We had been in several times previously, so some of the regular customers were familiar to us. This night, there were two regulars sitting at the bar, discussing whatever subject was currently featured on ESPN. One of the patrons was named Arthur (Art) and the other, Dwayne. Dwayne was the type that knew every obscure sports fact back to the dawn of time and so had been nicknamed Sport by his friends.
The sports segment featured on TV changed from “Hockey Highlights” to “Today in Dressage”, when I heard Sport say, “ Dressage, now there is a real sport. Two athletes, the horse and the rider, cooperating to form one team; each dependent on the other’s abilities in order to succeed.”
Art rolled his eyes and snorted in derision. “Dressage is an art form, a creative process. It is not a sport. Are you honestly trying to compare dressage to some team sport, like football?”
S: “I am, in fact. Both dressage and football require athletic and talented team members, willing to cooperate with each other in order to succeed. Each requires systematic developmental training in order to perform at an optimal level. Why, the word dressage even means training. “
A: “Obviously, dressage involves the systematic muscular development of both horse and rider but it is so much more than that. It is a creative process that occurs between the horse and the trainer, a cooperative learning and growing of both mind and body.”
S: “That definition could also be applied to football-creating new plays, being able to “read” the quarterback, etc.”
A: “Are you calling football artistic?”
S: “By your definition, yes! “
A: “I don’t think Michelle Gibson would appreciate being compared to Refrigerator Perry.”
S: “Now you’re being ludicrous. Another sport that dressage has been compared to is figure skating – the school figures and movements combined to create programs. Are you denying that figure skating is a sport?”
A: “Yes. Figure skating programs represent the combination of required movements in a way that the choreographer finds artistically satisfying which is very similar to the Musical Kur, in dressage. I myself prefer to compare dressage to ballet, an artistic endeavor that requires rigorous and systematic physical and mental training in order to perform. But it requires this training to be directed and utilized in a manner both the performer and the audience find artistically satisfying.”
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