If you haven't been keeping up with the Olympics, you can check out all of the goodies here. But one of my favorite events (naturally) is Equestrian Dressage Freestyle. Anky van Grunsven, and her beautiful 14-year-old horse Salinero took home the gold in the event that was completed on Tuesday.
What is Dressage? It's a form of performance that shows the horse's athletic ability, grace, and form. Often described as a "Horse Ballet" it truly is a joy to watch. Horse and rider must perform tasks like trot, canter, half pass, and canter pirouettes (a full 360 degree turn) with minimal directional aids, and do it all choreographed to music. Sorta like So You Think You Can Dance, but with horses! I was able to TiVo the broadcast, and was totally taken by the beauty of the winning team. Congrats to the winners!
Infinite
That horse is so beautiful!!
1My favorite event too!!!
2i thought wraps weren't allowed in dressage? and bell boots on front and back? hmmm. don't know much about freestyle, or even upper-level dressage, to be honest. my heart is in eventing (and even there dressage is our weak point, lol)
i can't wait to watch this and the show jumping (both recorded).
3The United States won TEAM GOLD in Show Jumping! For the first time in over 30 years a person (Will Simpson based out of El Campeon Farms in Thousand Oaks) from the WEST COAST competed in the Olympics. Not only was it his VERY first olympics, Will has only had the ride on the horse for a little over a year. Definitely incredible. Will is a great rider and really, really deserved the win.
4Wraps and Bell Boots aren't allowed in the show ring, but they very much are allowed outside of it. Even though the horse is capable of doing all the movements without the wraps, bell boots, ect. it's not good for them. Much like a sprinter can run without shoes it's better for them to have the shoes. Dressage doesn't use the wraps because it can sometimes make a lame horse not look lame, and dressage is really about the horse's health. Well, in some respects. Sometimes it's questioned.... but that's a different debate. I ride dressage pretty seriously, and I agree, this is my absolute favorite event to watch. My favorite riders are Andreas Helgstrand and Steffen Peters.
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