Unpopular Opinion Time: Dressage Needs Another Half Halt

We in the dressage community, specifically in the US, need to have some difficult discussions regarding the lack of correct training at the top of the sport. This isn’t anything new, but it continues to keep rearing its head because we continue to gloss over it.

While there’s a lot to unpack within our sport right now — and believe me, I recognize that there are many facets to it all — the overarching issue is that we’ve lost the thread. We are not focusing on correct training at the top, we are focusing on flash in the pan, explosive talent and holding it together long enough that we can quickly get into the big arena and have some success. And, as a result of that mentality, we are doing our top riders a disservice in that we have placed them in a system that does not allow for continued growth and education as riders and trainers, but instead rewards simply ‘getting it done,’ often at the expense of the horse.

At least that appears to be what our model is these days. Which is not shocking given the huge amounts of money involved and our instant gratification culture. Few want to take the time to bring along youngsters — which is expensive, risky, and does not allow for instant accolades in the big ring. And, if somebody pays seven figures for a horse, they expect to be not just successful, but instantly successful.

But the reality is that winning and long-term success when it involves a partnership with a large, athletic flight animal (that’s perhaps the closest thing to a small dragon in existence these days) aren’t likely to be achieved with a short-sighted, ham-fisted approach.

Image (c) Morgane Schmidt

Which is to say, we need to train them correctly, not just hold them together and pray; a horse that understands that his job is to stay on the rider’s aids is a horse that is rideable through a variety of tricky venues. In contrast, a horse being held together is less so for multiple reasons, but largely because horses with tight necks and backs cannot physically go forward (as a destination, not a speed) and that explosive energy must go somewhere…likely somewhere you don’t want it to go.

Additionally, we as riders need to check our egos at the door.

To be clear, this isn’t a Witch Hunt. And I want to state plainly that I am not here to attack anyone. Dressage is hard. Everyone will make mistakes and no one who has been riding for more than a hot minute can honestly say they have never thoroughly botched something or been wrong with their training approach. I am also NOT saying that our upper level riders aren’t talented and capable, or that they are entirely without knowledge. What I’m saying is that they don’t have enough knowledge to be as successful as they could be, and many don’t even realize it.

The fact of the matter is that currently many of our top riders are relying far too much on strength riding rather than correct training. (Yes, this is categorically true of most riders – I would argue due to a lack of knowledge, experience, and education – but it is especially disconcerting to see at the top of the sport as that’s what theoretically sets the standard). Just because somebody is winning, does not mean that they are doing it right. Which of course seems counterintuitive, but a horse’s talent is the wild card in that particular instance.

Some horses are less brittle and have a far greater capacity to handle strong or incorrect riding, and others simply crumble under the pressure. This is important to note because it’s one of the reasons that talented riders on talented horses can often appear quite successful in the FEI ring despite not having a particularly strong or correct base — because some horses can mostly withstand it. And I am sure some of you reading that last sentence are thinking, “well duh, talented riders on talented horses don’t just APPEAR successful, they ARE if the horse can withstand it.” And maybe, to an extent, with that tolerant horse that’s true (though I would argue that strength riding can never produce a horse to its maximum potential), but to that I also would add that it’s why we see short, tight necks, blue tongues, and extreme tension in the show ring — because those same riders on more brittle horses who cannot tolerate the strength riding fall apart in the arena and highlight the lack of correct training (or the rider’s inability to ride effectively assuming the horse was originally developed properly — and given the number of upper level horses we purchase already going for our riders, this also is feasible).

This line art was done off of photos of the same FEI horse being ridden by two different riders. This horse is clearly a hot, sensitive ride with a tricky neck, who — as a result of all that —  will absolutely tell on the rider for riding backwards and pulling.  Image (c) Morgane Schmidt.

It’s on those premises that I would argue that this is where we need to decide if we’re actually a sport about the development of the horse with systemic training, or we’re ok with continuing to focus on rewarding the horse’s talent and holding them together until we can’t, or they break, and then moving on to the next one. What are we really about? As with all things, there are some grey areas, and I recognize that riding and training will inherently have imperfect moments as a normal part of the process. I am also not implying that you have to achieve perfection before entering the show ring, but I do believe you should be continually working on modifying your training and riding to further develop the horse rather than simply holding it together for a test.

If you have made it this far, I’m sure you’re sitting there and asking yourself, who the hell is she to have an opinion on this and why should I care? And that’s fair. I am not a big-name rider or trainer — which is perhaps why I have the gall to even be writing this as I’m not concerned about tanking my spot on a team or snagging a sponsor. But having brought a handful of horses from backing to I-1, and very recently, with excellent instruction, have one schooling all of the Grand Prix, I’ve experienced, and have empathy for, the headspace many riders and trainers find themselves in where we think we’ve got it figured out until we are shown otherwise. We’re not being willfully egotistic; we simply don’t realize that we’re participating in the problem.

That’s a hard place to be. Because when you’ve had some degree of success, it’s difficult to admit that you may not be doing it correctly and that to remedy that will involve a lot of retraining and a return to the basics. It’s also hard to realize you might have to change your entire mental framework regarding training because what feels instinctual — pulling back, for instance — when a horse gets strong, isn’t actually the correct or effective thing to do for the training.

This abandoning of ego is critical to developing oneself as a rider, as well as developing the horse. And I think this is where a lot of our top riders need to assess themselves and their programs honestly. I’m not going to get into the political game of trying to define who is, or who is not, doing what correctly and who is teaching, or is not teaching, correctly. As I said, I’m not writing this to blow up individuals, but rather to incite some much-needed conversation and reflection.

This is Wilson. I purchased him at 1.5 and trained and showed him to I-1 with many, many mistakes along the way. Mistakes I didn’t even know I was making, mistakes he was charitable enough to let me learn from. I had to completely change my mindset on training to get him schooling all the Grand Prix, and it never would have happened without excellent, knowledgeable instruction focused on training, and a willingness to suck it up and listen. Photo (c) Morgane Schmidt.

That said, I also think we, as a community, need to educate ourselves and be able to critically evaluate the riding and thus the training we see (and our own); there should be thoughtful discourse. We should not be putting riders on pedestals blindly simply because they’ve had some success and ignoring when they clearly need help. Which historically is something we have done — and instead of giving them the support to become better trainers and riders, we simply supply another fancy horse to be used up.

Ideally, our top riders would be given constructive criticism with the aim of helping them improve as riders AND trainers, as opposed to being surrounded by sycophants and fan girls (yes, I’m sure some DO get actual constructive criticism, but given the CDI rides I’ve seen as of late, it would seem more are given undue accolades and excuses for why the horse didn’t perform as he should. The rider in that scenario becomes a victim rather than a trainer – the horse ‘did it to her’ rather than she didn’t ‘keep the horse on the aids’).

Again though, I’m not implying that we should be bullying riders — this sport is hard enough. And I think discerning the line between that and constructive criticism is where a lot of the difficulty lies. It’s not productive to post snarky comments on a top rider’s social platforms when they have a ride go sideways. Everyone can have a ride go sideways. Nevertheless, fawning over riders and making excuses for *continued* questionable performances that likely could benefit from re-approaching how they are training and how the horse is being ridden, does no good either. Particularly for the sport and definitely for the horse.

So, while I’m not calling for a free-for-all online of people calling out riders for what they think they are doing wrong, I do think we need to start a dialogue within the community with a focus on training and education. Ideally, some of these federations that we pay an awful lot of money to would offer educational programs of merit — and by merit, I mean taught by people who do have practical training knowledge and a system. I do not mean more symposiums given by riders who have been internationally successful a handful of times and that the organizers know they can make bank on. Because as I noted earlier, you can go a long way on a horse’s talent and still be doing it wrong (ask me how many $250 lessons I’ve had with big name riders who were basically Simon Says on horseback for 45 minutes).

I know that determining who these people should be poses some difficulty, as it can be a process to discern who has legitimate training knowledge, but it’s not impossible. Obviously other countries know and do this, and I would even argue that there are people at the top here in the US who know exactly who these individuals are. Unfortunately, politics and money are often what’s used in determining who gets a platform, not actual education and teaching/training ability. That’s something we need to change too if we want to see our sport continue and hopefully thrive.

Ultimately, much of this is a matter of readjusting and aligning systems and our riding culture. If we want to return the focus of our sport at the international level to rewarding training — and if we want to be internationally competitive we’re going to have to — rather than strength riding uber-talented baby dragons to see who can best hold on to the fanciest one without setting anything on fire or running over a judge, then we need to first and foremost change the current systems in place so that they promote a focus on education and training (of both horse and rider). This means better educational opportunities, honest communication — i.e. constructive criticism and not assuming that because a rider has talent that they will just “figure it out” with a tricky horse and that if they can’t then “no one can,” so they get a pass for obvious holes in their education — and the powers that be at the top of USEF and USDF doing a better job supporting riders and programs of merit instead of the current political shenanigans we see.

Yes, I just said that last bit.

Parallel to that, we must also check our egos at the door and hold our top riders (and ourselves) accountable to these goals. Unfortunately, we have put riders in a system that does not facilitate their success or correct dressage. This is not about vilifying them, as we need to address the system first, but they do have to come to the party and be willing to admit where they have more to learn.

And on that note, thanks for coming to my TED Talk. The pitchforks and torches can be found in the lobby for those of you who don’t like my words. For everyone else, I sincerely hope we can work together to bring our sport back around to a focus on our horses and horsemanship. Because after all, wasn’t it always supposed to be about that?

Wilson at one of a bazillion horse shows. Ever the cheerful soul, and one of my reasons for continuing to educate myself. Photo (c) Morgane Schmidt.

Milona DG and I. Photo (c) Q2 Photography.