QUESTION:   What is the difference between COMPETITIVE
                        and CLASSICAL DRESSAGE ?

ANSWER:   Given the privilege and pleasure of observing some Olympic competitors like the late Reiner Klimke, it is readily apparent that the understanding and uncompromising application of classical riding principles can lead to top success in international competition.

     I cannot see how other methods could possibly bring about better results in competition than classical methods.     

     Dressage has everything to do with the "oneness" of horse and rider.

     Classical Dressage can only be recognized as such when both horse and rider display pleasure when performing.  This exhibition is always accompanied by lightness and elegance.

                    In dressage exhibitions, one's real competition
                                ought only to be one's self.

     I  believe that in the pure sense, there ought not to be any discernable difference between dressage performed in competition and that of a classical nature ... (which ALWAYS puts the horse first).

     Great riding masters throughout time have been much admired for the willing and obedient submission of their horses.

     Sadly, nowadays ambitious people stress and overwhelm their horses by trying to force them to work beyond their capabilities and comfort levels under tense conditions.  This type of display is not acceptable in prestigious shows of class !

     Too often, horses performing at Prix St. Georges are more beautifully exhibited than at Grand Prix.

     Somewhere, the impatience and ego of the rider / trainer has taken away the elegance that is necessary to compete at international levels.  Misunderstood and unrecognized by novice judges and uninformed people,  harsher methods are being employed to force the horse to yield under pressure.

     Those who have mistakenly labeled this faulty and unfair procedure as "training for competition"  have not truly understood what the competition is about.