Rarely these days do we see dressage horses competing at any level who don’t belong because they can’t fulfill the requirements, a fairly common occur-
rence only a dozen years ago.

Nowadays our Grand Prix horses really do know how to piaffe and passage, and if there is a problem in the piaffe and passage tour, the tempi changes or the pirouette, it’s usually due to the form of the day or the riding.

But there is one exception I’ve noticed after judging extensively this year–the extended trot. The so sought-after “expensive” trot, which we pay a premium for at auctions and search for in young horses, doesn’t routinely appear to develop into the extensions that are supposed to be one of the highlights we look for in any performance.

I’m not talking now about youngsters who haven’t yet achieved the self-carriage or power to be able to develop and maintain a true extension, but of horses who are seasoned at Prix St. Georges and above. What we judges repeatedly get treated to is a variety of trots that are “faking it” in one way or another.

To begin with, there are no distinct transitions. Sometimes the beginning and end of the extension are so subtle that they’re impossible to discern, even when the judge is awake and focusing.

That’s because absolutely nothing is happening, and you feel like you’re a part of the tale of the Emperor’s new clothes, expecting to see what isn’t there.
That’s the bottom of the heap. The next variety is when the horse hurries through the corner and, instead of coming onto the diagonal in balance and with his haunches “loaded” for take-off, he’s running in front-wheel drive, making any transition into mission impossible.

The honest horse makes a desperate effort to salvage the movement, and by the time he reaches X he’s hopelessly lost in forward balance and struggling to reach the end of the diagonal. The less ambitious equine crawls behind the leg and does less and less to go forward, until the movement fades to a working trot before he reaches halfway.

Then we have the “mad run,” in which the horse develops a flat-footed scramble with a hollow back and the hindquarters trailing hopelessly. It reminds you of a bicycle.

But the really fascinating extension is the one when the horse’s frame gets shorter for each stride, his back lower, his front legs higher, and his neck tighter. That’s almost as hard to accomplish all at once as it is to have an extension for a 10.

I’m sure many wonder, what would an extension worth a 10 look like?

Let’s start with the transitions: They should be prompt and smooth, without the slightest resistance. The horse should proceed accurately from point to point and in a straight line. And there should be a clear difference between the extended trot and the medium trot.

Comparing it to the different aspects of the training scale, for a 10 the rhythm of the trot has to be absolutely regular, in a clear two beats, from beginning to end, with a distinctive moment of suspension.

No stiffness or tension can be present for a perfect score for suppleness. The back must swing under the rider, and the completely unconstrained steps must show superb elasticity.

The contact has to be light and steady, with the nose more in front of the vertical than at a medium trot. In spite of the ultimate lengthening of the frame, the poll must remain the highest point.

To accomplish all this, the requirements of the impulsion are strict: The hind legs are expected to propel the horse forward with very energetic and active steps, while the hind feet touch the ground as much as possible in front of the footprints for the front feet. Front and hind feet reach equally forward, and the front feet touch the ground on the spot toward which they’re pointing.

Naturally the horse’s straightness cannot be questionable, while the very engaged hind legs give the impression of a horse in complete balance, exhibiting freedom of the shoulder and lightness of the forehand.

Under those circumstances the submissiveness is total, with no resistance whatsoever evident.

I doubt that many of us has experienced this state of bliss for an entire diagonal, but those are the directives if you strive for an “excellent” score.
Naturally, there is a range of ability that plays into the score, and there are horses that are superb at collection but have no ability to become “airborne,” never mind how they struggle. The springs for the suspension just were never installed.

It was interesting to observe at the Olympics that all the way to the top placings there were horses who lack the ability to use their back in the extended work and who possess almost no elasticity in their gaits or abil-ity to stretch over the topline. What they do have, though, is a tremendous knack for articulation of their joints. They can twist and turn and bend their knees and hocks like Riverdancers–and in the three “p’s” this is a real asset.

Since we’ve shortened the Grand Prix, there are only three extended trots and no medium trot. There is no coefficient for the extended trot, so it counts for very little among the 32 movements. What should be one of our “crown jewels” has been put somewhat on the back burner.

Anyone who trained with Col. Bengt Ljungquist will agree that he would watch this development with a jaundiced eye. I will never forget the endless sessions on the 20-meter circle, practicing transitions in and out of trot lengthenings. Bengt would insist on the horse becoming “like a rubber band,” and he was relentless about all the features that could lead to a 10.

Will this trend toward rewarding collection more than elasticity, power, suspension and volume stay in our tests? If it does, there will be even more horses bred, trained and exhibited who can produce only one side of the coin–the collected movements–and will fake their way through the extensions at all gaits.

One of the great difficulties in finding a dressage prospect has always been to get one that can “do it all.” Some of the horses that are fabulous in the power and elasticity department are exceedingly difficult to collect and a challenge to train. These horses surely cannot get away with pretending to perform the movements that call for the ultimate in collection.

But it appears that the opposite type of animal–the one who falls short in the extended work–has an advantage in the numbers game. Is that really where we want to go?

Fortunately in Athens we were also treated to the exceptional and “go-for-broke” trot extensions of horses capable of doing it all–Rusty, Weltall, Beauvalais and Bonaparte. No holding back!

It just hit me as I was writing that three of those horses were on the German team (and the fourth, Beauvalais, is German-bred). Well, I guess there is a reason they’re still No. 1. They give us the whole range, the way it ought to be!