Training in the Right Way: FEI Horses Don’t Grow on Trees…

Just one of the dilemmas when you have FEI aspirations.

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.

In our sport, success in the show ring has become the means by which we judge a rider’s riding and training ability. And this isn’t entirely incorrect. Certainly, being able to be competitive and ride up the levels does indicate a degree of skill and proficiency. That being said though, it’s critical to note that this system isn’t without its inherent flaws, the most glaring of which being that a rider can have success in the arena and still not be training correctly (as the horse’s talent can cover those deficits), but also – and oftentimes less apparent – having access to the type of horse necessary to show off that training and riding skill is often limited by time and financial constraints.

That is to say, developing and producing a young horse up the levels takes quite a bit of time (and often luck that they do not maim themselves along the way), and buying a horse legitimately ready to take you down the centerline at Grand Prix will cost six figures at the national level and more than most people’s homes for one with international talent. Both of those situations are substantial stumbling blocks for both amateurs and professionals.

Which highlights two critical points. The first being that any rider (AA or professional) talented and educated enough to compete at the FEI levels may still be unable to achieve or continue with that goal – particularly at Grand Prix — simply due to lacking the horse.

The second being that determining which riders are knowledgeable trainers by looking to see who is actively showing is an oversimplification with the potential to entirely backfire. Many educated trainers don’t have the resources without sponsors to purchase horses ready to show at the upper levels, and if they are taking the time to develop their young horses, there will undoubtably be periods where they will be absent from the FEI ring as those horses are being produced.

Success in the show ring is not the only measure of good riding. Photo (c) Carien Schippers

All of which means that we don’t necessarily have our top riders and trainers at the FEI levels — we have the ones there that could afford it. And before anyone has a stroke, I’m not bashing those with the means or complaining that some have more access than others. Both of those aspects are just facts of life, and we all know that horses at any level are indeed expensive (and a privilege). I’m more or less clinically pointing it out as a means to note that we can’t sloppily use show ring presence and/or success as the sole gauge of training and riding ability for our professionals, and to offer some solace to AA riders that they are not alone in their frustration at being so close, and yet so far from their FEI goals.

It’s that latter aspect that I have been ruminating on recently. An adult amateur student of mine recently lost her FEI horse due to old age. While this was a sad event, it was not entirely unexpected. He had been in semi-retirement for a while and was only being worked when and how he was comfortable.

This horse was a KWPN gelding that had a stellar career as a show jumper. His FEI passport shows us that he spent most of his competitive career representing Jordan and competing in Egypt and the Middle East. He later became a Canadian eventer, and then a US dressage horse. My student acquired him as a Prix St Georges schoolmaster. He was her first Sporthorse-bred warmblood and her first FEI trained horse. As it was becoming clear that he was not going to be able to continue competing, my student began looking for another horse that might help her complete the journey to getting down the center line at Grand Prix. This has been a complicated process as this rider does not have unlimited funds to buy a trained upper level horse.

Julie Hoogeveen and Lorenzo III. Photo (c) Jennifer Dillon.

Recently, my student was texting with me discussing how discouraging it was to have aspirations for Grand Prix and enough knowledge and experience to recognize that this type of horse is hard to find and even harder to afford. In other words, she recognizes that she is close to achieving her goal but feels like the clock is ticking and the window for achieving that goal is closing.

Again, I bring this up because it is a more common problem for upper-level riders than it may seem. So many riders, amateurs and professionals, are “one horse away” from disappearing from competition, which — in a sport that values being seen in competition as a measure of a rider’s skill and determination — is problematic. Having been developed as a competitor in this system, I understand how suddenly being sidelined with no clear re-entry into the competitive side of the sport is distressing, as most riders in this position are pretty driven individuals.

The thing is, I know more than one rider in this position. I can easily think of three others. All three are capable Grand Prix riders, with multiple trips down the center line doing good Grand Prix. Two are capable trainers and one is a highly educated AA. I have no doubt that there are many more people out there in this same position as well. Most riders in this position are still riding what they have and they’re not above putting the work into developing a lesser trained horse. No one is expecting a horse to just be handed to them either. But developing horses properly takes time, which then necessitates longer periods not being in the FEI show arena.

Developing young horses takes time, and may keep a capable FEI rider out of the “big” arena for quite some time. Photo (c) Gwyneth McPherson

The primary barriers for most riders getting to Grand Prix are education and experience (and yes, having a horse to do it on). And we tend to believe that once you have achieved this goal you are able to keep riding at that level (magically?), which isn’t entirely the case: you still need to have the horse to do it, and then others to continue doing it.

For professionals in the sport, the lack of access to a horse that they can develop, and compete through the levels and promote their training, is an issue. For amateurs, it’s often finding a horse that is educated enough (AA) to get them back into the FEI ring. In both instances, however, a rider can be highly educated and very talented but be unable to acquire the right horse due to financial constraints.

Unfortunately, I do not have any great ideas on how to fix this problem. And as noted above, I’m also not writing this to complain about how some people have the resources to solve this problem and others do not. Mostly it is to recognize that it as a real thing, and reach out to the riders in this position, and let them know that there are more (good) riders in this situation than they may realize. This sport is expensive. And while competition is not the only measure of a rider’s capability, it is often used as the gauge regardless.

This is not a new problem, and I wonder how much talent and skill is lost to our sport’s development because these riders do not have a way of being found and recognized. At one point, USEF did make an attempt to connect horse owners to riders who had skill and ability, but needed a horse. Although the attempt was commendable, it did not appear to produce the hoped-for results. Going forward, perhaps we can develop a more effective system to address this that would better position capable riders and trainers as well as further develop and strengthen the quality of dressage in the US.

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.