I didn't know you could train horses to do this! What an incredible performance!
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http://beboframe.com/FlashFrame.jsp?Size=S&FlashBoxId=3309347442
Horse Dancing--Wow!
- Thread starter MissL
- Start date
eminenz2
Cathlete
My horse and I are at the beginning of our dressage journey - just 1st level right now, but who knows?
Maybe someday we'll show at Grand Prix too!
And can I tell ya that's one hell of a core workout - Cathe's core workouts are nothing compared to keeping yourself steady and blalanced on the "controlled explosion" that is a horse that carries himself and you! Heehee!
Susan L.G.
Maybe someday we'll show at Grand Prix too!
And can I tell ya that's one hell of a core workout - Cathe's core workouts are nothing compared to keeping yourself steady and blalanced on the "controlled explosion" that is a horse that carries himself and you! Heehee!
Susan L.G.
SirenSongWoman
Cathlete
>This is called dressage. My mother started training me for
>this when I was a child. However, I was scared by how my
>pony's gait started to change and she stopped training me.
>
>Isn't it absolutely beautiful to watch?
>Lorrayne
>
When I was in high school I knew a girl who told me she was into dressage. All I knew is that it involved wearing a jacket and being on a horse. I had no idea THIS is what she did. That horse is adorable, especially during Lady Marmalade sections. Loved the whirling tail!
>this when I was a child. However, I was scared by how my
>pony's gait started to change and she stopped training me.
>
>Isn't it absolutely beautiful to watch?
>Lorrayne
>
When I was in high school I knew a girl who told me she was into dressage. All I knew is that it involved wearing a jacket and being on a horse. I had no idea THIS is what she did. That horse is adorable, especially during Lady Marmalade sections. Loved the whirling tail!
andtckrtoo
Cathlete
Wow! That horse has more musical sense than most of the people I know! She was right on the beat and that's not something that can be trained. Amazing. Thanks for sharing! What a gorgeous horse, and routine.
The really cool thing about dressage is that it is commonly believed to have evolved from the moves war horses were taught to use in battle during the Middle Ages. Knights used horses not just as mass weapons for bowling over foot troops, but for other offensive moves as well. One historical combat move I know of consists of the horse literally jumping up in the air and kicking out in all four directions - wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that! Alot of the moves back then were dictated by the legs and feet of the riders, since they were too busy with sword and shield to do much reining. Amazing how those skills (of both horse and human) eventually became modern dressage.
Beth
Beth
eminenz2
Cathlete
War horses during the middle ages came from the local farms. Horses loaded with full armor carrying a man in full armor would have been too big and too heavy to execute the moves taught in classical dressage. The idea was to overpower by brute force and not agility.
When warfare turned to guns and swords and not just swords and brute force, the horse became a vehicle to use for offense and for defense. The original dressage horses (think Andalusians and Lusitanos and Lipizanners - all breeds derived from Arabians) were actually quite small compared to the knights' heavy horses (think Clydesdales and Shires and Percherons and Friesians) and also very small (running at about 15hh) compared to the aircraft carriers that dominate in the dressage arena today (who come in on the average at 16 hh to 17hh).
I have never seen the move you are referring to about the horse striking out with all four feet. That seems pretty impossible except in the cases of bronc horses, who are trained, believe it or not, to do just that - buck and carry on.
Are you referring to the capriolle - where the horse leaps up and kicks his two back feet out behind him, or maybe the courbette, where the horse is trained to stand low on his hind legs and jump towards the opponent? Both pretty intimidating moves if you're a mere foot soldier in Napolean's army, no?
BTW, I talked with my trainer regarding the horse in the original video - Martine - the story goes she is a very young horse who has been pushed to perform way beyond her years. Her trainers/owners struggle to keep this horse sound because she is being asked to do so much while her body is still growing. They demand so much from her because she is such a beautiful and extravagant mover - no argument there! In fact, not long after this particular performance, she went lame.
Did you notice the wringing tail? That is NOT a happy horse. That's a big F.U. in each swish.
Sorry to be such a know-it-all, but dressage is my riding passion!
To put it in perspective, my horse, while not as gifted in the movement department as 9-year-old Martine, but is certainly capable of the upper levels, is only a year younger than her. He has never been dead lame. Yes, we are only at 1st level right now, but there is so much to do in laying the foundation for the upper levels and I am OK with waiting. I got nothing but time!
Yes, I'm being a snob, and acting like I know better but good training takes years and years of two steps forward, three steps back. Not cramming a horse into a frame and repeatedly demanding something from an animal.
JMHO.
Susan L.G.
Susan L.G.
When warfare turned to guns and swords and not just swords and brute force, the horse became a vehicle to use for offense and for defense. The original dressage horses (think Andalusians and Lusitanos and Lipizanners - all breeds derived from Arabians) were actually quite small compared to the knights' heavy horses (think Clydesdales and Shires and Percherons and Friesians) and also very small (running at about 15hh) compared to the aircraft carriers that dominate in the dressage arena today (who come in on the average at 16 hh to 17hh).
I have never seen the move you are referring to about the horse striking out with all four feet. That seems pretty impossible except in the cases of bronc horses, who are trained, believe it or not, to do just that - buck and carry on.
Are you referring to the capriolle - where the horse leaps up and kicks his two back feet out behind him, or maybe the courbette, where the horse is trained to stand low on his hind legs and jump towards the opponent? Both pretty intimidating moves if you're a mere foot soldier in Napolean's army, no?
BTW, I talked with my trainer regarding the horse in the original video - Martine - the story goes she is a very young horse who has been pushed to perform way beyond her years. Her trainers/owners struggle to keep this horse sound because she is being asked to do so much while her body is still growing. They demand so much from her because she is such a beautiful and extravagant mover - no argument there! In fact, not long after this particular performance, she went lame.
Did you notice the wringing tail? That is NOT a happy horse. That's a big F.U. in each swish.
Sorry to be such a know-it-all, but dressage is my riding passion!
To put it in perspective, my horse, while not as gifted in the movement department as 9-year-old Martine, but is certainly capable of the upper levels, is only a year younger than her. He has never been dead lame. Yes, we are only at 1st level right now, but there is so much to do in laying the foundation for the upper levels and I am OK with waiting. I got nothing but time!
Yes, I'm being a snob, and acting like I know better but good training takes years and years of two steps forward, three steps back. Not cramming a horse into a frame and repeatedly demanding something from an animal.
JMHO.
Susan L.G.
Susan L.G.