Today’s dressage horses are completely different from yesterday’s dressage horses, even from the horses of 30 years ago.

The emphasis in breeding them is different, the desired temperament is different, and, maybe most importantly, the job of the dressage horse is different. No longer do we train dressage horses to perform military maneuvers. Most international-caliber dressage horses wouldn’t even do well on a trail ride through a forest–at least not right before a competition. Today’s dressage horses are better compared with race horses than with war horses.

Dressage has evolved, and for Birgit Popp to look at progress as something that’s bad is not particularly original–there are naysayers in every crowd (see “Who’s Responsible For Maintaining The Classic Principles Of Dressage,” Sept. 2, p. 34).

The training system that Sjef Jansen has developed for Anky van Grunsven is based on developing horses as athletes. And stabled right across from Salinero are two horses who have come through that system with enough personality and spirit to make any horse
jealous. Prisco, the horse Anky rode in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and who then competed at the lower levels with family members
until he was 21, is 32 years old. And the great Bonfire, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist, is 22 years old.

I compare the program to a competitive swimmer preparing for the 200-meter freestyle. He doesn’t only practice the 200-meter freestyle. He’ll swim different distances, cross-train with free weights, and break the race down into different parts. He’ll do different drills, like swimming with only his arms or using a kickboard. He’ll swim different strokes and do breathing exercises, and much more. Just as with dressage horses, all the building blocks must be in place to reach the desired goal.

Same Principles, New Methods
I think the headline of Ms. Popp’s forum should have been “Who’s Responsible For Maintaining The Classical Methods Of Dressage?” The principles haven’t changed. They’re simple and straightforward, but the methods have changed.

Sjef and Anky do not have a set of poles in the ring, where they tie the horse to teach him to piaffe. Rarely do they use a whip, the bits used are generally the mildest ones available, and the spurs aren’t reminiscent of something out of a cowboy movie. If any of these contraptions were used on Anky’s horses, you’d more likely end up in the dirt than anywhere else.

Ms. Popp noted that the article in St. Georg said, “Sjef Jansen is sacrificing the principles of classical dressage training for blue ribbons.” Sjef is not sacrificing the classical principles, he is redefining the principles so that the impulsion Salinero exhibits is stronger, better and more correct than any of the past horses could have ever dreamed.

The rhythm that Salinero exhibits is also unprecedented: how many horses can piaffe and then take it a step further to regulate
the tempo in piaffe? Salinero can. In his transitions from piaffe to passage, seldom is there any rhythm lost.

Even more controversial is his relaxation. It’s funny, but when Salinero is hand-walked around the stables at shows, people are baffled. They think of him as a “hot” horse, that Anky is sitting on a firecracker–but he walks around with his head lowered, always looking for any hint of grass, and just strolls along. He does the same thing when he’s in the field.

In the ring, he’s a perfectionist and is always working hard and trying to please Anky. His relaxation is most apparent in the fluidity of his strides, the metronome tempo that he exhibits in his half-passes.

Ms. Popp also states, “Salinero does not stretch.” This, without mincing words, is completely ignorant of what the training is based on. Anky’s training epitomizes stretching. She rides her horses for generally an hour. The first 20 minutes consists of stretching the horse and gradually increasing the degree of collection. And the last 10 minutes is very similar, as she gradually lengthens the neck again, just as in the warm-up.

Like Weight Training
Each horse is different, and Salinero’s warm-up is probably the most complicated.

In the beginning Anky rides with a very long neck at the walk, trot and canter. She then gradually decreases the length, with many walk breaks between to relax the flexed muscles.

Riding horses in any position for an extended period is not good; it’s how injuries can occur. Modern-day dressage training could be closely associated to weight training, so that after a period of increased stress, there needs to be a recovery period. The training is wholly focused on stretching the horse’s neck and back and also contracting the horse’s stomach muscles through very rapid transitions that activate the hind legs.

A couple of weeks before a competition, Anky will begin to ride her horses more and more up. This is when the horse exhibits the most power, which Ms. Popp likes to describe as “mechanical.”

Rhythm that is error-free is perfection, or perhaps Ms. Popp considers that “mechanical” too. Clearly, though, Salinero isn’t too mechanical as he has yet to receive a 100 percent.

If Ms. Popp is truly concerned about modern-day sport horses being too spectacular in the dressage ring, then I would hate to see her reaction with the show jumpers that jump fences close to 6 feet, or auto racers who go 225 mph, or the Williams sisters tennis stars with their 125-mph serves.

And while it is unfortunate that Ms. Popp has decided to make it her life’s mission to try and devalue some of the greatest dressage stars–Rembrandt, Gigolo, Bonfire and Salinero–I can say with confidence that it is in vain. These horses and their legacies will outlast any defaming magazine articles that come their way.

Tiffany Tyler, of Ashburn, Va., is spending a year training in the Netherlands with Anky van Grunsven. She grooms Salinero, Krack C and
Painted Black.