{"id":42413,"date":"2018-07-27T16:19:25","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T06:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=42413"},"modified":"2024-04-30T15:49:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T05:49:13","slug":"georg-theodorescu-a-dressage-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2018\/07\/georg-theodorescu-a-dressage-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"Georg Theodorescu – a dressage warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This picture was taken at the 2005 Bundeschampionat where Georg and his daughter Monica, current German dressage coach, were giving a demonstration with Monica’s young Grand Prix horse, Whisper<\/em><\/p>\n

It was back in 1995 when the German equestrian magazine, Reiter Revue, <\/em>published a warning from Georg Theodorescu about the direction in which dressage was headed. To illustrate the article, Reiter Revue <\/em>made silhouettes of leading international riders \u2013 more than twenty years later, we add some photos from recent times to show that the warning is just as insightful as it was then…<\/p>\n

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Monica and Whisper in extended trot<\/em><\/p>\n

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Georg’s comment on this diagram in the original article – \u00a0Extension behind the vertical\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Today you hear again and again of new methods. The question arises where does that lead, what can be so new in dressage riding and training? The horse has remained the same over the last few centuries, even if the quality has improved through selective breeding. But there are training principles that do not change. The forehand of the horse weighs about 80 kg more than the hindquarters – today as well as in former times. Does one not have to train the horse in such a way that the horse comes into balance?<\/p>\n

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Today at competitions you see more and more horses that are worked from front to back, instead of from back to front.
\nThey flick mightily in front, haunches dragging, tight in the back, and are behind the vertical. Riders are presenting them sometimes faster or slower, but rarely in true collection.<\/p>\n

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Haunches not carrying well<\/em><\/p>\n

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And the walk, the most important gait after all, is mostly not marching anymore but tricked, the horses are just mechanised.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, such performances are often rewarded with high scores – to the great surprise of all the experts. Should judges, riders, and trainers not orientate themselves anew – or better, remember the old general principles?<\/p>\n

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Is it not a fact that the hindquarters are better equipped with ‘springs’ than the forehand? The shock absorption of the haunches is there to take on the weight. When the shock absorbing haunches compress, while accepting the weight, the forehand stretches upwards because the weight is taken off. This is visible for instance over a jump or in the elevated steps of piaffe and passage.<\/p>\n

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The terms Hankenbug <\/em>(hock bending) and Unter-den-Schwerpunkt-treten\u00a0<\/em>(stepping under the point of gravity) describe this principle that gets more and more lost.
\nFelix B\u00fcrkner once said: “This basic principle lies in the systematic gymnastic development of the haunches to prepare for collection.” Is this statement not true any more? I believe it still is.<\/p>\n

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I also still believe that collection is mainly achieved through half-halts and full halts. This principle is found not only in the FEI Reglement International (Par 416) <\/em>but also in all classical riding manuals that are based on centuries-long experiences.<\/p>\n

M\u00fcseler, for instance, wrote: “All half-halts are given in the same way, by riding the horse from the back to a non-allowing hand!” What holds for collection is also true for extension. The haunches have to step into the point of gravity as well. Lengthening of the frame yes, but forward, not backwards.”<\/p>\n

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Monica and Whisper at the Euros in Windsor<\/em><\/p>\n

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And at Aachen<\/em><\/p>\n

Felix B\u00fcrkner, one of the truly great trainers and riders, once said: “The basics of the well-trained dressage horse are a result of the principles of riding set forth in Regulations that remain valid for all times. Abandoning these century-old experiences causes devastating results. The demand that correct dressage training enhances the beauty of the horse is directly linked to the principle that even an Advanced horse can resume the frame, looseness and relaxation of a Novice horse at any time. Only this principle prevents the rider from creating tension when working on highest collection.”<\/p>\n

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“If the Advanced horse can assume the outline of a Novice horse at any time, he knows the correct basics. Those correct basics, however, are only visible to judges who know in depth about correct training and can look beyond what is shown to them.”<\/p>\n

“A judge should not downgrade himself to the status of one who merely registers formal mistakes, but to help the true correct principle to gain victory. Otherwise he hurts the essence of our art of riding and discourages newcomers from riding dressage.”<\/p>\n

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“The dressage competitor on the other hand has to be able to trust the knowledge of the judges, and the judge has to help the beginner riders through his comments to aim for the correct way of riding and to adhere to the proper basics.”<\/p>\n

more follows<\/em><\/p>\n

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If today there are judges who reward tests and movements which do not adhere to these principles with high scores, we have to ask ourselves if those principles are still valid or if they need to be changed. However, if the aforementioned principles are still valid, why is dressage training not done accordingly?<\/p>\n

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Not only trainers and riders but mainly judges determine the course of dressage through their scores. They should always be aware of this fact, whether they judge Grand Prix or lower levels. If a spectacular but tensely and tightly moving horse gets higher marks in a test than a loose, correctly ridden horse, it is not surprising that more and more riders take the wrong course in the training of their horses.<\/p>\n

\n

Looking for the best Dressage bloodlines in the world for this season in Australia? Go\u00a0to www.ihb.com.au<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Escamillo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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First Romance<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is a warning that is as true today as it was 20 years ago. Georg Theodorescu’s words reach across 20 years to remind us of the true application of the dressage principles…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":42433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,4],"tags":[27,1243,1847],"class_list":["post-42413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-dressage","tag-classical-principles","tag-dressage","tag-george-theodorescu"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42413"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67889,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42413\/revisions\/67889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}