Could the same thing have happened to dressage? Might the collective equestrian eye, once so appreciative of flexibility, nobility and pride in the horse, been dulled or changed? Have riders unwittingly allowed the wool to be pulled over their eyes? Not so, according to those who organise the tours of The Spanish Riding School of Vienna or the Academies of Portugal and Spain, where the spirit of classical riding still reigns supreme. Tickets are sold, crowds go wild, people are moved to tears. Sadly, on closer examination, it’s often those who do not ride that support these stunning displays. One is then forced to conclude that the eye of the ‘common crowd’ is often wiser than that of the cognoscenti. More disturbing, why do so few competition trainers and judges bother to attend, often dismissing this art as an irrelevance?

And how is it all achieved? Clearly, there’s nothing natural about the robotic precision of certain combinations presented under the guise of ‘dressage’ and one wonders at the training methods? Thank God the Rollkur is finally falling from favour - at least from the world’s warm-up arenas - but what do we do about the draw-reins, the harsh seats, the busy spurs and the winched in nosebands? You can see from certain horses’ expressions they have never known fun in their lives. In the rush to move up the levels, how many young horses have ever experienced the joy of simply being a horse, turned out in a field or ridden home from a jolly hack with the rein on the buckle end? 

For this reason a great deal of time was spent in walk to build up strength behind to bring about collection. The socalled dressage movements were strictly monitored in terms of how, when and why they were taught. No horse was considered fit enough to produce tempi changes or canter pirouette before at least the age of nine.

As for over-bending, this was clearly damaging to the correct development of the horse’s back and quarters. To artificially shorten the neck was not only ugly, it put the horse on the forehand. In extended trot for example, it was imperative the forward reach of the front legs was roughly aligned with the horse’s muzzle. If the horse could not stretch through its topline and see where he was going, then how could he be in extension? Anyone with an ‘eye’ could see that – you certainly did not have to be a judge!   

It was the job of judges nevertheless to uphold these guidelines and deduct marks where appropriate. Their knowledge of biomechanics must be sufficient to understand how a horse should move correctly under his rider. The hallmark of an advanced horse should be of one continuous, animated and upward curve emanating from engaged, lowered quarters and ending in a proud arching neck with the poll at its pinnacle. 

The ridden horse should never be seen as a beast of burden with the weight equally apportioned over all 4 legs. Good equine balance is similar to that of an ice-skater or ballerina – where the weight is carried over 2 points - the hocks - thus rendering the forehand free and expressive.