The Secret of the Dressage-Letters

"Why are the dressage-letters placed the way they are?"

This question caught my curiosity many for many years. In this article I would like to share some of the findings of my research as well as stating my hypothesis as to why the letters might have found today's placing.

In his writings, Pluvinel (1652) states that the length of the tournament arena for horses with faster speed should be '100 Gang long and 30 Gang to slow down' (one "Gang" is the old version for one step). The width of the arena was not specified but the arena could also have had a square circumference. 

As found in the writings by Loehneysen (1609) the lenght of the arena was 200 shoe. The Roman City shoe "Palma Romana-12" was used as measure. This would give us an approximate length of 61 meters for the arena. If we hold that a horse's step is equal to the length of two human shoes, the length of the arena has almost remained the same over the past centuries (the Winter-Riding-School in Vienna is 58 x 18 meters). Yet in accordance with the type of tournament the length of the arena could be changed; the "Billia" had a lenght of 250 shoe.

The placement of the letters can be found in Loehneysen's "Della Cavalleria" (1609) yet not specific explanation was given.

The placement was as follows:

                A

F                                K

B                                E

M                                H

                  C

In centuries past the training of the horse was considered the only reason for Dressage and the letters were markers for specific exercises. Entering the arena by riding a half volte occurred at point "A" or, depending on the placement of the tournament arena at point "E" (Entrata).

The instruction say: "In this ring you should enter at point A if possible, at the first ring letter B ride two full circles on the right hand (right rein), at the third circle at the letter B turn left and continue on the left hand (left rein). In the pictorial instructions two rings (circles) were drawn at the letter B (figure of eight). 

One writing states that the "Judicierer" - the judge - has to be placed on the left side of the track (Correia). This could be the reason why the salut to the judge is executed in the center of the arena, later to be known as "X".

On February 5, 1662, under the management of Domenico Cheninis, better known as "la Vigna", a tournament called the "Head Race" was held on Burgplatz in Vienna. The accurate description of this race can be found under Cod. 10789H.S. in the collection of handwritings in the Nationalbibliothek (National Library) in Vienna. Different figureheads had to be charged, targeted and struck with the lance, the spear, the pistol and the epee. This Head Race was formed from a long standing tradition, developed from tournaments in the late 16th century.

Heads used besides the "Moor" and "Turk" heads were:

Centauro      (half human - half horse)

Tigra            (tiger)

Lione           (lion)

Dragone       (dragon)

Grifone        (bird of prey)

Crocodrilo    (crocodile)

Murione       (helmet)

Serpe          (snake)

Fochoa        (seal)

The addition of new heads called for new descriptions and letters.

The heads were allowed to have the same starting letter, for instance 'M' for Murione, Medusa or Moor head.

François Robichon de la Guérinière (1751) described the Head Race and the used figure heads in section 5, chapter 22 of his book "Reitkunst" (german, 1817, third edition) under the heading "Carussels".

Prompted by the wars against the Ottomans, these exercises were used by the Germans before the French.

In properly organized tournaments four heads made of paper-mâché were used. The first head had to be removed by the use of the lance. This head was either hung on something resembling a light post mounted to the wall or stuck on a post on the track. The second head was the flat head of Medusa, the third a Moor. The fourth was the one to be removed with the epee.

Strict rules had to be followed during the tournament such as: 

One was not allowed to be on the wrong lead, drop one's helmet or lose a stirrup. If one or more of these rules were broken the person lost the tournament even if all four heads were removed in the appropriate manner.

In conclusion I would like to raise the hypothesis that placement of today's dressage letters is based upon the tradition of head races and the closely related jousting from centuries ago.

Looking at modern dressage tests, depending on the level, we use as many as 17 letters as points of reference (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, P, R, S, V (U) and X).

Combining all the information so far presented with the traditional description of the figure heads, the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, S, can be explained. The letter H was already used in Loehneysen's  "Delle Cavalleria", the use of the letter X as description for the center-point of the arena appears obvious. The letter K could be the new version of script for the letter C at the end of the 19th century. The letters P, R and V (U) are still in need to plausible explanation. 

by Dr. Diether Polheim