New to dressage

Just starting out but I own the horse, bought the saddle, have a few books that really aren't very helpful, unable to trailer my horse to lessons at another barn.  Can anyone offer suggestions/books/whatever that I can use or get to help me get started?

I agree that cross training with Dressage helps with every discipline! I cross train my dressage gelding with small jumps! I also cannot trailer my horse, but my first piece of advice for you would be to find a GOOD reliable dressage trainer in your area. Although you may feel that the lessons are too expensive, the quality of the training you are recieving is very important. Explain your situation to your trainer, and ask him/her to give you suggestions from what you are doing in your lessons to apply at home. If you have a friend handy who wouldn't mind videotaping your lessons, this can be a huge help because you can review at home before you go out and ride your horse. I was also able to work out a working student program for a few weeks over the summer with my trainer. I paid the woman where I board my horse to trailer my gelding and all of his tack (plus food for a couple weeks) to my trainer's farm. I lived there, worked all day, and had at least one lesson on my own horse everyday! Some days I had a lesson on my horse, and a lesson on one of hers! It was an absolutley amazing experience, and my horse and I both learned! The work was hard, but totally worth it!! So that is where I would start  I hope it was helpful!!

Hi