October 2006 - Performances and technicals - Colonel Carde

Posted Sun, 09/10/2011 - 20:44

All sporting performances have undeniably progressed. As a result of improved training techniques we can swim quicker, we can run faster, jump higher and records continue to be broken in all disciplines where we can physically measure their improvement.

    Editorial  October 2006          Performances and technicals
(translated by Ms Samantha Acres)

All sporting performances have undeniably progressed. As a result of improved training techniques we can swim quicker, we can run faster, jump higher and records continue to be broken in all disciplines where we can physically measure their improvement.

Are we able to talk about technical improvement in the 3 main Olympic Equestrian disciplines when looking at performances today ? Concerning Showjumping, Jean D'Orgeix and Pierre Jonqueres d'Oriola underlined, a few months ago, their doubt in a French specialist magazine. The Eventing discipline seems to hold it's head up high and it's improvement is not in contention.     It is true that this discipline includes a dressage test which makes the results less certain and is sometimes the determining factor - however the two other sections Showjumping and Cross Country complement it. When considering the constant increase in averages obtained by Dressage horses in the large European and World competitions we could deduce that this discipline has also progressed.  Although opinions are divided. Wanting to add our 'half-pennies' worth - the aim of this association is the defence of good, beautiful equitation - that which must be shown in all it's splendour in a 60 X 20 metres rectangle following the vigorous application of the rules set out by the FEI. The result, in dressage depends on the judge, that which is more or less objective depending on the test and consists of set figures or a Freestyle to music.    The more the judgement is obtained by sticking to the spirit and the letter of the rules, less it will be the subject of criticism or debate. Now, at the risk of repeating myself, I regret to say that we take more and more and more liberty with regards to the rules of the game. The essential international rules are little known or badly understood, so they are applied approximately. Looking closer :
If dressage, amongst others, has the aim of improving the movement (and going) of the horse - why do we see so much 'pacing' and ambling in the walk - when the rules clearly say that is is a serious fault. Why do the 'Top horses' seem unable to lengthen in walk ? In the area of submission, it is a shame that this is manifested all too often with reins overly tight,  nosebands tightened, heads behind the vertical ... It is a shame also to see a World Champion run off with in front of thousands of surprised spectators. This could be why the idea of dressage is just considered as a name for a number of movements crammed into a rectangular piece of ground. If dressage has also the aim to 'preserve the art of Equitation' - Article 419 of the rules - we can understand the questioning of those expressed on our forum on the subject of the presentation of a Beautiful Grey Mare in the Freestyle to music at the recent championships at Aix La Chapelle. With spectacular movement in her forelimbs, this achieved an average mark of more than 70% - although she swished her tail at the other end of her body in an altogether similarly spectacular fashion throughout the test. This had no impression on the judges who, for the moment, had forgotten Article 416.2.1 of which I permit myself to remind you of :
“ Putting out the tongue, keeping it above the bit or drawing it up  altogether, as well as grinding the teeth and swishing the tail are mostly signs of nervousness, tension or resistance on the part of the horse and must be taken into account by the judges in their marks for the movement concerned as well as in the collective mark for “submission”.

We could make a long list of constance 'moving away from' the rules. This is not our aim. Is this to say that all is bad in the world of Dressage?     Without doubt we experience good moments when watching the tests of Anky Van Grunsven and other competitors at the top level.   But,  what we see,  and what we sometimes admire, is something different to what was asked for. To distance oneself from the rules is to distance oneself from 'Classical' - which is the framework...and when we ask ourselves the meaning of this word 'Classical' Mariette Withages, president of the Commission for Dressage of the FEI responds '..that which is classical is that which is in the rules ....'  To lose the harmonious aspect as expressed by Dietrict Von Hopffgarten in the 'Chronicle of the Horse'  from last January is to also distance ourselves from the Art of Equitation.

So, we must ask ourselves the new question which is to know which type of Equitation must we practice to take part in this new game. Today the silence of the last High Schools of Equitation which remain in the world speaks volumes about their embarrassment. As human is naturally prone to be more inspired by that which wins, the procedure of Deep and Low seems to be fashionable. As a matter of fact, this procedure relies more on the faculty of the one who’s only interested in promoting it than on a convincing theoretical background. We cannot base a new equitation on a new procedure, but on new principles.

To advise riders in many countries around the world - I could measure the irreversible damage caused by the bad understanding of Deep and Low.   In front of the worldwide confusion caused by this technique the FEI was asked to take a stance - this was not done.   'Well used by expert hands' ( only the FEI can know whose hands) '..the procedure is not dangerous'.
'La Palice'  couldn't have said it better.  (La Palice was a French Nobleman and Military Officer.    After his death his soldiers composed a song in his honor - mis-read, it read  'A quarter hour before his death - He was still quite alive'  and it is now the French term 'la palissade'  meaning an utterly obvious truth) At this point,  one of the most agitated periods in the history of Dressage it is the orientation of all Equitation which is at risk, and in particular the choice of techniques which assure success in competition and the well-being of the Horses.   
Ch Carde
October 2006