Classical Dressage Art in Motion

Hubbie and my daughter with our young mare I recently showed a young mare to a prospective buyer who brought along her daughter who was also her trainer. The couple were searching for a dressage horse that they could also use in their lesson program as a therapy horse. Against my better judgement and wealth of experience I agreed to allow the trainer to work directly with the young mare from the ground. Well, at least. I agreed to allow her to longe it when she made the request on the phone. The mare was bridled with a bit in place, and the longe line attached to the bit as is our usual practice. The horse was home-produced at our farm and kept for our breeding program and to date had received perhaps 24 or so longe lessons and been sat on just a few times in preparation for sale as we are retiring from horse breeding. She had never put a foot wrong in all those sessions. Our training involves much patience to achieve relaxation and the voice is an important tool Afte...