Trick riding served as form of warfare in the 15th and 16th centuries for Russian military tribes called Cossacks. Many Cossacks fled Russia for the United States when the Bolsheviks began a systematic elimination of the tribes in 1919. The Cossacks began performing their riding stunts for American audiences and several years later the sport became a full-fledged rodeo event. The hardest tricks earned the most points, and therefore the most prize money, which eventually caused the downfall of trick riding. The sport became nearly obsolete in the 1940s when the rider’s desperation for prize money lead to overzealous risks and serious injuries.
The haute ecole movements originated from battle training. They include the courbette, capriole, levade and ballotade. These “airs above ground” strengthened horses for war and dazzled medieval audiences as a display of art during the Renaissance. Today, only a handful of European classical dressage schools and clinicians around the world teach and train the haute ecole.
A pas de deux has its roots in the 1600s during the French Renaissance. For the first time, horses were trained for displays of art and reputation, instead of for battle combat. Louis XIII of France, employing the famous trainer Antoine de Pluvinel, began performing what he considered “grand displays of grace, bravery and skill,” which included quadrilles (choreographed rides with four horses), carousels (processions of horsemen, footmen and musicians, where modern carousels got their name) and the pas de deux.
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