Bareback & bridleless-neck rope only-Grand prix dressage movements

Years ago in Maine I took dressage lessons. That is where I struggled to learn what a diagonal was and also learned that the horses knew the lessons better than I did. My dressage did NOT look like this video. I wish it had….

Fast forward many years and I found myself at a horse expo sitting on Roxy (bareback and bridleless) talking with Jane Savoie-telling her I wanted to ride dressage. She said something like, “Honey, you already are.”     That made me laugh and respond…”Well, then I want the cloths and the tack too!”

There are so many things I would like to do in life but there just isn’t enough time in the day. Some day I would love to train a warmblood. There are some moves they do that I would love to ride. This video just gave me another small burst of ‘I want a warmblood.’

If you want to know what the words say the Youtube description has a translation.

25 Comments

  1. Liz on June 13, 2014 at 5:21 pm

    Saw Ian Francis riding a dressage horse at Equitana a couple of years ago. Then we shared an arena with a dressage instructor who was watching us while we trained our Reiners. She was pulling some cool moves, so hubby said ‘how do you do that?’ His reining horse took about 10 minutes to work it out, it really was cool. She is a very clever Quarter horse and it was almost like she watched the warm blood and went ‘yep, got this’. Half pass and this trotting on the spot, and what looked like lead changes every step. The dressage instructor was amazed at how young our horses are when doing lead changes.

  2. Leonie on June 9, 2014 at 8:15 am

    Have you ever seen this?
    It was at a German Horseevent:

  3. Stacey Pidgeon on May 18, 2014 at 9:12 pm

    That’s awesome. Imagine all the time you would save working your horses without tack!! As a youngster I would practice my dressage bareback just out of pure laziness of not wanting to cart my saddle to the pony club on my pushy. love it! go buy the horse. I hope that bridle less riding inspires more riders to compete without tack accross more diciplines.

  4. Terrie on May 18, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    Stacy, this horse Mistral du Coussoul is NOT a warmblood but an Iberian. Lusitano in fact.

    • Stacy on May 19, 2014 at 12:45 pm

      Good to know! I hadn’t really thought about what he was, I was referring to the warmblood idea I have had in my head for quite awhile. A friend told me I should look at a Lusitano because they thought I might be able to combine my reining (sliding stop) with the dressage stuff. Interesting thought.

    • Karen on September 19, 2014 at 7:08 am

      Iberian horses are classified as “warmbloods”

  5. Haley Parlin on May 18, 2014 at 11:14 am

    I would love to see this in a Freestyle Class! Imagine the judges faces?? Stacy you are an excellent rider and any horse can be a Dressage horse. Get the WB and do the dressage. Live your life with no regrets and go for the rainbow!!

  6. Bonnie M. Butler on May 18, 2014 at 9:02 am

    This just makes your heart swell and your throat choke up. Just BEAUTIFUL

  7. The Poverty Barn on May 18, 2014 at 7:43 am

    The French stuff is from “The Alchemist”. Translation courtesy of a Chronicle poster…

    Il n’y a qu’une chose qui puisse rendre un rêve impossible, c’est la peur d’échouer
    If there is one thing that can make a dream impossible, it’s the fear of the defeat.

    Tout le monde croit savoir exactement comment nous devions vivre.
    Everyone believes they know exactly how we should live.

    A un moment donné de notre existence pourtant, alors que notre route semblait toute traceé, nous perdons la maîtrise de notre vie.
    And yet at some given moment of our existence, just when our road seemed all mapped out, we lose control of our life.

    C’est ce moment précis que le Destin choisit pour reprendre ses droits…
    It’s this precise moment that Destiny chooses to reclaim her rights.

    …pour nous ramener sur le chemin dont nous nous étions éloignes…
    …to carry us back to the path which we were far from…

    et nous rappeler nos serments d’enfant
    And we remember our childhood dreams/oaths/promises

    Now we are free.

  8. Mosaic House Co. on May 18, 2014 at 6:08 am

    I’ll buy a warmblood if you come train it!

  9. Nikki B on May 18, 2014 at 6:00 am

    That is very heartwarming, I love that the horse is lovely and collected but not head bent down and nose tucked in which sometimes is very uncomfortable to watch in bridled horses. You could see how much they were both enjoying themselves. Go for it Stacy, you could do that blindfolded!!

  10. patricia bailey on May 17, 2014 at 8:47 pm

    I would love to do that some day!!!!! my dream!!

  11. Roxanna Hiebert on May 17, 2014 at 1:37 pm

    Thank you for posting this Stacy. It was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as you and Roxy…

  12. Jessica Berry on May 17, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    This post reminds me of the episode of Ellen where she hops on Roxy and looks like a champ.. I have always wanted to ride a reining horse!!

  13. kim on May 17, 2014 at 12:28 pm

    life is too short, buy the darn horse lol 🙂

  14. Monica Huettl on May 17, 2014 at 11:01 am

    Amazing! Thank you for sharing!

  15. Toni Burgener on May 17, 2014 at 10:49 am

    WOW now that is what I call trust and bonding between horse and rider

  16. Kathleen on May 17, 2014 at 10:49 am

    You don’t need a warmblood to do dressage, any horse can do it with a good trainer. Maybe you should exchange ideas with Marijke de Jong, a lady from Holland who brings dressage to everyone and every horse. http://www.straightnesstraining.com I have been doing her course with my 14 yr Arab Gelding, and have been astonished by how much he has improved. You and Marijke are two incredible horse women – iit would be great if you could meet some day!

    • Kathleen on May 17, 2014 at 10:52 am

      P.S. She does clinics in the States at tye Horse Boy Foudation in Texas.

  17. Lisa Molino on May 17, 2014 at 10:32 am

    I aha tears running down my face that was so incredibly beautiful.

  18. Leah Dyck on May 17, 2014 at 10:28 am

    I love this video! As Jane Savoie implied there really is no difference between good English riding and good Western riding. I have a WB or two I would happily send your way 🙂 I am a jumper girl myself but would love to do some reining too!

  19. Pat Grochowina on May 17, 2014 at 10:27 am

    What an amazing video. It brought tears to my eyes. Such total rhythm. Riding a dressage horse has always been one of the things on my bucket list. Not that far off. Watching that video makes me really want to get a move on!!

  20. Melinda Johnston on May 17, 2014 at 10:18 am

    Wow, that was beautiful and amazing! I’ve done Western all along and NOW I want to do dressage, only if I can look like that! haha!

  21. frufilosofi on May 17, 2014 at 9:40 am

    She wasnt completley bareback tho =)

  22. http://theenglishprofessoratlarge.com on May 17, 2014 at 9:19 am

    You mean all those years ago when I was riding my horse bareback and bridle free that we were doing dressage?

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