India wins gold in equestrian dressage at Asian Games: What is the event?

India's equestrian dressage team — Sudipti Hajela, Divyakriti Singh, Vipul Hriday Chheda and Anush Agarwalla — won a gold medal on Tuesday at the 2023 Asian Games.

The Indian team aggregated 209.205 percentage points, finishing first ahead of China (204.882 per cent) and Hong Kong (204.852 per cent). It is the first time since 1982 that India has won an Asian Games gold medal in equestrian.

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What is an equestrian event?

Equestrian is a broad term used to refer to sports performed on horseback. The Olympic Games have three equestrian events: dressage, eventing and show jumping. A standout feature of equestrian sports is that men and women participate in one bracket.

 

What does the dressage event involve?

Dressage is a routine that involves the rider performing a predetermined set of movements inside an arena. Dressage routines are set to music, and judges evaluate the fluidity and ease with which the routine is performed. The core of dressage includes agility, technique and coordination.

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The result of a dressage event is decided on the percentage points that a rider and their horse accumulate. Points are awarded to the rider with each movement marked from 0 to 10. Each rider gets an overall score, and the rider with the highest percentage is the winner of his class. To determine the winner, the top three scorers in a team are counted.

Movements in a dressage event

Piaffe: An elevated trot in place, but no backward movement is allowed as it is considered a serious fault. Small forward steps to maintain rhythm are allowed.

Passage: A trot with pauses between each stride.

Flying changes in sequence: Informally called "tempis" or "tempi changes", the horse changes leads at the canter every stride (one-time tempis), two strides (two-time tempis) and three strides or four strides.

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Pirouette: A 360-degree turn in place performed at the canter.

Half-pass: A movement where the horse goes on diagonally, moving sideways and forward simultaneously while slightly bent in the direction of the movement.

Dressage arena

There are two sizes of arenas: small (20 by 40 m) and standard (20 by 60 m). Each has letters assigned to positions around the arena to mark where movements are to be performed.

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The small arena has letters around the outside edge, starting from the point of entry and moving clockwise: A-K-E-H-C-M-B-F. Letters also mark locations along the "centre line" in the middle of the arena. The standard dressage arena letters are A-K-V-E-S-H-C-M-R-B-P-F. The letters on the long sides of the arena, nearest the corners, are 6 m (20 ft) in from the corners and are 12 m (39 ft) apart from each other.

At the start of the test, the horse enters the arena at an opening at A. This opening is then closed for the duration of the test.

Check 2023 Asian Games India medal tally here