The Rarefied World of Dressage Comes to London

The tall elegant figure of William Fox-Pitt, ramrod straight in the saddle and resplendent in black top hat and tails, a bit like a coffin bearer at an East End gangster's funeral cortege, enters the arena on Lionheart.

You can almost hear the silence as 20,000 spectators follow the stadium announcer's urgings for total hush - not a crisp is crunched, not a ringtone sounds, not a program page is rustled.

Elevatoresque middle-of-the road music wafts gently from the speakers dotted around the ring and the quintessentially English Fox-Pitt embarks on his four-minute routine.

Every graceful step, every move, every flick of the reins, is followed by the beady eyes of men and women - the judges - hunched over their notebooks, pens at the ready, holed up in log cabins at various points around the ring.

This is the rarified world of dressage, which emerges from its four-year hibernation since the last Olympics to mixed reviews.

The dressage cognoscenti will tell you dressage is equine ballet, Joe Public may have a rather less flattering verdict of this most disciplined of Olympic disciplines.

"It's not everyone's cup of tea," admitted one fan, Ann Whitecroft, in attendance at Greenwich Park this week.

"Some people do find it mysterious and boring, what I love about it and what most people would point to is the partnership between horse and rider.

"It's not shown on television in this country," she added.

"But in Holland and Germany in particular a major dressage competition is like Royal Ascot."

Indeed the Dutch were in shock in 2010 when Totilas - the dressage equivalent of Lionel Messi and who is so popular he has his own Facebook page - was sold to Germany for 10 million euros.

Dressage made its Olympic bow in 1912, but its origins are as ancient as the Saxon ruins underneath Greenwich Park, if not older, with historian and horse trainer Xenophon, who used to hang around with Socrates back in ancient Greece, credited with bringing it into the world.

"It's developed along the way," explains Whitecroft, "by cavalry officers who used it as a means to create an obedient and responsive horse."

Originally only commissioned officers were allowed to compete, with the rules enabling civilians to join in the fun being relaxed in 1952.

Dressage riders and their often fabulously expensive conveyances are assessed on various points - including how the horse and rider perform at different paces and different speed within those paces.

Judges want to see the horse moving fluidly in straight lines and circles, as well as sideways, diagonally and in situ.

Horses must show they can move in 'collection' where the horse is moving with higher elevation of back and legs, and 'extension' where the horse is reaching further with its legs while still carrying its neck and back in an elevated frame.

Scores are based on the accuracy and brilliance of each required movement.

For New Zealand rider Louisa Hill, the dressage test here was something of an ordeal.

"My horse (Antonello) wasn't very keen on the (decorative) sentry guards and cannons - I think he thought they were going to fire at him any minute.

"You go in that arena and there's so many things for the horse to look at and they have to concentrate 100 percent on you, it's very difficult.

"They're animals that are scared of everything, if they see something they want to run. He's very quick at running the other way and doing a u-turn before I even know it."