The Dance of the White Stallions

So, yesterday, I went to see El Caballo Blanco in Napier, NZ. It was about as good as I had expected. That is to say, not as good as I had hoped. Especially when you pay nearly $100 per ticket (and more if you wanted a better seat). For one thing, is is called "The Dance of the White Stallions". Well, guess what? The stallion that did the  most dancing was a Fresian (black). There were a couple of white stallions, I think (one, for sure, the rest may have been geldings), but all they did was dressage, and a few "training session" moves - all the well-practiced maneuvers were done by the fully-trained Fresian.
Now, I was coming to the show as a grown woman who has loved horses since she was a little girl (didn't we all?). I read about horses, because there was no chance of getting a real one. In the books I had they always talked about the dancing Lipizzaners and Andalusians. I had dreamed of what the show might look like. I read about how the moves had been developed for military reasons - to clear away enemy infantry, for instance. How well-trained would a horse have to be to do that? It would be pretty awesome to see an animal showing that kind of prowess. So, I went to the show with hope in my heart. However, I have been to a horse show in Australia before ("The Outback Extravaganza" - which was good, but just not quite as exciting as I'd hoped... better than this one, though, I feel), so I kept my excitement in check. I hoped, but tried not to expect too much.

As it turned out, I was right to prepare myself this way.

They started the show with a "training session" - they showed us how they trained the animals to do some of the trickier moves. All good and well, I can appreciate that. And it does make you more appreciative when you actually see one of the horses do the move. Sure thing. However, I was still holding out for a polished performance with some pretty fancy moves.

There was a display of dressage to music. Yep, most of the display was pretty close to being in time with the music. But, as both a music/dance and horse lover, I was looking for something slightly better choreographed. There was some more forceful bits of the song that I think would have suited bigger movements from the horse. But, then, I can't recall if that horse was trained in some of the moves I was picturing as suiting the music in my own head. Anyway.. it was nice, but nothing that a competitive dressage rider couldn't top by miles.

They had a girl sing while riding a horse... ooh err, is all I could say. They said that singing while getting a horse to perform is tricky. Fair enough. Very tricky if the horse does any leaps and bounds. But it didn't. All of its moves were smooth and small.

And then the announcer gives a big intro about the need for horses to do fancy moves for battle. All very exciting stuff. So, we saw rearing. We saw a levade (a low-angled rear - excellent muscle-control required). And we saw the capriole (where the horse leaps in the air and kicks out with its hind legs when at the peak of the leap). All these moves were coaxed out of the horses. I don't know if this is because the horses are still learning, or if it was done so that when the horse finally did it we'd all cheer because obviously it was hard. The thing was... with the intro re: battle moves, all I could think was how pointless it was to have a half-trained horse on a battlefield. So, yes, I wanted to see a polished set of maneuvers performed by a fully-trained horse. I kept thinking through the show that it was still to come... and then they ended to show.

I don't know... do the Aussies have an agreement with the Spanish and the Austrians (Vienna) not to do a fully polished show, so that people will still travel halfway across the world to see the better ones? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, since it looks as though those shows are booked out well in advance anyway, so they could afford to lose a few southern hemisphere viewers, I'm sure.

Hopefully, in another few years, when all the horses and riders have done a bit more work, hopefully this side of the world will have something to show.

There are other shows in Australia, but, I must admit, I would be timid about parting with my cash for them after the two shows I have seen already. I continue to hold out hope that there is a show like what I dream of out there. But do I really want to pay more money to risk being disappointed again? I think next time I will need a reliable recommendation first...