Horse prances are a great way to warm up your feet for a dance class, but becoming a dancing horse actually requires four legs and some special training! Horse ballet, or “dressage”, is an athletic equestrian sport where horses execute a “choreographed” series of pre-determined movements, such as flying changes or even a pirouette. The purpose of this kind of training is to develop the horse’s physical ability and willingness to perform complex movement sequences. It is very challenging and is included as a sport in the Olympics. Here is an example of a pair that makes it all look easy: Edward Gal and Moorlands Totilas’ with their record breaking high score performance from the World Dressage Masters 2009.
Want to see more on horses and dance? Check out students from the Ailey School at a dress rehearsal for Nick Cave’s site specific horse dance, performed at Grand Central Station in New York last month.
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Tagged: Animals, Ballet, Feet First, International
