My kids and I loved this clip. Thought I share it with all of you. http://beboframe.com/FlashFrame.jsp?Size=S&FlashBoxId=3309347442 If you like horses, you will love this clip. This video is of Andreas Helgstrand and his 9 year-old mare, Matinee, at the World Equestrian Games. It is the Musical Freestyle Dressage competition, and they pretty much wiped the floor with everyone. Turn up the sound and watch this mare dance... she is amazing... she KNOWS where the beat is. Her tail even swishes to the music!
That was absolutely amazing. My only question is why would you do this to a horse? I can see jumping and running, I can also see work related stuff, but dancing????
It was amazing, and fun to watch. I thought the horse seemed to be enjoying the whole thing, too! :-D
Although dressage is beautiful to watch, it has (or at least had) a purpose. They are all battle moves. They were used to stomp on the enemy, or rotate in a complete circle (with hind legs in place) while the archer shot out across the field. Dressage is very difficult to learn, it is all very slight commands with the legs and is a wonderful tradition to pass on. Horses LOVE to have a purpose!
I agree with you Hught it is amazing but it seems kinda cruel to me. Horses are suppose to run and jump not dance I wonder if they beat that animal to get him/her to do that? twitch
Wow that horse has more rythym than most people I know! Maybe she could have a shot at dancing with the stars! LOL!
Guess you don't know much about horses. They are NOT beat to do that. Horses are smart animals and just like you teach a dog to do tricks, you can teach a horse to do tricks.
This was a beautiful display of communication between a rider and their horse, who were BOTH having a great time! This horse was in her glory! If you watch closely, you can see that in dressage, there is no abuse of any kind. There is no crop, you can't even see the rider using their heels on the horse, which without spurs doesn't hurt the horse in any manner. While this video was a dressage competition and the horse is well trained and this presentation was amazingly choreographed, many of the everyday horses you see in pastures throughout the county will indeed dance with no training if they hear music and like the beat - seriously. Horses can dance!
What you saw on the video was very careful communication between horse and rider. I believe it takes years to get to a show level of dressage. The result is from the relationship with the horse and time spent training, not beating. A beaten horse would not be likely to have that air of confidence about him, but be flighty and scared, esp in front of a crowd. I've know horses that came out of abusive homes and spent years and years in a wonderful environment and they still had behaviors that stemmed from the abuse. That horse in the video seemed to be enjoying performing. Some horses (just like dogs and even people) seemed to enjoy being a ham!
I watched this last night and forwarded it to my MIL. She is an avid rider. That does take a LOT of communication between rider and horse and the horse truly looked like it was enjoying itself. I love how he "collapsed" on the horse with a huge hug at the end. They had fun. Horses are workers at heart and this one has a lot of heart! :-D
I loved watching that mare dance, especially the way she would swish her tail. She looked like she was having the time of her life during that performance. :-D
I always wanted to learn dressage. I learned other disciplines, but none of them has intrigued me like dressage. If you look at the video, the rider seems to be a passenger, just sitting there. In reality they are using the most subtle of clues, like their weight and pressing on the horse, to achieve the results you see. I love horses and I would love to be able to have that kind of communication with a horse. But, alas, I wasn't born rich, and now I don't have the time, availability, or money to devote to it. I have to be content to just watch. I did have a horse I rode regurarly in college and the longer I rode him, they more subtle our communication became. I imagine riding Cocoawas probably the closest I'll come to dressage. sigh
I took Dressage when I lived in VA. What you saw was 5th level (or Master Level) Dressage display. You are correct, it takes many years to develop that complex level. The horse and her rider must develop a close relationship as well. When she was doing her passage and cross canters if she wasn't enjoying herself there would have been no spring to it and her head would have been way down...kind of like the way a western horse keeps its head (western is trained to hold lower). Dressage is "sightless communication". The communication comes from the legs, seat and, to a very small part, the position of the foot. The training is very lengthy and very "soft". You'll notice a closeness between a horse and thier rider when you're in the higher levels, like the higher end of level 3 and on. They work together everyday, and tend to play together as well. Kind of like the police dogs becoming part of the family. I would love to take Dressage again! Frogger
