The Relationship Between Equestrian and Dressage
Eventing is a common equestrian sport, in which it combines three disciplines into one competition, usually set out over a single day (a day event) or over a three-day competition. These types of equestrian events can be regular, half-day affairs with a lot of walking around, to extended and complicated competitions with a lot of horse riding involved. The disciplines may combine to make a very complicated competition, such as the dressage event. In dressage, the rider must guide a horse round, on a deadline, under the guidance of a guide pony. This leads to very detailed and precise moves, which is the main challenge for the eventing rider.
Dressage is one of the three international disciplines at the Olympics, with the jumping section also having its own Olympics discipline, the beam event. It has a lot of historical significance, both for the game and the dressage rider, have been part of the Olympic Games at the ancient Olympics in Greece. This discipline was a part of ancient Greek wrestling and other wrestling-like sports. There is a big difference between the beam and dressage, with the former focusing more on the art of controlling and working a horse, while the latter, mainly about physical skills, athleticism and tactics, although the horses need to work in order to win.
Dressage is often judged according to style, grace, poise and execution. The rider is usually the spectators’ point of view because they are riding along behind the judges and the horses are being judged by the humans in the viewing gallery. It is not compulsory for the rider to control the animal, but some people do prefer to do so for personal preference. Dressage is often called classical fencing, because the horses are trained to fence, rather than race, although the horses are occasionally raced in classical shows, when the rules are more relaxed, but also the rider’s performance is closely monitored. Dressage is one of the disciplines of dressage, that is often taught separately in different classes because there is no clear-cut winner in classical dressage.
Dressage is also very popular as a competitive sport, although riders are not usually required to ride a horse in this event. For example, it has been tried several times that a female rider can outmaneuver and out manoeuvre a male rider in a horse show. It has also been possible that a male rider may surprise a female by winning a dressage competition. However, this rider must have a lot of riding experience, which is not necessarily the case with equestrian disciplines such as jumping or dressage. Jumping and dressage are very popular with professionals and amateur riders alike.
As a field of dressage, there are many sub-disciplines that are closely related to it. For example, classical dressage includes a very complicated collection of positions, and these positions are not only very precise but also require a great deal of finesse and skills. Advanced classical dressage requires both finesse and strength, and horses are trained specifically to carry out the movements of each position. Therefore, when it comes to a classical horse show competition, you can find some horses who have been trained for classical dressage, while others have been trained for other disciplines. Therefore, you will be able to find both mounted and free style equestrian competitions.
Apart from Western riding, English equestrian has developed a lot since the 18th century. For example, there are now cross country trail riding, pleasure riding disciplines, and dressage, which are all very popular in the UK. In addition, there are other areas of the world where equestrian is becoming increasingly popular, such as the USA, where competition for rodeo and bull riding horses is especially high.