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Post by horseguy on Mar 31, 2017 14:25:09 GMT
Today, at least since the 1970's, people think dressage is art delivered by women riding in top hats and long tailed "shadbelly" formal coats. In fact it was military riding begun when low power black gun powder was used on the battlefield. Horsehide or a thick wool soldier's coat could stop a miniball from a musket after 50 yards most of the time. That allowed horses to get very close to infantrymen on foot without huge risk of being killed. Additionally, it took at least 1/3 of a minute to load a musket and when loaded in haste in a battle many misfired. This allowed cavalry to charge infantry if an infantry unit,that fired and loaded in a pattern of segments, got out of rhythm in their firing sequence.
This is a series of pictures of cavalry battlefield movements. Horses were around 15.2 H, as the Spanish Riding School horses are today, but remember a tall human was 5' 6". You can see that the movements were dangerous to soldiers on foot.
The Lavade (upper right) is my favorite. The horse cocked his hocks and then leapt forward while striking downward with the fore feet. This was a head crusher and it also was a defense, as was the Pasade and Courbette, against infantry pikes, which were long wooden spears with metal points. The rearing action of these two movements pushed the point of the pike upward and made it difficult for the soldier on the ground to stick it further into the horse.
Below is the Capriole. This movement was used when a cavalryman got separated from his unity and was swarmed by infantry. The leap upward with the kicking out discourages solders on foot from approaching the horse.
The Vienna palace riding hall
In this video you will see a sort of dancing or prancing in place called Piaffe. This is similar to what boxers do in a ring. By being constantly in motion the rider could move directly into any movement with increased energy. Imagine the fitness required to fight a battle using all these movements.
Empress Maria Teresa Hapsburg had the riding hall in her Vienna castle build just down the hall from her formal dining room. She would provide her guests with a fine dinner then for entertainment to see her horses. There was an orchestra playing on the balcony as the horses performed these intimidating military movements. This was a warning to a guest who might become an enemy to think twice about crossing a country with such powerful weaponry. And it was meant to assure allies that they had a powerful friend in the Hapsburgs. We do the same thing with our Blue Angles fighter plane squadron today.
This is what dressage was for over 400 years. The shadbelly coats and top hats have been around for around 40 years, yet most people think the new fad is the real thing.
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Post by horseguy on Mar 31, 2017 20:50:05 GMT
What got me thinking about this is my "coming out of retirement" clinic tomorrow.
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Post by Maritza on Apr 1, 2017 17:30:18 GMT
I love telling people that Dressage stemmed from calvary training. I also enjoy talking about the application of dressage because I have noticed a lot of non riders think that dressage is a world all its own with no connection to other aspects of riding. I believe that its the intellectual side of me that likes to help educate people on these things to make them more aware. I did once watch a documentary on The Spanish Riding School the explored the lives of the horses from birth until retirement. It was fascinating and taught me a lot about the School. Its no longer available to view for free but you can "rent" it from youtube for $2.99 or buy for $4.99 for anyone that might be interested. The link is Video |
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Post by horseguy on Apr 1, 2017 21:14:37 GMT
My favorite dressage story, and I have a few, is from several years ago when a student of mine who took dressage lessons from a certain German dressage instructor in the area. This student came for her lesson with me having had her dressage lesson earlier in the week and she told me that the German woman said I was not a true horseman because I only valued dressage to the extent that I could apply it to my other riding. I told the student that the dressage instructor's assessment reflected a perfect understanding of the Fort Riley Seat.
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Post by Maritza on Apr 4, 2017 0:10:55 GMT
The one thing that fascinates me/makes me wonder about the movements above is what aids does the rider have to use to communicate that this want this movement (like the capriole). Because when I watch videos of the riders at the Spanish Riding school I can't see what they are doing. Either because my eye isn't that developed to notice their aids or their aids are so subtle that the seem nonexistent or even a combination of both.
As a train more and learn more I like to watch Upper level eventing (as well as just dressage and show jumping) so I can see what aids I can pick up and sharpen my eye to them. Its something of a game. I remember the first time I ever noticed that William Fox-Pitt only had to move his body a slightest bit to influence the stride of the horse during a cross country round. (But I digress)
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Post by horseguy on Apr 4, 2017 7:50:34 GMT
The first thing to remember is that Europeans very often use a "ground person" when training. And not just with regard to the Airs Above the Ground movements. This does a few things. For one it allows the rider to remain very quiet and centered while the ground person might touch the hocks in say the Piaffe. In this way the rider receives assistance in showing the horse what the rider wants while applying the cues for the movement. A willing horse will execute a movement on any command, i.e. clicker training, if the cues are connected to the movement in a way the horse understands. It may be impossible to train some of the higher level dressage movements alone from the saddle.  |
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