TRYON, NC — In the heart of Western North Carolina’s burgeoning horse county in Tryon, trainer Erik Deirks is teaching a particular discipline of riding many people may not have ever heard of — dressage.
For many serious riders, it’s a critical component of training themselves and their horses to develop strength and finesse when it comes to the horse’s gaits that include walking, trotting and cantering.
Katharine Stancliff has been training in dressage for years. The 24-year-old does eventing, which is a horse’s version of a triathlon. One of the three tests involved is how well her horse can do dressage.
“She’s using muscle groups from her head down to her toes,” Deirks said of Stancliff who he regularly trains. “She’s finding her own center of balance, and when she finds her center, for any rider, it also balances your mind.”
Dressage is French for “basic training.” However, there are multiple levels of dressage that good riders can train for to show off their progress with a horse in training. Dressage can be likened to horse ballet. A rider will use his or her hand and leg aids to guide the horse and build energy which comes from their hind end.
The key also is to remain quiet never showing the aides being used to direct the horse.
“It’s a good cardio workout,” said Stancliff. “It really strengthens the core.”
Dierks grew up in Wisconsin where his father taught him how to ride dressage. Dierks said he grew up on the show circuit; horses are clearly in his blood.
“The wonderful thing about the sport of dressage is you can never be perfect,” Dierks wife said, Tracy Doubek-Dierks who also rides.
She said the focused training is in part why she enjoys it so much. It’s a constant challenge each time a rider takes a horse out to train or into the show arena for a competitive dressage test.
Riders go around a 20-by-60-meter ring that has 12 letters posted around the arena. During tests at various letters, a rider will ask his or her horse to follow their leg and hand and seat aids to either move forward or sideways or backwards or the highly collected and cadenced dressage movement called a piaffe which is where a horse trots in place.
That’s reserved, though, for upper level riders. While dressage may look intimidating for a beginner rider, it can be a great foundation for learning the sensitivities of a horse from guiding him with a rider’s leg to not overusing the reigns that are attached to a bit in the horse’s mouth.
There are several barns around the Asheville area that offer various forms of riding lessons in different disciplines.
