The Dance Steps of Dressage - Both rhythm and regularity should be the same on straight and bending lines, through lateral work, and through transitions. Rhythm refers to the sequence of the footfalls, which should only include the pure walk, pure trot, and pure canter (except for the canter pirouette, where the horse naturally makes his canter four-beat). The regularity, or purity, of the gait includes the evenness and levelness of the stride

Dressage Competitions and Riding - The ancient Greeks were the first to practice dressage in preparation for war. Developed by the Greeks for cavalry officers, dressage evolved as a means of controlling the horse in battle. Dressage was well rooted in the military world of horsemanship, as the value of this training method was recognized by the cavalry. Later, dressage was used on the medieval battlefields of Europe and as a form of art and entertainment in the courts of Renaissance nobility. The marriage of the two most powerful families in Europe during the Baroque period

Understanding the Art of Dressage - Dressage achieves balance, suppleness, and obedience with the purpose of improving and facilitating the horse's performance of normal tasks. This discipline is elegance in motion, where every movement made by horse and rider is choreographed to perfection. Speed is not important, but total control of the horse is. This requires the horse and rider to combine the strength and agility of gymnastics with the elegance and beauty of ballet. Sometimes the horses are said to be 'dancing' but this is not really the case.