KISS DRESSAGE PHILOSOPHY

Kind

We recognize that all riders share a love of horses. We strive to not only be kind to our horses by not using devices as part of our training, we also seek the release of the aids and self-carriage as the kindest way to ride.
Besides kindness to the horse, we also seek to be kind in our training of the rider. We appreciate your individual strengths and weaknesses and don’t expect you and your horse to fit some “cookie cutter” picture of perfection. Each horse, no matter what breed, type, or conformation is special, and we will gladly work with the horse you have chosen and love.

Intelligent

We take a rational, academic approach to riding. We have studied the history of dressage, read the masters and other noteworthy trainers, and even looked at other disciplines. This education gives us a broader sense of experiences than we could ever hope to gain by our practice alone.
We encourage our students to become students of the art. Examining the literature gives the student a generality in theory that is often missed do to the specific nature of lessons which can only focus on one horse and rider in a specific moment in time.

Soft

This encompasses relaxation, gentleness and lightness. The horse needs to be relaxed to properly supple his body and focus his mind. The rider needs to be relaxed so the aids will be light and gentle.
By keeping softness in the rider’s body, the horse more easily uses his own body.

Simple

By keeping the aids simple, the rider can focus on what is or isn’t working and correct it, rather than just “doing more”. When there are problems with the training, we break it down to its simplest parts. Since we are teaching communication between two different species, we believe the communication should be kept as simple as possible for clarity. There is no advanced riding, only basic riding done well.