THE HORSE GAZETTE


A horse, Of Course By Don Blazer © 2010


It’s a shame about dressage


it as such a “pure” thing; such a “beautiful thing; harmony in union.”


dressage. Or at least to me it is. I always thought of


and women who wanted to take a horse to his maximum performance ability, suppleness, flexibility, balance and grace. It was a work of art between a rider and a horse, and that is all that it had to be.


practiced by those who wanted “art with horses.” It was for horsemen


For me, Dressage was more.


“basic dressing.” The basic dressing was applied to all horses and at all levels and that was the extent of it. It was done with any horse that a nobleman (and only noblemen could afford both the luxury of a horse and the time to develop its gaits, grace, balance, suppleness and flexibility) saw fit to ride.


French, originally meaning


was not to compare horses, but to enjoy the development of a single horse’s unique talents. One horse and one


original goal.


admired dressage authorities, Waldemar Seunig (he attended the French Cavalry School at Saumur and the Spanish Riding School at Vienna and from 1922 to 1930 was the Master of the Horse at the Court of King Alexander of Yugoslavia; he was the coach of the successful


dressage became a competition. One of my most


Then disaster struck; The idea originally


rider, being all they could be. And that was the


It was, but it is no Dressage: a noun,


It’s a shame about


German Olympic Team.) says this about perfecting the art of dressage: “it is the practical, creative artist, the equestrian genius, who is fused with his horse into one unit, who makes its will his own, and who proves that there are no limits to art.” Great


corrupted, and winning became more important than dressage. But in the 1950s and


an equestrian competitor; he was a judge of international competition.


He too was


1960s, dressage was still defined as training, exhibition riding or horsemanship in which the horse is controlled in certain difficult steps and gaits by very light movements of the rider. The horse is to be relaxed and the performance is to appear “effortless.”


and subtle were the key words for dressage riders such as Colonel Alois Podhajsky, Jessica Newberry and later Reiner Klimke, a world champion and winner of 6 gold medals in 5 Olympics (1964 to 1988) When I see pictures of


Light and gently


Podhajsky and Newberry riding, or I watch Klimke ride, I see a horse that is relaxed and appears to be performing effortlessly. I see a rider not strained or stesssed or rigid, but in a beautifully balanced position with a willing partner.


dressage.


What is your horse’s character? Horses also vary in


Training without force


are inherited. Certain undesir- able habits run in the blood of some families (biting, kicking, shying, suspicion of people). These inherited behaviors are difficult to correct and may, in fact, recur if the horse goes to a new owner. Exceptional love is required to cope with such inherited problems as all disci- pline must be inspired by deep love. However, good qualities are also passed on in the blood lines, such as kindness, atten- tiveness, honesty, stamina and aptitude for certain disciplines, eg. High school or jumping.


are individuals that can vary in many respects. Character and temperament are not exactly synonymous words. When we speak of a horse’s character we are referring to his disposition towards humans. This is, in large part, a result of his expe- rience with people and can be altered by new experience - a bad tempered horse can change into a sweet natured one if he gets into the right hands and learns to trust people. Equally, a kindly disposed horse that gets into the wrong hands can quickly become bad tempered. Generally speaking, stallions and mares are more sensitive than geldings. Some character traits


By Mary Rose, FBHS © 2010 Horses, like people,


horse to go forward can appear to spectators as a manifestation of his temperament when in truth it is often the result of the stimulating or calming influence of his rider. In certain circum- stances the horse’s desire to go forward may be the result of the rider’s influence or excitement. It is only by riding the horse that we can accurately assess his temperament.


to the sum total of the character- istics that are the result of the individual’s physical, mental and nervous organization. We generally tend to describe a horse as temperamental if he is alert, lively, fiery, or even a little crazy; and we describe him a phlegmatic if he is any- thing from dull to apathetic. Temperament can be cooled by wise heads and good hands. The choice of a horse must largely be determined by his temperament and generally temperamental horses are for cool, experienced, sympathetic riders who will make them trusting, willing and attentive while being able to exploit their keenness. Phleg- matic horses are less worrying for less experienced riders who can make them more active, at- tentive and willing. The desire of a ridden


Temperament applies


intelligence. A horse’s intel- ligence shows up in his facial expression. Look for a kind eye and attentiveness in your young horse. However, we must remember that a young horse is not capable of concentrating his attention on his trainer for longer than 15 to 20 minutes at a time. After that much time he will become distracted. The trainer who ignores this risks becoming impatient and com- promising success. Even a fairly new


horse owner can very quickly learn to know the mood of his horse by watching the ex- pression of the eyes and the movements of the ears and tail. Even from the saddle we can quickly learn to recognize which movements of the ears denote contentment, attention, apprehension or annoyance. By developing our powers of observation we learn to an- ticipate and control the horse’s reactions and to recognize the awakening of understanding. Whether intelligence is innate or not, it is certain that the horse’s understanding develops through his association with man. You can contact Mary


at 512-589-3796 or 512-894-4536 or visit www.maryrosedressage. com.


18675 Marbach Lane San Antonio, TX 78266


It’s a shame about training


and he could do it…and many in the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s could do it……but by the 1900s competition had corrupted that simple idea of dressage for the sake of dressage. Seunig was not only


thinking….


me. It is not that I am not in awe of the performances they achieve. They are getting more from their horses than the past masters did. (Of course, the horses they are riding have evolved along with training knowledge and techniques.)


riders today, the art is gone. Don’t misunderstand


advanced level dressage are horses performing phenomenally; they are giving every ounce of effort they have to give. They are reaching new heights in suppleness and flexibility. And they are unhappy,


What I see in today’s When I see upper level


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tense and showing the exertion needed to respond to their rider’s demands. Nothing about it appears “effortless.” It is not light or gentle or subtle. I watched a video of a


horse score the highest dressage score ever recorded. The maneuvers were


every minute of that performance; the tail wringing and swishing and twirling and shaking, the ears back, the face knotted with tension.


hoped it would be…it was man forcing his will onto the horse in the name of competition. Oh, for the original


It wasn’t the art I had


idea of any horse being helped to reach his potential, with no intention of ever comparing one horse to another. It’s a shame about


dressage.


Course on the web at www. donblazer.com.


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