History Dressage began as a training system used to create maneuverable, obedient horses f or the military. Another major change occurred in when the US Cavalry disbanded. It was then that focus shifted from military competition to civilian competition. The sport also began to bridge the gender gap as women became more and more involved , and in the first women were allowed to compete at the Olympics.
In , the United States Dressage Federation - the staple of modern dressage as a competition sport - was founded. There can be no short cuts to success in dressage. The Emperor is showing a dressage movement. And every time you neatly manoeuvre your hunter or hack around a tight gateway, so do you.
Dressage is all around, although few would dream of comparing their expertise with that of dual Olympic champion and national treasure Charlotte Dujardin. Prehistoric man valued his horses highly, or so we deduce from cave drawings, but it was only 2, years ago that the Ancient Greeks twigged that they would be more likely to survive in battle through developing trust and two-way communication with their steeds; until then, the silent partner was tormented by brutal bits and spurs.
Enlightened Greeks taught these skills using patience, repetition and reward. They worked out how horse and rider could use themselves more effectively through small shifts in body weight and balance and with a fairly light rein contact — all of which is still the ideal. The system was recorded by Xenophon —bc , a philosopher and student of Socrates, in his remarkable work On Horsemanship.
Then over time things got more difficult, several years later they introduced flying changes. For the very first time in they had series of changes. No canter pirouettes! Then at the next Olympics in they had half and full pirouettes, and for the first time piaffe and passage.
At that very first Olympics in they had seven judges and they all sat on the short side together at a long table and they worked on the scoring together. So there was no discrepancy, they discussed what the score was and agreed on the score together. Of course they were all army officers then. It wasn't until the Olympics that civilians were allowed to compete along with the military.
Not surprisingly, the original seven-judge arrangement where judges collaborated on one score did not last, igniting a series of experimentations with judging systems that has persisted until today. The discussion on whether the judges are always doing it right has been going on for decades.
While the principles of dressage and the Pyramid of Training date back to Athenian horseman Xenophon, and the Persian army's necessity for longevity and responsiveness, Politz explains that the flashier movements where rooted in something much more frivolous - pride. People had horses for warfare so they could do the utilitarian things in battle, and then they had a horse for parades, like the knights in the middle ages who rode horses at battles or festivities.
There's also the added fact that equestrian is perceived as a sport of the elite. Look into the crowd at any equestrian event , and you'll see the faces of billionaires, blue bloods, and a solid representation of the one percent. Side note: I tried to dig up diversity numbers for dressage, but somewhat suitably, only found this screed on the importance of celebrating diversity among horses.
Thousands of you will watch the equestrian events this week, hoping to see the magical unity of horse and human. For centuries, horses have symbolized a unique kind of freedom and untamed beauty that some cultures have even elevated as god-like. But instead of beholding their natural majesty, what you'll see are the results of a broken spirit.
So go ahead, enjoy the "horse ballet," but if you feel a little bad afterwards, I think you'll know why.
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