Tall vs short - dressage?

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kit279

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Obviously not wanting to generalise, but watching some dressage online, I can't help but notice that many of the top riders have a certain build - namely, very tall and often very slim.

Can anyone give me an explanation for why it might be an advantage to be thinner for dressage (if at all)? I can see that tall people have more leg to get around their humungous warmbloods which is a plus but is it possible for a small short person to achieve the same sort of leggy elegant seat? Having spent my snow days glumly contemplating my unfortunate height deficit, can anyone think of any examples of good short dressage riders?!
 
Isabel Werth isn't a beanpole by any means and she has one of the best seats in the business. Debbie McDonald is a tiny American rider who had great success on the rather massive Brentina. Maria Eilberg is really quite small too, but she has long legs in proportion to her body.

I think I've read Edward Gal saying somewhere that his height and length of leg actually makes it difficult for him to sit correctly and he uses a saddle with big, forward cut knee rolls to help him keep his legs back.

But in general, taller people with longer legs will have a lower centre of balance in the saddle - making their core muscles more effective.
 
hmmmm not sure on height but Steph Croxford doesn't have the "typical" dressage rider frame, this doesn't seem to hinder her at all though
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I have long legs from hip to knee and I struggle getting saddles to fit me without jamming my knee in place...
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As a result, in many saddles I find my leg starts to come forwards to counteract this.
 
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Having spent my snow days glumly contemplating my unfortunate height deficit, can anyone think of any examples of good short dressage riders?!

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Yes, I have had lessons from Jeanette Haazen who is TINY!!!!! She hardly came up to my shoulder and most of her horses were around the 17hh mark!
 
I don't think the majority of the women are particularly tall. Debbie McDonald certainly isn't and she was World Champion. Cindy Ishoy, who is certainly not tall and thin (5'4" I think), has been as high as 4th in the world and consistently at the top for 20 odd years, while also raising her family and running a business.

Some of it is posture - it's interesting to see top riders off a horse as they don't always look much different than the rest of us. Also, riding at that level is going to make the body a certain shape over time, especially now everyone is so aware of rider fitness.

There is a feeling common to the various schools of dressage that having a flat inner thigh and a specific hip/pelvis conformation helps a great deal in assuming the correct position. (An idea that came from the military and therefore originally applied only to men . . .) There is probably some truth to this, in the way that certain sports favour certain physiques but that doesn't make it a foregone conclusion, particularly for those of us not likely to be going to the Olympics anytime soon.
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I am 5.3" and know two top dressage riders who are seriously shorter than me, but both look lovely on a horse. I look short, hunched and with little legs, but I think this is because my position is crap! Although objectively shorter than me, both sit up properly on a horse and as a result look longer and taller.

The secret is endless hours of no stirrups apparently!!!
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I love Steph for what she's done for the Ametuer rider. However when you watch her her seat inst anything like some of the Top riders. Maybe thats down to not as much position training though??

Im Tall but also Fat now
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!! I know when ive put weight on as my seat feels less effective & there is definitely more bounce & movement from me even when the horse is totally through. As you can see im annoyed at myself!! However i also know im never going to be a conventional framed dressage rider.

I also use a block on my saddle, however it doesnt stop my knee from going over if i sit incorrectly. I spent hours with a Cassical trainer who made me get control of my seat & leg on her schoolmaster. Sometimes now though my lower leg can creep to far back.

As for short riders 2 of my Trainers are short & tiny in frame it doesnt seem to hinder them in anyway, apart from they dont look as pleasing to the eye as a tall leggy thin person.
 
I actually can't think of many top lady riders who are tall!
Isabell Werth is short, and so is Emma Hindle... And even Anky is not so tall.

The one really tall rider who springs to mind is Ulla Salzgeber.
 
Emma is tiny! And she has a brilliant seat. A good role model for the likes of me - I'm only 5'2 and under 9 stone.

Anky and Adelinde and Laura B are not massively tall but they all have long legs and are built more "straight" from shoulder to hip. My guess is that mechanically they find it a bit easier to conform to the ideal dressage rider position.

I always think of Gareth Hughes (who must be 6'4 and looks like a beanpole) as being the ideal bodyshape for a male dressage rider. Not many (I can't think of them anyway) male riders who are short and tubby!
 
Hubertus Schmidt is supposed to have the perfect body in terms of balance on a horse - or at least this is what a top dressage rider said to me! It was funny to see a BD National Champion drooling over someone else's seat though!!!
 
Mark Ruddock is the only dressage male I can think of who is not of the really tall and thin variety. Sadly, tall and thin people (or at least with long legs in proportion to their body) look soo much better on a horse. Geoff Billington is an amazing rider but he just would never look "dressage"...:o

I am 5'3 with stumpy legs and I look ridiculous on my 17'2 mare :-(
 
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I have long legs from hip to knee and I struggle getting saddles to fit me without jamming my knee in place...
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As a result, in many saddles I find my leg starts to come forwards to counteract this.

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Same here... with my dressage saddle I've recently taken the small knee rolls out of my jumping saddle and put them on my dressage saddle right near the top, creating thigh blocks rather than knee rolls - brilliant!
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Now my knees have breathing space
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I'm supposedly 'blessed' with rather long legs anyway but I still manage to look awful when I ride
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What about Hannah Esberger-Shepherd? She's quite ickle isn't she, but seems to always look good on a horse?

What TarrSteps says about having flat inner thighs is something I've heard before, so maybe if you're not blessed with being tall you can make up for it in that way?
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Another thought, how your leg sits depends on whether your horse is slab-sided or barrel-shaped too, so you could have a deep-bodied but slab-sided horse that makes you look leggier than you actually are.
 
You dont have to be tall to look good, there are plenty of small riders but they dont look small when on a horse.

Personally I think the really tall men look silly on a horse, I know a tall very famous German rider who rides 18+ and still looks huge on them!
 
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Hubertus Schmidt probably has the best seat of all current male dressage riders for sure. I would totally agree with that.
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Agreed
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One of my old trainers who was an O-judge once told me that HS was the only rider whose seat he was always scoring with a 10 (though Hubertus was there too when he said that, so maybe part of it was flattery
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I dont know but i do find myself looking at people in the street and thinking i wish i had your long legs . . . they would look great for dressage!

I'm the wrong way round for anything, long body and short legs!
 
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What about Hannah Esberger-Shepherd? She's quite ickle isn't she, but seems to always look good on a horse?

What TarrSteps says about having flat inner thighs is something I've heard before, so maybe if you're not blessed with being tall you can make up for it in that way?
wink.gif
Another thought, how your leg sits depends on whether your horse is slab-sided or barrel-shaped too, so you could have a deep-bodied but slab-sided horse that makes you look leggier than you actually are.

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*Weeps* Flat inner thighs is about as achievable for me as growing an extra eye in the middle of my forehead is...
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I'm not sure if this is relevent, but to get into the Spanish Riding School you must be tall and slim, so they obviously think it's beneficial.. or perhaps just looks better?!
 
I don't think anyone argues it's beneficial, it's just not essential. And fitness is another issue - the Spanish Riding School training would make almost anyone slim!

Also, they're a performance based program, so having everyone look more or less the same, able to fit into the same tack etc. would be very important.
 
There was quite a fat guy in the Spanish Riding School - they made him do the long reining bit to help his physique! - but the problem is that the horses are not very big so weight is a factor particularly in the high school movements.
There have also been some great Germans who were not tall and slim - Rehbein, Gunther and Georg Theodorescu spring to mind - and Dominique d'Esme from France was short and with round thighs but had an amazingly deep seat. I think a shortish back is an advantage as it probably makes you more stable. Core strength is of course vital.
 
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