The long and colourful traditions of dressage go as far back as Ancient Greece. Dressage, the highest expression of horse training, is considered the art of equestrian sport and is used as the groundwork for all other disciplines.
Two thousand years ago, the ancient Greeks recognised that if rider and horse were to survive in battle, complete cooperation was necessary between the pair, and developed dressage as a method to train the horses for war. A horse’s ability to move quickly from side to side, burst into a gallop or change direction immediately were all considered vital skills.
With the disintegration of Ancient Greece, the art of riding slowly fell into oblivion until its revival during the Renaissance period. In the 18th century, classical dressage reached its peak with the creation of the world-famous Spanish Riding School in 1729 in Vienna that laid the basis of the modern discipline. Continue reading from Olympics
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