They’ve been threatening it for years, and for 2027, it’s finally happening: nearly all the FEI dressage tests have some form of release of contact in them. Some it’s a “stretchy circle,” where the horse is asked to reach forward and downward. In others it’s an überstreichen, a release of contact asking the horse to stay in balance unsupported by the reins. It’s a response to those who say that dressage horses in modern sport look tense and on the muscle, and it’s been very polarizing.
I am on team “bring on the stretch.” It’s something I do already anyway in my training, so it’s no skin off my back to do so in the ring. I think it’s a great actual test of the training and the quality of the training, not just an empty gesture to the Pajama People of the Internet. And because the Pajama People aren’t entirely wrong, I think that it will help pivot training that, for some, had swung too far in the direction of pizzazz over honest training.
I also wildly reject the argument that adding these movements to the test will suddenly make FEI dressage tests boring. For those of us who care about dressage, adding literally 30ish seconds of stretchy trot will not cause us to lose interest. And for those out there who might catch a second of dressage on ESPN-5 or whatever down river sports channel might possibly be talked into showing it on TV, you think it’s the stretchy circle that’s going to prove a bridge too far for the non-horse viewer?
What I am curious about is to see how it will work, what the judges will actually want to see. Here’s what the FEI’s Dressage Judging Manual says they want to see: “In order to execute the exercise “let the Horse stretch on a long rein” correctly, the Athlete must lengthen the reins and allow the Horse to gradually and confidently stretch its neck forwards and downwards until its mouth reaches more or less a horizontal line corresponding with the point of the shoulder.”
While there is nearly-identical language in the USEF Dressage rulebook, anyone showing Training or First Level knows that the best scores seem to be given to those who, while maintaining an uphill balance, get the nose the closest to the floor. At those levels, the horses and riders are also given a full 20m circle to stretch, whereas in the new FEI tests it’s only a half a 20m circle (and having just played with this for the first time in an actual “let’s ride this like the test pattern” context, oh man, half a 20m circle on a big horse is NOT much time!), so there really isn’t a great deal of time for Dobbin to reach for the dirt and come back up again. But it will be interesting to see what scores well out in the wild.
For the überstreichen, here’s what the FEI manual says they’re looking for: “For two or three Horse lengths the Athlete moves his hands along the crest of the Horse’s neck, giving visibly up the contact. Subsequently the hands are taken back to their original position. The position of the Athlete’s seat remains unchanged. The Horse’s nose line may come slightly in front of the vertical during this exercise. Nevertheless, the horse should not change its posture or release itself from the aids. The tempo remains unchanged.”
I will be interested to see if those who cleverly slide their hands up the neck but maintain contact are allowed to get away with that trick, particularly in the tests where the movement is done allllll the way at the “A” end of the arena.
When all is said and done, I’m excited to ride these new test and demonstrate all the things I’ve always worked on with my horses anyway – relaxation, harmony, and self-carriage. I’m just going to do so no earlier than February, so that I can watch and learn from the sacrificial lambs who do so in January!