Classical Dressage Art in Motion

I look back at dressage in the U.S.A. with a mix of emotions, pride and naive goodwill. Life was a little different for me here in the beautiful States because my heritage was different and also I suppose my view of Europe as a result. Gosh. Back in those late 1980's dressage was in such infancy here in the U.S.A. Sorry, but it was. While I keenly followed Keen and Hilda Gurney as icons on this continent, and Charles de Kunffy gamely developed foreign (well, new U.S.A. green carders back then,) such as Gunther and Steffan, I confess to being a bit mesmerized by what was happening. Today things have changed. A LOT. But while many of us sort our clinicians and horses from Europe as the 'go to' for advancing our skill set, today things have changed. Or, have they? I have spent time intensively studying in Germany, Switzerland and Britain, Portugal. These experiences have been developmentally helpful. But definitive? Not so much. It amuses me today in a sad sort of way, t...