"I imported this magnificent Lusitano Stallion from Portugal as a prime example of the Baroque horse."
Valdai
& Helene V. Asmis
Dressage - the systematic training (powers of mind and body development) of a horse
HistoryThere has been a lot of discussion about classical dressage versus competition dressage. A brief look into equestrian history may help the reader put this question into perspective amidst an unbroken time-line of equestrian traditions dating back 2,000 years.
Starting in the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, for over 250 years there was an evolution of riding for the entertainment of kings and nobles. This educated riding is considered to have started with Frederico Grisone's Gli Ordini di Cavalcare, published in 1550. Though the methods espoused by Grisone were brutal, this is the beginning of conceptualizing riding beyond the utilitarian role of transportation and war. The Renaissance was a transition between Medieval and modern times, characterized by vigorous activity in intellectual, literary and artistic endeavors. The 16th century's cultivated approach to horsemanship originated in Italy as part of this refinement of life that accompanied the Renaissance. The Baroque period gave rise to the luxurious arts including literature, sculpture, painting and architecture. It was the cultural climate that gave rise to riding as an art form. The horses of the time were schooled for courtly parades, exhibitions and carousels. Manege riding, utilizing horses of predominantly Iberian breeding (Lusitano and Andalusian) reached its climax with the publishing of Gueriniere's book, Ecole de Cavalerie, in 1733, a book still used by the Cadre Noir of Saumur.
With the French Revolution (1789-99) came the decline of courtly riding. The school at Versailles shifted focus to military preparedness and educating calvary instructors. Cavalry troops were trained to fight rather than parade. The ideal officer's charger had to be able to participate in the equestrian sport of the time: hunting and steeplechasing, which is the origin of the combined-training tests of today.
After manege riding lost support from the royal courts, the venue for High School riding moved to the European circus, a combination concert hall and riding hall which preserved the dignity of horsemanship. Calvary officers, cognizant of the old splendid courts and equestrian traditions of the past, opened the doors for Francois Baucher, a gifted circus rider and trainer, when the Army became interested in his training methods.
But, by this time, the equestrian world had fundamentally changed. The 1800s brought a new "pragmatic" approach to riding with the concept of an "all-around horse." It was at this time that Frederico Caprilli (1868-1907) advanced his training methods to allow the horse natural freedom in galloping and jumping and emphasized the rider's forward seat.
Dressage competitions, as currently conducted, evolved from military traditions dating to the 1912 Olympic Games. The focus was on testing the horse as an effective and obedient charger, not as an expression of art. Most of the same riders that rode dressage test also competed in combined training tests. Piaffe, passage, tempi changes, and pirouettes were considered "high school movements" and were not introduced until the 1936 Games in Berlin. This evolution of modern dressage, incubated within the context of military tradition, has set the tone for our present dressage competition scene. How will the past continue to impact the future?
It behooves the thinking rider to be aware of this history and the evolution of equestrianism. In one case, functionality, technical precision and competition drive the focus. In another, the goal is to create beauty and art for the satisfaction of an audience or royal patron. each approach has its place, but modern competitive pressures place emphasis on technique. Riders should not lose sight of this pressure as they struggle to develop communication with their equine partners. They should understand the different goals when striving for balance between mastery of technical execution and development of artistic expression. One develops true harmony with the horse when the rider balances execution of a movement with that ephemeral feeling of oneness with an animal. It is that juncture where horse and rider have the opportunity to transform technique into art.
For more information the reader is referred to the references:
The Development of Modern Riding, by Vladimir S. Littauer
The Art of Dressage, by Col. Alois Podhajsky
Academic Equitation, by General Decarpentry
Reflections on Equestrian Art and Horses and Their Riders, by Nuno Oliveira
The Royal Horse of Europe and Dressage, the Art of Classical Riding, by Slyvia Loch
TIME LINE:
~500 BC: Xenophone writes the classic, The Art of Horsemanship, which emphasizes training the horse through kindness and reward.
1400-1500s: Development of indoor school riding. The end of brute force and the beginning of artistry in riding. The Spanish riding School of Vienna is founded in 1572.
1600-1700s: The Renaissance gives rise to a new and enlightened approach to riding as part of the general cultivation of the arts. Further development of indoor-school riding, Pluvinel write, Manege Royal, in 1623. Newcastle writes, A General System of Horsemanship, 1657. The royal school of Versailles is founded.
1700-1800s: Indoor school riding becomes a sophisticated art, Guerinier, Eisenber, Andrade and Marialva write treatise on technique and theory. The basis for modern classical riding as practiced at the Spanish Riding School, The Cadre Noir, the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art and the Andalusian School of Equestrian Art is developed.
1800-1900s: Struggle between two school of thought: High School riding as art versus cross-country riding. Rise in predominance of modern military riding and formation of military equestrian teams.
1912: Modern Olympics include equestrian sport in competition.
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