Broken Or Beautiful

Book excerpt: The future of "Dressage" is at a crossroads today. That sounds like a dramatic statement but it is very true. Competitive Dressage is abandoning the very rules that its top governing body, the Federation Equestre Internationale (F. E. I.) is responsible to uphold, leading to a crisis in Competitive Dressage. Money and popularity rule the day. From their inception, the F. E. I. rules were established to protect horses and to uphold the basic principles that are true for all horses, regardless of the style of riding. Broken or Beautiful explains in-depth: What the rules are, Why they are important, How they are being disrespected, and How they are causing harm to horses. For every top competitor today, there are thousands of riders copying what is perceived as "good training" because their role models are "winning." So-called "Modern Dressage" is being imitated by the masses to the extreme detriment of the horse. We offer an alternative path to the many dressage riders that are questioning what is on display in the competitive world today, riders that want to re-affirm and follow the Correct Classical Principles. The prevailing measure of all correct dressage training is to help the horse to become the happy athlete that is so often mentioned in the F. E. I. Rule Book. We offer this book in love of the Horse, love of Dressage, love of beauty, and joy that can honestly be part of our everyday experience with our horses, both in and out of the show ring. Dominique Barbier & Liz Conrod