About dressage
Some people are intimidated by dressage, perceiving it as difficult, but it is simply about the correct training of horses. Any horse, from New Forest to Thoroughbred, can do well and it is of benefit whether you want to hack or event.
The cavalry originally developed dressage, which is a French term meaning training, to have the edge in combat. In the 17th and 18th centuries, dressage was the fashionable thing to do and nobility used to put on displays like those still seen at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
In the 20th century, dressage became the competitive sport it is today. The first organisation to run the discipline in Britain was founded in 1961 as part of the British Horse Society (BHS). The BHS Dressage Group had 123 members and held eight competitions in its first year.
British Dressage Ltd was set up in January 1998 to take over as the governing body of the sport. We now have more than 14,000 members, 10,000 registered horses and run 2,000 days of competition per year, which makes dressage the fastest growing Olympic equestrian discipline.
We are a member of the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and select teams to represent the nation on the world stage, as well as administering all aspects of affiliated dressage from our Warwickshire headquarters at the National Agricultural Centre in Stoneleigh Park.
Apart from the 22 members of staff in the office, most full-time and some part-time, there are a huge number of volunteers. All the judges, nearly 1,000, are volunteers, as are the nine board directors and all our committee members.
All scorers, stewards, runners (who collect test sheets from the judges and take them to the secretary’s office), writers (who write down the judge’s comments) and many show secretaries do it for the love of the sport. If you would like to become involved, contact your regional development officer (click on Your regions or see the regional activity page in British Dressage magazine), who may know of shows that need volunteers, or ring your local show organisers directly.
To find out what each BD staff member does, click on Meet our team.
