Olympia

I am a dressage fan, but I like it to be used more as a tool to enabling suppleness and all-over muscle tone in a horse, not so much as an end in itself. At its basic level, it's a wonderful de-kinker of stiff, one-sided and unbalanced horses - whether they're behind the bit, heavy on the forehand, or just not used to working well in any direction. The UK was never as good at it as other Europeans, and it's always been the poor cousin to other events like the far flashier showjumping, and the almost absurdly exhibitionist cross-country trails in eventing. It's the event which most riders pay the least attention to when riding the three events, sadly.

Just watched the vid of MOORLAND TOTILAS and Edward Gal getting 92.3. The only loss of points I could see there were for just coming off point of turn in the turn on the hindquarters at the canter. TOTILAS's hindfoot raises and comes away from the initial point of the turn, but that's all. The extended trot is exquisite - NOT boxing from the shoulder to get the front extension, as many make the mistake of doing, and not overbending at any time in the comp. Lovely passage in particular, as no swinging of the legs from the vertical. No fussing with his bit, nothing other than an elegant compliance with the rider's requests throughout. Now THAT'S dressage!
 
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Thanks for putting the link up. Range of movement from the horse is fantastic. The very best riders always appear to look like they're doing very little, movements are all subtle. Something for the rest of us to aspire to lol
 
It's certainly the ring at which to tilt, that's for sure. Of course, the horse is beautifully built for the job, too, an ideal dressage shape.
 
krizon said:
I am a dressage fan, but I like it to be used more as a tool to enabling suppleness and all-over muscle tone in a horse, not so much as an end in itself. At its basic level, it's a wonderful de-kinker of stiff, one-sided and unbalanced horses - whether they're behind the bit, heavy on the forehand, or just not used to working well in any direction. The UK was never as good at it as other Europeans, and it's always been the poor cousin to other events like the far flashier showjumping, and the almost absurdly exhibitionist cross-country trails in eventing. It's the event which most riders pay the least attention to when riding the three events, sadly.

Just watched the vid of MOORLAND TOTILAS and Edward Gal getting 92.3. The only loss of points I could see there were for just coming off point of turn in the turn on the hindquarters at the canter. TOTILAS's hindfoot raises and comes away from the initial point of the turn, but that's all. The extended trot is exquisite - NOT boxing from the shoulder to get the front extension, as many make the mistake of doing, and not overbending at any time in the comp. Lovely passage in particular, as no swinging of the legs from the vertical. No fussing with his bit, nothing other than an elegant compliance with the rider's requests throughout. Now THAT'S dressage!
Click to expand...

Crikey, Kri, you could be a judge on Strictly!

:D
 
It's what I'd loved to have been able to have progressed to at one time, mrussell, but I'm afraid too many changes in family life and endless moving around put paid to really getting to grips with it. I did manage to get some decent moves out of my dear old ex-racer, though (he couldn't stand showjumping, but liked the twiddly bits of simple dressage!) - half-pass, turn on the hindquarters and the forehand, and so on. But his build and my lack of an experienced mentor would've gone against doing the very refined work that Mr. Gal's achieved. Just like the dazzling showjumping at Olympia tonight, you can only get so far with base material! Then you need a better horse and a really good tutor to attain those sort of performances. But I enjoyed what I did at the level I did it, so that's something. I did a bit of Basic Dressage judging, too, when out in Saudi. Some TBs but mostly Arabians, some showing some aptitude, some just showing attitude!

Triptych: did you ever get given a joke dressage test? It was quite funny, went something like:

Enter at A, B, and C at gallop.

Miss judges' table and slide to halt. Effect salute, dropping whip.

Kick on and keep kicking on to trot. Lose stirrup. Regain stirrup. Lose other stirrup.

At B, change rein. (Pick up dropped reins first.)

Past B, return to arena, having knocked over ornamental shrub.

And so on... !
 
What was your big hope, mr? Footie, rugby, ballroom dancing, archery? I imagine many of us once harboured hopes of doing really, really well at something, and perhaps there are a number of august forumites who have done just that, but the amount of time, work, dedication and all-too frequently money needed to get to a top spot often dashes those hopes. I think the pivotal point in my life was my Dad dying when I was 18 (it was pretty pivotal for him, too, poor dear, at only 46) - absolutely everything about life - what appeared to be its certainties, along with some cherished plans - changed abruptly from that day. I'm not being downbeat about it, because life will be what life will be, but it is interesting to sometimes look back (not too often!) and see what issues or actions prompted a swerve in direction.
 
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