Sensational Dancing Horse

[Tuesday Afternoon]

The World Equestrian Games Freestyle Dressage Final performance of Andreas Helgstrand on Blue Hors Matine.

http://www.flixxy.com/world-equestrian-games-freestyle-dressage.htm

[Dangerously Amused]

1. omg, wow!

:wow:

THAT was amazing!

Thanks for sharing it.

:hi:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. You are most welcome

That hesitation step amazes me :hug: :hi:

[Tuesday_Morning]

2. that's wild, Tuesday

thanks!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. Wasn't it breath-taking.

Poetry in Motion.

[SeaLyons]

5. Just WOW!!!! that was amazing....

thanks for posting.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. Glad you enjoyed it.

amazing is the word for it.

[RebelOne]

7. Fantastic!! That must have taken a lot of training.

I've owned horses and the only thing I could teach a horse to do was shake hands. And he would kick me in the shin whenever he raised his hoof.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. Ouch

I know that hurt.

[Demoiselle]

9. Absolutely beautiful...

I do love those gorgeous critters. She was dancing in RHYTHM, too! Fantastic.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

30. Horses are wonderful animals. Glad you enjoyed it.

:hi:

[kentauros]

10. That is an excellent performance and I enjoyed watching it again

:)

Yes, I've seen it many times before, though I think this was the first time without sound (my computer was wiped earlier this week and the drivers still haven't been repaired.) Even so, it was still enjoyable; I could watch the gaits and steps more without being distracted by the music. Did you notice how much the horse was loving it? Its tail was especially active on those diagonal and slow-stepping gaits :D

Originally, I saw this on CuteOverload.com sometime last year and remember that the owner posted it as some "weird dancing horse" or some other such not-so-cute description. The horse and dressage enthusiasts set her straight in no time ;)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

11. Yes, I noticed the tail.

I have a theory about that tail.

[kentauros]

12. Oh?

And what is your "Tail Theory" if I might inquire? :P

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. hmmmmm...

not for public consumption. PM me if you are truly interested.
Question: Have you spent any time around horses?

on edit: Actually, I have two theories. One being that the horse was thinking the most when that tail was really gyrating the most.

[kentauros]

14. Very little time spent around horses.

I was going on a vague recollection of someone that knew horses telling me that. I'll go with your second theory as I don't have to know both, whatever the other one is :P

[Tuesday Afternoon]

15. I always wondered since your avatar is

you know....

thought maybe it was a reference to horses. Guess not. Oh well. Nice to see you. Have a good day. I am off to save the world (at least my little corner of it :D)

[kentauros]

16. I like horses; I just don't have experience around them

other than those in my "backyard" ;)
But, I'm not responsible for them. They merely exist in the same area as I.

However, ever since seeing some of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna on PBS ages ago, I fell in love with the idea of dressage. I don't seek it out, but I probably should, as it is an Olympic sport. I just can't stand the way the Olympics are presented anymore. Why not let C-SPAN cover them? :D

No saving the world here, just covering our asses (new and almost draconian work "rules".) You have a good day, too. I'll try and have a better birthday :+

[bamademo]

21. I don't know what that horse was thinking but when horses are irritated they swish their tails.

[Arugula Latte]

17. I used to do a little dressage (not nearly at this level of course)

It is amazing feeling to communicate with a horse like that with very subtle cues -- shifting one seat bone, easing pressure on the reins very slightly, etc. Early in the video the horse is doing alternating "leads" -- switching the leg it "leads" with on every stride. That is very difficult. Amazing.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

29. Amazing is right.

Impressive and only 9. woah. Great future.

[NJmaverick]

18. What do you do for a living? A: I teach horses to dance

:P

[Tuesday Afternoon]

24. Wouldn't that be awesome to be able

to have that for a job? It is hard work but, Barn Time is pretty darn good time.

hmmmm...edit?

[Flaxbee]

19. incredible - thanks, Tuesday Afternoon

Her tail sure was active! Beautiful horse, amazing skill. I spent a fair amount of time around horses through jr. high and high school; I have no idea how one would go about training for such an event.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

25. I have spent some fair amount of time around horses in my days.

Nothing like this, of course. Her tail sure was active! :)

[sammythecat]

20. Stunning!

It's always a pleasure to watch a good horse with a good rider and this is just about as good as it gets. What a beautiful horse. I wish they could have done a full gallop. Just because I like to see that.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

26. A full on gallop is a wondrous thing, for sure.

Heaven on earth :)

[applegrove]

22. That was wild. What a talented horse.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

27. Glad you enjoyed it

:hi:

[northernlights]

23. I started learning dressage about 40 years ago

When I was 16. I'd 1st wanted to learn it at age 10, when Disney came out with the movie about how Patton saved the stallions of the Spanish Riding School. My 1st teacher was a national champion and went on to study 2 years at the Spanish Riding School as well as being a successful international coach in 3-day eventing.

My take on this performance is WOW! It's wonderful, after decades of hearing the professionals claim to be better than the SRS (even while they made a hash of it with miserable, stiff and unresponsive horses) to see them *finally* understanding what dressage is supposed to be about.

Matine's pirouettes are very good, the changes a tempi are excellent, the extension in her half-passes are superb, and her passage (the elevated, suspended trot) is to die for. Her transitions into piaffe (the trot in place) are good. Her piaffe is good -- she needs to "sit down" a bit more, but that requires enormous strength especially through the transition into and out of it. And she is only 9, which in dressage terms is a baby. When trained correctly, they don't peak until age 14 and can still be at the top internationally at age 17.

Her tail swishing doesn't bother me at all. It usually signifies tension and unhappiness in the horse, but there is no tension in her whatsoever. She's not pinning her ears or "wringing" her tail, just swinging it as freely as her gaits are. I think she is swishing in time with her work -- she's "getting into it" so to speak. Just like when my dog slaps his tail on water as he grabs his frisbee, lol.

She just looks HAPPY, and the tail swishing in her case I think is an indication of that. What a joy to see.

My only wish now is that they would start choosing better music to dance to than crappy muzac. But that's just me wanting to do it vicariously...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

28. Thank you for commenting --

especially about the tail. I noticed that her ears were staying forward and she did not appear mad or in pain in other way. The tail going completely around...I had to smile at that.

Could you go in more detal about the "sit down" comment... is it something the rider needs to do?

[northernlights]

32. nope, it's something the horse needs to do

In the piaffe, they need to flex the joints of the hind leg more deeply, so that the hind end of the horse is lower than the front and is lifting the front more off the ground. The emphasis is more on carrying power and thrust off the ground, without forward thrust. Her hocks in particular don't appear to be bending enough.

In the passage (the elevated, springy, cadenced trot), they are more level from shoulder to hip, with a little less bend in the back leg joints -- equal carrying power, spring and forward thrust. Martine looks a little too level at the piaffe, but it's still a good piaffe.

And as I said, she is only 9 years old. She will only get physically stronger with time (since her rider/trainer clearly is bringing her along perfectly), so in another year or two her piaffe could concievably match the passage in quality.

Most horses are better at one or the other; very rarely are they equally good at both. It depends mostly on their individual structure and temperament which they excel at. She looks like she could be the rare individual that can be equally brilliant at both.


Edited to say I just watched a 2nd time and realized her 1st piaffe was actually very good, and her 3rd piaffe, in a pirouette, is also quite good. It was the 2nd piaffe where problems stood out to me. And on the 2nd viewing, I'd say she's saying, "Nope, can't do it. It's just a little too hard this minute." You can see her lugging forward rhythmically with her head, driving her front end into the ground and her hind end comes up higher than the front. It's the one time the tail swishing looks like tension.

So she definitely has the piaffe in her. Just needs more time to strengthen and it will be easier for her to deliver repeat performances. That is an incredibly demanding performance, from start to finish, with only the short walk break in the middle. Just incredible mare!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

34. Thank you so much.

I have had some experience with the 5-gaited Saddlebred so, while I can appreciate some of this I do not understand exactly what all is expected. This helped, especially explaining about the hocks. I totally understand how the "building" of a horse leads them to be better at one gait than another. It helps determind the difference between a walk/trot horse and a racking type horse in my field.

That "hesitation" step. The floating on air, I just love that.

[northernlights]

37. the floating "hesitating" step

is called "passage." And it is a blast to ride!

For what it's worth, it was my old, retired gelding's fave move. He didn't have piaffe, he had flying changes down to 2 tempis. We "cowboyed" through changes a tempi a couple times, but he was never going to have the strength.

But he had a fabulous passage for his little arab type :) He gave it his all...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

39. I have found that "heart" can over come a lot in a horse.

Give me horse with Heart any day. I have seen some Saddlebreds want to do that "floaty" type step however the trainers discourage it because it is easy for them to mix leads, etc.

[Inchworm]

31. Totally awsome!

I am glad I didn't miss it!

I couldn't figure out when this was. Any idea?

:yourock:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

35. I think it was either last year or the before.

07-08 .... :shrug:

Aren't animals of all kinds amazing? :hug: :hi:

[northernlights]

38. googled her -- it was in '06 -- some not great news on her

likely due to politics, she only got the silver medal.

But here's the bad news. In '07 at the world cup she was unloading from her trailer, slipped on new pavement in the parking lot and twisted her ankle. Apparently she injured a suspensory, which is a baaad injury for a dressage horse, especially one with her springiness. Suspensories take for freakin'-ever to heal and there is no guarantee they *will* fully heal even with the best of care.

Andreas opted out of the '08 Olympics with her (he had another super-talent coming along) because he didn't feel she was sufficiently recovered from the injury.

And then last fall, he left Blue Hors to set up his own training and sales stable, so now she has lost her lifelong partner. So on the one hand, she is still young enough to have a future, but who knows.

And that, sadly, is the typical horse story and why some of the most fabulous still don't get to the top. Twists and turns of fate...:-(

[Tuesday Afternoon]

40. oh dear. Maybe she can be a good broodmare?

If she can pass on her genetic talent with a good stud?

Too bad. Also, perhaps she has a show career -- just not at the Olympic level....

[northernlights]

41. they've probably already been harvesting eggs

I know I would be!

As far as her career, it all depends on whether the suspensory has totally healed. I don't think you could hold a horse like that back -- she can't turn off those gaits, she would give her all. The articles I saw didn't make clear whether she was back in training and just not fit enough yet, or if damage still showed on u/s.

On the other hand, if the ligament has totally healed and doesn't have any hole, than she'll come back. It just takes time to build to that level of strength, as with any superstar athlete. I remember about a million years ago when Keen was diagnosed with wobblers and the vets recommended he be put down. His owner/trainer (gone blank on her name) put him out to pasture for a year instead, and he recovered so completely that he was back competing at GP another year after that...and ended up back in Olympic contention.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

42. well,,,,sending vibes and best wishes to such a talented, spirited

gorgeous creature for a full on recovery. Thanks for the information. :)

[sarge43]

33. She doesn't have bones in those legs; she has steel springs.

What a beautiful horse.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

36. yeah boy!

Springy is right :D