You are soooo right alliance! It NEVER goes away...my horse ("Elvis" - pic in my bio) went up to 4th level then when I got into med school I decided it wouldn't be fair to him to not fulfill his full potential...so I made the extremely difficult decision to sell him. It was seriously one of the hardest things I've ever had to do...still makes me sad to think about, he is such a cool horse. Luckily I see his name in my USDF newsletters periodically so it's good to know he's still doing well (at 18!!).
Dressage is absolutely fundamental to everything imo! Hunter/jumpers/eventers always find their horses go better after some fundamentals...I also believe that dressage horses benefit from a little jumping! I did some eventing and h&j with my guy and it always made him soo happy!
Yay for horses!
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