DRESSAGE ENTERS A NEW ERA OF EXCITEMENT, by Louise Parkes

The winds of change have been blowing through the sport of Dressage in recent times,leading to a wave of anticipation and excitement about theReem Acra FEI World Cup™2011/2012series.Now in its 27th year, the winter-long tournament has traditionallyseen the monumental battles between Germany and The Netherlands occasionallyinterrupted by shows of strength from the USA and Sweden while, in the very early days,competitors from Denmark, Switzerland and France also put their names on the covetedtrophy.

The Dutch record in the series is remarkable, spear-headed by Anky Van Grunsven's ninevictories that spanned a 13-year period between her first success in Los Angeles, USA in1995 with the great Bonfire and her last, recorded on home soil at's-Hertogenbosch in2008 with Salinero.Anky rose to prominence as the FEI opted to place the emphasis onthe Freestyletest,which has such great appeal for competitors and spectators alike.Ineach of the ninequalifyingrounds, and againat theFinal at 's-Hertogenbosch in TheNetherlands in April 2012, riders earn a place in the Freestyle competition through theirperformances in the preliminary Grand Prix.

MUSICAL SCORESDown the years, the Freestyle musical scoresdesigned to match the movement,character, attitude and presence of the horse, and the style and skill of the rider, havevaried from classical to pop, and from the theatrical to those bordering on the bizarre.Ineach case, however, the theme is intended to reflect the close bond of understandingbetween man and animal.

Few will have forgotten the haunting sound of the bell that matched each rise and fall ofthe spine-tingling pirouettes produced by 2010 Dutch champions Edward Gal and theblack stallion Totilas,who took the equestrian world by storm during their record-breaking career together.And the trademark piaffe to the rhythm of Tchaikovsky's'Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy' produced by defending Reem Acra FEI World Cup™Dressage champions, Adelinde Cornelissen and her massive chestnut gelding JerichParzival, have endeared this Dutch partnership to their legions of fans.

But those who thought that the super-stardom of Gal and Totilas was just a passingphase have been proven wrong.Dressage has shed itsconservative label, and withjudges now willing to award maximum scores for moments of excellence, the bar,already raised by that daring Dutch duo, is set to go higher and higher.

SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCESAt the FEI European Dressage Championships in Rotterdam in August 2011, the Britishsuddenly exploded onto the scene with spectacular performances that earned them teamgold for the very first time and a double of silver medals for Carl Hester and the fabulousstallion, Uthopia.And Hester'sprotégé, Charlotte Dujardin riding the super-talentedValegro, showed the same inspirational riding style as her tutor, described by topinternational judge, Ghislain Fouarge from France, as "exactly what we want to see in thesport".

It looks like the beginning of a whole new era, with the British on the rise ahead of theOlympic Games on their doorstep next year.And as horses and riders prepare forLondon 2012, all eyes will be on the winners of theReem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage2011/2012series who, like a classic Reem Acra creation, will be boldly standing out fromthe crowd.