Dressage

Dressage (a French term meaning "training") is a form of competitive horse training, with competitions held at all levels from amateur to Olympic. Its fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and effortless. For this reason, dressage is occasionally referred to as "Horse Ballet." Although the discipline has its roots in classical Greek horsemanship, dressage was first recognized as an important equestrian pursuit during the Renaissance in Western Europe. The great European riding masters of that period developed a sequential training system that has changed little since then and is still considered the basis of modern dressage.

Early European aristocrats displayed their horses' training in equestrian pageants, but in modern dressage competition, successful training at the various levels is demonstrated through the performance of "tests," or prescribed series of movements within a standard arena. Judges evaluate each movement on the basis of an objective standard appropriate to the level of the test and assign each movement a score from zero to ten - zero being "not executed" and 10 being "excellent." A score of 9 (or "very good") is considered a particularly high mark.

Contents:
1 The arena
2 Levels of dressage
3 Olympic level

The arena:
There are two sizes of arenas: small and standard. The small arena is 20 m by 40 m, and is used for the lower levels of dressage and three-day eventing dressage. The standard arena is 20 m by 60 m, and is used for upper-level tests in both dressage and eventing. Since the combination of CEF and USDF tests in 2003, the small size arena is no longer utilized in rated shows in North America.

Dressage arenas have a lettering system around their outside in the order (clockwise) A-K-E-H-C-M-B-F (small arena) and A-K-V-E-S-H-C-M-R-B-P-F (standard arena). It is currently unknown who began the lettering system or why the arrangement was chosen. At the start of the test, the horse enters at A. There is always a judge sitting at C (although for upper-level competition, there are up to five judges at different places around the arena). There are also invisible letters along the centerline, D-X-G (small arena) and D-L-X-I-G (standard arena), X always being in the center of the dressage arena.

The dressage arena also has a centerline (from A to C, going through X in the middle), as well as two quarter-lines (halfway between the centerline and long sides of each arena).

Levels of dressage:
The levels of dressage are progressive, building on the training of the horse. They emphasize the training scale and the qualities needed by the horse as it works its way up. So a horse at the lowest level of dressage would not be judged on its collection (a more advanced concept), but most marks would be judging that the basics are solid: the horse has impulsion, is moving forward, starting to come up through its back, and is accepting the rider's aids.

Later tests will ask that the horse be supple, asking for movements such as shoulder-in, haunches-in, and half-pass. The horse will also be asked to lengthen the walk, trot, and canter, preparing it for the move advanced movements of extended trot (which requires more impulsion than lengthened trot). The tests are designed to build upon each other. If short-cuts are take at the lower levels (for example, the horse is being forced into a frame with its head pulled into the vertical position, rather than correctly ridden up through its back into the bridle), the errors in training will become readily apparent in the upper levels.

In the United States, dressage is governed by the United States Dressage Federation. The levels of dressage proceed as follows: Introductory: designed to introduce novice horses and riders to the sport of dressage. Free-walk is expected. Training: developing the purity of the gaits is of utmost importance, horse should move freely-forward, accept contact with the bit, and remain supple. Horse must reach down for the contact at the trot on 20-meter circles.

First: Horse should develop thrust (pushing power), and have developed a degree of balance and throughness. Trot lengthenings are introduced, as are changes of lead through the trot, leg-yield, and 15-meter circles.

Second: Horse is asked to carry more weight on the hindquarters (develop collection), medium paces are developed (trot). Horse is expected to have a greater degree of straightness, bending, suppleness, and throughness, as well as self-carriage. Counter-canter is introduced, as is shoulder-in, haunches-in, turn on the haunches, and the rein-back. 10-meter circles.

Third: Horse should have consistent rhythm, suppleness, throughness, impulsion, straightness, and collection in each movement, while remaining on the bit and accepting of the aids. Introduces the half-pass at the trot and canter, single flying changes, and collected and extended paces are developed.
Fourth: Horse must have a high degree of suppleness, impulsion, throughness, balance, and lightness. He should always remain on-the-bit. Transitions should be smooth and precise, movements should be straight and energetic with great cadence. Introduces 8-meter circles, counterchange of hands in half-pass (zig-zags), three-tempi changes. Full walk pirouettes, and quarter and half pirouettes at the canter.

And the FEI tests: PSG (Prix Saint Georges): Of "medium" standard.
I-1 and I-2 (Intermediate 1 and 2): Fairly advanced, both are used as a stepping stone to help the horse reach the Grand Prix level. I-2 is more advanced than I-1, preparing the horse for Grand Prix, and introduces piaffe, passage and one- and two-tempi changes. Grand Prix: The highest level of dressage, requiring a very advanced horse.

In Britain, the tests are as such:
Preliminary- walk/trot
Novice- similar to first level USDF tests
Elementary- similar to second level USDF tests
Medium- similar to third level USDF tests
Advanced- similar to fourth level USDF tests

In the United States, equitation classes are also given in dressage. They judge the rider, as opposed to the horse, focusing on the position and effectiveness of the competitor.

Olympic level:
The dressage tests performed at the Olympic Games, which were accepted as sport in 1912, are those of the highest level-Grand Prix. This level of test demands the most skill and concentration from both horse and rider.

Gaits and movements performed at this level include collected and extended walk, trot, and canter; trot and canter half-pass (a movement where the horse travels on a diagonal line keeping its body almost parallel with the arena wall while making both forward and sideways steps in each stride); passage (a slow-motion trot); piaffe (an approach to "trot in place" where the horse actually steps from diagonal pairs of legs positioned more as in the walk than in the parallel phases of trot); one and two tempi changes (where the horse changes from the right to the left lead of the canter, preferably when all four legs are in the air); canter "zigzags"; and pirouettes (a 360-degree circle that is almost in place).

Tests ridden at the Olympic Games are scored by a panel of five international judges. Each movement in each test receives a numeric score and the resulting final score is then converted into a percentage, which is carried out to three decimal points. The higher the percentage, the higher the score.

Olympic team medals are won by the teams with the highest, second highest, and third highest total percentage from their best three rides in the Grand Prix test.

Once the team medals are determined, horses and riders compete for individual medals. The team competition serves as the first individual qualifier, in that the top 25 horse/rider combinations from the Grand Prix test move on to the next round. The second individual qualifier is the Grand Prix Special test, which consists of Grand Prix movements arranged in a different pattern. For those 25 riders, the scores from the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special are then combined and the resulting top 15 horse/rider combinations move on to the individual medal competition-the crowd-pleasing Grand Prix Freestyle.

For their freestyles, riders and horses perform specially choreographed patterns to music. At this level, the freestyle tests may contain all the Grand Prix movements, as well as double canter pirouettes, pirouettes in piaffe, and half-pass in passage. For the freestyle, judges award technical marks for the various movements, as well as artistic marks. In the case of a tie, the ride with the higher artistic marks wins.

[1] Apart from competition, there is a tradition of Classical Dressage, in which purists pursue the tradition of dressage as an art form, for its own joy and beauty. Dressage is also a part of the Portuguese and Spanish bullfighting exhibitions. The traditions of the Old Masters who originated Dressage are kept alive by the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria and the Cadre Noir in Saumur, France.

Breeds commonly used for competitive dressage are normally in the warmblood category, as these breeds have the vigorous, extended movement and strength necessary for the sport. However, Dressage is an egalitarian sport in which all breeds are given an opportunity to compete successfully. Iberian horses such as the Andalusian, Lusitano and Lippizanner are particularly popular among practitioners of classical dressage. These breeds excel in the collected movements of classical dressage.