Category Archives: Blog

Originally posted on Academie Duello’s blog in November 2011 Excellence takes many forms in the equestrian world.  There is the elegance of dressage, the precision of jumping, the savvy of a good cow-horse and the bravery of an eventer.  But … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Academie Duello’s blog in October 2011 It’s almost never good news when the phone rings before your alarm clock; and that was true for me last Tuesday when I found out my father had died.  After the … Continue reading →

Congratulations to Dan deGagne who had an almost perfect set of responses to our first Cavaliere Quiz.  He was lacking only the  specific reply as to when the breastplate would be BUCKLED to the SADDLE (after doing up the girth).  … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Academie Duello’s blog in October 2011.  Reposted for interest only.  Contest is closed, but anyone posting correct answers in the comments will still earn bragging rights! 1.   Which one of the following brushes would you use on … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Academie Duello’s blog in October 2011 As many of you know, our Cavaliere Program has within it three streams of learning: riding, mounted combat, and horsemanship.  Two are fairly obvious:  learning to ride, and learning to wield … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Academie Duello’s blog in September 2011 Followers of this blog will have noticed several mentions of the Pony Club.  This is partly because the Richmond Branch of the Canadian Pony Club often operates out of our barn, … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Academie Duello’s blog in October 2011 In previous posts I have talked about the dressage or training pyramid and its first five components: rhythm, relaxation, contact, impulsion and straightness. The top of the pyramid is collection, and … Continue reading →

Straightness Originally posted on Academie Duello’s blog in September 2011 We are almost at the top of the training pyramid now, and you’d think something as straightforward-seeming as ‘straightness’ would be lower down – at the bottom even.  However, straightness … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Academie Duello’s blog in August 2011 We’re in the top half of the training pyramid now, and getting to high-level dressage material.  That doesn’t mean regular everyday riding horses don’t benefit from these concepts. Impulsion is the … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Academie Duello’s blog in July 2011 The third level of the dressage pyramid is contact.  This comes from the horse willingly lifting his back and reaching forward to the bit.  I like to think of contact as … Continue reading →