Training in the Right Way: What Successful Participation in Dressage Looks Like

Because you will never convince me that consistently getting low scores at Training Level is actually the sort of  ‘fun’ you were yearning for.

Dressage training is supposed to be the process of training ANY horse to be a better riding horse. The more the horse learns, in theory, the easier it is to communicate with and therefore complete more complex tasks with. Although competition dressage training often is more focused on training for the dressage test, that is not what the original intention (and original judging requirements) were for competitive dressage. Initially, it was designed to give riders and trainers a way to determine how their training measured up to the theoretical ideal of the training process. That said, it is critically important to understand the meanings and reasons for some of the terms we use to describe dressage training and what to look for when observing training and competition (and videos and photos), regardless of whether you intend to compete or just train your horse to be a better whatever you do with him. That, ultimately, is the main purpose of my articles. To provide education and knowledge for riders to understand and improve their eye and understanding of what dressage training is supposed to be. While there will always be some differences in practice and theory, good horse training is always recognizable to the educated eye. That said, it absolutely is necessary that we remember and understand that limited knowledge is limited judgment.

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Most sports other than equestrian sports can be learned at a level that can be fun, even if you are not an expert. Examples such as tennis, golf, basketball, swimming, skiing, and soccer are sports that a person can do sporadically, or only in a certain season, and still become proficient enough to enjoy participating in that sport. Clearly, the more one practices and the fitter they are, the more their proficiency will improve. But a person can just go play basketball once a month and have fun doing it. They can also play basketball very seriously, every day with a coach, and become an elite athlete, as well. This is not so simple with horse-related sports.

One of the biggest pitfalls I see in my experience teaching riding is that people try to assign this type of thought process to their riding. They may have some very excellent reasons for this (time and money constraints are top of mind), but the end result, at best, is that they often cannot succeed with their goals. At worst, they get injured and/or become afraid. While it may be possible to enjoy an occasional trail ride for fun, if you are riding with goals in mind, you cannot approach the process in a haphazard way.

It’s easy to see a fancy horse at a show that looks like he’s effortless to ride and just assume that he’s talented and therefore that the training process was easy. But that’s not always, or even often, the case. What you don’t see is the day in and day out repetition, the tough rides, the setbacks, and the minor failures that lead to more education and then, eventually, success. Often someone’s success may not look like much to someone else, but it is enormously important to them.

Every rider will have a different definition of “success” in their riding, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s key to note that feeling “successful” in your own pursuit of dressage does not have to equate to competitive success. And, it does not require that the rider become proficient at a specific level. It is, however, extremely important that the rider understands that their level of success — however they define it — is directly related to how they approach the learning, training, and practice process in their riding. While all of what I just said pertains to riding in general, we will tailor this discussion to my favorite equestrian discipline, Dressage, for reasons that I think are pretty obvious at this point.

A junior rider performing Spanish Walk on her PMU rescue pony. Photo (c) Gwyneth McPherson.

Often, when I meet a new rider at the beginning of their first lesson, in the process of discussing what their goals are they will say something to the effect of “We never get good scores, but I just want to have fun,” or “I have been stuck at Training Level for the past four years, but I just ride for fun,” or “I wish I could learn how to do piaffe, but I just ride for fun, so I’ll never get to do that,” and lastly, “I really want to compete at Prix St Georges, but my horse will never be able to do that so I’m just stuck doing First Level, but I just ride for fun, so it’s ok.”

My first impression when I hear someone say these sorts of things is that it does not sound like they are “having fun” with their riding. It sounds like their view of success has been molded to the limitations of their horse quality and/or their training program (or lack thereof) more than to what they are actually capable of being successful at. And, let’s admit it, being “good” at something is “fun.” Getting good at something is not always spectacularly fun, but it should not be miserable, or feel like a failure. Because feeling like you are failing is never synonymous with “having fun.”

So, given all of that, let’s look at some salient points to consider here:

• Dressage is not riding endless 20m circles for years and years.
• Your horse will be limited by his physical and psychological attributes, but most horses can learn most exercises in dressage and perform them happily even if they are not physically capable of the collection and athleticism required to compete at that level.
• I think we can all agree that no one feels as though consistently getting low scores and not placing at a competition is “fun.” (Which, to be clear, is NOT the same as saying that it’s ONLY fun IF you win. There’s a big difference between going into the show knowing getting good scores isn’t going to happen because you lack proficiency and entering with the knowledge that you are capable of good scores, but then having an unfortunate ride. The first is just an exercise in masochism and the second could very well be just a bad day.)

Whenever I address the idea that success is related to spending more time in the saddle and getting more consistent, educated instruction and training, inevitably the response is “I don’t have enough time and/or money to do that.” Let’s face it though, except for a very select set of individuals, we are all on a budget for both time and money and we all have to make compromises in our choices because of these two things. Financial constraints force limitations on horse ownership, numbers of lessons, and whether the horse has professional training. Time constraints due to work, family, and other obligations place limitations on riding and training time. But while these are all common and understandable, what I consistently see that is so damaging to actually having success (and fun), is that riders try to force a specific scenario that does not align with the time and money they DO have. For example, if you want to ride on a team, but don’t have the financial backing to do so or time to work under a mentor and work up the levels, you’re not going to be successful making the team by riding alone in your back yard on your Shetland pony (and it will likely also not be much fun trying).

So given that, I would like to consider some of the pros and cons of the most common ways people practice and learn dressage in relation to what their view of success (and fun) are.

Owning/leasing and training your own horse:

This is probably the most common scenario that your typical rider is involved in. There is something special about having your own horse, whether it is kept at home or boarded somewhere else. Many riders really enjoy the relationship and the responsibilities that come with having a horse. But also, they really like the idea of not sharing riding time or the relationship with another rider. If you are a proficient rider with an excellent instructor, you can successfully train your own horse. However, even proficient riders aren’t able to get the job done if they do not have sufficient time or money to take enough consistent lessons with an instructor that can actually get them where they want to go. Another factor to consider as well is that often weather and other responsibilities can keep them from riding the horse often enough to really get the job done. I am not saying that people should not own their own horse, or that they cannot experience the process of training it. The problem lies in whether you can afford to get good enough help, often enough, and ride a minimum of 5 days a week. If this is possible, you have probably already stopped reading this article, because you already know.

Owning and training your own horse can be extremely rewarding. Photo(c) Gwyneth McPherson.

Owning/leasing and having your horse in training:

We all know that owning a horse is expensive, whether you board or keep it at home. Adding the expense of putting it in training is often off-putting to impossible for most horse owners/leasers. However, it is the smartest thing you can do IF:

1.) You have an excellent trainer/instructor that will actually train your horse and teach you how to ride it.

2.) You want to make progress in your learning, your horse’s training, and if you want to compete.

Finding a trainer that consistently produces what you are trying to do and that is willing to work the horse and teach you a minimum of 5 days a week will give you your best results. Even very proficient riders benefit greatly from this scenario. It is the best choice across the board for both you and your horse getting educated and improving (being successful).

Working student/apprenticeships

Sometimes we cannot afford to buy or lease a horse, never mind pay for its upkeep and training /lessons. For people who are not in a financial situation to own and train their own horse, but they have time to commit to the process, being an apprentice or working student is a superb solution. This scenario is not just for the high school and college aged riders. You can be a working student at any age if you have enough time to devote to the trainer of your choice to earn time in the saddle. There are situations that allow you to bring your own horse which can be extremely helpful as well.

Selecting a trainer/instructor that will give you a meaningful learning experience involves more than just what they know and teach, but also whether they have horses for you to ride consistently and if they will actually be able to give you enough instruction time to make progress. While this option is fantastic when it works out, it is one that can fail easily. The best part about being in this situation is that you learn a system of training and get to see it working on multiple horses and riders, as well as learning a great deal about horsemanship, management, and running a business. It often involves giving up most of your personal life, but some of us would prefer to spend all our time in a stable, and not doing other things, so that’s often a plus.

While competition isn’t the only measure of success, doing well in competition can be very rewarding. Gwyneth and coach Michael Poulin reviewing the test before the Grand Prix with Flair. Photo (c) Gwyneth McPherson

Weekly (or some other interval) lessons on someone else’s trained horse:

For the rider who is financially blessed, but does not have much time to spend riding, this is an excellent option if you can access trained schoolmasters that are connected to an excellent teacher. Because we are discussing learning and improving as a dressage rider, success in this scenario is dependent on riding horses that are already trained. If you are riding horses that know as much or less than you do, you will not become a better dressage rider. Finding programs with schoolmasters is difficult and expensive because most people do not enjoy sharing their upper level horses with the masses. Highly trained horses with the kind of temperaments that allow people to make mistakes and not get punished for it are precious. But, if you do not have the time to ride a minimum of 5 days a week, and you want to learn how to do more than Training Level, this is your path to success. Actually, all riders who want to be proficient in dressage need to ride schoolmasters. But I will leave that subject for another article. The primary limitation here is that you will not be competition ready (or likely even have the option of competing) if you are limited to riding in this scenario.

Even very proficient riders can learn a great deal from riding trained horses with excellent instructors. Gwyneth riding with Johann Hinnemann at Krusterfof Hinnemann. Photo (c) Gwyneth McPherson

So, after all that, we find ourselves back to this: Not being able to achieve the feeling of learning and becoming proficient in your goals as a rider is not fun. While your idea of success may be very different from someone else’s, the development of the proficiency necessary for it is still what makes riding fun for you. If you boil it down, in general, riders who are interested in dressage are interested in learning the feeling, the process, and then the accomplishment of communicating with an animal well enough to produce the upper-level exercises. These are all types of proficiency; dressage hinges upon it. While we are all constrained by the forces of time and money, we have to be able to look at our goals realistically and then plan how to best use our resources to help us become proficient enough to achieve our idea of success. It’s not always a fun process, and it certainly isn’t linear or particularly fast, but at the end of it all it is rewarding (and fun!).

As we dive headfirst now into the competition season here in Florida, I encourage you all to really consider what you would actually like to achieve with your horse and riding to feel successful, and then work towards formulating a process and plan that will support that. And, in the meantime, I will continue to disbelieve every rider I meet that tells me that consistently getting low scores at Training Level is ok with them, because “they just ride for fun.”

And remember: limited knowledge is limited judgment.

Gwyneth and Flair in competition at Grand Prix. (c) flatlandsfoto.

Gwyneth McPherson has over 35 years experience competing, training, and teaching dressage.  She began her education in in the late 1970s, riding in her backyard on an 11 hh pony. Her first instructor introduced her to Lendon Gray (1980 and 1988 Olympian). who mentored Gwyneth for a decade during which she achieved her first National Championship in 1984, and her Team and Individual Young Rider Gold Medals in1987.

In 1990 Gwyneth began training with Carol Lavell (1992 Olympian) who further developed Gwyneth as an FEI rider and competitor. Gwyneth achieved a Team Bronze in 1991 and a Team Silver in 1992 in the North American Young Riders Championships, and trained her stallion G’Dur to do all the Grand Prix movements while riding with Carol.

In 2008, while Head Trainer at Pineland Farms, Gwyneth began training with Michael Poulin (Olympian 1992). Michael was trained by Franz Rochowansky (Chief Rider for the Spanish Riding School 1937-1955). Michael has shared much of Rochowansky’s knowledge and wisdom with Gwyneth, completing her education as a Grand Prix rider, trainer, and competitor.

Gwyneth’s teaching and training business, Forward Thinking Dressage,is based in Williston, FL. In addition to teaching riders and training, Gwyneth also loves sharing her knowledge of the sport and art of dressage as well as discussing relevant topics pertaining to the training itself and the current competitive landscape.