What is para dressage?

Unlike the Olympic Games, which include three equestrian disciplines, only dressage is included in the Paralympic Games programme.

Para dressage is an activity that allows you to analyze the symbiosis between the rider and his horse. It is a sport in which athletes are judged on the quality and precision of their riding. What is para dressage? We talk about it in this article.

What is para dressage?

At its origins, para dressage was used as a therapy for its benefits for humans in the relationship with animals. It was also a leisure activity. Thus, if the first competitions were born during the 70s, para dressage was not integrated into the Paralympic Games until 1996 during the Atlanta games.

Here, all events are mixed and riders compete together in four different handicap grades. Thus, at the Paralympic Games, the dressage discipline includes the individual grand prix event.

This is a cover without music that is done on the basis of imposed movements and which lasts about 5 minutes. Then there is the free cover test with music which is performed by the 8 best in the individual grand prix test in each category. This test will then last about 6 minutes.

Beyond these events, there is a team event made up of 3 riders per country. At the end of this event, the respective scores of the riders are added together. It should be remembered that the para dressage events are events in which men or women can participate under the same conditions according to a mixed ranking.

Therefore, the mount and the rider are generally considered to be medalists as a couple. Riding a horse classically requires the different segments of the rider's body.

That said, the hands will allow you to brake and steer the horse to the left and right. The legs act as accelerators. As for the trunk and pelvis, they direct the horse's balance.

During para dressage, the horse is called upon to obey instructions of different types. Legs or other disabilities are therefore replaced by compensatory aids: sticks, spurs, sounds, etc. These accessories are available from La Sellerie Française.

What are the required characteristics for the rider?

A good dressage rider is a rider who is able to restore all the qualities of the horse's attitude, gaits and balance during the competition. The rider must have an equestrian instinct. He must have an excellent capacity for anticipation and must be able to adapt to the horse's unexpected reactions. The rider must be able to control his emotions. If he is affected by fear in the arena, his horse will have felt it because the commands that the rider will have given him will be slightly different than usual.

For this purpose, the right dressage horse must be a physically harmonious horse. It must have good gaits naturally. It must have a particular mental capacity that could accept the muscular and repetitive side of training. Finally, the horse must be a horse that loves to put on a show.