Circus as the cradle of dressage

Nowadays, most riders take the circus horse tricks with a pinch of a salt. But it turns out that the modern dressage has a lot in common with the old circus art. What is interesting, the very word "circus" was adopted thanks to the famous Cirque Olimpique and Antoin Franconi's performances. It meant both the type of a building and a special kind of performances which were characterised by expensive costumes. (Wikipedia) Philip Astley Philip Astley (1742-1814) is considered to be the father of the modern circus. He founded an equestrian school in Westminister Bridge in 1769. He engaged in the performances, among others: acrobats, clowns, and horses. Following this path, he became the first founder of a hypotheatre. The dialogues in his inscenisations became maximally restricted in order do focus the audience's attention on the body language. Bored with the beat acrobatic tricks they wanted something fresh. Introducing horses turned out to be a huge success. The real climax, anticipated by many, was the school show off the ground.. On the beginning of 19th century, the main motif of circus tricks were scenes of war. The next trend, was William Buffalo Bill who became famous due to his performances showing the world of the Wild West. They were full of thrilling shootings and chases. Apart from classic dressage, riding tricks were being shown. Generally, we can distinguish four types of performances with the participation of horses:

1. Higher school - corresponding to the classic dressage
2. Bulk dressage
3. Hungarian Post Office - rider stands on one or two horses and leads other horses on the reins
4. Vaulting

Currently, only the prestigious circus companies have their own big stables. Such as the German Circus Krone. In these days there are few and far between circus riders, who formerly taught horses to perform figures of the higher school and riding on a manege. Circus horses, trained to the highest riding school are very rare. Usually those which take part in performances come from riding schools.  

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