Winston Churchill once said, “the further backward you look, the further forward you can see.” About this time 137 years ago, Anna Sewell was putting the final touches on her timeless classic Black Beauty. A cherished favorite among pony-obsessed preteens, this gripping autobiography recounting the trials of an average horse at the turn of the 19th century also marks the birth of the modern animal rights movement. I’d argue that animal welfare has come a long way since Sewell’s time, but today a new “black beauty” has many asking if the horse community has completely done away with past sins.
The end of summer saw riders around the world holding their breaths in eager anticipation of the 2014 World Equestrian Games. Four years ago, at the WEGS in Kentucky, a striking young black stallion by the name of Totilas stepped into the bright lights of the competition arena and delivered a performance so breathtaking that it not only shattered records, it completely shifted the momentum of international dressage.
Dressage was originally developed as a training system where a horse is taught a series of increasingly difficult movements designed to strengthen its back and legs, so that it can more safely and comfortably carry the weight of a rider. Originally used to train warhorses, modern dressage mirrors gymnastic competitions, with horses scored individually on their ability to perform athletically demanding movements. Due to the WEG’s longstanding military background, judges traditionally focused on obedience and precision, resulting in technical but relatively unremarkable performances. After the introduction of musical freestyles in the 1994 Olympics, however, progressively greater emphasis has been placed on aesthetics. Totilas, with the shock value of his supernaturally big gaits, set a new bar for showmanship that international competitors have been chasing ever since.
This year’s WEGS in Normandy, France promised to be epic. Competition was fierce, the U.S. team was finally back in medal contention and the long-anticipated battle of the titans would finally take place: Would Valegro, the reigning Olympic and European gold medalist horse, complete the dressage triple crown, or would Totilas finally return from injury to reclaim his world standing?
As events unfolded across the pond, there was certainly no shortage of dressage drama, but not the type I was hoping for. Just days before competition commenced, three top-ranked horses were withdrawn due to injury, including the superstar Totilas. Then, following day one of rides, legendary rider Isabell Werth withdrew her brilliant young mare, Rose, due to a sore foot.
Durable is an adjective seldom applied to horses, but this level of injury is unprecedented at the top tiers of dressage and has many questioning the current direction of the sport. Defenders of modern dressage argue that, as our breeding and training practices improve, we are simply drawing closer to the outer limits of equine athleticism and that equine athletes have just as much right as human athletes to push themselves to, and occasionally past, their physical limits.
Classical dressage proponents, however, are now using biomechanics to argue that traditional movements cannot be ridden with the monstrous gaits we see today without causing physical strain.
As a significant contributor of YouTube views to these record-breaking rides, I personally have little doubt that it’s a desire to please their riders, and not fear, that prompts such impressive performances out of these horses. However, as I watch at my sport’s pinnacle feature progressively younger and inexperienced riders prancing around on horses with dropped backs and tight necks, I also have to question if these rides truly represent progress or just a fad, because as black beauty said himself “to my mind, fashion is one of the wickedest things in the world.”
