Our Philosophy

At North Shore Dressage, we believe in letting horses be horses and providing them with as natural an environment as possible to ensure their physical and mental well-being. Our training and horse care philosophy is centered around three fundamentals:

• Cross-training in a variety of locations - although we specialize in the development of dressage athletes, we do not train in a dressage arena every day. Horses need variety in their surroundings, so we incorporate ring work with work on trails, in big open fields, up and down hills, jumping gymnastics, and work on the beach.  The change of scenery and different types of footing not only helps the horse learn how to balance themselves, but they are also naturally inclined to go more forward in bigger spaces, and the variety improves their attitude.  This work also helps strengthen muscles and tendons, reducing the risk of injuries that can be associated with dressage horses.

      

Working down and up hills, and at the beach.

• Grass turn out - fresh air, grazing and moving around for as much of the day as possible is not only better for tendons, bones and joints but also relaxes the horses' mind and provides Mother Natures' most natural whole food.

• Whole food - just as we are more aware of the effects of processed food on human bodies, the bioavailability (i.e., ability to be absorbed and used by the body) of an equine whole food diet helps to alleviate stress on the digestive tract, thereby reducing stress on the liver and immune system.  Horses are healthier on a whole food diet because their GI tract is not designed to eat synthetic processed foods.  So while our clients can choose whatever feed they want, we feed our own horses minimally or non-processed food.  We use BioStar's whole food equine diet and organic supplements as an integral part of our program for three main reasons: (1) it is highly effective, (2) the horses are mentally more focused and settled (less anxious and spooky), brighter, more consistently sound and fit, and have better coat condition, and (3) it makes good economic sense ... as part of maintaining costs ... while some of BioStar's clients started using the equine diet because of injuries, we use it to reduce stress and help minimize the risks of our horses getting injured or colic.  We have been very impressed by the positive effect that it has on our horses' mental attitude and overall well-being.  See our Resources & Links page for a link to the BioStar website or contact Gregor@BioStarEQ.com 

You will have an improved riding experience if your horse is happy. Happy horses and riders also make for a better training partnership, and we look forward to developing this with you.