Dressage Diaries

Dressage Diaries serves as my witness to my older son’s journey as a dressage rider.  About ten years ago, I was picking him up from his weekly piano lesson when his teacher stopped me at the door and said, “Lucas needs to go to a barn; all he talks about is horses!”  I chuckled and jokingly replied that if we did that, Lucas would probably quit taking piano lessons.  His teacher was serious, though, and I found myself driving my son to a week of beginning equestrian camp, the sort of thing where they ride a pony on a lunge line, make arts and crafts out of horseshoes and paint a horse with handprints covered in brightly-colored paint.  He loved it. 

Piano lessons abruptly ended, and riding lessons commenced.  I am not a rider, and we had much to learn. Lucas brought his usual intensity to the endeavor, plus natural talent.  School horses turned into our first dressage horse, Valet, and another two horses, Ky and Everest.  We built a barn and days began with chores.   Lucas’ sport became a way of life for our entire family.  We learned about the horse world, making plenty of mistakes along the way, but generally not repeating them!  And, through it all, I had my camera.  

This series is an ongoing exploration from a mother’s perspective of the world of dressage, the relationship between horse and rider, and the dedication of an athlete to his sport.