Dressage

From The Talland International School of Equitation

Introduction

Dressage, the highest expression of horse training, is considered to be the art of equestrian sport and is used as the groundwork for all the other disciplines. Its beginnings can be traced back to the 17th century courts of Renaissance Europe and today, interest in dressage continues to grow throughout the world as a sport and a pastime. Dressage is also one of the three disciplines in competition at the Olympic Games, the other two being Jumping and Eventing.

Some history

The long and colourful traditions of Dressage go as far back as ancient Greece: the first known work on horsemanship dealing with Dressage was written by the general Xenophon (430 – 354 BC) who is considered the founder of the discipline. With the disintegration of ancient Greece, the art of riding slowly fell into oblivion and was not revived until the Italian Renaissance in the 16th century. A riding academy was created in Naples in 1532, the teachings of which gradually reached Baroque France. Le Manège Royal, written in 1632, concentrated on understanding the character of the horse and winning its cooperation. In the 18th century classical Dressage reached its peak with the creation of the world-famous Spanish Riding School in 1729 in Vienna, which laid the basis of the modern discipline.

Despite the fact that over the centuries the discipline had enjoyed numerous followers and theorists, the first competition was not held until 1873 in Vienna, Austria. The first international competition took place in Turin, Italy, in 1902. Dressage events were part of the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, when equestrian made its Olympic debut. The first FEI Dressage championship outside the Olympic Games was held in 1930 at Lucerne, Switzerland. The first FEI World Championship was held in Bern, Switzerland

Modern Competition

In modern competitions, horse and rider are expected to perform from memory a series of predetermined movements, known as figures (volte, serpentine, figure of eight). The completely flat arena, measuring 60 x 20 m., is skirted by a low rail along which 12 lettered markers are placed symmetrically indicating where movements are to start, where changes of pace or lead are to occur and where the movements are to end. In all competitions, the horse has to show three paces: walk, trot and canter as well as smooth transitions within and between these paces.

High quality is revealed by freedom and regularity of the paces, lightness and ease of the movements. The horse gives the impression of doing the movements on his own accord and shows immediate and even intuitive response to the rider’s commands.

Tests

There are tests of different degree of difficulty.

• In lower level tests, there are movements such as halt, rein-back volte, walk-pirouettes and lateral movements.
• In medium levels there are flying changes in canter, when the horse is required to

switch its leading foreleg without breaking the stride.

• In high level tests, there are movements like passage, a collected, highly elevated trot that has a

long moment of suspension as each diagonal pair of feet is raised and lowered, and piaffe, performed with maximum collection and no forward movement in which the horse gives the impression of trotting on the spot.

International Competitions

At international competitions regulated by the FEI, riders and horses are expected to perform the following tests:

• Prix St-Georges (of medium standard)
• Intermediate 1 (of relatively advanced standard)
• Intermediate 2 (of advanced standard)
• Grand Prix is a highly demanding five-and-a-half-minute test requiring all of the basic schooling movements plus the fundamental airs of the Classical High School, including pirouettes (pivots on the spot at a prescribed gait), piaffe, passage and flying lead changes.
• Grand Prix Special is a seven minute test requiring the same movements as the Grand Prix but in a different order and with increased focus on the more advanced movements
• Grand Prix Freestyle (Kür) is performed to the accompaniment of a musical score. Most of the marks, based on purity of action, rhythm and regularity, impulsion and collection, are for technical performance.

Some of the most spectacular Dressage performances occur during the Grand Prix Freestyle (Kür) which is performed to the accompaniment of a musical score, often tailor-made for the performance. Freestyle is the pinnacle of Dressage execution and when it works, the result is magic.

The standard formula for FEI world and continental championships and the Olympic Games consists of a Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle (Kür) tests. The Grand Prix test decides the team medals and serves as a first individual qualifying round. The top 18 to 25 riders (the number varies depending on the type of competition) progress to the more demanding Grand Prix Special. The best riders, based on total points from the two previous tests, qualify for the medal round where they perform a Grand Prix Freestyle (Kür) test.