Dressage? Please explain.

[Fordian]

I don't get it (obviously). But surely the horse has been well trained, and just does it's thang, presumably well, with someone sitting on it.

Oh god, horse riding is a very technical sport, I'd love to see some people hop on and see what the horse does. those riders are working their arses off literally to make that horse do that and even harder to make it look like they're not doing anything. That's the optimum of riding to simply look like your sat there which is why they're riding at the Olympic and I'm not 😂 x

@MilkLady02

If you’re interested in the training aspect and how it starts, I’d recommend watching some demos by Monty Roberts and Kelly Marks.

I’d recommend watching some training demos from Carl Hester personally.

Yes Monty Roberts is an acquired taste. Ditto Kelly Marks

Also neither of them do dressage~!

There's a great video of Nikki Chapman riding one of Carl's horses. I have to say, for a very wobbly novice, she does very well indeed but ultimately, she presses the wrong button, the horse explodes and she hits the deck. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt but it demonstrates how sensitive these horses are.

Sorry, not dressage specifically, but the concern from PPs about whether the horses are abused/want to do what they are asked etc and about the relationship of horse and rider.

As in, for posters interested who know nothing about dressage or horsey terms etc.

Brilliant thread - I am now imagining horses in fields practicing their dressage when no-one is looking.

Thank you @Fordian for this thread

You have had some unnecessarily sneery responses from those 'in the know' - but it's also been a really funny thread to read.

Back in 2008, when we had the Beijing Olympics, there was a very, very funny thread about how people imagined the horses got transported to China. Sadly it must have been in chat as it no longer appears to exist.

@Crankley

Brilliant thread - I am now imagining horses in fields practicing their dressage when no-one is looking.

This is kind of true. A lot of the moves you see in a dressage test are moved that a horse performs naturally.

I don't think people have been that sneery. It's just bloody ignorant to assume the rider 'sits there' even if you have no actual knowledge of horses or training animals.

Here’s a pic of my gelding doing a bit of poncy extended trot in the field when he didn’t want to be caught..

... and so my point is proved

Wealthy people take their pet along to the Olympics and parade about with other rich people.

Hardly the same as running faster, jumping higher or throwing further is it?

@Ifailed what's wealth got to do with it? They're not 'pets'. Yes the horses are loved and cared for but they are athletes as much as the riders. Said riders have to work their butts off to find owners and sponsors who are prepared to pay for the horses so they can keep competing.
I know several semi pros who all have to make a second income coaching and quite often selling very talented horses so they can put all their time and money into their dream and for so many it never happens.

what's wealth got to do with it?
It costs £1000s/year to keep a horse, and far more than that to buy one for the Olympics.

Way outside the budget of most of the UK, let alone the world. It's an elitist 'sport. It is a sport for the rich, but then the whole Olympic show despises the principle of egalitarian. Anyone got a few £10,000s for a yacht, or a couple of million for a swimming pool in many parts of the World where water is a precious resource ?

Charlotte du jardin isn’t from money. She worked her arse off from the very bottom to get to where she is today

The majority of the time the elite horses aren't owned even in small part by the riders. It's a small point but I think it's an important one to make just for clarity.

Every now and then you'll get a top horse sold out from underneath the rider to the highest bidder elsewhere. Quite often that's the last you see of that horse on the world stage as the new rider can't get the same level of performance out of them. I think that was what went on with Totilas?

@Heyha that's the point I was trying to make...clearly fell on deaf ears. It is difficult to do it without financial backing but if you're talented and lucky enough you find a Carl Hester who spots you and puts you in the right environment to find sponsors.
Same as pretty much any professional sport?
At the time I felt really sorry for Edward Gal and Totilas but my knowledge of dressage has increased now and I'm not sure what the hype was about that combination. When you compare his riding to CD, CH or even Isobel Werth he was much harder and more forceful and Totilas always looked pretty tense as a result. Sad that he broke down after he was sold though...I don't think we'll ever know exactly what happened behind closed doors.

I agree @TooManyAnimals94 that whole period of time in dressage (when I was doing really super low level stuff and dreaming of one day doing an affiliated test at any level, now I am just chief helper to small fat ponies 😂) was very strange, looking back. I haven't had chance to watch any of this Olympics but I've seen a few comments about some of the riding/test still being along those lines so I await with interest.
I'm really pleased to see the Iberian horses starting to score more on a par with the leg wavers though as they always looked, to me, way more together than some of the flash combos but suffered for being simply workmanlike in some of the movements.

It is rumoured that Totilas had wobblers, hence the extravagant leg movement. Edward Gal knew this and worked with the condition. The new owners didn’t and hence why the horse broke down.

@Polkadotties that's interesting re the wobblers rumour...not one I'd heard but would make sense although I'm not sure how you manage wobblers...surely he always had a time limit?

@Heyha I agree about the Iberians but that's another thing I quite like about Charlotte...she does seem to have an eye for a horse that's a little bit different. Both Valegro and Gio are quite chunky monkeys and I think have way more character and presence than endless brown dumbloods 😂

Gio is a Dutch warmblood.

@TooManyAnimals94 I heard it from my horse’s physio she’s ‘very in the know’

You couldn't do anything like dressage in a car with precision steering brakes and consistent acceleration. Horses start off with ( and can easily revert to) no steering,brakes or choice of speed. It's the partnership that's amazing and trust as well as virtually invisible aids.