Thursday Video: What is Dressage?

In December, the FEI sent dressage rider and YouTuber Olivia Towers out into the great wide world to ask the public one all-important question: what is dressage?

Here in the US, dressage got a bit of a mainstream boost when Stephen Colbert did his whole big “competitive horse dancing” thing way back in 2012. You remember — the Dressage Is #1 foam finger, the “Rafalca No. 1!” chant, and even Colbert himself saddling up and taking a dressage lesson in which he rides weirdly well, launching endless rounds of speculation as to whether or not he’s actually maybe a rider on the side.

In England, however, dressage is… apparently not quite so well-known. (Truthfully, most Americans have also probably forgotten about it as well.) Despite being the home of Charlotte Dujardin, apparently the Brits have only a vague idea of fancy-prancing. Olivia Towers found this out in person:

Hey, that’s not bad, actually. Hope is not lost. Get out there and be an ambassador this year, Horse Nation!

Go riding.