Dressage trainer Eliza Sydnor Romm and professional artist Susan DiFelice were first introduced decades ago, when Sydnor’s family hired DiFelice to paint a portrait of her horse. Some 20 years later collaborated on a dressage training video for DiFelice’s website Allpony. In this new “Drawn To Dressage” blog series, we will be sharing their most recent collaboration, which combines their talents and shared passion for education and horsemanship to share illustrated dressage training tips.

“That lady has it so easy; her horse is push-button!” 

Ever hear this phrase? I’m not sure such a thing actually exists. And if it did, it would probably look more like this. A fully trained Grand Prix horse would feel like sitting down in the cockpit of a jet! And for most of us, that is a very intimidating feeling. 

Just because a horse is trained to a high level does not make them “easy” to ride. Hopefully as you learn how to navigate and operate all these “buttons,” then a horse like this could allow to you feel some amazing things: upper level movements, yes, but mostly they should give you the feel for things like excellent balance, self-carriage, suppleness and responsiveness. These are the “basics” you need to feel in order to do any of the fancy movements.

If we stick with the cockpit analogy, it’s more akin to monitoring many gauges, like airspeed, altitude, etc. in a plane. On an upper-level horse, we’re monitoring impulsion, uphill balance, response time to our leg or half-halt, straightness, and more. When these gauges are finely tuned, and the rider is very educated, small adjustments can be made. But if a lower-level rider gets on and neglects to address some of these, you’ve got a mess on your hands pretty quickly. No impulsion, and now you want piaffe and passage? No way! Super crooked but you’re going to try some tempi changes? Not gonna happen. 

And a hugely important piece to remember is that no horse is actually programmed like a piece of software. Every rider is training every horse every time they ride, whether they mean to or not. If you, the rider, do not continue to refine the horse’s response to the aids—the throughness, the straightness, etc.—then your access to these “buttons” will be lost. 

You might get away with allowing the horse to be flat and crooked in the canter and still ride a few flying changes, but ride them like that for too long, and you won’t be able to do changes any more—or pirouettes, piaffe, passage, half-pass, and other movements.

With great buttons comes great responsibility. The rider’s responsibility is to work daily on their seat and position, because that is your means of communication with your horse. And if you get a chance to ride a horse who knows a lot, your job is to communicate quietly and in a balanced way. 

Thanks to Susan DiFelice Design for this awesome illustration of her amazing “push button” wonder mare, Jolie F, owned by Anne Carroll. 

Eliza Sydnor Romm is an FEI rider and trainer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is a USDF Certified Instructor and sought-after trainer and clinician. She teaches horses and riders of all levels, from starting under saddle to Grand Prix.

Susan DiFelice, a lifelong rider and award-winning equestrian illustrator, created Allpony, an educational website serving a global community with courses, games and printables on horsemanship. Her passion lies in fostering creative partnerships and producing illustrations for professionals and brands seeking to make an impact in the equestrian world.