that judges usually give you comments in person.

Thanks.

[armageddonff]

You handled your horse beautifully.

[starlightrider]

Thank you very much.

[artsyhorse]

I am afraid I can't take any of it seriously. It's just a showring concept and a showring class and it's an american thing at that. I think it's unfortunate it has crept into Dressage - but then it was bound to happen...eventually horses will be advertised for it.

[starlightrider]

If anything, this is good for both the horses and the riders, learning how to deal with crowds if they don't already know how, and it can really help with warm-up-ring etiquette.

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and you are quite entiteld to thing that DSEQ isn't good, or whatever your opinion on it is, but that does not give you a right to come and bash it on my video post. If you don't like it, don't watch it.

I'm done being nice.

[artsyhorse]

And I am done with this silly exchange.

[artsyhorse]

I once had a dressage trainer that said, it's all well and good Linda that you are still on after she behaved like that (bucked lunged, etc.), but she wouldn't DO that if you were riding properly. Mean? yes, true? maybe. I still think it's a stupid idea to encourage the idea of equitating dressage riders. It means more ribbons and more classes and more sales of more horses. It's all about money and the show ring culture for spoiled teens, not about real riding or training.

[starlightrider]

As I stated before, it's not about looking pretty, it's about how you ride. Also, I have never once seen a horse advertised as a Dressage Equitation horse. Any dressage horse can become a DSEQ horse. It IS about real riding a training, whether you want to admit it or not. In my reigon, we also have Adult EQ classes, so it not about spoiled teens. DSEQ is a very small portion of any dressage show, or region. Yes, there are nationals for it, but it is by no means the Maclay of the dressage world.

[bettylion]

"it's all well and good Linda that you are still on after she behaved like that (bucked lunged, etc.), but she wouldn't DO that if you were riding properly."

Wow, artsyhose, that is incredibly rude to say. There is nothing wrong with this girl's riding at all, and she handled a little mishap with tact.

As for DSEQ, you might find the class silly, but I for one find nothing silly at all about the dressage show culture putting more emphasis on a nice seat.

[artsyhorse]

Dressage "seat" Equitation sounds like a really bad idea to me. Only in America. It's not something we should encourage. Ride a test, focus on the accomplishment of the horse and how to get there and that is what it takes to be a dressage rider, not this nonsense that comes from American show ring culture. Posing on pretty movers.

[starlightrider]

Although DSEQ focuses on the rider and how pretty they look, it also focuses on how effective their aids are. A rider who looks pretty but whose horse isn't on the bit is not going to place as high as a slightly less pretty looking rider whose horse is responding well the aids and is on the bit. It also has to do with effectiveness, as proven by the fact that despite my horse bucking and running away, I still got 4th because the judge liked how I handled everything.