After many days of what seems to me like endless coverage, I don't feel very favorably inclined toward the Olympics. But I am very grateful for one aspect of the coverage - that portions of the Dressage Finals were shown on television. No,it wasn't NBC, it was MSNBC and it was during the day, not prime time. And if you blinked, you missed a lot. But it was there.
I set my VCR for the five hour intervals in which the dressage was scheduled to be aired. When I reviewed the tape, I watched hours of soccer and volleyball, just to find minutes of dressage.(Yes, I do have fast forward but I admit to enjoying watching soccer and volleyball.) When I had finished with the tape, I had friends waiting in line to borrow the tape. Talk about being desperate.
Dressage was even included on the NBC Olympic website- complete with biographies of team members and a brief synopsis of related stories.
So what does this mean, to me and to the sport/art of dressage?
Well, as an upshot of this coverage, I DO NOT expect there to be a tidal wave of interest in the sport (Can you picture a dressage cable network?). But what it does mean to me is that I won't have to wait to talk to someone who has talked to someone who knows someone who went to Australia to watch the tests. I won't have to hold my breath for the next issue of Dressage Today or the Horseman's Yankee Pedlar.
On a more esoteric level, I am grateful that I will have the chance to watch people at the top of the sport/art ride, instead of just seeing pictures of them in books or magazines.
Instructors tell us to form a mental picture of the way we want to ride in order to help us improve our riding. Kids in the Pop Warner Baseball Leagues have only to turn on Sports Center or nightly baseball games to watch any number of top players in order to study form and method. Amateur dressage riders instead, have to travel to shows or clinics in order to see upper level riders. Depending where you live, the distances may be great and the selection of upper level riders not that great.
I am also thankful to have the opportunity to watch the performance of the art, to ooh and aah and form the basis of my dreams. But also, I saw riders and horses make mistakes, have a bad day and I was reminded that this happens to the best of us.
Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Dressage on TV , at last in Dressage is owned by . Permission to republish Dressage on TV , at last in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Carol Woodworth's Dressage topic, please visit the Discussions page.