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The Sports |
Dressage - The History of Classical Riding |
| Below is a 'condensed' version of the history of classical riding, there are further references and links
at the bottom of the page.
The Greeks The art of riding was highly developed early on. Over 2400 years ago the Greeks Simon of Athens and Plinius wrote books on the subject. Both were lost but were referred to in the writings of Xenophon, another early equestrian. These early writers were advocates of training through intuition and individual, kind treatment of each horse. "Anthing forced and misunderstood can never be beautiful" - Xenophon "If a dancer was forced to dance by whip and spikes, he would be no more beautiful then a horse trained under similar conditions." - Simon of Athens With the fall of the Greek empire the value of many arts and cultures declined, and the art of riding was among them. It was not until nearly 2000 years later in the 16th century that the art of equestrianism was resurrected. In the great Italian rennaissance,
riding was among the many arts which flourished once more. This time
reintroduced by Neopolitan nobleman Grisone. Grisone later became
known as 'the father of the art of equitation'. Grisone studied
Xenophon's teachings and used many passages from his book in his own
writings. However, he used force for control of the horse and created
many severe bits to enforce his principles. Fortunately
for all horses (and riders) the cruel methods of Grisone and his
pupils were overtaken by the teachings of Pluvinel. It was
Pluvinel, a student of the Naples Riding Academy (run by a student of
Grisones) that advocated individual training for horses and humane
treatment in his book 'Manege du Roi' in 1623. The book was originally
ridiculed but in due course his principles were adopted by most. By
the beginning of the 18th century equestrianism was almost exclusively
influenced by the French and in particular by the great riding master
Francois Robichon de la Gueriniere. It was de la Gueriniere who wrote
the first book with clear easy to understand principles and
instructions for any rider to follow. 
His teachings are the basics for what is now known as Classical Riding
and were applied unaltered at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna due
to the influence of Max Ritter von Weyrother, head rider at the school
in the early part of the 19th century.Sadly
the principles were lost to the French due to the intervention of the
French Revolution. The various European courts and riding academies
were influenced in various directions by the riding masters of the day
including Plinzner and Baucher in Germany who insisted on overbending
their horses and thereby destroying any forward urge.
Baucher and later James
Fillis, who was primarily a circus trainer, introduced such unnatural
movements as the backward canter, the Spanish walk and the canter on 3
legs. His followers were captivated by his performances and many
wished to employ his methods to train their military chargers. The
influence of these two, still exists today with some
European riding schools teaching these movements, however for the most
part they have returned to more classical teachings.
After
all of these influences, the methods of the Spanish Riding School and
therefore de la Gueriniere still flourish and have reintroduced these
principles back into most of the European riding schools.
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| On This Page | |
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Italian
Rennaissance References Links |
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| Related Pages | |
Horse Gate's Dressage History Article
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