In her Forum “Dressage Is Now More Gymnastic Than Artistic” (Oct. 21, p. 41), Lita Dove asks us to believe that modern dressage has changed and that the training methods of Sjef Jansen are the “new guidelines” for success.

She writes, “He puts the emphasis on the athleticism involved, instead of on the nobility of dressage as an art form.”

May I ask Ms. Dove if she knows about any recent changes in the FEI rules concerning the performance and quality of all the movements? If so, please let us know.

Dressage has always been a gymnastic training; otherwise we would call it “poodle dressage” or “bad circus riding.” (A good circus rider like Freddy Knie Sr. certainly achieved more than many other riders, with correct gymnastic training on very average horses. And he did it with “feel” and “kindness.”)

Now, I agree, Mr. Jensen pushes his gymnastic training to “physical boundaries” that has brought him a certain success. But there I have a couple of questions.

First, Ms. Dove talks about dancers, skaters or gymnasts. But I was a phys. ed. teacher who majored in gymnastics, and I know these athletes have a choice to undergo their training “regimen” (Ms. Dove’s choice of words). They can say, for instance, when they train the splits, “so far and no further today,” because pain, discomfort and injury can be the result of further pushing.

Now, can Salinero and the others say, “Hey, Sjef, it’s hurting; I’d like to stop for today”?

I have watched Anky van Grunsven on different horses in different training sessions. At the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Spain, she was schooling Krack C a day before her Grand Prix test in front of the U.S. Equestrian Team tent. I was one of a group of about 20 people who were rather stunned and dumbfounded to watch her “performance” on the horse, who was trying evasive tactics of bucking, kicking and half-rearing. I wouldn’t think the horse had “happy dreams” as the result of this preparation for the next day’s performance.

And, sorry, Ms. Dove, after this “superior gymnastic training,” his piaffe the next day was a very poor imitation, a lifting of his legs on the spot in a very mechanical and stiff way. It was certainly not gymnasticized. That brings us to the next question: Is Mr. Jansen’s training so “gymnastically” correct that he gets “harmony, balance, rhythm,” as defined by Ms. Dove? Well, the piaffe is indeed a test for correct training. But horses like Krack C, Idol, Partout and others still had lots of problems after that “superior gymnasticizing.” Yes, Salinero showed his talent for piaffe and passage as a youngster. Even Bonfire, at an early age at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, showed remarkable piaffe, except that his mouth was extremely fussy.

In extensions we see, of course, from the big, natural movers like Weltall, Bonaparte, Rusty or Salinero breathtaking movement. But the extensions they perform should be correct according to the rulebook and not only about “power.” As long as the FEI’s leaders have not changed the criteria to physical measurements of power (height and length of strides), the judges should look for balance (self-carriage and lightness), along with harmonious, coordinated movement of fluid, powerful strides.

But I see in Salinero (and Weltall even worse) extensions that are especially strong “on the hands,” with extra-tight curb reins. The nose is often slightly behind the vertical, and the poll often not clearly the highest point. In addition, the diagonal pair is often not clearly synchronized (the hind leg is lagging). These extensions may be “powerful,” but they are also incorrect. Does such a trot really deserve an 8, a mark we’re regularly seeing for such work?

In my youth, the judges called this “Strampeln” (German for “leg-throwing”) and “auf die Hand gebrummt” (German for “jammed onto the hand”). But today they talk about “dynamic power” and “spectacular performance”.

“Quo Vadis”–the famous “Where are you going,” modern dressage?

My next question is in regard to the overbending to the extreme. Birgit Popp, in her forum “Who’s Responsible For Maintaining The Classic Principles Of Dressage?” (Sept. 2, p. 34), called it “biting the chest,” which is indeed a suitable image, in spite of Ms. Dove’s ridiculous objection.

The illustration shows exactly what I am talking about–you can clearly see how extreme the lower jaw is pulled into the chest. If Mr. Jansen or Ms. Dove want to tell us that this horse is “happy” or “comfortable” in training, then maybe many others and I are from a different planet. (Kyra Kyrklund prefers the term “comfortable,” and I fully agree.)

On a website, I saw about 20 photographs of the Dutch Dressage Championships, photos that could make any true horseman and dressage expert very “mad and sad.”

Mr. Jansen, who threatened to take the website to court, “makes no secret of his training regimen,” according to Ms. Dove. But he seems to object to showing these “results” in public. At least in America we do have a free press.

To conclude, I do not wish to argue about the specifics of Mr. Jansen’s training methods. Instead, I and many other true horsemen and dressage experts (who are obviously from “a different school”) wish to state the following: We ride and train with a deep passion for horses and a sense of responsibility for correct, kind and horse-friendly treatment and training of our partner, the horse.

And, yes, we will speak up about it, and we will not shut up just because Mr. Jansen and his wife have won two gold medals. (Mr. Jansen has stated that his success is the proof of his correct training methods, and Ms. Dove seems to follow his line of thought.)

Sorry, throughout history other far more wise men than me have pointed out that “the end does not necessarily justify the means.” With humility (since Ms. Dove is asking for humility), we would rather tell a young equestrian, in his trials of learning, “Don’t do to others [i.e. your horse] what you would not like others to do to you!”

Thank you for giving me the chance to speak up in your Forum.

Dietrich von Hopffgarten, of Langley, B.C., is a native of Germany who studied for many years with the German master Egon von Neindorff in preparation for his life’s work as a dressage trainer. He believes, “Dressage is an art, which needs to be taught with true and honest adherence to its principles and theories.”