Top Stories Montgomery

By Nicole Drumheller Gargus
Correspondent

The way most psychologists see it, horses can’t really dance. Horses, they say, don’t know how to move in time to the music or select steps that express the way they’re feeling.

But when you are watching a horse and rider perform a musical freestyle dressage test, you can’t help but think they are dancing. When horse and rider are truly one they move with the greatest of ease. The horse moves forward at a trot and diagonally with a half pass. It seems to skip when it correctly performs a passage. As it glides across the ring with a musical soundtrack to match its every move, you’ll really believe you’re watching a horse dance.

Dressage horses might look like they’re just moving to the music, but they are actually following signals given by their riders. The hand and body signals, called aids, are so slight you probably won’t see them unless you’re a dressage competitor yourself. But they are enough to guide a horse through an impressive display of moving and maneuvering.

Imagine the agility and grace of professional figure skating, only without the skates, and done by horses and riders, and you begin to have an idea of what you can see at a serious dressage competition like Dressage at Devon.

Held every fall, Dressage at Devon is one of the top horse shows in North America. About 600 horses participate in a week of competition, and the event draws about 35,000 spectators to the historic Devon Horse Show Grounds in the center of Devon. Dressage at Devon combines world-class dressage competition and the world’s largest open-breed show with the international Fall Festival shops and special activities for the entire family.

Dressage is a French term meaning “to train.” Dressage teaches a horse to perform a wide range of movements on cue. Dressage horses are often older than competitive horses in other disciplines because of the degree of skill required.

Horses perform trained sequences of movement with impressive precision. Dressage, especially the musical freestyle form of it, has often been called “dancing horses” or “the ballet of horses.”

As a result of meticulous training, each performance looks effortless. When performed correctly, dressage is literally a form of art in motion.

On the other hand, it is considered a sport and is scored by judges in the same manner as other performance sports, on a scale from 0 to 10.

If you’ve seen dressage on television, it was probably musical freestyle, which is the showiest side of dressage.

According to Christine DeHerrera, of Equestrian Sports Promotions, “One of the favorite events in this elegant sport is the freestyle, in which horse and rider appear to dance to such diverse music as the Beatles, Mozart and the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ soundtrack.”

Musical freestyle is easy to watch because the music helps to explain what the horse and rider are doing. Also, the rider can arrange the movements in a sequence that provides the most dramatic effect for the spectators. But musical freestyle is just one of the performance divisions, and the performance classes are just half of the schedule at Dressage at Devon.

In the breed-division competitions, held on the first few days of the event, horses are shown “in hand,” that is, being led by their handlers and trainers. The idea is to judge the horse separate from the rider.

More than 30 breeds of horses will be shown, including breathtaking Friesians, Gypsy Vanners, warmbloods, drum horses, Weser-Em ponies and Nokota horses.

Nokota horses will be shown at Devon for just the second time this year. They are certain to be an eye catcher again this year, as they were last year. Many people are drawn to the unique history of this breed and are thrilled to see them included in Dressage at Devon.

The association between dressage and the English style of riding does not mean that dressage can only be done by European breeds of horses. Distinctly American breeds such as the Nokota may also show high levels of skill at dressage. Jill Murray of Coatesville, who will be competing in the breed division competitions with her 5-year-old Nokota horse Howahkan, whose name in the Lakota language means “Spirit Voice,” says Nokotas have a few natural advantages in dressage.

“These horses are like the border collies of the horse world,” says Murray. “They like a job, can take pressure and make strong bonds.”

Howahkan is a blue roan traditional Nokota horse, and Murray says he is also especially intelligent.

“We have been doing dressage for two years and are moving up the levels,” Murray says. “He is very talented. He will take me as far as I want to go.”

Although Howahkan will not be showing under saddle this year at Devon, we can look forward to seeing him and other stunning Nokotas in hand at the breed-division competitions.

Nokotas are descended from the last surviving wild horses in the Little Missouri badlands of North Dakota. Their ancestors include early Native American horses as well as frontier ranch horses long remembered for being among the first horses to leave hoof prints on North American soil.

The second half of the schedule consists of the performance classes. The musical freestyle classes may be the most popular of these, but the Devon Grand Prix is the serious competition that the name implies.

Grand Prix dressage tests are the highest level for horses and riders in dressage — professionals or amateurs ride in the Grand Prix competition. The top competitors at Devon often go on to the Olympic selection trials, and even the Olympics.

According to DeHerrera, “Ribbon winners at Dressage at Devon are the best of the best! To win requires focus, determination and delivering the best possible performance. Horses and riders showing at Dressage at Devon have competed in the Olympics, World Championships and World Cup Finals.”

Dressage at Devon benefits Thorncroft Therapeutic Horseback Riding, Inc., one of the oldest and largest therapeutic riding facilities in the nation. Thorncroft helps the disabled to improve balance, circulation, muscle tone and concentration, while enhancing self-esteem. Since 1991, Dressage at Devon has raised in excess of $1 million for Thorncroft.

To learn more about Nokota horses, visit www.nokotahorse.org. To learn more about Thorncroft, visit www.thorncroft.org.

IF YOU GO:

Dressage at Devon

takes place at

Devon Horse Show Grounds,

Lancaster Avenue (Rte. 30),

Devon, PA 19333,

Sept. 22 – 27.

General admission: $8;

under 12, free. Reserved

& box seats available.

Info: 484-358-5510

or www.dressageatdevon.org.