OCTOBER 2006 • VOLUME 14 • © Copyright HORSES For LIFE™ Publications

Sounds almost silly, doesn't it? I didn't realize how silly until one of my students who was interested in international competition came over to watch the latest World Equestrian Games.

As we sat down to watch and I began to explain that yes, today there are two dressages - the one that we read about in the books of past masters, and we see many who try to still follow that path, and then another dressage that we have come to see on the screen of our TVs and in the competition arena.

Her face showed obvious shock, wondering what the heck I meant when I said that people now referred to two different dressages. As in her mind, she had always planned to take what she knew, what she had learned, and just ride the absolute best way that she knew how. Should she not enter the competition arena with the same goals? The same goals that she had taught her own students, the same goals that she used when she trained her own horses?

It made me pause. How had it come to be that I had gotten to the point that I had accepted that there were two different dressages? Some called the two - classical and competition dressage. But should they be different? Should not the best classical rider be able to enter the arena and expect success? Should not the competition rider enter the arena and expect to be judged by the same standards that the riding masters of the past would have held them up to?

The reality is that some of the best equestrians never competed, now or in the past. Have never tried to compete. The question that comes to mind is, why?

I think that after watching the World Equestrian Games she came to understand a little better why people now referred to two different dressages. Her face was shocked as she stuttered and asked what the heck were they doing? She didn't understand why the horses were going the way they were, poor piaffes, stiff horses, horses that had no bend, horses whose necks disappeared they were so compressed, horses as she pointed out that walked with the stiff legs and unbending knees that she had come to associate with horses at the racetrack. She was stupefied by the marks given, not understanding how the judges could give these high marks for what she saw as poor work. But she had a different benchmark than the one the judges use.

Had I become blase? These particular games looked better than most that I had seen. Finally we got to see a few horses ahead of the vertical, there were a few piaffes where there actually was a bascule, with the horse carrying weight on the hind end.





Too few, perhaps, considering these were supposed to be the best riders and best horses in the world.

Truly her reaction left me wondering if there is any way we can bring the two back together again. Don't they belong together?

Should it not be that when any of us watch the world cup or the Olympics , we should expect to see the best in the world? That we should see the examples of what we want to follow in our own riding?

Can we bring the two together?

Perhaps the question should not be can we, but how can we? While it may be the easier path to say to ourselves, well I see so many things that are going wrong in the competition arena, so I will disassociate myself and call myself a classical trainer. Does this make you feel better about yourself? Unfortunately for some it is a way to make themselves feel superior to those that they see in the arena. I have been probably just as guilty of that as anyone else. But the reality is that the more time we spend telling everyone how superior we are, the less likely that they, or anyone associated with competition dressage, are likely to listen to us. If we are not listening to them and if they are not listening to us, no conversation is possible. Without conversation there will always be division.

It is past time to bring the best the world has to offer to the dressage arena.

We need to bring back suppleness, purity of gait, bend, release to the horse, horses ahead of the vertical, horses that can truly collect and carry their weight on their hind end, horses that have an expressive free walk and horses that look so beautiful, not because of the way they are bred but because of the way they are trained, so beautiful that they take your breath away.

How can we do this? I'm not sure. But it is a goal that needs to be addressed. To dismiss the top competitors at the World Equestrian Games and the Olympics is to dismiss the millions of riders below them that are trying to emulate them as being the best in the world.

Too many good dressage riders do not compete, saying perhaps that they will not win unless they present the same picture the judges currently see, not willing to compromise their training or their beliefs. If you want to see things change, just maybe we need you to compete with the sole express intent of NOT winning.

To go into the arena with the sole express purpose of showing others that there is something different out there. The judges can only judge what they see in front of them. If they are not given an alternate vision, how will they ever learn to see the beauty that we see. How will they ever come to the point where they are given the opportunity to decide what is more important -- a completely straight horse, or a horse that is supple and light and that can bend, but might not be perfectly straight all the time -- if we don't give them many different examples to judge by.

We need to get into the show ring and not change our principles or our training methods. We need to show what we think is right, whether we get the marks or not. Not change ourselves to try to get the marks that we think we deserve. If we are out there if we are competing, it becomes a wonderful opportunity to not only show what a horse that is relaxed and truly supple looks like, but also provides us with the opportunity to talk to the other competitors, to the judges. To make friends. To begin to converse together. To learn from each other.

Just think of the repercussions if thousands of horses and riders started competing, not caring if they won or what marks they got, but simply wanted to show how supple, how lightly their horses responded, who went into the arena clearly saying I put the welfare of my horse first, and if he doesn't quite get the halt at x, that does not mean that I will ever grab his face and override him. I will not compromise.

Think of the reaction if someone like Frank Grelo played with flying changes and piaffe with the reins behind his back on the sidelines waiting for his test, and then did everything in the arena with one hand with fun and playfulness and joy in his horses. Think of the reaction of the crowd and the judges to see this compared side by side with the "grip of death" that we usually get to see. It would not matter what the score, the message would be the same. Everyone else in that arena would be challenged to lighten up on their horses.

Perhaps one day we will be able to say there is only one dressage. A dressage that is beautiful and puts the welfare of the horse first. A dressage that respects the past teachings of the masters and respects the future that we are working our ways toward.

Think of it this way, as instructors, riders, coaches, how can we help those that are already competing? Let us use our knowledge to make them more successful. Every piece of knowledge shared can hopefully help all riders and all horses reach for a dressage that is as beautiful as it is successful.