The www.azdressage.org
Centerline Vol. 18, Issue 5
May 2018
Arizona Dressage Association
A Lesson on Form & Function On April 25th, Bellisima Ranch hosted a clinic on dressage conformation. The clinic was taught by Dorie Vlatten-Schmitz and was well attended. The clinic began with a presentation on the basics of conformation and what to look for in an ideal horse with slides showing the desired traits for dressage as well as some commom deficiencies. After that, the group moved into the covered arena and Dorie demonstrated how to assess conformation using several "volunteer" horses of all ages, breeds, and training levels. Each horse was assessed standing square and then walking both away from and toward the group. After this, each horse was free lunged in the areana so that the movement of the horse could be evalutated in relation to its conformation. Two of the most interesting points that were looked at were how the shape of the hind end affects pushing power and ground coverage and how the angle of the shoulder relates to the amount of reach in the front legs.