Dressage & competition/Tr.

J´ai ete invite, vendredi, a assister aux epreuves de dressage qui avaient lieu aux abords de Melbourne. M´etant dernierement quelque peu distance de ce genre de concours, je ne savais pas trop a quoi m´attendre. En compagnie de mes amis, nous avons regarde deux epreuves: Intermediaire 1 et Grand Prix. Nous nous demandions si nous assistions a un concours de dressage ou de poids et halteres! A ce niveau, a part une ou deux exceptions, la plupart des chevaux etaient compresses entre des jambes bottees, munies de mechants eperons et de mains qui n´en pouvaient plus de tirer. Un vrai tour de force ou l´on se demandait si le cheval etait de la partie ou s´il faisait office de figurant!. Et puis, comment peut-on pretendre acceder a ce niveau quand des mouvements de base comme les reculers ( arraches, precipites et non diagonalises ), les demi-tours serres en complete perte d´impulsion, les transitions descendantes qui ne passent pas ( ou souvent le cavalier bascule d´avant en arriere en tirant sur les renes ) sans parler du piaffer pique ou inexistant ( Le cavalier bouge et frappe mais rien ne se passe au-dessous )et le passage qui est tout sauf aerien.

Avant de quitter les " coulisses de l´exploit ", un spectateur nous a fait la remarque suivante: " C´est un hommage aux entraineurs australiens ( a mon avis on le rencontre aussi ailleurs )de voir autant de chevaux sans arriere-main en epreuve de dressage.

S´il est vrai que la plupart des cavaliers preferent ignorer la monte dite " legere ", j´irais plus loin en posant la question suivante: " La monte en force n´est-elle pas aussi la demonstration evidente du pouvoir de domination du cavalier sur l´animal ? ". Car,dans l´exemple cite plus haut, la plupart des cavaliers et cavalieres sont plus souvent en lutte avec leurs chevaux au lieu d´en faire un partenaire au sens noble du mot!
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I was invited, last friday, to watch a dressage competition near Melbourne. With my friends, we saw two tests: Elementary 1 and Grand Prix. We asked ourself if we were watching dressage or weight lifting! At this level, except for one or two pairs, most of the horses were compressed between boots with heavy duty spurs and hands who could not stop to pull. A real game of force where we thought: " what is the horse supposed to do, does he exist or is he only an extra? ". Nobody should pretend to ride at this level when the basic movements are not even established: the reinback are pulled back, too fast and not diagonalized. The half pirrouette, performed with a loss of impulsion. The transitions are not going through ( often the rider is moving from front to backward, pulling at the same time on the reins ), without talking about the piaff which is poor in cadence and elevation and the passage which is everything except aerial.

Before leaving the " exploit´backstage", we heard this comment that came from someone in the crowd: " It is a tribute to the Australian training that so many horses can complete a dressage test having no back legs !".

If it is true that most dressage riders do not want to hear anything about lightness, we could also put on the next question: " Riding in force can be also the evident demonstration of the power of the riders wanting to dominate at any price their horses!". In the example I described above, most of the competitors are too often fighting with their horses instead of trying to ask them to be a partner, in the noble sense of this term.

(par Fredy Mercay)