THE MOVEMENTS
Airs Above the Ground: Levade, Courbette, Capriole
A clear guide to the leaps and rears that crown a Vienna performance — what the levade, courbette and capriole actually are, and why they are so hard.
Check dates and availability ↗The summit of classical dressage
The 'airs above the ground' — in the original, the schools above the ground — are the movements in which a stallion lifts partly or entirely off the earth on command. They are the dramatic climax of any Spanish Riding School performance and the hardest work the horses do. Their origins are often traced, at least in spirit, to the battlefield riding of the Renaissance, where a horse that could rear, leap or kick on cue was said to be a formidable partner in close combat; whether every air had a literal military use is debated by historians, but the lineage to Renaissance manège riding is clear. Today they survive as pure art. Only a minority of stallions have the strength, balance and temperament to master them, and each horse tends to specialise in the one air that suits its build.
The levade — controlled poise
The levade is the most controlled of the airs and often the first a spectator learns to recognise. The horse lowers its hindquarters deeply, draws its forelegs up and tucked, and balances at a steep angle — commonly described as around 30 to 45 degrees — holding the pose motionless through sheer strength of the hind legs and back. It looks serene, almost like a living equestrian statue, but the effort is immense: the horse is supporting most of its weight on deeply bent hocks. The levade grew out of an older, less collected rear called the pesade, refined over time into the balanced, low form the school shows today. Because it demands controlled power rather than explosive movement, it is often the foundation from which a horse's suitability for the more athletic leaping airs is judged.
The courbette and the capriole
From the balance of the levade come the leaping airs. In the courbette, the stallion rears onto its hind legs and then hops forward one or more times without letting the forelegs touch down — a controlled series of jumps balanced entirely on the hindquarters, and a striking display of power. The capriole, widely regarded as the most difficult air of all, is more explosive still: from a collected position the horse leaps high into the air, and at the peak of the jump kicks both hind legs out sharply behind it before landing. Executed cleanly, the capriole is a single, spectacular airborne moment that draws the loudest response of any performance. Both are the product of years of preparation, and a horse may perform only a handful in a career at full quality.
The lesser-known airs
The levade, courbette and capriole get the billing, but classical tradition names several related airs that a performance or training session may include. The mezair is sometimes described as a forward-moving series of low rears, a cousin of the courbette. The croupade and the ballotade are leaping airs related to the capriole: in the croupade the horse draws its hind legs up under the body at the height of the jump, while in the ballotade the hind legs are shown as if about to kick but do not fully extend — the capriole being the version where the kick is completed. Terminology varies between schools and eras, and not every source draws the lines the same way, so treat these distinctions as the broad classical framework rather than rigid definitions. Seeing them live makes the differences far clearer than any description.
In hand and under saddle
One detail worth watching for: the airs are shown in two ways. Some are performed under saddle, with a rider in the traditional brown tailcoat and bicorne hat guiding the stallion, and some are performed 'in hand' or on the long reins, with a horseman on the ground working the horse through the movement using the reins and voice. The in-hand work is a discipline in its own right and part of how young horses are prepared for the airs before a rider is added. Whichever form you see, the guiding principle is the same one that runs through the whole school: the movement is asked for and rewarded, built patiently from the horse's own balance, never forced. That is why these few seconds of airborne power represent, in truth, years of quiet groundwork.