Pursuing excellence in Dressage, Maryanna balances a pursuit of harmony and elegance with the training and development of horse and rider. Maryanna encourages the confidence of riders through disciplined training so that they have the mastery to feel comfortable and capable. Whether your riding goals include showing in Championship Competition or simply pursuing the Classical Art of Riding, these skills lay the groundwork for your success.
Beginning with the basics of balance in motion, Maryanna will work with beginners to master the body control needed to communicate clearly with the horse. A rider may either help or hinder the horse. The more expressive a horse's movement, the more difficult it is for a novice rider to follow that movement. Through lunge line lessons and an array of other techniques, riders will develop the ability to sit into their horses and to ride quietly and clearly so that communication of the aids is unhampered. The horse will understand what is expected and will move happily and correctly forward.
As your communication and seat improve, Maryanna will guide you through learning the language of the aids, the cues used to guide a horse in complex movements. The mechanics, timing and balance of these aids form the basis of the increasingly subtle communication required for the advanced Dressage movements.
As you grasp the mechanics, Maryanna's focus will shift to the quality of movement of the horse. The aids will begin to support the expressive energy and feeling of the movements, not just plodding through steps of the dance. As a waltz can be slow and intimate as well as vivacious and full of energy, the dance of riding can express your inner feelings.
At this stage, Maryanna's teaching is guiding the student toward a discovery -- finding the flowing movement in both horse and rider that allows them to move as one. Once discovered, the flow enables the rider to not only stop interfering but to help the horse move. The movement becomes larger, more graceful, expressive, and dramatic. Joy in movement emerges.
Through the discovery of beauty, Maryanna will help you find the discipline required of competition. The lessons will train you to reach for that spark of energy within yourself that forms the core of inspiration and the foundation for athleticism. Dressage requires intense focus and exuberant energy from both you and your horse. Anything less achieves the ordinary. Anything more reaches for the transcendent.