Judgement – Get Off Your High Horse!
Judgement. In the horse world, it is easy to make judgements without any background information which is not doing us any favors. Horse people already can be perceived by outsiders as privileged because of our expensive hobby. So without any further information on the...
Do Your Homework
“Do your homework!” – This is something we are told repeatedly from elementary school on up. It is also something crucially important in dressage. I recently had the opportunity to spend two months as a working student for Allison Spivey Dressage and there I...
Make Good Choices!
As a mother of 4, of course I have friends with children. A long time ago, one of my friends who had kids in middle school and high school (while mine were still little) told me how she would always call out: “Make good choices!” whenever they would leave the house....
Horse Benefits: Friendships
Dressage and having horses in general is pretty amazing. There are so many benefits. The bond we have with our horses, fresh air and exercise just to name a few. The one thing that I find very interesting is the depth of friendships we make through our...
Communication
Communication. If there was one word that I think of when it comes to dressage that would be it. From the very beginning of when I learned to ride and knew what dressage was I was fascinated by it. How does an FEI rider get their horse to do all those things and...
Schooling vs. Recognized Showing
Dahlgren Dressage is lucky enough to be located in central Virginia where there are a lot of local riding clubs that put on inexpensive, casual dressage and combined training shows. We typically have at least one winter show series as well, which is nice as that can...
Horse Therapy
Every once in a while I get super overwhelmed with everything. I mean seriously… not sure why that would happen? Possibly because I have 4 kids and work as an ER doc, plus fitting in my riding time? This week it just seemed like everything was happening at once. The...
Winter riding isn’t so bad. Right?
I arrive at the barn mid-to-late afternoon. The temperature is just below freezing and it's snowing those big puffy flakes that drift down like you are in a snow globe. There is already a good 4-5 inches of snow on the ground. The roads aren't bad-...
Good Things Can Happen When You Take A Chance!
Funny how things work out. It was about one year ago I went to Wellington, FL with my two friends, Samantha and Lindsey. We had gone down to watch the beautiful horses at Global Dressage Festival, visit friends, enjoy the weather and of course do some shopping. We had...
Winter Motivation Tips
For those of us who are not lucky enough to head south for the winter, we are struggling through the daily battles of freezing temperatures, snow, ice, frozen water, the lack of daylight, and just plain lack of motivation. Some of us are taking care of our own horses...
About Dahlgren Dressage
Amy Dahlgren of Dahlgren Dressage is a USDF Bronze and Silver medalist offering quality dressage instruction in central Virginia.