Dressage and Fitness … Wait, What?!

A couple months ago we had a “Let’s Discuss” conversation here on EN inspired by a blog post by EN’s good friend Laura Szeremi AKA Bad Eventer called “The Secrets of the Sitting Trot.”  (Editor’s note: Despite what Laura would have you believe, she is actually a very very good eventer!) Today we catch up on Laura’s sitting trot adventure. 

All photos courtesy of Laura Szeremi.

I’ve had a couple ah-ha dressage fails moments this week. I have this fancy shmancy unbelievably bouncy dinosaur of a horse. My struggles to sit his trot have been epic — mentally and physically.

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While riding our first Prelim test, wherein sitting the trot is mandatory, halfway through I found myself wheezing like a dying animal. This was in spite of being the fittest I’ve been in decades.

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Let’s face it. My apologies to all the Crossfit champion DQs out there, but dressage is not exactly known for requiring *cough* the most athletic riders of the equestrian sports. And I certainly didn’t think my severe lack of oxygen had anything to do with fitness.

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Sure! You need flexibility and some core body strength, but not aerobic fitness. Right?

During the end of season break I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I need goals to keep me motivated and having never run more than five miles in my life I decided to enter my first half-marathon. Makes total sense, right?

So I’ve been running my shoes off, training for my suicide attempt. My half marathon is next weekend and I’m feeling pretty amazing about my fitness.

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When I took my first dressage lesson this week in nearly two months, I was prepared for A LOT of suffering. I hadn’t sat the trot in weeks and I assumed I would’ve taken several steps backwards, as if it was possible for my sitting to trot to get any worse. I’ve had flat lessons where the fearless leader told me I could post if it meant I wouldn’t cry during lessons.

I was braced and ready for the physical and emotional suffering, but something very unusual happened.

There was no wheezing…

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and at least 50% less bouncing…

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Wait … what? Who knew dressage required so much fitness?!

You can keep up with Laura via her blog, Tales from a Bad Eventer, here.