In the wake of the Paris Olympics, as On Horsemanship goes to print for the first time, the FEI is sitting down with “stakeholders” (unidentified) to address the “challenges currently impacting the discipline of dressage” (unspecified). There won’t be any media present, so what the wider world will be told about this meetingisunclear
We were curious - if we asked, what would Kiwi riders who think and care deeply about the art and/or the sport say about the future of dressage? And here, free for all to read, are a selection of responses from Aotearoa NZ to you Enjoy
LIFEAFTERDEATH
ScottMcKenna
Abusive training practices in dressage have prompted criticism, endless online debate, despair from some quarters, anger and dismissal from others and, yes, very many winning performances and an awful lot of praise... Charlotte Dujardin (just for example) was the golden child of British dressage for yearsuntilavideosenttotheFEIshortlybefore the recent Paris Olympics showed her beating a horseintraining.
Why don’t I want to weigh in on this issue? So much has already been said, nothing seems to change and it is hard to imagine how my two cents’ worth could make any difference… Yet I am reminded of something Tolstoy wrote in “ThreeMethodsOfReform”.
“There can be only one permanent revolution a moral one; the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”
-Tolstoy
I want competitive dressage to change. What changes should I be making to how I ride and train? To answer this question, I think we have todigbelowthesurfaceoftheissue.
Why did Charlotte do it? Why did she pick up the whip and beat that horse? Her carefully worded public statement referring to an “ error of judgment” does not tell us, but Stephan Wensing (the lawyer acting for the complainant) is quoted in the Guardian as saying:
“She (Charlotte) said to the student ‘ your horse must lift up the legs more in canter’. She took the long whipandshewasbeatingthehorse…”
So Charlotte beat the horse to make it pick up itslegshigherinthecanter.
But why? Why would she not be satisfied with the canter nature gave that horse? Because she believesthatthejudgeswillawardhighermarks if a horse picks its legs up higher and six Olympic medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze) suggest that we can trust Charlotte’s judgment!
Nikolai Sitjko
Perhaps I have been unfair, targeting Charlotte. Perhaps that video is a “moment in time” - a one-off incident. But there are so many other examples Look at the videos from the stables of Andreas Helgstrand obtained by the producers of the Operation X documentary Very hard to deny that those videos are evidence of a systematic approach to training usingforce,coercionandviolence.
Much like Charlotte, Mr Helgstrand is an immensely successful dressage competitor. The riders employed by Mr Helgstrand shown in those videos are also highly successful competitive riders and the horses they are riding are the cream of the crop of Europe’s young equine dressage talents Those horses and riders consistently score high marks in competitions at the biggest shows in the world andfromthe“best”judgesintheworld.
In fact, horses trained using violent, forceful and abusive training techniques have been consistently rewarded with high scores in competition dressage. Many people reading this will be saying to themselves that they could have told me this years ago and I am sure they areright. Butnowtheevidenceisimpossibleto dismiss
If horses trained using force and violence have been winning dressage competitions, which they undeniably have been, then one of two conclusions must be true. Either dressage judges think that using violence and force is in fact the correct way to train a horse, or they can’t tell the difference between a horse trained correctly and a horse that is being abusively forcedtoperform.
we can no longer rely on the scores awarded by dressagejudgesasanaccurateassessmentofthe qualityandcorrectnessofourdressagetraining Worse, what has been shown to be true is that the desire to obtain high marks from judges createsastrongincentivetoemployviolentand abusivetrainingmethods.
Coming back to my original point, what change am I going to make as a result of all of this? I amnolongergoingtotrainmyhorsestosatisfy thedemandsofjudges.
At this point the only judge whose opinions count is my horse.
When I ride an exercise, I can no longer ask myself “what score would that get?”, but only “did my horse find that easy and comfortable and if not, why not?” When I consider what exercises I will work on in a training session I need not let that be dictated by what I need to show in my next test. Instead, it can only be determined by the physical state of my horse and what will best build strength and suppleness in that horse that day. And when I ride an exercise, I must ask myself: “did that exercise make the horse more relaxed, supple and balanced? Did it help the horse understand my aids? Did it promote my horse’s physical development?”
It is proving a lot more difficult than expected to shift from the mindset of trying to train to maximize my scores. I have, after all, been trying to do that for about the last 25 years. But it has dawned on me is that only now, in this mindset, am I truly “doing dressage”. Dressage never was the pursuit of high marks; it was alwaysthedevelopmentofthestrength,
balance and beauty of a horse. It just took the complete destruction of my respect for the judging system of competitive dressage for me todiscoverthat.
Maybe I am not alone on this journey Perhaps this moment in time, which looks so much like the destruction of what we all used to know as dressage, isn’t the death of a sport, maybe it’s therebirthofanartform.
Scott McKenna has competed up to International Grand Prix level in dressage and previously served as Chair of Dressage NZ
Butincaseanyonewantstoownahorsesuitable for parade, with a high and showy action, such qualities are by no means to be found in every horse: but it is essential that he should have plenty of spirit and a strong body. Many suppose that an animal that has supple legs will also be capable of rearing his body. That, however, is not the case: rather it is the horse with supple, short, strong loins that will be able to extend his hind-legs well under the forelegs By “loins” we do not mean the parts about the tail, but those between the flanks and haunches about the belly. Now, if when he is planting his hind-legs under him you pull him up with the bit, he bends the hind-legs on the hocks and raises the fore-part of his body, so that anyone facing him can see the belly and the sheath. When he does that you must give him the bit that he may appear to the onlookers to be doing willingly the finest things that a horse can do. Some, however, teach these accomplishments by striking him under the hocks with a rod, others by telling a man to run alongside and hit him with a stick under the gaskins. We, however, consider that the lesson is most satisfactory if, as we have repeatedly said, the rider invariably allows him relaxation when he hasdonesomethingaccordingtohiswishes.
Undersuchtreatmenthorseandmanalikewill domuchmorethatisuglythangraceful. No,a horsemustmakethemostgracefulandbrilliant appearanceinallrespectsofhisownwillwith the help of aids. Further, if you gallop him duringarideuntilhesweatsfreelyandassoon asheprancesinfinestyle,quicklydismountand unbridlehim,youmaybesurethathewillcome willinglytotheprance.
Firstly, the positives: the Olympics. This was far more than just another competition: it was a signpost for the way many wish to see the sport go.
For years we ’ ve seen much beautiful work in many lower-level competitions around the world - up to, say, FEI Small Tour (Prix st George) level However, the step up from this PSG to Grand Prix is big and difficult; it’s been common to see horses struggle with the transition, which has resulted in much criticism of the ethics of dressage from both within and from outside the sport. The number of horses looking comfortable at GP level has historically been very, very small: perhaps Ahlerich and Marzog (Klimke and Grette Jensen respectively) in the 1980’s looked at ease, but after them things became ugly as we went through this period of great tension in the “rollkur” era. Most riders agree about the desired end result –horses working with great energy, super uphill balance, yet soft and comfortable – but in the real world we just don’t arrive at this state of perfection, so we have to decide which part of the total are we prepared to compromise on. Here there is no right or wrong. Every rider, every coach has to decide which mixture of power on the one hand or softness on the other they are prepared to accept at each stage of training. As well as this decision varying from trainer to trainer, it also changes from generation to generation as societies, and in particularsocieties’attitudetoanimals,change.
Over the last few years we ’ ve seen a mixture of differing types of work, some super-active, others more relaxed, being rewarded so I feel that we have the right to be a little confused over which direction we ’ re taking. These Olympics put to bed some of these concerns: thesimple,comfortablework,verymuchinthe style of Ahleric and Marzog, was rewarded: the delightful Dalera (Jessica von Bredow-Werndl) won and there were several others producing really beautiful work: Freestyle (Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour) and Jagerbomb (rising British starBeckyMoody)particularlycometomind.
Having a seat at the Olympic table has been a majorboostforequestriansports,creatinggreat public interest and funding. It has also created manic ambition, ambition which has occasionally ridden roughshod over decency and ethics; the lure of an Olympic place, the urge for “ more ” , can so easily push any desire forharmonyintothebackground.
This ill-defined “harmony”, the idea that a horse and rider work together in a light, comfortable and willing way, has little to do withframeorbalance:itjustrequireshorseand rider to be peaceful with one another The problems occur when we want to be competitive, in which frame and balance become essential. I don’t believe that competitiveness necessarily destroys harmony, but it does add a huge bag of difficulties which needtobeovercome.
they arise Public opinion and peer pressure, as we ’ re currently seeing, will probably have a muchgreatereffectthananyofficialaction.
There are tweaks to the system the sport could make to encourage the horse-rider partnership: oneisthematterofwhoqualifiestocompetein majorchampionships.
In days long gone, in which it was very easy to participate in the Olympics – there was no qualifying standard, and for most countries it was a matter of scraping together some sort of team – wealthy people could buy Olympic participation just by buying a trained horse. Now, with qualification so much more difficult, this doesn’t happen, yet we still see horses changing hands leading up to the Olympics. This,however,isnowfromadifferent
The sport cannot prevent cruelty: it can only deal with cases if they arise.
Most horses are capable of performing Grand Prix movements, but, I believe, very few have the physical and temperamental abilities to perform them with power, balance and lightness. The sport starts to become undignified when horses (and/or riders) without these talents are pushed for the sake of competitive success towards levels at hich they simply cannot be comfortable Perhaps unchecked ambition is why we sometimes see crude and cruel training; the only way to curb this is for the judges to remain steadfast on the paththey’reonnow–rewardingharmony.The sport is being diligent in the way it’s handling complaints of unsavory work: riders are being suspended, sometimes fined, but this can only ever be a rearguard action. The sport cannot preventcruelty:itcanonlydealwithcasesif
demographic: we see very good riders trying to enhance their medal prospects by riding super horses others have trained. Several in the top 10 in Paris were on such horses, and doing brilliant jobs on them, but we should still ask whether such antics are within the spirit of the Games and tend to promote the horse as a commodityratherthanapartner
Despite current scandals, international level dressage seems to be in a healthy state. The successes of the sport horse breeders has created some athletic horses of amazing ability for our top riders to train to levels we ’ ve never seen before. But there is a dark side to this: quality horses are filtering down the ranks to lower levels of the national scene, and in so doing we ’ re seeing an ever more uneven playing field International dressage has long ceased to be a sport in which someone could trainbeautifullyahorseofmodesttalentandexpecttobesuccessful;thisisbeginningtobethecase at all levels of national dressage also. And since the vast majority of dressage members are on “horses of modest ability”, the presence of super-star horses is creating an ever-increasing disincentiveforthemajoritytocompete. Ifwe’renotcarefulwe’llhaveasportwithathrivinghead butnobasetosupportit.
Bill Noble trained at the Spanish Riding School and was head rider at the Fulmer School of Equitation
He is perhaps most famous here in New Zealand for having been Mark Todd's dressage instructor, but Bill has competed successfully on his own horses, winning the NZ Horse of the Year Grand Prix de dressage five times on three different horses.
ON HORSES IN SPORT
Alison Franklin
“We are responsible forever, for that which we have tamed”
-Antoine
de Saint-Exupéry
WhenthemodernOlympicsbegan,horseswere a vital part of the military. The different codes evolvedfromthetrainingrequiredtoproducea horse fit to partner military personnel on the battlefield. Horses remained important to the army long after they served little practical purpose, however, because the old guard understood “there is something about the outsideofahorsethatisgoodfortheinsideofa man ” .
Equestrian sport has evolved with society and war horses are a thing of the past, but Churchill’s old adage still rings true. Horses bringwiththemimportantlessonsaboutour
essential puniness as individual creaturesattempting to dominate forces greater than ourselves is a fools’ errand. We are all part of a greaterwhole
To work effectively with horses we need to practice compassion and humility and the Paris Olympics offered some shining examples: the SJ riders who retired their horses when the ride wasn’tgoingwellandHenrikvon Eckermann patting King Edward when he caughtupwithhimafterhisdramatictumble
The Olympics also showcased the resilience of ridersandhorses;whowasn’tcheeringfor
Shane Rose, having recovered from painful injuryearlierintheyear?OrLauraCollett,blind in one eye after a fall some years ago but carrying on to win a team gold medal Riders like this demonstrate that with the help of our equine friends we can overcome significant challenges. And of course the more we learn to appreciate the horse, the better we learn to acceptourselvesandothers,too.
Horses bring an extra dimension to sport, lending their athleticism and beauty to elevate the endeavour. Their wonderful “otherness” transcends the human plane to incorporate our natural world. Humans tamed horses around 5000 years ago, we remain responsible for them now. Banning horses from sport does not allow us to dodge that responsibility and risk pushing horses even further to the fringes of society, where lack of attention and value bring with themseriousdangerforourequinefriends.
Cancel culture is not the answer. Removing problems from the public eye doesn’t address underlyingissues.
We need to be more connected to the natural world, not less - more compassionate and humble, not accusatory and proud - more resilient and pragmatic, less quick to throw the babyoutwiththebathwater.
Animal welfare groups demand less interaction with animals, but perhaps by enhancing and promoting our interaction with them, we can encourage humanity to connect more to the natural world and its seasons and rhythms. Ultimately, horses remind us that we belong to the earth; a vital nexus in an increasingly digital andmechanisedworld.
Horses are precious Our relationship with themisworthfightingfor.
“It is only with the heart that we see rightly, for that which is essential is invisible to the eye ”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Alison Franklin has ridden all her life. She completed a BSc and MSc at Massey University withathesisinvestigatingtheKaimanawahorses (a New Zealand population of feral horses) Her great interest in animal behaviour informs her work with her own competition horses (eventing, showjumping and dressage) as well as thehorsesandridersthatshecoaches
Gold medal winner Hans Moser, on “Hummer” Gold medal winner Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, on “TSF Dalera BB”
In 1986, eminent dressage scholar Dr Henri van Schaik felt gloomy about the way things weregoingforcompetitivedressage.
“Since 1969, having twice visited Wolfsburg, twice Aachen and Goodwood and gone to the Olympic dressage championships in Bromont, Moscow and Los Angeles and having read the comments about thebigmeetingsbytheexpertsinEnglish,FrenchandGermanmagazines,Icannotsaythat,measured by the standards in the F.E.I. rules, what has been presented was very good. Often I have the impression of a downward trend. It seems to me that the main reason for this poor showing lies in the difficulties of the tests. There was a time when one spoke about classical or academic equitation: what we see now looks more like acrobatic equitation. One gets the impression that those who put these tests together do not try to compose a coherent whole, with artistic value. It looks as if they have the preconception that difficulties have to be created, in the same way that the builder of a show-jumping course purposely creates difficulties. The present F.E.I. dressage tests consist of some very difficult movements, strung together one way or another, leaving little room for the grace, beauty and charm thatcorrectdressageshouldexhibit.”
This article compares a grand prix test from the golden age of competitive dressage (1948, when General Decarpentry was Ground Jury President) and the modern day (2024); what has changed? Is the 2024 test markedly more difficult, as van Schaik was already worried about in 1986? Was van Schaik right to suggest that this increase in difficulty has been at theexpenseof“grace,beautyandcharm”? Inshort
Should the FEI make Grand Prix test easier?
1-5
The first difference is the entry‘canter’ in 1948, but ‘collected canter’ in 2024. Then a halt, but in 1948 the riders broke into a rising ‘ordinary’ trot and continued in rising trot through an extended trot, a collected trot, riding single-handed and another extended trot. Only at this point was a collected seated trot required By 2024, a collected trot was required immediately; there is no longer any mention of an ‘ordinary’ trot, rising or riding single-handed - just collected trot and extended trot followed by half-pass to the right, half-pass to the left and another collected trot. In Paristhissectionfinishedwithahaltandfivestepsofreinback(amovementthatdoesn’tappearin 1948untils20)followedimmediatelybyacollectedtrot
6
At this point in the test in 1948 riders were required to separate their reins, before riding alternate 6mvoltestotherightandtheleft. In2024,thiswasreplacedbyanotherextendedtrot.
7-8
In1948,riders-stillincollectedtrot-hadtoridethelengthofthearenawithahalfpassright,then left and then right before coming back to a walk in to C and an ‘ordinary’ walk at C. This was replacedin2024byapassagefollowedbyatransitioninto12-15stepsofpiaffe.
9-17
In 1948, riders changed hands and extended the walk before riding down the centre line in a collected walk. Then followed a demi-pirouette to the right and haunches-in. Then ‘ordinary’ walk, followed by collected walk, a demi-pirouette to the left and haunches-in before returning to ‘ordinary’walk In2024,ridershadtoridepiaffe-passage-piaffe,beforeridingforwardsinpassage Thenanextendedwalkandacollectedwalkbeforereturningtopassage,thenanother12-15stepsof piaffebeforeridingforwardsinpassageagain.
18-20
At this point in the test in 1948, the horses were asked for their first collected canter, before returning to ‘ordinary’ walk. Then a halt, three steps of rein back, four steps forward and then six steps of rein back followed by a transition to a collected canter. In 2024 this section also began with a collected canter but was followed by nine flying changes every second stride, followedbyanextendedcanter.
21-22
In 1948, a change of hand and extended canter, before coming back to a collected canter on the same leg A change of leg, then a change of hand and another extended canter before ending in collected canter. In 2024, this section required a flying change of leg in collected canter, followedbyfivehalf-passeswithflyingchangesoflegateverychangeofdirection.
1948 2024
23-26
In 1948, this section consisted of a canter pirouette to the left followed by a flying change, then a pirouette to the right, also followed by a flying change. By 2024, this had become 15 one-time changes,followedbythecanterpirouettes.
In 1948, the horses were asked for five flying changes every four strides, then seven every two strides and finally 15 one time changes before finishing with an extended walk and the salute. In Paris this year, extended trot and collected trot were followed by passage and 12-15 steps of piaffe before halting for the salute. Section 33 in 1948 required the judges to rate “correctness” in the position and the seat of the rider and “discretion” in the aids used. The “collective mark” in 2024 was for the judges’ general impression, that is the harmonious presentation of the rider/horse combination,therider’spositionandseatanddiscreet andeffective influenceoftheaids)
Theintroductionofpiaffeandpassage,theshortertimeallowedforthetest(sixandahalfminutes in 2024 - 13 in 1948) and the consistent difficulty of the movements all adds to a very demanding physical test. In 1948 the climax of the test, the one-time flying changes, came at the end of the testafteragradualcrescendo. By2024,thegrandfinalemovementsofpassage-piaffe-passagehad alreadybeenperformed-twice! YettheFEItodayseemstoexpectlessofjudges-thereferenceto “correctness”hasgoneandthecriteriaformarksismoreproscriptive
A move back towards the 1948 test might therefore require greater understanding from the judges but ask less of the riders and horses. And perhaps, just as van Schaik suggested, by asking less, the FEIwouldallowridersandhorsestodomore
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Canterbury A&P Show 14-16 November 2024 - 3 day staticdisplayofbreedsinpensforthepublictoviewplus ongoing active demonstrations (ridden, training, in hand, obstacle course, and trainer on site Abi Ricketts doing natural horsemanship demonstrations). Must attend Canterburyforall3daysifonthebreeddisplay.
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Displaysandshowclassareopentopurebreedapproved rare breed horses only. Please enquire via Rare Horse Society of NZ facebook page or by emailing liselle@silvercreatecom
