If you love horses, then you’re in for a real treat. According to the USDF, dressage is the French word for ‘training’ and its purpose is to develop the horse’s natural athletic ability and willingness to work, making him calm, supple, and attentive to his rider. Competitive performances are judged on gaits, pace, impulsion, and the rider’s ability to lead the horse.
In 2015, Will Rogers and his beloved horse, Esmeralda, took center stage at the JBK Horse Show in Denmark — and their dressage performance is a show of complete and total trust like you’ve never seen before. The truly amazing part about their routine is that it’s centered around a prop — tarps that eventually cover the horse completely.
For most “average” horses, a giant tarp would be a strange and scary thing. Esmerelda, however, stays calm and relaxed as Rogers pulled the tarp over her head, displaying an unwavering amount of trust and loyalty. One YouTube commenter explains why this performance is so darn impressive: “Horses are [prey] animals, so their natural instinct is to run away when afraid. Their vision is also very different from ours, and they have blind spots directly in front of their face and directly behind them while facing forward.
Anything that rattles or makes noise smells different, blows in the wind, oddly shaped, unsteady or off-balance, bright colors, large objects, deep water, odd movement ex. spray bottles… will get a defensive action. None of which this horse displayed, which means the horse has a great trust relationship, in trusting the rider not to place the horse in danger, even if the horse may be unsure.”