Bramham Horse Trials: Masterclass in control and sheer elegance

Bramham International Horse Trials got underway in glorious sunshine on Thursday. These four days of equestrian action attract more than 50,000 spectators to Bramham Park near Wetherby, home of the Lane Fox family.

Dressage is the highlight of the first two days, to be followed by the thrills and spills of the cross country course today and show-jumping tomorrow. The event attracts leading riders from this country and abroad including William Fox-Pitt, aiming for his sixth Bramham title, New Zealander Andrew Nicholson who won at Bramham last year, and Yorkshire's Oliver Townend and Nicola Wilson.

Enthusiasts gathered to watch their favourite riders compete in the two dressage sections, where both horses and riders look the picture of elegance. The horses' coats shone to perfection and the riders looked pretty good too in their top hats and tails.

They make what they are doing look effortless as they glide across the arena. At least this is the ideal picture. In fact, they could be making all kinds of none too obvious errors but if you don't know too much about the art of dressage, how do you find out more?

The best bet if you can, is to head for the members' area at Bramham in front of the arena, where there is usually a commentary going on and even the best of riders come in for some no-holds-barred criticism.

"We are here for the spectators and not the riders really," said regular commentator Annabel Scrimgeour.

"What we look out for is a performance that looks easy, smooth and seamless," added her fellow judge, Sue Stewart.

"The horse should be supple and be able to turn to the left and the right equally easily. It also needs to have enough power, without tension or worry."

The team of commentators,including Nick Burton, try to make their comments as constructive as possible and point out, for instance, when a horse is competing for the first time at this level and that it can be hard for them to concentrate with so many distractions.

An international event such as Bramham involves three phases – dressage, cross country and show-jumping. While all are quite separate skills, they can help a horse to succeed in one the the other disciplines.

"Dressage helps with the cross country because the horse is well balanced and more attentive to the rider," said Annabel.

But while they need to be obedient and listen to the rider, if they are too obedient it can take away from their ability to think for themselves across country.

Try watching some of the old hands, such as Mark Todd in action. Now he really does make the business of dressage look easy.

CW 5/6/10