Dressage is the highest school of riding. It is a sport in which the rider must demonstrate: the horse’s ability to move correctly and productively at all gaits at different tempos – from reduced to added, smooth and rhythmic transitions from one gait to another, the correct stance, settling (movement back), movements with lateral bending, complex movements produced by special training (pirouettes, leg change at canter in 4-1 pace, passage, piaffe). When performing these exercises the horse must move while maintaining a particular position of the body corresponding to the number of the program. In dressage it is important to have impulse – the desire to move forward, complete obedience to the controls, the actions of which should be almost imperceptible. Also assessed is the overall appearance of the horse, its harmony and natural ability to elastic, beautiful movements. In addition to the compulsory programs with defined schemes in high ranking competitions, including the Olympic Games, there can also be free programs, the so-called “kure”, where athletes under musical accompaniment demonstrate in any sequence the exercises accepted in dressage. These are the most colorful and interesting performances, where much depends on the composition and the music chosen for it.
Dressage makes the horse calm and flexible on straight and lateral movements, attentive, energetic, bold and obedient. It is the basis for preparing her for any sport. Dressage has a number of programs in terms of difficulty.
The Small Prize (St. George) is a medium level test, contains a set of exercises to show the horse’s obedience, degree of poise, physical and mental development.
Medium Prize 1 and Medium Prize 2 are higher and higher level competitions, which are transitional to the Grand Prize.
The Grand Prix is the highest level test of riding artistry. The program contains all school gaits and basic elements of classical high school.
Grand Prix – personal program (cross-country) – a test the same level as the Grand Prix, but shorter with more difficult transitions. As a rule the best 10 riders are allowed to the cross-country, and the champion of the competition is defined among them.
The free program contains all the elements of the high school and gaits, but the rider is given complete freedom of creativity. Performed with music. From the point of view of entertainment, this program is the most interesting and emotional.
Competitions in dressage are held in the arena – a rectangular area measuring 20×60 meters, having on the perimeter and the centerline letter markings near which in a certain order the rider changes the horse movement (makes the transition), as if drawing a pattern on the area. Therefore, dressage is often compared to figure skating. Judges are evaluated on the correctness of performance of allures, elements, figures, as well as transitions from one movement to another. The momentum and obedience of the horse is taken into account, as well as the rider’s landing and use of his controls.
The dressage competition is supervised by five judges, each of whom consistently evaluates on a ten-point system all the exercises in the program. The sum of the points of all evaluations is the result of a rider’s performance. For more convenient comparison of performances and to determine the level of each athlete it is generally accepted to express the result as a percentage of the points received in relation to their maximum sum. These percentages are taken into account when assigning a sport category to the rider.
For dressage competitions horses of semi-vintage breeds are the most suitable: Trakehner, Hanoverian and Ukrainian riding horses. In recent years, especially successful are the horses of regenerated riding breed. Experts consider that for successful work in dressage the growth of 165-167cm, length of a trunk 166-168cm, girth of a breast – 194-196cm and girth of a neck 21-22cm are most desirable.