1 ART AND WAR THE HISTORY OF DRESSAGE A crowd of people watched a woman on a glossy bay horse canter across a sand arena With every stride the horse changed the leg it was leading with so that it appeared to be skipping The lead leg is the foreleg that strikes the ground last The people in the audience looked closely trying to see the woman signal the horse But she sat tall and still in the saddle
Lis Hartel grew up riding horses
Jubilee was 11 years old at the Helsinki Games The rider was Lis Hartel of Denmark The horse was a mare named Jubilee They were in Helsinki Finland for the 1952 Olympic Games It was the first year that women were allowed to compete with men in any equestrian sport It was also the first year the games were open to riders who were not in their country's military Jubilee weighed approximately 1 000 pounds 450 kg but she looked feather light as she crossed the arena She lengthened her stride so that she seemed to be floating on air Then she shortened her steps so that she moved
up and down like a carousel horse She trotted sideways across the arena Her front and hind legs crossed in front of each other Still no one could see the commands that Hartel gave to Jubilee Hartel and Jubilee left went on to win a second Olympic silver in 1956 Henri Saint Cyr center won gold again and Liselott Linsenhoff took bronze
