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Dressage for No Country
Armed with the knowledge and experience he accrued over time, Belasik debates whether classical dressage and competition dressage are at all compatible. In the 1970s, the sport of dressage was still in its infancy in the United States. Unlike the countries of Europe, there was neither an established tradition nor a written history to educate and inspire. A rider intent on learning the discipline had to be prepared to travel, to immerse himself in other cultures, and to care only for what those who had already mastered the art might teach him. Paul Belasik was this rider, intent on learning all he could about dressage methodology, and willing and able to compare and contrast the various means for achieving related In these pages Belasik shares a lifetime of searching and studying, both through stories of his own adventures and thoughtful essays on the subjects he has pondered during the years he has trained and ridden horses. Beginning in northern New York, and traveling to Portugal, and later, Vienna, Belasik serves as a tour guide of the various dressage “paths” he had the chance to explore, He considers the role of mindfulness, how to become a good teacher, and how to be a good student in today's horse world, providing the guideposts needed to take dressage–and riding, in general–the next step forward. Includes historical photographs from the author’s travels.
160 pages, Paperback
Published April 16, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 26, 2023
Someone with no background in dressage will probably find this book esoteric and difficult to relate to. But Belasik’s writing is clean and very engaging, so a motivated beginner will nevertheless find the main thrust of his argument. For those already entrenched in the world of dressage and classical horsemanship, this is a fantastic read.
Since I sincerely loved the book, and agree with most of Belasik’s thoughts on what the point of horsemanship is, I only wish here to raise some points of criticism.
Belasik does not delineate a Part 1 and a Part 2 in his table of contents, and I think this lack of structure ends up affecting his argument. At the beginning of the book, Belasik relates his experiences with strains of the German, Portuguese, and Austrian schools of training—from the tension between the “driving German seat” with the philosophies of trainers like Dr. Henri van Schaik and Egon von Neindorff in the 1970s and 80s, to studies under Nuno Oliviera in search of “lightness,” to a visit with Arthur Kottas of the Spanish Riding School in the 1990s. There he focuses on his criticisms of why the German and Portuguese systems are lacking in themselves, has praise for what the Spanish Riding School of Vienna used to offer…and then moves on without further development. Thus, Belasik doesn’t ultimately define what he means by “classical dressage,” and in large part leaves his reader hanging on what this new (or reclamation of the) classical way of riding and training should be. (Belasik does give a definition of collection, but this is far from a sufficient articulation of what classical horsemanship is). I found his observation that modern competitive dressage is designed for Warmbloods to demonstrate their movement and correct gaits (rather than demonstrate collection) to be extremely astute.
It was disappointing that the author did not expand upon his insightful, important claim that no school (and no nation) “has it all,” and that, somehow, the practice and philosophy of classical horsemanship transcends culture, nationhood, and any too-rigid method. And it was disappointing that Belasik doesn’t tell the reader what he personally found useful from each of the three schools. He tells the reader that Germany, Portugal, and Austria all had great things to teach him, but then never says what they are! If he had done so, it might have helped him refine the later parts of the book. And there, he mainly shares what makes a good riding teacher good, along with what provides a good mentality for a rider who wishes to become a great rider and trainer. For Belasik, mindfulness is much of what lightness ends up being in riding.
I was also hoping for more philosophizing about the potential for the future of dressage (as the title of the book invites). This especially so when Belasik well acknowledges the challenge of changing an ingrained showing system that is dependent both upon a business model of financial existence (e.g. expensive horses need to pay for themselves through show-ring success) and is also driven by a particular philosophy of training (e.g. capping FEI tests at piaffe and passage rather than the haute école, which indicates an artificial end to the dressage journey and makes piaffe and passage a end in itself). Perhaps mine is too large of an ask, as the problems are indeed complex and therefore difficult to solve, but I had nevertheless hoped that his vision for change and the future of dressage both inside and outside of the show ring would extend beyond changing one’s motives from winning to self-enrichment (true as this is). Belasik sees a great correlation between Zen Buddhist philosophy and dressage riding, and I would have liked to have heard more about that in a directed way. I come from a Christian confession of faith, and have myself found many correlatives between Christian spirituality and the practice of dressage. Discussions like these are so few and far between when it comes to the printed page, and I wish Belasik had expanded his thoughts even further, perhaps even to the point of showing how dressage is a practice and embodiment of anthropological and spiritual truths.
Again, despite my disappointments and criticisms, I sincerely loved the book. It’s engaging, interesting, informative, thoughtful. And, basically, too short!
A final note: I think the cover design is attractive and beautiful…but perhaps it is a little mis-representative, as it depicts a horse in the Spanish walk when Belasik is clear that he doesn’t consider Spanish walk to be a classical movement (whereas the other horse looks to be in a beautiful extended trot).
Since I sincerely loved the book, and agree with most of Belasik’s thoughts on what the point of horsemanship is, I only wish here to raise some points of criticism.
Belasik does not delineate a Part 1 and a Part 2 in his table of contents, and I think this lack of structure ends up affecting his argument. At the beginning of the book, Belasik relates his experiences with strains of the German, Portuguese, and Austrian schools of training—from the tension between the “driving German seat” with the philosophies of trainers like Dr. Henri van Schaik and Egon von Neindorff in the 1970s and 80s, to studies under Nuno Oliviera in search of “lightness,” to a visit with Arthur Kottas of the Spanish Riding School in the 1990s. There he focuses on his criticisms of why the German and Portuguese systems are lacking in themselves, has praise for what the Spanish Riding School of Vienna used to offer…and then moves on without further development. Thus, Belasik doesn’t ultimately define what he means by “classical dressage,” and in large part leaves his reader hanging on what this new (or reclamation of the) classical way of riding and training should be. (Belasik does give a definition of collection, but this is far from a sufficient articulation of what classical horsemanship is). I found his observation that modern competitive dressage is designed for Warmbloods to demonstrate their movement and correct gaits (rather than demonstrate collection) to be extremely astute.
It was disappointing that the author did not expand upon his insightful, important claim that no school (and no nation) “has it all,” and that, somehow, the practice and philosophy of classical horsemanship transcends culture, nationhood, and any too-rigid method. And it was disappointing that Belasik doesn’t tell the reader what he personally found useful from each of the three schools. He tells the reader that Germany, Portugal, and Austria all had great things to teach him, but then never says what they are! If he had done so, it might have helped him refine the later parts of the book. And there, he mainly shares what makes a good riding teacher good, along with what provides a good mentality for a rider who wishes to become a great rider and trainer. For Belasik, mindfulness is much of what lightness ends up being in riding.
I was also hoping for more philosophizing about the potential for the future of dressage (as the title of the book invites). This especially so when Belasik well acknowledges the challenge of changing an ingrained showing system that is dependent both upon a business model of financial existence (e.g. expensive horses need to pay for themselves through show-ring success) and is also driven by a particular philosophy of training (e.g. capping FEI tests at piaffe and passage rather than the haute école, which indicates an artificial end to the dressage journey and makes piaffe and passage a end in itself). Perhaps mine is too large of an ask, as the problems are indeed complex and therefore difficult to solve, but I had nevertheless hoped that his vision for change and the future of dressage both inside and outside of the show ring would extend beyond changing one’s motives from winning to self-enrichment (true as this is). Belasik sees a great correlation between Zen Buddhist philosophy and dressage riding, and I would have liked to have heard more about that in a directed way. I come from a Christian confession of faith, and have myself found many correlatives between Christian spirituality and the practice of dressage. Discussions like these are so few and far between when it comes to the printed page, and I wish Belasik had expanded his thoughts even further, perhaps even to the point of showing how dressage is a practice and embodiment of anthropological and spiritual truths.
Again, despite my disappointments and criticisms, I sincerely loved the book. It’s engaging, interesting, informative, thoughtful. And, basically, too short!
A final note: I think the cover design is attractive and beautiful…but perhaps it is a little mis-representative, as it depicts a horse in the Spanish walk when Belasik is clear that he doesn’t consider Spanish walk to be a classical movement (whereas the other horse looks to be in a beautiful extended trot).
February 6, 2023
This book is not about how to perform dressage, but about why to pursue this sport. If you are motivated to deepen your relationship with a horse, this book will help you continue to work on it through the art of dressage. The only competition encouraged is with your own unending progress.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews