Sicab 2008 Performances III

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Photos copyright Ambrosia Designs

Photo: ©Ambrosia Designs

Performances at SICAB 2008

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ambrosia designs

Photos this page taken at SICAB, Sevilla, Spain

by Avi Cohen www.prehorse.info

Alvaro Domecq, SICAB 2008 performance

“The piaffe and passage remain the calling card of the breed, and ability for it is everywhere and, frankly, overwhelming. Young untrained colts show an aptitude while standing in line in a class or walking off with their handlers, and the trained horses simply all do it.

My rider and I stood for hours at the schooling rings, watching Spanish horses in all types of tack, with all types of riders, executing piaffe and passage willingly and with ease, at levels rarely seen in American Grand Prix rings.

This breed has a natural affinity for the highly collected movements.

The piaffe and passage are elements of basic horse training in all the Spanish riding traditions, unlike the German system where these movements are attempted later in a horse’s training and considered the peak of dressage performance.

That said, many of the Spanish horses that can perform easily a competitive piaffe and passage may never have the more forward gaits that the sport of dressage requires.

However, as a greater understanding of the demands of modern competitive dressage (or Doma Clasica in Spanish) spreads among the breeders in Spain, a

well-rounded horse is emerging that offers both the collected aptitude as well as the ability to lengthen and amplify the strides. “

Kimberly Van Kampen Boyer Hampton Green Farms

From the EuroDressage article SICAB 2005