The Geography of Success

Traditionally, countries such as Germany (with riders such as Isabel Werth and Heike Kemmer) and the Netherlands (e.g. Any van Grunsven) dominated in international dressage rankings, with their riders creating unbeatable teams.

This is clear in the 2008 Beijing Olympics medal table for dressage:

Team Dressage:

• Gold - Germany
• Silver - Netherlands
• Bronze - Denmark

Individual Dressage:

• Gold - Netherlands (Anky van Grunsven)
• Siver - Germany (Isabel Werth)
• Bronze - Germany (Heike Kemmer)

However in the four years between Beijing and London (continuing to use the Olympics as an example), other countries began to catch up, most noticeably Great Britain.

2012 London Olympics dressage results:



Team Dressage:

• Gold - Britain
• Silver - Germany
• Bronze - Netherlands

GB 2012: Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer, Charlotte Dujardin

Individual Dressage:

• Gold - Britain (Charlotte Dujardin)
• Siver - Netherlands (Adelinde Cornelissen)
• Bronze - Britain (Laura Bechtolsheimer)

This radical change in international success has completely changed the sport of dressage forever - In just four years the British team had gone from winning no medals in dressage, to two gold.

The Geography of Dressage Horses

Undoubtedly, certain shaped horses are better a different disciplines, similar to humans in athletics. They must have strong hindquarters, in order to power their movement from their hind legs, and also discipline and a good attitude towards training and willingness to learn.

Some of the best horses, the those used in the Spanish Riding School, originate in Spain:

• Andalusian 
• Lusitano
• Lipizzaners

< Lusitano                Andalusian >












https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Lusitano

Dutch Warmbloods (KWPN) are another popular choice for dressage. In fact, Carl Hester's Utopia and Charlotte Dujardin's Valegro, two of the best dressage horses Britain have ever had, are both dutch warmbloods.

Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Dujardin

Finally, German horses are some of the best in the world for dressage: firstly the Holsteiner, which is considered the oldest warmblood breed. Originally used for agricultural work and to pull carriages, they are very strong, but athletic, and relaxed and willing. 

Another example of a successful German breed is the Oldenburg, such as the famous dressage stallion Donnerhall.

Donnerhall

Where It All Began

Dressage originally started as part of Greek army battle movements, designed to attack the opponent and to strengthen the war horses' minds and bodies. In fact, the piaffe, a dressage movement where the horse trots in place, pawing the ground, is thought to have been used to stamp on the fallen enemy.

Piaffe

This continued through the centuries, and dressage training became more advanced after the Spanish Riding School in Vienna was founded, in 1572. This dressage training is the basis of all dressage worldwide today. They ride and train exclusively Lipizzaner stallions, in daily public displays, and also on worldwide tours.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ffreakazzoid/2636420919/

The Spanish Riding School puts their horses through three rigorous training stages from the age of four, the final stage being 'Haute Ecole', where they are taught the most advanced 'airs above the ground' moves, such as capriole, courbette and levade. 

Capriole

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_dressage#The_School_Jumps

What is Dressage?

The word 'dressage' means training in French. Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "The art of riding and training a horse in a manner that develops obedience, flexibility, and balance, dressage is the ultimate test of a horse and rider's control and partnership. 

It consists of a 'test' - a set sequence of movements that must be performed at the correct marker of the arena. Riders must learn this test by heart and are given between 1 and 10 marks for each movement by the judge(s), giving the overall mark.



These tests take place in either a 20 x 40 metre arena, for lower level competitions, or 20 x 60 metres for any higher level tests. These arenas are laid out with letter markers, so that the movements are performed in the correct place.

60 x 20m layout

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doma_cl%C3%A1sica

Introduction

Hi, my name is Anna and my blog is all about Dressage, an equestrian discipline.