What Is Baroque Riding? All About Classical-Baroque Riding Art

Baroque riding – isn't that some kind of costume event with parade saddles, ornate saddle pads and riding outfits with gold buttons and feathered hats?

The misunderstanding is forgivable, because presentations of the baroque riding style do indeed often place great emphasis on visual splendor.

Still, this interpretation misses the point: you could, in theory, ride baroque style in a tracksuit.

Baroque riding, also known as classical-baroque riding, is a form of dressage that goes back to the teachings of riding masters from the 17th and 18th centuries, while also developing them further wherever it makes sense.

The writings of the French riding master François Robichon de la Guérinière are especially formative for this riding style.

Baroque riding is about training the horse without force, in harmony with its individual, natural abilities and talents. It is about a sensibly organized training scale, in which the lessons build logically on one another. It is about refined riding with minimal aids – ultimately, about perfect communication between rider and horse.

Aren't the principles just mentioned, at their core, also the ideals of modern dressage? So perhaps it's technical details that make the difference between the two riding styles?

There are certainly differences – we'll come back to that – but they are nowhere near as far-reaching as, say, those between Western riding and dressage riding.

The correct riding seat required in dressage, for example, goes directly back to the baroque riding master la Guérinière, and the lessons of modern dressage are, for the most part, also part of baroque equestrianism.

The rediscovery of baroque riding – and its distinction from dressage as it presents itself today – is linked to criticism that accuses dressage of having turned its appeal to the principles of classical riding into, in part, little more than lip service.

Riders of all levels, the argument goes, tend to favor shortcuts and quick, superficial solutions over careful, responsible gymnastic training. Horses trained this way may look "correct", but in truth have serious deficits in their basic training.

The lack of these abilities then requires, from one training stage to the next, ever new, problematic corrections (such as the notorious rollkur) – ultimately subjecting the horse to force and endangering its health.

Many critics see the root of the problem above all in the competitive mindset. (It is not only modern dressage that is competition-oriented, but also Western riding, endurance riding and more.)
 

• Competition creates desire. The horse's training is meant to lead to competition laurels – as quickly and as predictably as possible. Under this pressure, collecting lessons are, for example, started far too early. 

• Competition requires horses to be comparable. The need to make horses comparable and assessable produces a host of standards, often almost bureaucratic in nature, to which the individual horse is subjected. This means horses have to show movements for which they are either not yet sufficiently trained, or which even run counter to their individual physiology. These movements are then forced out of them, to their detriment.

• Competition rewards genetics over good work. In today's dressage competitions, practically only horses that already show impressive gaits due to their natural predisposition succeed. This rewards the financial means to afford such a horse more than the actual training work. "Ordinary" rider-horse teams no longer have a fair chance in this form of competition.

• Competition replaces the joy of doing something for its own sake with the joy of being recognized by others. 

The goal of classical-baroque riding training is to bring the individual horse – and its rider – to perfection in a way that suits them both.

You recognize this kind of perfection when you see it – but it doesn't fit neatly into standards.

Instead, it is about developing the horse's natural talents further. About joyful riding, harmony of movement, and unity between horse and rider.

The highest goal of baroque riding training is one-handed riding on a bare curb bit, with the finest, nearly invisible rein, leg and weight aids.

The horse should be calm, supple and obedient. The path to this ideal knows no time pressure, no performance pressure and no force – and, depending on the horse's individual strengths, can look quite different (and end at different points).

In every case, the training is systematically structured and does everything to encourage looseness, impulsion and joy in the work, while preserving the horse's physical and mental health in the long term.

Classical baroque riding theory includes the airs on the ground and the airs above the ground.
 In addition to the basic gaits, the airs on the ground include:

• Lateral movements (travers and renvers).
• Rein-back.
• Advanced gaits (piaffe, passage, terre à terre – a strongly collected canter).
• Flying changes.
• Pirouettes.

The airs above the ground are:

• Levade and pesade: Rearing up onto the hind legs with the front legs bent.
• Mezair and courbette: Repeated jumps on the hind legs without setting down the front legs.
• Croupade and ballotade: Jumps on the spot.
• Capriole: A high jump on the spot, at whose highest point the horse additionally kicks out with its hind legs.

Classical-baroque riding and "English" dressage have a lot in common: quite a few lessons are identical, and the seat and aids aren't fundamentally different either.

Important differences include:
 

• Baroque training only begins at age 5 or 6 – "late" by the standards of ordinary dressage.

• Alongside lungeing, ground work in hand is an important part of classical riding training. With young horses, this can build an understanding of certain aids even before the horse is backed. Not least, it also builds trust in the trainer. As training progresses, many lessons are prepared in hand.

• One of the key lessons of baroque riding theory is shoulder-in. Unlike in "English" dressage training, it is practiced right from the very start of training, in ground work. Because of its loosening, collecting effect, shoulder-in is considered the most important prerequisite for developing the lateral movements and further collected lessons.

• The airs above the ground normally play no role in "English" dressage.

• Work in hand on long reins is one of the crowning disciplines of classical riding. Older horses in particular, who can only be ridden very gently or not at all anymore, still have the opportunity to keep training the most demanding lessons, such as piaffe or pirouettes, this way. This form of training plays an important role in keeping the horse healthy.

• Riding side-saddle is also part of the classical-baroque tradition.

We're happy to help you find the right baroque saddle, too:
 

• All our baroque saddles from the Premium line can be built to your specifications: colors, thigh blocks, seat depth – everything is freely selectable.

• Our saddles can be adapted in many ways to changes in your horse.

• A baroque saddle with fenders? Not a chance – it just isn't done!

Simply download our brochure with prices to get a first overview, or feel free to call us for advice.