London 2012 heralded a new era for dressage: gold medals won with softness, harmony and positive power. Eight years on, and our sport is divided over the spectacular versus correctness. But why can’t we have the two together? Surely Olympic-standard excellence and flowing horsemanship should not be incompatible?
If dressage is becoming a circus for freakish horses, where do we go from here? Will we end up with purpose-bred equines with exaggerated movement akin to those much maligned dogs at Crufts?
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