Hardest Discipline?

LEC

LEC

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I have done a fair few and have come to the conclusion dressage is the hardest.
Why? Dressage is about feel which is something very hard to teach, its about body awareness again something hard to teach and its about perfectionism.
I have come to the conclusion that dressage riders are made not born.
I feel people can be good natural riders in SJ and XC whereas dressage you can be natural but still need a lot of training that the other two disciplines do not take?

Thoughts?
 
I think eventing's the hardest, but maybe that's because I BD & BSJA but don't xc much? Instead of being in a nice arena, the terrain's all up & down & there's ditchy things & banky things & pants ground & so many other things that I don't know how to deal with. Plus you're going faster than sj so you have half the time to decide what stride you're coming in from. And the brakes issue.

I always really admire the eventers on here cos I find it sooo hard & am pants at it!!
 
I hate Sj also find it hard but not as physically and mentally demanding as dressage. With Sj it all comes down to the canter.
 
i agree that dressage is hard, and i would love to be able to do high level stuff.
however, i also believe that eventing is difficult. to have an incredibly fit horse that has to settle in the dressage and be responsive and exact and then be expected to be bold and quick xc, then showjumping where they have to be careful and controlled.
in my mind it takes a lot more discipline to do eventing than dressage, but that entirely depends on the level of competition.

dressage is demanding in a different way to eventing, but the hardest to get really is a responsive, well trained horse that would do anything you wanted it to do, be it dressage or eventing.
 
I think it is show jumping. I event at a low level and would happily move up the levels with the XC but the SJ freaks me out when it gets bigger. I think its cos you have to think too much and be far more organised with less space to sort things out. The horse seems to jump better XC as they jump out of rhythmn.
 
I agree with you stilton. I'd much rather go round an intermediate XC track rather than a Novice SJ track! SJ does worry me big time. Agghh I faint every time I see a set of Showjumps!
Dressage I find OK,it has clicked for me this year, having a trainer that is based on my yard who has trained me since 15. She is bloody rude and hard working but this has gotten results. Thankfully we've gone a whole year since she last said that I was only fit to ride a donkey !
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praise indeed!
 
*whispers as im supposed to be thinking positively* but deffo the show jumping... if you make a small mistake in the dressage then its a mark, maybe 2?... but one mistake show jumping and its 4 penalties... I'm probably a strange event rider in that i really enjoy the dressage! but not as much as the xc
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Dressage.. you have to have a brain to be able to do dressage, and unfortunatly i don't seem to have one of those
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Borrow my trainer, she's very good at knocking brains into anybody!!
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I honestly think that pure rudeness and shock tatics are needed to get the best out of muppetts like me! It sure did work!
 
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*whispers as im supposed to be thinking positively* but deffo the show jumping... if you make a small mistake in the dressage then its a mark, maybe 2?... but one mistake show jumping and its 4 penalties... I'm probably a strange event rider in that i really enjoy the dressage! but not as much as the xc
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I have to admit that I've developed an alarming enjoyment for dressage, (just a shame therefore that I struggle with it!) I do have to try very hard to ensure negativity doesn't creep into me in the showjumping, and I went through a stage of becoming so obsessed with the stride that I was killing the canter. It does help having big horses, since they make the fences look much smaller when you're on top!
 
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It does help having big horses, since they make the fences look much smaller when you're on top!


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yahhh but so very much harder to steer and keep the quality of canter... i want my ponies back lol! also it takes longer for the messages to get from their brains to their legs haha
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dressage is the hardest because it is completely subjective, eventing next hardest cos of subjective element but showjumping totally objective which is why we love it!
 
I quite like the occasional bit of Dressage but I find it hard work. XC is just plain scary but I love my showjumping. I guess I'll never make an eventer! lol
 
I disagree - I very rarely have flatwork lessons, have just started having them with Dexter after abot 3 yrs of having none, yet have always got good dressage marks. I am naturally better on the flat.

When I compare my SJ and flatwork lessons its about a 10% flatwork to 90% SJ !! Ive had far far far more SJ lessons then dressage lessons, it all depends on the individual person IMHO
 
i found sj hard and hated it with my last horse...as i could do a great dressage test and clear and fast xc....xc i hardly had to thnk in that way just self taught.
dressage iv had a lot of help with as she was the first horse iv rtied to compete in that way as well as her being the first horse i had ridden..and she was basically not schooled when i bought her.(not properly anyway)

i think all diciplines are difficult..but eventing covers all 3, so in that respect i do think maybe it is the hardest.
 
its not hard its how you pecieved it to be dressage that is i always think it a dance as in movments-- and beats think horses leags 1234 and rising trot 12 and canter 123
then think seat-- cheek to cheek be light in leg and soft in hands
think dance-- light and flowing-- ballerina same the horse
graceful light and soft and dressgae is tiny movemnts not huge great big ones- its tweaks
 
Dressage is hard to get a good mark in because alot of it can be subjective! But have to say I do enjoy it.... Sjing is the hardest IMHO, I love XC but that comes from doing alot of hunting I guess. Eveting is difficult cos it is hard to get everything all going well on the same day
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From a purely personal pov, it would be eventing as i just dont have the courage for it and the mere thought of XC scares me silly.

I can just about kick myself round a small course of SJs with the help of a decent and forgiving horse but XC i just couldnt do.

In general... i think people find dressage the hardest perhaps.
 
Dressage has to be the hardest...simply because there are no hard and fast rules. You get on your horse on the morning of the show, and you can do exactly what you did the week before when you won, but get nowhere this week because someone else is judging and they have a totally different opinion of what is right and what is wrong
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At least with SJ'ing or x-c you either jump the fence or you don't
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Oh agree with Rambo completely.
Also it really depends on the horse your riding!!!
But eventing, to do all 3 on the same horse needs ALOT of training on the horse and rider.
 
oh im not sure obviously show jumping i find easy but have done it since a kid - dressage now im growing up i really am getting interested in and was in heaven riding my friends Grand Prix horse and doing tempi's, passage and piaffe etc etc but god was it hard work !! XC i used to love but i think im a little scared now - i might bring my old boy out of retirement xx
 
xc because I didn't grow up doing it. As far as I know no-one has ever died from an accident in a dressage test and yes you can have nasty falls SJ but as a rule it doesn't seem that bad because the fences knock down. D is quite happy to do xc and I love the adrenaline buzz but thinking about it petrifies me, knowing that I'm heading full pelt at something that isn't going to knock down if it all goes wrong. I'm sure that if I'd learned to xc as a child then it wouldn't bother me but unforuntately I didn't have that chance
 
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