Too bad, I went to your website, looked at Mosaic, and now I have drool on the floor. WOW. That is such a balanced looking horse.
I haven’t read the entire thread, but I have a TB that could do the airs.
As a 2 or 3 yr old I watched him do correct Courbette jumps in the field - I told he better NEVER try that under saddle :eek::winkgrin::lol: - I don’t ride verticle backs thank you:):lol:.
Another time he did a Capriole with me on him. He was in a tight spot, and he jump straight up with a level back, kicked out (I heard him hit the wood fence behind us) and came straight back down. This one was very easy to ride.
He is one of those horse that was born balanced and would have been a natural Dressage horse. Unfortunatly he was injured as at 3 and never got to compete.
Christa
[QUOTE=Ambrey;3697779]
I just don’t think that size is the main factor. There must be another mechanic involved. Whatever that musculature is, just hasn’t been bred into the warmbloods.[/QUOTE]
You’re absolutely right, esp. when one considers spirit, propensity, character, and that innate ability that different breeds of all kinds of species have that makes them particularly suited to doing a particular job, skill, etc.
Dogs and horses have been bred to naturally be retrievers, herders, trackers, hunters, pointers, cowhorses, racehorses, etc. - it’s the reason the mission of breeding towards a type exists.
Just the way my Shetland Sheepdog loved to herd the cats but hated to carry things in her mouth, or our German Shorthaired Pointer used to go on point although he’d never hunted a day in his life… the way my old Quarter Horse mare (Poco Bueno lines) dug in like a cat and started cutting a dog that had been running out at her although she’d never been around cows at all…these reflexes and abilities were hard-wired into their genetic make-up.
My Lipizzaner used to levade and capriole when excited under saddle (there are a few pics of him doing this on my website on his memorial page… please note that the one levade pic I used is from when he wasn’t strong and so it’s not a great levade, but he got better as he got stronger…they were his reaction of choice when he wanted to make a point - we didn’t ask him to do it. The capriole was also unasked for and unexpected 
) and do very bizarre leaps in the paddock. Yes, his conformation made it easier for him to do these things than for a TB or QH, but on top of that, because of his mind and his nature, he wanted to do them and enjoyed doing them.
Of course other breeds besides the Lipizzaners, Lusitanos, Selle Francais, and PREs can be taught to do airs, but breeds usually are bred for different minds and bodies for a purpose.
Lipizzans have been bred for over 430 years to have the mind, desire, talent, and conformation that enable them to naturally want to do airs and physically be able to execute them. And they really do like to them.
Those airs above the ground movements
Were not taught to the horses as part of GP Dressage but they were taught to the horses to use and manipulate during the war. Therefore they were not ever introduced to the GP Dressage world…although most of those showrings can be considered a “war-zone” ! ! …heheh
Gee, Speedy Alice, I had an OTTB who was plenty “cowy”. She’d been started at a feed lot before going to the track. She was as good as a QH when it came to working cattle. Likewise my Arab gelding – Spanish Arab, could get down nose to nose with calves and cut 'em. He’s the same Arab who once offered a levade – under saddle and very nicely balanced, thank you very much!
And My Hanno gelding loves herding cattle!
Some things are hardwired in – and some of those same things can be trained in, especially if the horse has a willing mind.
[QUOTE=sublimequine;3695706]
If the horse was truly trained well and taught to be light and collect, :)[/QUOTE]
Take a gander at any recent dressage competition…there is nothing ‘light’ about it.
[QUOTE=Beasmom;3704228]
Gee, Speedy Alice, I had an OTTB who was plenty “cowy”. She’d been started at a feed lot before going to the track. She was as good as a QH when it came to working cattle. Likewise my Arab gelding – Spanish Arab, could get down nose to nose with calves and cut 'em. He’s the same Arab who once offered a levade – under saddle and very nicely balanced, thank you very much!
And My Hanno gelding loves herding cattle!
Some things are hardwired in – and some of those same things can be trained in, especially if the horse has a willing mind.[/QUOTE]
Sure… of course there are horses who like to do things that might not be typical of their breed. I didn’t say that there aren’t. I merely was saying that breed registries have standards and guidelines they follow to breed for a type and purpose, and for the Lipizzan, airs are a part of what they’ve been bred for.
Fascinating thread.
What I find most interesting is the names that crop up - PB, KM, Cadre Noir, Spanish Riding School, Royal School of Spain.
Just whom from these schools is going to travel the world teaching the rest of us how to go “one step further” than Grand Prix.
Don’t forget, there’s no picking the horse most suited to do the airs and the one most suited to do competitive GP - it has to be the same horse and how many of these are there in the world - warmblood or iberian?
If you think there are some brutal freaks out there training piaffe and passage just wait till you see what crawls out of the woodwork to train courbette and capriole.
On of the main prerequisites (and saving graces) of competitive Grand Prix is that the test always call for the horse to stay forward - piaffe, canter pirouettes and 1 x changes can damage the forward of the horse if badly ridden or trained but the following movements help to temper the problem.
If you bring a horse to the stationary yet energised level that airs above the ground require you would radically change the flow and the format of the test.
As slc stated - airs above the ground are better kept to the exibition and performance arena rather than the competition one. We are flat out keeping the “happy athlete” ideal in operation without horses leaping through the air with middle aged riders on them.
Easy Rider most of the students of the Spanish Riding School, most prominently in the USA Karl Mikolka will tell you you are wrong - They who study equestrian history in great detail, will tell you the school jumps were NEVER used in battle - and most cavalry and combat researchers will tell you same, that equestrian arts were NEVER used in battle, and were never developed with even the INTENTION of using them in battle. They were developed as an art and as the pinnacle of collection.
In fact, the assertion that those moves were used in battle defies every component of common sense.
Most of us are not exactly ready to be taught to go a step further than grand prix. Most of us need to work on things a wee tad more basic.
" just hasn’t been bred into the warmbloods"
This is a very incorrect statement, but one that’'s automatically accepted here with a chorus of 'oh yes!'s because of the very, very distorted don’t-bother-me-with-facts statement that is so amazingly accepted and encouraged on this bulletin board and reinforced at every turn. Warmbloods can’t piaffe, warmbloods can’t do school jumps, goes right along with the soulful lament about how ‘today’ dressage is going to hell in a bucket and no one really knows how to do it any more except some selected guru.
The Cadre Noir do ALL the school jumps on warmbloods and have for a very, very long time.
The ability to do high level work ISN’T determined by the conformational differences you guys are pointing at. It is #1 about strength, balance and desire - it’s also about TRAINING. A number of different types of horses have over the years been used for that work - all very successful.
Mafra. These are mixed types of baroque and warmblood type horses. Noel Jackson has pictures of their horse Catayo, a very warmblood type, leaping five feet off the ground between the pillars. Saumur Cadre Noir. VERY large, heavy warmblood types -and of them the more massive individuals with larger bone are chosen. Jerez. Baroque types. Spanish Riding School. Lipizanners. ALL do school jumps. ALL do high school work. ALL look beautiful doing it!
The Lipizanner was, in fact, in a way, developed in exactly the same way as a warmblood, in the sense it was bred to a type/purpose from a number of very, very different lines, and was rigorously selected for a very similar purpose, just to a slightly older type of warmblood. People here often claim that “Lipizanners are compact” so they can do airs, when actually, quite a few of them have rather long backs and aren’t ‘compact’ in that sense at all.
THAT is changing very, very rapidly, and anyone who LOOKED at the Lipizanners when they came here would see that. What they are selecting for the school is an amazing type, and keep in mind, for YEARS, they have had trouble getting enough horses to select from to start new horses in training - they look at dozens of prospects each year and accept very few of them. Even of Lipizanners, very few are selected for that training.
And of horses selected into the school, AGAIN there is a cut and few of THEM actually ever wind up doing school jumps, there are a heck of a lot of factors more important than how the horse looks in a still picture!
The Lipizanner selected for the school has extremely different conformation than what is ‘typical’ here in the USA - they are actually short in back, long in leg and extremely balanced - without that ‘bulldog’ look so many american breeds have - a low, massive forehand and tiny little haunch that looks like it belongs on a different horse.
But I think people are also missing what goes into the selection process that is totally invisible in photographs - flexibility, balance in motion, fluidity, and the desire to get up and jump. Horses that like to kick out, like to jump, like to sit, you can’t judge that from a photo. That is in how the horses react to the training over the course of years.
And in fact, some lines for a very long time have had an absolutely amazingly ‘warmblood’ like conformation - longer in the leg, shorter in the back, unbelievably elegant and stylish, yet still with incredible balance, bone and correct hocks - and this is the type that is predominating today in the selection process for the school and will very likely lead the way to the Lipizanner becoming one of the premier modern sport horses.
It was bred from 6 very different breeds of horse - the Neopolitan couldn’t be more different looking from the Siglavy, for example.
The shorter leg and longer back is really its only difference in general type and is something all horse breeds have evolved thru - just the lipizanner more slowly - largely because its other traditional use - driving - doesn’t select against that type. It is not even REALLY clear to me that the shorter leg and longer back is desirable to the developers - the horses that score the highest at the examinations are more modern, while still maintaining alot of bone (unlike many more American ‘show ring’ breeds which are so enthusiastically and systematically bred NOT to be able to do upper level collection).
The critical thing for school jumpers is found in both warmbloods and Lipizanners - general sport horse conformation balance and movement - natural balance in motion, ability to collect (many seem to talk about that here but few seem to understand it or recognize it or see what conformation encourages that), and more than anything - perfect angulation of hocks (not too much, not too little), large articulating surface of the joints of hip, stifle, hock, pastern, something many of our domestic breeds very systematically and consistently are actually bred NOT to have.
Many of our modern halter-class influenced American breeds have been very specifically bred to NOT move or be built in anything even remotely resembling a sport type or a type that would hold up for years to even REACH the GP level of collection - so much so that a person has to search and search thru these individuals to find a sport candidate, and often will have to stop and start over again with a new one when that one goes lame - sickle hocks, heavy front ends, low set necks, tiny navicular prone feet, tiny legs, and most of all, incorrect hocks and an unbalanced conformation (we seem to breed horses with very pretty heads, but with out the back or hind quarter it takes, and without the balance in conformation and distribution of mass) - we have bred away to another purpose with so many breeds that its now actually very difficult to find an individual that even just simply has conformation that would hold up for 4 years of training that would LEAD to collection at a higher level.
[QUOTE=slc2;3704380]
It was bred from 6 very different breeds of horse - the Neopolitan couldn’t be more different looking from the Siglavy, for example.[/QUOTE]
To my understanding, Siglavy was the name of the stallion, not a breed, and Siglavy was an Arab. (Of course, a Neopolitan would still be very different from an Arab)
Would have been better to write " 6 very different lines" rather than “6 very different breeds”
The Six Classical Stallion lines are here: http://www.istrianet.org/istria/fauna/horses/lipizzan-breeding.htm
[QUOTE=EASY RIDER STABLE;3704208]
Were not taught to the horses as part of GP Dressage but they were taught to the horses to use and manipulate during the war. Therefore they were not ever introduced to the GP Dressage world…although most of those showrings can be considered a “war-zone” ! ! …heheh[/QUOTE]
Even Dressage Today and the USDF magazine have published articles debunking the theory that the “airs” were part of warfare. Do we really think someone in the field of battle would have time to cue a horse for a capriole or courbette? And while a levade, pesade or courbette may protect the rider from a sword thrust, they would put an end to the horse and leave the rider on-foot and vulnerable. There are instances of cavalry chargers attacking the enemy - e.g., biting and striking, but airs above the ground? No. The airs (as well as things such as Spanish Walk, passage, piaffe, etc.) are more likely evolved from the 16th Century “carousels” where the nobility could exhibit their advanced horsemanship, fine horses and elaborate clothes/costumes.
Don’t forget, there’s no picking the horse most suited to do the airs and the one most suited to do competitive GP - it has to be the same horse and how many of these are there in the world - warmblood or iberian?
I don’t think I quite understand this quote. Of course you can choose a type of horse based on your aspirations. And while the majority of horses will never be in the top 2%, the majority can also go as far as the rider has the talent and dedication to go–to the best of the horse’s ability.
I do happen to still hold onto the antiquated and somewhat nostalgic notion that most sound horses can do some of the GP movements–to the best of their ability. Will it be a “10” in competition? No. But if the RIDER has the tact, skill and discipline, a horse can learn the movements.
You can choose any horse, be it TB, QH, Iberian, WB… based on where you want to go. I went backwards, I found the Portuguese/French school because of my horse. The way I had been doing things just wasn’t right for him. He is very baroque in build, movement and brain. His competitiveness at shows has far less to do with HIS talent than mine. But that isn’t my Ultimate Goal™. My Ulitmate Goal™ with him is to learn all the GP movements. (and yes, he shows talent for pesade/levade.) Will I ever be a talented rider to put them all together in a test? I dunno. I won’t know until we get there, as the highest level I’ve ever put stuff together was PSG, and that was when dinosaurs still roamed. Watching the Chinese rider in the Olympics gave me hope–I still have another 20 or 30 years. 
Anyway, I really don’t understand the above quote. You certainly can choose a horse appropriate to your goals and desires. From there, “classical” school or French or Portuguese or PurplePeopleEater school doesn’t PRECLUDE you from showing. Several of the school stallions and students at my teachers show, and do very respectably. (score-wise AND placing-wise.) Because the work is CORRECT. One of the stallion’s sons went to the Olympics. So the same ‘horse’ (as in type/breed/etc.) certainly CAN do ‘both’ with the right rider–though it doesn’t go both ways. Not all top level GP horses have the body type, mind and strength for Airs.
Maybe I’m just not getting it. :uhoh:
[QUOTE=sublimequine;3695706]
And I was wondering, why aren’t these employed in ‘modern day’ Dressage, like in the Olympic rings, at the top levels of the sport? Obviously I understand why they aren’t seen in the lower levels, but if you’re riding the very top of the discipline, and you are the pinnicle of Dressage talent, how come these maneuvers aren’t seen? 
[/QUOTE]
Going back to the OP’s question, I was reading Phillipe Karl’s long-lining book last night. He mentions in the beginning the history of long-lining, and talks about how in the 15th and 16th C, Pluvinel and Gueriniere brought the Italian single pillar (horse goes in a small circle around) and double pillars to France, where they were used to encourage the pinnacle of collection, that being the airs (or “bounds” as they were called then). This use continued through the 17th C, but then in the 18th, because of the fact that the pillars discourage forward movement, they (the pillars) were replaced by lunging and long-lining.
At Saumur they now train the airs using long-lining and ground work. But as someone else mentioned, this whole history would suggest that the high school airs were abandoned by the general public in favor of forwardness.
To me, the human equivalent would be comparing Olympic weight lifters to sprinters. You can choose one specialization or the other, but you will not be outstanding at the extremes of both because they actually oppose one another in terms of muscular development, balance and “twitch.”
So perhaps the modern FEI has chosen to lean toward forwardness over the extreme collection of the high airs in competition. While a given horse may be able to do both, as a given human may be able to both lift weights and race, any individual is going to be better at one or the other, and the better they are at one, the less competitive they will be at the other extreme.
Does that seem logical?
MelantheLLC wrote:
So perhaps the modern FEI has chosen to lean toward forwardness over the extreme collection of the high airs in competition. While a given horse may be able to do both, as a given human may be able to both lift weights and race, any individual is going to be better at one or the other, and the better they are at one, the less competitive they will be at the other extreme.
Does that seem logical?
I think that’s pretty close. Deep engagement, uphill balance and the high airs actually require more forward energy than the work that is commonly seen at GP. For uphill balance, a greater amount of forward energy is needed so that energy can be redirected upward. I think it would be more accurate to say that modern competition dressage leans more toward horizontal balance as opposed to the uphill balance required for classical work.
Let me get this straight. Very few horses are suitable to high level work, and it is downright cruel to make a TB or QH do dressage. Yet if you have a WB (which is mostly TB), then it is suddenly about training and not about conformation? slick, what are you smoking?
The Lipizanner selected for the school has extremely different conformation than what is ‘typical’ here in the USA - they are actually short in back, long in leg and extremely balanced - without that ‘bulldog’ look so many american breeds have - a low, massive forehand and tiny little haunch that looks like it belongs on a different horse.
Short in the back and long in the leg? That doesn’t sound balanced to me. And what bulldog American breeds are you talking about? Name them.
The shorter leg and longer back is really its only difference in general type and is something all horse breeds have evolved thru - just the lipizanner more slowly - largely because its other traditional use - driving - doesn’t select against that type. It is not even REALLY clear to me that the shorter leg and longer back is desirable to the developers - the horses that score the highest at the examinations are more modern, while still maintaining alot of bone (unlike many more American ‘show ring’ breeds which are so enthusiastically and systematically bred NOT to be able to do upper level collection).
Name the American ‘show ring’ breeds you are referring to. Have you ever even worked with American breeds?
The critical thing for school jumpers is found in both warmbloods and Lipizanners - general sport horse conformation balance and movement - natural balance in motion, ability to collect (many seem to talk about that here but few seem to understand it or recognize it or see what conformation encourages that), and more than anything - perfect angulation of hocks (not too much, not too little), large articulating surface of the joints of hip, stifle, hock, pastern, something many of our domestic breeds very systematically and consistently are actually bred NOT to have.
Correct conformation, balance and movement are very hard to find in the European WBs. I have had better luck finding it in our American breeds. What domestic breeds have you worked with? Or even met?
Many of our modern halter-class influenced American breeds have been very specifically bred to NOT move or be built in anything even remotely resembling a sport type or a type that would hold up for years to even REACH the GP level of collection - so much so that a person has to search and search thru these individuals to find a sport candidate, and often will have to stop and start over again with a new one when that one goes lame - sickle hocks, heavy front ends, low set necks, tiny navicular prone feet, tiny legs, and most of all, incorrect hocks and an unbalanced conformation (we seem to breed horses with very pretty heads, but with out the back or hind quarter it takes, and without the balance in conformation and distribution of mass) - we have bred away to another purpose with so many breeds that its now actually very difficult to find an individual that even just simply has conformation that would hold up for 4 years of training that would LEAD to collection at a higher level.
What halter-class influenced American breeds are you talking about? You don’t think that WBs are just as rife with their own conformation problems? What makes the WB inspections any different from a halter class? What about the WB YH classes? How is anything in the WB world different from what goes on in the breed shows here? Is it suddenly legit if the horses have funny names?
Your lack of understanding of the American breeds is saddening. But your view of the WB as the perfect and ideal horse is downright dangerous. I suppose I will be called a WB-hater for daring to say that these beautiful horses are NOT perfect, but at least I see reality and am not afraid to say it. I wonder if anyone will call slick out, or will she just get a free pass as usual?
The same thing that everyone else is smoking. I believe it is packed into the “whatever supports the notion that my horse is better than yours” pipe.
‘warmbloods lack balance’
LOL. what you smokin’? inferior examples of any breed lack balance.
but there is ‘balance’ and there is ‘balance’. one is the general lack of ‘balance of mass’ - a heavy low forehand and a small, narrow haunch lacking in scope.
but selecting upper level horses and air horses is not just about ordinary balance. i can skate, too, but i ain’t no beth heiden. there is a kind of balance in motion upper level candidates have that other horses don’t have. from the very first day under saddle, for example, the way they carry a rider in canter, utterly different. completely different.
“Your lack of understanding of the American breeds is saddening. But your view of the WB as the perfect and ideal horse is downright dangerous”
You’re declaring i believe things that i in fact don’t believe. and you’re declaring i haven’t worked with american breeds when in fact i spent most of my adult life doing exactly that and showing them - especially quarter horses, thoroughbreds, appendix quarter horses.
that said, there are traits people select for that go against the grain of athletic sport type and against the selection of upper level prospects - for example, the american breed that specifies that overtracking at the walk is a negative trait, that specifies that sickle hocks and cow hocks are desirable, and yes, several breeds have a very consistent overall balance that is not conducive to selecting upper level horses, specifically the downhill high round rump on so many show thb hunters, the straight hind leg so much liked at the track and in the show ring, the very level, inflexible croup on a number of action breeds, and the tiny feet and legs on overbuilt body found in some QH lines (not the one i got, him, people were telling me, ‘Cottage Son, right?’)
additionally, ‘long legs and a short back’ doesn’t mean ‘freakishly short in the back with out of proportion long legs and unable to balance or move normally’. You made up that part. long legs and a short back refers to a modern type of horse that is very useful and very effective, without being exaggerated. for years, many were choosing horses at the other end of the spectrum - very rectangular some of the individuals were - adn that type has its own problems too, as do all extremes.
but i’ve responded to enough groundless and pointless accusations from you for one day. :lol:
Someone might consider looking at Podhajsky’s book with the pictures of quadrille and airs horses.
You’d be in for a big surprise. The horses are NOT the heavy necked, long backed, short legged type at all. In fact, they look like - well, they have longer legs, shorter backs, etc. they are also quite slim and frankly, they look about as hot as a two dollar pistol. I do recall at the performance a few years ago in the USA that I saw, the jumpers were extremely energetic, hot, excitable, and very wound up about jumping. They also were not short legged or long backed, in fact, quite modern in type.
Except there are no inferior WBs. And the WB is superior to all other breeds. That’s what you are really thinking, right?
but there is ‘balance’ and there is ‘balance’. one is the general lack of ‘balance of mass’ - a heavy low forehand and a small, narrow haunch lacking in scope.
but selecting upper level horses and air horses is not just about ordinary balance. i can skate, too, but i ain’t no beth heiden. there is a kind of balance in motion upper level candidates have that other horses don’t have. from the very first day under saddle, for example, the way they carry a rider in canter, utterly different. completely different.
And you think a WB is likely to display this balance? More likely than any other breed ? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Slick that is SO cute, but you REALLY need to get out more!
You’re declaring i believe things that i in fact don’t believe. and you’re declaring i haven’t worked with american breeds when in fact i spent most of my adult life doing exactly that and showing them - especially quarter horses, thoroughbreds, appendix quarter horses.
Wow, so you spent some months around poor quality QHs and now you are an expert? I’ve spent years around poor quality WBs, so what does that make me? God? 
Newsflash, QHs are a very diverse breed. There are the different types bred for halter, wp, racing, cutting, reining, ranch work, the list goes on. Which types were you exposed to? What bloodlines?
And then you go on to suggest that your limited experience with QHs is applicable to ALL American breeds? Wow, I know you have a reputation for talking out of your ass, but that pretty much takes the cake! Maybe you should learn about the many different American breeds before you try to convince us that they are all equivalent to halter QHs.
that said, there are traits people select for that go against the grain of athletic sport type and against the selection of upper level prospects - for example, the american breed that specifies that overtracking at the walk is a negative trait, that specifies that sickle hocks and cow hocks are desirable, and yes, several breeds have a very consistent overall balance that is not conducive to selecting upper level horses, specifically the downhill high round rump on so many show thb hunters, the straight hind leg so much liked at the track and in the show ring, the very level, inflexible croup on a number of action breeds, and the tiny feet and legs on overbuilt body found in some QH lines (not the one i got, him, people were telling me, ‘Cottage Son, right?’)
Are the WB’s numerous conformation issues a problem as well? Or is it ok to breed bad conformation so long as it promotes a “sport type”? I feel that conformation is important regardless of breed or discipline, but you seem ready willing and able to make excuses for your own.
additionally, ‘long legs and a short back’ doesn’t mean ‘freakishly short in the back with out of proportion long legs and unable to balance or move normally’. You made up that part. long legs and a short back refers to a modern type of horse that is very useful and very effective, without being exaggerated. for years, many were choosing horses at the other end of the spectrum - very rectangular some of the individuals were - adn that type has its own problems too, as do all extremes.
Yes, long legs and short back is a modern trend which not everyone prefers. Some people prefer short legs and short back.
Let us know when your WB wins the Kentucky Derby. I thought it was only for TBs, but apparently slick’s horses can do anything!
Dressage came from Cavalry horses:
Dressage is one of the Olympic equestrian sports. The modern Olympics commenced in 1898 with equestrian events, and the “military test” first included in 1900 which evolved into the separate Olympic disciplines of dressage, eventing, and stadium jumping.
By 1912, the equestrian disciplines as we know them (dressage, jumping, and eventing) were included. However, the riders continued to be all male and predominantly military for a few decades. The United States Cavalry at Ft. Riley exchanged ideas and instructors with the schools in Europe and started the trend that brought dressage training not only to the military but to civilians in the United States.
http://www.usdf.org/about/about-dressage/history.asp
The idea that cavalry tactics constituted an art had started with Xenophon around 402 BC, but it was under the Bourbon-Austro-Hungarian alliance of the l6th Century that the idea of classical riding took root throughout the courts of civilised Europe.
http://www.spanishridingschool.co.uk/2006/sylvia-loch-article.pdf
The idea was not so much a horse performing an airs above the ground on cue, but to be able to when needed. Several moves are military related - half passe to avoid the sharp blade or trap. The passage can help the rider fight off more than one infantryman at a time. The airs can strike out at an enemy or help with escape. Not all the movements were used in battle, but the idea of a horse collected, engaged, strengthened for battle. A horse being able to carry himself and so tuned to the rider to be sensitive to his aids is where dressage came from.
It did evolve into an ‘art’ more of a ‘necessity’ in the 1600’s, or so. The movements were still required, to some degree, in cavalry horses.
This is similar to the discussion of half pass in the hunter ring, opposed to the dressage ring. In battle a perfect half pass is not necessary, similar to fox hunting (where the hunter show riding derives). The point is to get the horse to move over.
Dressage evolved the same way many rodeo and western disciplines evolved. Basically one guy saying his horse can do X better than some other guy and hence ‘competition’ begins. Whether that X is a prettier half passe, faster spin, more exact tempi changes, better ability to cut a cow/calf from the herd and keep it cut, is immaterial. What happens in the show ring is always a case of ‘mine is better than yours’ and does not always translate well to the actuality/original purpose of that discipline.
