September/October 2022 USDF Connection

Annual Youth Issue September/October 2022

Official Publication of the United States Dressage Federation

Miki Yang and Donovan

Christine Traurig on Training the Young Horse (p. 18) Careers for Dressage Enthusiasts (p. 36)

Be as one

...the secret to ignite your dressage performance

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USDF CONNECTION

The Official Publication of the United States Dressage Federation EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Stephan Hienzsch (859) 271-7887 • stephh1enz@usdf.org EDITOR Jennifer O. Bryant (610) 344-0116 • jbryant@usdf.org

An official property of the United States Dressage Federation

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Hilary M. Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS EDITORIAL ADVISORS Margaret Freeman (NC), Anne Gribbons (FL), Roberta Williams (FL), Terry Wilson (CA) TECHNICAL ADVISORS Janine Malone, Lisa Gorretta, Elisabeth Williams

YourDressage delivers exclusive dressage stories, editorial, and education, relevant to ALL dressage enthusiasts and is your daily source for dressage!

Look for these featured articles online at YourDressage.org

SENIOR PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR Emily Koenig (859) 271-7883 • ekoenig@usdf.org GRAPHIC & MULTIMEDIA COORDINATOR Katie Lewis (859) 271-7881 • klewis@usdf.org ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE Danielle Titland (720) 300-2266 • dtitland@usdf.org

USDF OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE BOARD PRESIDENT GEORGE WILLIAMS 421 Park Forest Way, Wellington, FL 33414 (937) 603-9134 • president@usdf.org VICE PRESIDENT KEVIN REINIG, 6907 Lindero Lane, Rancho Murieta, CA 95683 (916) 616-4581 • vicepresident@usdf.org SECRETARY MARGARET FREEMAN 200 Aurora Lane, Tryon, NC 28782 (828) 859-6723 • secretary@usdf.org

EDUCATION “2022 USDF Handler Clinic” Go behind the scenes at the recent clinic at Hilltop Farm, Inc. which focused on handling sport horses for competition and inspection.

COMPETITION “The Best $1 Purchase Ever” A rider in Region 6 shares about unexpectedly finding her dream horse, an American Warmblood, for the price of just one dollar.

ACHIEVEMENT “Discovering Her Roots”

A Region 8 rider stumbled across a Morgan on PetFinder, and shares about her journey to find out about her new best friend’s past.

COMMUNITY “50 Years of Intention”

An adult re-rider finally made her vision come true of owning a mythical Friesian after 50 years of dreaming of one.

It’s YourDressage, be a part of it!

Visit https://yourdressage.org/ for all these stories & much more!

TREASURER LORRAINE MUSSELMAN 7538 NC 39 Hwy, Zebulon, NC 27497 (919) 218-6802 • treasurer@usdf.org

REGIONAL DIRECTORS REGION 1 DC, DE, MD, NC, NJ, PA, VA BETTINA G. LONGAKER 8246 Open Gate Road, Gordonsville, VA 22942 (540) 832-7611 • region1dir@usdf.org REGION 2 IL, IN, KY, MI, OH, WV, WI DEBBY SAVAGE 7011 cobblestone Lane, Mentor, OH 44060 (908) 892-5335 • region2dir@usdf.org REGION 3 AL, FL, GA, SC, TN SUSAN BENDER 1024 Grand Prix Drive, Beech Island, SC 29842 (803) 295-2525 • region3dir@usdf.org REGION 4 IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD ANNE SUSHKO 1942 CliFFord Street, Dubuque, IA 52002 (563) 580-0510 • region4dir@usdf.org REGION 5 AZ, CO, E. MT, NM, UT, W. TX, WY HEATHER PETERSEN 22750 County Road 37, Elbert, CO 80106 (303) 648-3164 • region5dir@usdf.org REGION 6 AK, ID, W. MT, OR, WA NOAH RATTNER 25033 SW Pacific Hwy, Sherwood, OR 97140 (503) 449-1274 • region6dir@usdf.org REGION 7 CA, HI, NV CAROL TICE 31895 Nicolas Road, Temecula, CA 92591 (714) 514-5606 • region7dir@usdf.org REGION 8 CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT HELEN VAN DER VOORT 8 Boulevard West, ph4, Pelham, NY 10803 (917) 834-2635 • region8dir@usdf.org REGION 9 AR, LA, MS, OK, TX BESS BRUTON 5696 Piper Lane, College Station, TX 77845 (662) 702-9854 • region9dir@usdf.org

AT-LARGE DIRECTORS ACTIVITIES COUNCIL SUE MANDAS 9508 Bridlewood Trail, Dayton, OH 45458 (937) 272-9068 • ald-activities@usdf.org ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL BARBARA CADWELL 324 Benjamin Street, Fernandina Beach, FL (715) 350 1967 • ald-administrative@usdf.org TECHNICAL COUNCIL SUE MCKEOWN 6 Whitehaven Lane, Worcester, MA 01609 (508) 459-9209 • ald-technical@usdf.org USDF Connection is published bimonthly by the United States Dressage Federation, 4051 Iron Works Parkway, Lexington, KY 40511. Phone: 859/971-2277. Fax: 859/971-7722. E-mail: usdressage@usdf.org, Web site: www. usdf.org. USDF members receive USDF Connection as a membership benefit, paid by membership dues.

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Excluding advertisements, all photos with mounted riders must have safety head gear or USEF-approved competition hat. USDF assumes no responsibility for the claims made in advertisements. Statements of fact and opinion are those of the experts consulted and authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the policy of USDF. The publishers reserve the right to reject any advertising deemed unsuitable for USDF, as well as the right to reject or edit any manuscripts received for publication. USDF assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. All materials must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Questions about your subscription or change in address? Contact USDF Membership Department, 859/971-2277, or usdressage@usdf.org.

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2 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

USDF Connection 42

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022

Volume 24, Number 3

Columns 4 Inside USDF

For the Record

By Bess Bruton

6

Ringside

Nature vs. Nurture

By Jennifer O. Bryant

Departments 18

Clinic

The Theoretical Genius

By Beth Baumert

22

Free Rein

Moving Forward

By Hilary Moore Hebert

24

Rider

Fitness Beyond the Saddle

By Jennifer Mellace

32

By Penny Hawes

Features

36 42 50

GMO

Good Officers Are Hard to Find

60

My Dressage

Off the Ledge

By Katherine Walcott

Forward Transitions

Not all horse-related jobs involve riding and training.

Meet seven successful professionals who turned their dressage passions into unique horse-industry careers.

By Emily Esterson

Dressage Dynasties In these families, horses are the tie that binds

By Sue Weakley

Meet the Candidates Get to know who’s nominated for USDF Executive Board office this year

Basics 8 Contact 10 Sponsor Spotlight 11 Collection 56 Rider’s Market

On Our Cover Young rider Miki Yang (with Donovan at the 2022 CHIO Aachen) shares the love of horses and dressage with her mother, rider and high-performance horse owner Akiko Yamazaki.

Story, p. 42. Photo by Taylor Pence/US Equestrian.

58 USDF Connection Submission Guidelines 58 USDF Office Contact Directory 59 Advertising Index

USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

3

Inside USDF For the Record In charting dressage’s future, it’s important to remember who came before us

By Bess Bruton, USDF Region 9 Director

I

DO YOU REMEMBER? Among the Region 9 members at a 1995 dressage symposium in Florida were the late inaugural Region 9 director Rebecca Snell (front row, right) and current regional director Bess Bruton (standing, left)

Region 9 director. The letter reads: Hi, I’m Bess Bruton. I served as Region 9 director from 2008-2012 under the name Bess Reineman. I’m serving as RD again as of August 2021, having stepped in for Sherry Guess, who had to resign due to family health issues.

I grew up in a rural town in east Texas, where my family owned a ranch. Horses were a way of life in our community. Everyone in my family rode, as did my neighbors.

Some of my fondest memories are of summers spent riding the back dirt roads with friends, and of the annual two-day Box Creek Trail Ride, where over 200 horses and riders, mules, and wagons would travel 15 miles, camping overnight and ending with a parade. As a child I admired the trail bosses, who were the best horsemen. From catching a runaway horse or wagon to helping someone who fell off or whose tack broke, the trail bosses were prepared for anything.

Helping others is still a common

4 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

thread in my life. It is the reason I wanted to join the USDF Executive Board. I wanted to have a role in monitoring and shaping the sport of dressage, and to be a resource for the USDF members in Region 9.

If you are reading this 50 years from now and you are interested in dressage’s past and have an eye toward the future of our sport, I will have accomplished my goal.

That is the message I hope to leave our sport and our region. My wish is that a child of today with a love for horses will someday carry on this love and dedication through the excitement of connecting to a magnificent animal that has shaped the lives of humans for eons.

Thanks for being curious, and for keeping these historical records.

Fifty years from now, another regional director may be looking through a box, wondering about who came before them.

COURTESY OF BESS BRUTON

t is the year 2072, and USDF’s new Region 9 director is rummaging through boxes passed down from previous regional directors. The barely visible lettering on one dusty box reads Region 9 2021-2022.

Inside are file folders, a Region 9 Omnibus, a Great American/USDF Region 9 Championships program, a 2022 USDF Member Guide, an FEI North American Youth Championships guidebook, some USDF convention mementos, and a few faded photographs.

The file folders are labeled T-Shirt Art Orders & Sales, Request for Payment & Deposit Forms and Receipts; Region 9 Financial Statements; Junior/ Young Rider, Regional Meetings, USDF Convention, Championships, Executive Board Meetings; Grant Applications, and Regional Awards.

The Region 9 Omnibus is like a time capsule. A page in the front lists that year’s regional board members, followed by lists of regional award winners, advertisers, competitions, GMOs, dressage test, officials, and more. The championships program book is another “frozen in time” resource containing the names of that year’s competitors, volunteers, sponsors, and others who helped to make the 2022 show a success.

The 2072 regional director reads the names with a sense of wonder, realizing that these were the people who were working to build the future of dressage when they were just a small child.

At the very bottom of the box the regional director finds an envelope.

Inside is a letter from the 2022

Ringside Nature vs. Nurture Is the love of horses inherited or acquired?

parent may indeed have a leg up in future equestrian endeavors.

Fortunately for the rest of us, early exposure isn’t the only path to success or the only way to catch the horse bug. I’m sure there are countless riders who loved horses as kids, had no opportunity to ride, and only years later had the means and the time to seek out lessons or to buy a horse. (Many of these, of course, are the adult amateurs who underpin our sport.)

My own equine involvement falls somewhere in the middle ground. I’d never given horses a second thought until a German girl appeared in my fifth-grade class one day. Julia’s father had been transferred to the US for his job, and she was horse-crazy. I must have been pretty good with the English language even back then, as I got assigned the task of tutoring Julia in English. Soon I met Julia’s collection of Breyer horses and was thumbing through her horse books.

Before long, our respective parents were being pestered for riding lessons, and we began as “up-downs” at a local hunter/jumper stable.

Today, Julia is completely out

6 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

of horses; in stereotypical fashion, boys replaced horses as her primary interest when she hit her teen years.

I, meanwhile—well, here I am, talking to you from the pages of this equestrian magazine.

As it happens, my own mother went through a horse phase as a youngster, taking riding lessons and even caring for a neighbor’s horse for a couple of summers. But her involvement was long over by the time I came along, and I don’t think I would ever have gotten the horse bug had Julia not entered my life.

I suppose the takeaway from these stories, if there is one, is that we never know when or how our passion for horses and dressage may pique someone’s interest. And who knows what kind of rider, trainer, horse owner, judge, or even magazine editor that person might grow up to become? The horse world tends to be insular, and we’re not the greatest at outreach beyond our own equestrian spheres. But take a look at the photo of some kids at this year’s Breyerfest, getting a chance to meet an actual dressage horse (p. 11), and you’ll understand how important these encounters are in lighting that spark for the next generation.

Is there someone in your life—of any age—who might like to “meet and greet” your horse, visit your farm, attend a dressage show, or even admire your collection of Breyers and horse books? You never know where that might lead.

Jennifer O. Bryant, Editor @JenniferOBryant

MICHAEL BRYANT

I

s there a “horse gene” lurking somewhere in dressage enthusiasts’ DNA? Judging by some of the parentoffspring pairs profiled in this issue (“Dressage Dynasties,” p. 42), it might appear that way. Dressage professional Yvonne Barteau’s children are all involved in the horse industry. Jennifer Baumert, daughter of trainer, author, and The Dressage Foundation CEO Beth Baumert, is a US Pan Am Games medalist. Betsy Steiner and daughter Jessie Steiner together operate Steiner Dressage. Ditto Jana Wagner and Emily Wagner Miles and their Wally Woo Farm. USDF president George Williams and his wife, USDF FEI Youth Committee chair Roberta Williams, are parents to dressage pro Noel Williams. And Grand Prix-level rider and highperformance horse owner Akiko Yamazaki is mom to daughters Miki Yang (dressage) and Emi Yang (vaulting).

So there’s your proof, right? Well, not quite. Because these examples tell only part of the story.

In several cases, other children in these equestrian families wanted nothing to do with horses or dressage.

In some, a person was bitten by the horse bug seemingly out of nowhere.

I think that exposure has a lot to do with shaping a person’s interests and passions. If a parent rides, the child will almost certainly grow up around horses. I know of several moms who bought “just in case” ponies for their kids, hoping that the youngsters would want to ride— and riding is definitely one of those sports in which it can pay to start young. So a child of a horse-loving

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Contact Empathy for in-the-Saddle Woes I read the article “Rider: When There’s Too Much Thunder Down Under” in the May/June issue. I definitely related to this article! I am 47 and have been riding consistently and professionally for over 30 years. I had never had any problems with chafing until the last couple of years. It started sporadically at first, then became much more regular. I tried all the suggestions this article mentioned—new riding pants, new underwear, a strong look at my position, Vaseline, Desitin, anti-chafing sticks, etc. I could not find a solution, and it was horrible.

I finally sought out my gynecologist for advice. It took some trial and error, but we found one cream and one ointment that I now have to apply twice weekly to keep most of it at bay. She believes it is related to aging and dryness “down under.”

I have also used waterproof tape successfully at times. Those are just a couple of extra suggestions you might want to mention to your readers. I know how frustrating this situation can be!

Heather King Knightdale, North Carolina May/June 2022

Official Publication of the United States Dressage Federation

Overcoming Adversity Riders Share Their Stories (p. 40) Get Your Horse Competition-Fit with Dr. Hilary Clayton (p. 34) Show-Ring Look Book (p. 46)

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HOSPITALITY SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY

Show your support to competitors and event staff as a US Dressage Finals Hospitality Sponsor! Hospitality Sponsors will receive valuable onsite exposure to over four hundred of the top competitors from around the country, as they compete at this showcase event.

Hospitality Sponsorships are available starting at $1,000.

Hospitality Sponsors will receive exposure in the event program and through onsite signage at hospitality events throughout the week. Additionally, Hospitality Sponsors have the opportunity to include a promotional gift item in the competitor gift bags. Items must be received by USDF no later than October 7, 2022 to be included in the competitor gift bags.

For more information about Hospitality or other sponsorship opportunities, contact: Chelsey Burris cburris@usdf.org (859) 271-7873

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Collection Bits and Pieces from USDF and the World of Dressage ★ Remembering Para-Dressage Pioneer Hope Hand ★ Know the Consecutive Levels for Competition & Awards ★ 7/15/22, 3:45 PM

PHOTO COURTESY OF LAUREN CHUMLEY

https://online.fliphtml5.com/sgoqo/gddl/

Page 1 of 1

IN THE FRAME Breyer model horses—most of us know and love them. At the 2022 extravaganza Breyerfest, held in July at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, fans gathered for meet-and-greets and “autographs” (we’re not sure how that last part worked) with this year’s Celebration Horse, Melissa Dowling’s Grand Prix-level German Riding Pony Nikolas (Novalis x Classic Dancer), who’s now immortalized as a Breyer model.

Along with his stablemate the dressage/eventing Morgan gelding Avatar’s Jazzman (also owned by Dowling and himself a Breyer model since 2020), “Niko” was chaperoned by their rider/trainer, Lauren Chumley, of Pittstown, New Jersey. Inset photo shows the 2022 Breyerfest program cover, featuring Niko and Chumley.

USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

11

Collection OBITUARY Paralympian, United States ParaEquestrian Association (USPEA) founder, and fierce para-dressage advocate Hope C. Hand died June 12 of pancreatic cancer at her home in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. She was 73.

ALWAYS SUNNY: Hope Hand at the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy

Although petite in stature, Hand was both a charismatic and commanding presence in her wheelchair, necessitated because she was born with the spinal-cord defect spina bifida and was paralyzed from the waist down. She was frank and witty regarding her physical disability—her e-mail handle was “Wheeler.”

To say that a disability didn’t hold a person back is a cliché, but in Hand’s case the saying was true in spades.

She earned a degree in accounting and mechanical engineering from Temple University in Philadelphia, and she had a long career with the Internal Revenue Service, becoming a corporate tax auditor before she retired in 2009.

Hand was active in the sport of para-equestrian dressage years before it attained the prominence it enjoys today. She was an alternate for the 1996 US Atlanta Paralympic para-dressage squad, and she was

the team captain at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. She won a bronze medal at the 1999 World Championships, and gold and bronze at the 1997 British Invitational.

In 2010, after her retirement from competition, Hand established the USPEA, and she served as the organization’s president until her death. She recognized that an equestrian discipline needs the gravitas of its own dedicated organization, and under her leadership the USPEA became the US Equestrian para-equestrian affiliate organization. Further raising the organization’s stature, Hand also was chair or vice-chair of the USEF Para-Dressage Sports Committee and the USDF Para-Dressage Committee, and through the years she served on the FEI Para-Dressage Technical Committee, the USEF board of directors, and the PATH International Advisory Board.

Hand also recognized that it wasn’t enough simply to establish a framework for the para-dressage sport. In order to grow—and to become capable of medaling at international events—US para-dressage would need resources: more coaches, riders, horses, clinics, shows, and funding. That growth and those results became her singular achievement.

By the time of the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, the USEF was beginning to take paradressage seriously. National coach and chef d’équipe Kai Handt was hired that year to begin creating a bona fide national para-dressage program and network of trainers, and high-ranking USEF officials were in the stands in Caen watching Team USA, to Hand’s delight. From that turning point to today, US para-dressage has grown exponentially. There are now designated Para-Dressage Centers of Excellence for training; increased numbers of FEI-recognized para-dressage competitions (CPEDIs) in the US; a certification

12 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

program for para-dressage coaches; USDF year-end awards for paradressage riders; a new chef and program leader, Michel Assouline (whom the USEF headhunted after Assouline led Team Great Britain to unprecedented success); increasing numbers of talented horses and riders; and historic groundbreaking medal finishes. In 2018, Rebecca Hart became the first US para-dressage athlete to medal at a World Equestrian Games. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Team USA won the bronze, its first-ever Paralympic medal; and Roxanne Trunnell—who was and remains the world’s top-ranked paradressage athlete—also took home two individual gold medals.

“I had the incredible privilege of working alongside Hope since the time she formed the USPEA,” said Tina Wentz, the current interim USPEA president and mother of the late para-dressage international competitor Jonathan Wentz. “The board of USPEA and all who knew and loved her will strive to continue her vision of para truly being parallel, with all athletes focused and working together to improve their ability in equestrian sport and life. Hope was a remarkable and irreplaceable individual that I am so thankful to have known as a kindred spirit and friend. And I know she’d say to all of us, ‘Don’t stop now; you must carry on!’”

Hand is survived by her husband, Stanley Hand; her daughter, Amy Cappozzoli; her brother, Charlie Kean; two grandchildren; and her many friends and colleagues.

The USPEA announced that it is creating a Hope Hand Memorial Scholarship Fund, which will be used for direct athlete grants for competition and education. Send donations to the USPEA c/o Ellie Brimmer, USPEA Secretary, 12359 Westhall Pl., Wellington, FL 33414.

—Jennifer O. Bryant

JENNIFER BRYANT

Hope Hand

COMPETITION Consecutive Levels: Know Before You Show The definition of consecutive levels in dressage competition may seem self-evident, but in fact it can be tricky, including as it relates to Adequan®/USDF year-end award standings. Here’s a quick summary of what you need to know.

Start with the rule book. US Equestrian (USEF), which makes the rules for national-level dressage competition, defines dressage consecutive levels in DR 119.2 (the full rule book is online at usef.org). The chart below shows USEF’s consecutivelevels divisions, followed by a list of additional dressage equivalencies.

The FEI levels. One of the most common sources of confusion regarding consecutive levels is at the FEI levels. As the chart shows, Intermediate I and Intermediate II are not considered consecutive levels.

Instead, Intermediate A and B are consecutive to Intermediate I, and Intermediate II and Developing Grand Prix are consecutive to Intermediate A and B. Consecutive levels and USDF year-end awards. The following rules apply to USDF year-end awards programs only.

Horse awards: A horse may appear in the Adequan®/USDF year-end awards preliminary standings at a maximum of two consecutive levels within the same competition year. If a horse meets the criteria to be ranked in the final USDF year-end awards standings in more than two levels in the same competition year, then it will be ranked only at the highest level and, if qualified, the next level consecutive to that highest level.

Rider awards: A horse/rider

combination may appear in the Adequan®/USDF year-end awards preliminary standings at a maximum of two consecutive levels within the same competition year. If a combination meets the criteria to be ranked in the final USDF year-end awards standings in more than two levels in the same competition year, then it will be ranked only at the highest level, and if qualified, the next level consecutive to that highest level.

Preliminary standings: Throughout the competition year and prior to the preliminary standings’ being finalized, it is possible that a horse, a horse/rider combination, or both may appear in the preliminary standings at nonconsecutive levels.

Direct rule-specific questions to US Equestrian. Send USDF awards-related queries to awards@usdf.org.

Intro Training Training First

First Second Second Third

Third Fourth Fourth Prix St. Georges & Developing Prix St. Georges

Prix St. Georges & Developing Prix St. Georges Intermediate I

Intermediate I Intermediate A&B

Intermediate A&B Intermediate II & Developing Grand Prix

Intermediate II & Developing Grand prix Grand Prix

All FEI Pony Rider and FEI Children’s tests are equivalent to Second Level.

All FEI Junior Rider tests are equivalent to Third Level.

All FEI Young Rider tests are equivalent to Prix St. Georges.

The USEF Brentina Cup (Young Adult) test and the FEI Young Rider Grand Prix 16-25 test are equivalent to Intermediate II and the Developing Grand Prix.

The USEF Four-Year-Old test is equivalent to First Level.

The FEI Four-Year-Old test is equivalent to First Level.

The FEI Five-Year-Old tests are equivalent to Second Level.

The FEI Six-Year-Old tests are equivalent to Third Level.

The FEI Seven-Year-Old tests are equivalent to Fourth Level.

The equivalency chart does not apply to FEI para-dressage tests.

USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

13

Collection USDF BULLETINS Awards Deadlines and Reminders

2022 USDF yearbook photo-submission deadlines October 7: Rider awards October 28: Year-end awards (first place only).

See the USDF photo-release form for submission instructions.

Year-end awards September 30 is the deadline for: Submitting birthdates for Vintage Cup, adult amateur, and junior/young rider awards Filing Vintage Cup status and verifying adult-amateur status Joining USDF for Breeder of the Year awards Submitting online Rider Performance Award applications Submitting online Horse Performance Certificate applications.

Check Your Scores

Check your scores at USDFScores.com. Contact USDF at scorecorrections@usdf.org or at (859) 971-2277 if you notice an error. The 2022 competition year ends September 30. All corrections must be reported by October 15 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Great American/USDF Regional Championship Competitor Survey

USDF wants to hear from you! Please be sure to complete the electronic evaluation form, which will be e-mailed to competitors following each Regional Championship competition.

2022 US Dressage Finals Information Roundup

Declare and Nominate Hoping to compete at the 2022 US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®? Horse/rider combinations must declare their intention to participate by filing a Declaration of Intent form.

The deadline to declare is midnight the day prior to the first day of your Great American/USDF Regional Championship competition (including any day of open competition before the start of championship classes). You must declare at the level(s) and eligible division(s) in which you intend to compete.

There is no fee to declare. Find the declaration form at usdressagefinals.com/declare.

In addition, nomination (preliminary entry) is required for participation in US Dressage Finals classes. The nomination deadline is midnight, 96 hours after the last day of your Regional Championship. Find the nomination form at usdressagefinals.com/nominate.

See usdressagefinals.com for the prize list and other information.

US Dressage Finals Travel Grants Available US Dressage Finals competitors who reside in one of the applicable states (WA, OR, CA, HI, AK, MT, ID, AZ, NV, UT, WY, NM, CO) are eligible to apply for a travel grant. A rider may apply for a grant with each eligible horse entered.

To be considered for a grant, a grant request is required to be submitted with the entry by checking the grantrequest box. For more program details, see the prize list.

US Dressage Finals to Offer High-Score Breed Awards The popular high-score breed awards will again be offered at the 2022 US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®. Participating breed and performance registries will award two high-score awards in both the adultamateur and open divisions: one award for the national levels (Training through Fourth Levels combined) and one award for the FEI levels (Prix St. Georges through Grand Prix combined). There will also be one high-score award in the junior/young rider division for the national levels (Training through Fourth Levels combined). To be eligible, register your horse for the awards when you enter the competition. Learn more at usdressagefinals.com.

14 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

FINANCIAL AID

JOHN BORYS PHOTOGRAPHY; COURTESY OF THE DRESSAGE FOUNDATION

Inaugural Jane Savoie Grant Awarded; YR Dream Program Applications Open Adult-amateur dressage rider Denise Jostes of Minnesota is the inaugural recipient of a grant from The Dressage Foundation’s (TDF) Jane Savoie Fund for Adult Amateurs.

With her horse, Foundex, Jostes, a USDF bronze and silver medalist and a USDF L graduate, will receive $5,000 to train for six weeks in Florida this winter with FEI-level trainer Brian Hafner, the 2016 recipient of TDF’s Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize.

The fund was established in 2021 in memory of Jane Savoie, an international trainer and clinician whose books, clinics, talks, and online offerings endeared her to riders everywhere, and IN HER SPIRIT: Adult-amateur rider Denise especially to Jostes is the inaugural Jane Savoie grant adult amateurs. recipient The grants represent Savoie’s belief that financial help of this magnitude will enable the recipients to achieve knowledge and training that would otherwise be financially out of reach.

“It was heartwarming to see the number of applicants for this grant in Jane’s memory,” said her husband, Rhett Savoie. “This grant means a lot to me personally, as well.

Thank you all for your support.”

Applicants must be adult-amateur riders of any age who are training any breed of horse at Fourth Level or Prix St. Georges, and who reflect Jane Savoie’s ethos of developing each horse to its potential. Learn more at dressagefoundation.org.

Pivoting from its longtime tradition of escorting a small group of youth on a behind-the-scenes tour of European dressage VIPs and shows, in 2022 TDF changed its Young Rider Dream Program destination to Wellington, Florida, on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With global travel remaining uncertain, TDF has decided to return to Wellington for 2023, January 24-29.

The Dream Program was created in 2000 by Olympian Michael Poulin, who conceived of it as a trip to Europe for four top US young riders. Most of the 69 participants to date have become dressage professionals, including 2005 participant and Olympian Adrienne Lyle.

The 2023 Dream Program is a fully-funded opportunity

for young people aged 18-22 who are riding at Third Level and above and who have never trained or competed in Wellington.

Chaperoned by a dressage pro, participants will meet top riders, coaches, and judges FLORIDA DREAMING: 2022 YR Dream and will attend Program participants at the Adequan® Global Adequan® Global Dressage Festival grounds in Wellington Dressage Festival competitions.

The deadline for applications is October 7, 2022. Learn more at dressagefoundation.org.

THE NEAR SIDE

USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

15

NOVEMBER 10–13, 2022 • KENTUCKY HORSE PARK

featuring $120,000 in prize money $50,000 in US Dressage Finals Travel Grant Funds Available To help alleviate some of the financial burden for those traveling the greatest distances to the US Dressage Finals, USDF is making up to $50,000 in travel grant funds available to eligible competitors.

FOLLOW THE ACTION ON

FOUR IMPORTANT STEPS AND DEADLINES 1. Declare – Complete a Declaration of Intent for each level and division for which the horse/ rider combination may qualify. usdressagefinals.com/declare. Horse/rider combinations must Declare by midnight on the day prior to the first day of their Regional Championship competition (including any open class days before the start of the championship classes).

2. Qualify at one of the Great American/USDF Regional Championships.

3. Nominate – Nomination is required for participation in US Dressage Finals classes, whether qualifying through placing in a Regional Championship class or by Wild Card Eligibility. usdressagefinals.com/nominate The Nomination (preliminary entry) deadline is midnight, 96 hours after the last championship day of your Regional Championship.

The Nomination fee paid will be applied to the total amount due at Closing Date. Nominated entries that do not receive an invitation will receive a full refund of nomination fees paid minus the $10 processing fee per nominated class.

Priority for all stabling requests (including stabling in heated Alltech Barn and for double stalls) will be based on the date of receipt of the completed entry and allotted per region.

4. Enter – Entry Opening Date is is September 8, 2022. Entry Closing Date is

October 17, 2022 midnight Eastern Time. The nomination and entry processes can be completed concurrently.

For additional qualifying, declaration, nomination, and entry information visit

usdressagefinals.com

Clinic CONVERSATIONS ON TRAINING

The Theoretical Genius For sheer dressage know-how and practical expertise, it’s hard to top Christine Traurig.

She shares her vast volume of wisdom about training young horses. First of two parts.

I

t was March 2022 when I attended the US Equestrian/USDF Dressage Emerging Young Horse Clinic featuring Christine Traurig.

I consider the German-born Californian a theoretical genius—my

favorite kind of clinician. Not only does Christine possess that depth of knowledge, but she can also apply it, having developed many horses through the FEI levels. And she is no stranger to the pressures and

BRINGING UP BABY: Those fortunate enough to study under Christine Traurig receive invaluable assistance in developing their young horses. Riding in her March Young Horse Clinic in Florida was Jordan LaPlaca, Ledyard, Connecticut, on Gold Play (Grey Flannell – Shangra La, Sir Donnerhall II), a seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Nancy Hutson.

18 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

rewards of elite competition: At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, her score aboard Etienne secured the bronze medal for Team USA. I had eagerly anticipated the Young Horse clinic, sponsored by Markel and held at the Vinios family’s elegant Five Rings Farm in Wellington, Florida; but as a spectator the experience was a bit frustrating.

These clinics are intended to help the riders and their mounts, not symposiums designed primarily to educate an audience, so the instruction during the lessons is private.

I strained my compromised ears to gather as much as I could, but sometimes I missed important details. So later I found the opportunity to ask Christine to elaborate on the points she had made to the riders.

Christine was eager to talk because she loves dressage training theory as much as I do, and because she’s passionate about her job as the USEF national dressage emerging young-horse coach, a position she has held since 2015. For the past seven years, she has been meeting promising young dressage horses all over the country and helping them to realize their full potential—ideally, into medal-winning horses for the United States. I wondered if there are qualities she loves to see in those young horses, so I asked her.

Beth Baumert: What do you love to see when you meet a young horse for the first time—whether he’s four, five, six, or seven years old?

Christine Traurig: When a horse first enters the arena, I love to see

STACYLYNNEPHOTO.COM

By Beth Baumert

that he can walk into his new environment with confidence, and the rider gives his horse the feeling, You are safe. When a horse takes a deep breath and walks in on a long rein, that is a statement in itself—about the way the horse has been started and developed in his training. His confidence is a reflection of his trust in the rider. I love seeing that as a first impression.

That said, it is age-related. It is typically harder with a four-yearold and easier with a five-year-old.

It should definitely be easy with a six-year-old and very secure with a seven-year-old.

Once the work starts we have to again consider the different ages, but with a very young horse, I like to see that the horse is comfortable with a rider on his back. Then that develops further though the age groups. When the rider gathers up the reins and starts the work—most likely at the trot, to loosen up the horse—I love to see that the horse

is comfortable within the tempo that the rider establishes in relation to the horse’s natural way of going.

That is, a hotter horse might be in an easy tempo and a lazy horse in a bit fresher tempo, but we want to see that the horse is mentally comfortable in whatever is his working tempo, with an acceptance of contact. I love to see that.

And, finally, I love to see a pure rhythm in all three gaits. Rhythm and regularity are a statement about being comfortable, relaxed, and accepting of the so-far-established basic contact.

On the other hand, when horses get tense, the rhythm is easily interrupted. When I see a horse that is unsteady and hesitant to react to the leg so the rider can’t establish a tempo, then I know that something went wrong at home in establishing a basic concept: tempo to contact in suppleness and relaxation.

Sometimes, however, the horse comes in and is really on edge, and

CONSUMMATE TEACHER: Christine Traurig

that might be temperament-related.

We all sometimes have to deal with temperament issues and need to teach the horse to channel his energy into relaxation, trust in the rider, and comfort in the environment. [

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USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

19

Clinic Do you see common problems associated with training young horses?

Yes. It really concerns me that people often misunderstand the principle of the horse’s poll being up.

When riders and trainers want the horse’s poll up, it should never be at the expense of the horse’s ability to work from the hind legs over the back and through the neck toward the bit, using properly developed muscles without negative tension (tight, tense, and contracted, with resistance). The elevation of the poll is relative. That is, the degree that the poll is up is a natural result of, and is relative to, the engagement and throughness of the horse.

Self-carriage involves the whole horse, not just the silhouette of the head and neck. True self-carriage takes time to develop. Getting there faster is not better!

Bringing the horse’s poll up doesn’t create engagement or prevent the horse from being on the forehand. Quite the contrary: It often creates an inverted back with the hind legs out behind.

With a manually elevated high poll, the next mistake that riders often make is pressuring the horse into a connection. They think, Now my horse is up and out to the contact. The rider shouldn’t fabricate a silhouette and maintain it through pressure; that is a false concept of self-carriage with engagement and connection.

When you ride a horse long and low, it doesn’t mean that the horse is on the forehand or without a connection. More so, it depends on the relationship of the hind legs, through the arc of the topline, to the bit. In our sport, it is always about the hind legs and the connection. So when you ride your horse longer, lower, deeper, and rounder, you should always want to feel relatively closed-up and active hind legs, which contribute to forward propulsion as well as to a degree of self-carriage.

Can you say a few words about basic self-carriage?

When you teach your horse basic self-carriage, it means that he learns to maintain his head and neck in a self-maintained position, in whatever longitudinal position to which the rider felt the neck needed to be adjusted. Basic self-carriage means that the rider’s hands do not carry the horse’s head and neck. A good rider with feel and timing should recognize when he is carrying the horse’s head and neck.

Looking at a horse, we can tell that he carries more weight over his front end than over his hind end, simply because the front end (front legs, shoulders, neck, and head) is The rider shouldn’t fabricate a silhouette and maintain it through pressure.

–Christine Traurig heavier than the hind end. Depending on the horse’s conformation, the ratio is about 65/35. When you start a young horse, you do not want to encourage and confirm that weightdistribution ratio! When you think about balance in the horse while you develop the topline—in particular, the back and the related position of the neck—go for a 50/50 ratio. Let’s call that basic horizontal balance. A rider with good feel and technique will then automatically determine the appropriate tempo. It’s common in trying to ride “long and low” that a rider chooses too high a tempo, such that the horse is being pushed further onto the forehand and “onto its head.” That is not a good contact, and it is also not a proper stretch to the bit. The horse is simply “on its head.”

After basic self-carriage, engagement and further self-carriage (an increased component of collection) are promoted. This is known as relative elevation of the forehand. Here, of course, transitions and half-halts play an integral role.

20 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

How should the contact feel?

At one point during your clinic, you said, “Steady in the contact should never feel like…” and then I couldn’t hear the punch line.

It should never feel like your hands are holding on, or that they are holding back against the forward energy.

The reins should never feel like steel rods. It should never feel as if the horse runs into the hand so you have something to hold onto.

Contact is first established, then developed to be accepted, and then further educated through the acceptance of the aids (throughness) but also through the education of the rein aids.

Every horse is different. Some are bold by nature, so the feeling is more solid, while some are shy in going to the contact, so the feeling is more delicate.

I like to say that the inside rein feels laterally supple in the contact.

The outside rein feels longitudinally elastic. It feels steady, but it should not feel as if you have something to constantly brace against.

When we talk about evenness in the rein, the reins should feel even in relation to their function—the inside rein laterally supple in contact with the horse’s mouth, the outside rein longitudinally elastic in contact with the mouth. A horse that is even in the reins is supple, well balanced and in self-carriage, straight, and through without tightness or anxiety.

Can you tell us about pushing power and the development of carrying power of the hind legs?

Pushing power and carrying power are encompassed in the terminology of engagement. Engaged hind legs are committed to pushing and carrying while the rider has control over the ratio between the two components; it is not one without the other. When the horse’s hind leg is working, first it reaches toward the center of gravity under his body, pushing through the topline toward the bit. Second, when the hind

leg is on the ground, it takes more weight and stores energy within the bent joints (collection and carrying power) to then release that energy into thrust again (pushing off from coiled-up springs).

How does the rider develop that?

Transitions. Tempo changes. Gymnasticizing the horse on bent lines.

Introducing shoulder-in.

And then there is the sacred word: half-halts! The rider can close the leg into a contact that presents a degree of restraint and is released immediately after. When a horse is learning to understand half-halts, the pushing power is recycled into a degree of carrying power with the help of transitions. That’s why, in our sport, we do transitions over and over. Transitions promote longitudinal suppleness and elasticity, which again have to be preexisting conditions in order for the half-halts to come through to the hind legs and not get stuck in front of the withers or in a dropped back.

Every downward transition cultivates the understanding of half-halts—every single one. Every upward transition rehearses the understanding of pushing power and thrust. You get control of this by really making sure that these transitions both upward and downward (the “gears within the gears”) are forward and that they become smooth and easy, like cutting butter. That again is the proof that you have relaxation or “letting-go-ness” of tension, so everything can flow forward through the body and then be recycled back through the body.

Talk to me more about how the transitions work.

Thrust meets the component of contact. Then, with half-halts and transitions, the energy is recycled back to the hindquarters. That is the reason we ride transitions between working canter and working trot, and later between working canter and medium walk: to ensure

that the horse continues to work through from back to front, and that the downward transition has the component of contact involved.

If the contact stiffens the topline, it eliminates the way the horse uses his back and his hind legs. As the weight shifts back, the horse must maintain the ability and the willingness to thrust forward through the topline to the contact. As the horse progresses in his training, the transitions develop an increase in collection: collected trot-extended trot, piaffe-passage-piaffe, collected canter-extended canter.

What can help the rider with these transitions?

With the young horses, riders must be committed to the tempo they are transitioning from and to, meaning that the horse stays willingly and calmly in front of the rider’s driving aids. In a transition from canter to trot, the rider shouldn’t allow the horse to fade in the canter and go into a trot tempo that lacks forward energy, meaning that the transition

encouraged the horse to get behind the leg. Be committed. Ride working canter to working trot and back to working canter. When you first do canter-trot-canter transitions, understand that they develop longitudinal relaxation and throughness so that the horse lets the aids through.

What identifies the transitions as ideal is the forward nature of both—forward upward and forward downward transitions. These transitions are so important, especially for young horses, and riders don’t do enough of them.

Christine Traurig had so much more to say that we’ll continue our conversation in the next issue, when she’ll talk about the aids and how to create that wonderful balance and feel that she described in this installment.

Meet the Expert

B

eth Baumert is a USDFcertified instructor through Fourth Level, a USDF L program graduate with distinction, and the author of When Two Spines Align: Dressage Dynamics. She currently serves as president of The Dressage Foundation. For many years she owned and operated Cloverlea Dressage in Columbia, Connecticut, and served as the technical editor of Dressage Today magazine. She divides her time between Connecticut and Florida.

Submit your dressage stories, content, and photos to

yourdressage@usdf.org www.yourdressage.org

USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

21

Free Rein Moving Forward Technology is helping to grow our sport and make it more accessible.

For some, it was also a lifesaver during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Y

ears ago, it was an even bigger deal when anything pertaining to the sport of dressage seemed to be changing. I have a core memory of unhappily replacing my last velvet show helmet with a sportier model when the tack store no longer carried the moretraditional option. In those days, the word “modern” was used disparagingly to describe the antithesis of classical training, and “gadgets” were illegal bits and various pulley devices.

and our wi-fi internet connections— technologies that enable us to learn, train, communicate, compete, and grow like never before.

Only a decade ago, when I was working as senior editor at Dressage Today magazine, one of the biggest roadblocks we faced was that many readers did not have access to high-speed internet at all. We were limited in our ability to post how-to videos without written explanation, in the very likely chance that viewers could not stream the large

EDUCATIONAL FREQUENCY: Our electronic devices and internet connections are becoming increasingly essential in learning, teaching, watching, and doing business in the dressage world

My, how times have changed!

Today, a “modern” dressage rider may well be someone who trains classically but with the benefits of technology. Our “gadgets” of choice are likely to be our electronic devices

files on their home computers.

This drove my decision to install high-speed internet in my indoor arena in Maryland, but I soon discovered that I was one of the few lucky equestrian professionals who

22 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

can do this. To this day, most rural Americans do not have access to this technology, and I think it is a huge factor in our ability to grow the sport beyond where we are today.

(I do want to pause for a moment and mention that things like equal opportunities in work, education, health care, and more for all people are much greater reasons to work to get highspeed internet to all. Perhaps, however, our privileged need may become a motivator to help those less fortunate in future endeavors.)

My own access to high-speed internet allowed me to teach my students in Maryland remotely while I was training and showing in Wellington, Florida. The concept was still very new when I started doing this approximately six years ago, and many considered it relatively experimental. Now that remote lessons are more commonplace, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that my students thrived in their long-distance program. My winter trip south didn’t stop my ability to teach, as it traditionally has done for other pros.

What’s more, I was able to pass on to my students everything I was learning in my own training in Florida.

As students grew more accustomed to the technology, it became most convenient to schedule weekday remote lessons around the clients’ schedules and the weather. None of us found joy in the additional costs of travel home for a hectic weekend clinic, where some unfortunate rider got the 7:00 a.m. slot in subzero temperatures. The second winter I spent in Florida, my students encouraged me to shift my weekly flights home to almost none.

On March 6, 2020, everything

SHUTTERSTOCK

By Hilary Moore Hebert

CARMEN ELISA FRANCO

changed. We had already returned to our 22-stall farm in Maryland for the summer when COVID-19 restrictions prohibited nonessential workers from visiting the barn and public schools closed until further notice.

My barn internet and computer became my son’s virtual classroom, and our limited staff juggled the forced roles of barn worker, horse trainer, groom, and owner for every horse on the property. Technology allowed my solitary night checks to stream live on a private barn Facebook feed. Instead of interactive dressage lessons, my evenings involved talking into the void as I dropped hay and checked on each horse. The owners, quarantined in their homes, would often sign on to watch and type messages as their only connection to the outside world.

Days became weeks during the pandemic, and we were unable to host our regular spring clinics and theory courses. Parents of struggling juniors contacted me, asking how my remote lessons might work when kids were stuck at home. In response, I created theory classes (Dressage 101, Equine Communication, Virtual Horse Camp, and so on) through a growing online platform. By the next day, I had hundreds of students signing up from local barns, but also from as far away as Israel and Australia.

Thanks to technology, everyone was just a Zoom call away, and even my barn lounge had a virtual version to host the gatherings we had missed for too long. We all found comfort in new virtual friendships based around our favorite pastime.

Maryland, which was one of the most restrictive states during the pandemic, drove us to leave for Florida earlier in the season, as my son had not been around another child the entire summer of 2020.

I spent almost the entire academic year teaching remote dressage lessons to students at my farm in Maryland while I rode in Florida and my son spent his school days in a learning pod with a small number

of kids. My online theory classes had expanded to more than 1,000 learners, and I hosted countless subsidized clinics and virtual dressage shows to support the community in any way I could. Most important, I was able to stay busy and connected while technology kept me physically separate and safer.

We aren’t out of the weeds as I write this, but if there ever was a silver lining to these horrible years, it was to learn how technology and a willingness to pivot can often solve unfathomable problems. It also showed how strong our sport is and how connected it keeps us, even in the most trying of times.

“Don’t forget your forward,” I always repeat to myself at dressage shows right before the judge rings the bell. And so must we do in all aspects of our journey to improve.

Whether we are live-streaming an international competition to improve our eye or competing in a traditional dressage show, riding in a remote lesson or reading the classics, work on moving forward.

Meet the Columnist

F

EIlevel trainer and competitor Hilary Moore Hebert owns and operates Moore Hebert Dressage at Alsikkan Farm in Germantown, Maryland. She is a USDF bronze, silver, and gold medalist who has been a speaker at the USEF/ USDF Young Rider Graduate Program and a frequent guest on the Dressage Radio Show podcast.

She is also a former senior editor at Dressage Today magazine. Her website is MooreDressage.com.

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USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

23

Rider Fitness Beyond the Saddle The benefits of cross-training for dressage riders

C

ross-training—incorporating other types of exercise to complement one’s primary sport—is something that most modern competitive athletes do to maintain or improve strength, flexibility, and endurance. Runners will likely add in strength training and hiking. Cyclists might run and practice

yoga. Swimmers may do all three.

But what about equestrians— specifically, dressage riders? While cardio-based exercise, such as running or swimming, is certainly beneficial, programs that combine core strength, flexibility, and balance may be the better cross-training options for riders.

For this article, we asked three fitness experts—all experienced riders—to share their thoughts on the benefits of cross-training and to offer doable ways to shoehorn a little extra exercise into your already busy schedule.

Dressage CrossTraining Option 1: Pilates

MIX IT UP: Done right, cross-training builds strength, flexibility, and fitness to enhance your effectiveness in the saddle

24 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

Cross-training the rider is essential to creating a good partnership with a dressage horse, says Janice Dulak, a USDF bronze medalist and former professional dancer who has taught

Pilates for 30 years. Dulak, of Ocala, Florida, and Champaign, Illinois, is a Romana’s Pilates Master Instructor Trainer, the creator of Pilates for Dressage®, and the author of Pilates for the Dressage Rider.

Dulak offers this analogy: “You and your partner want to ballroomdance. So you, like a good partner, decide to actually go out and learn how to do the steps. You practice. You figure things out in your body—how to balance yourself, how to carry yourself. Your partner, on the other hand, thinks he can just show up at the dance. He steps on your toes. He grabs you too hard and you can’t move. Or he doesn’t understand how to balance you when he sends you out to do a spin, and he lets go right at the critical moment when you need support. Now, ask yourself: Is that fair? Not at all.”

In dressage, typically “the horse is the one who gets the training, and the rider is the one who doesn’t,” Dulak says. “So not only is cross-training beneficial; it is imperative for dressage riders to be a good partner for their horse.”

Dulak believes that any core-based training program is best when it comes to cross-training the rider. Of course, she prefers Pilates, which is a system of core-based total-body-conditioning exercises developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates, a German physical trainer.

“As a dancer, it saved my life,” Dulak says. “As a rider, it has given me the musculature needed for dressage.

I believe hard, global muscle-development programs, while aiding the rider to be fit, are not as useful to the dressage rider. Just like dancers, dressage riders need more control-based train-

SHUTTERSTOCK

By Jennifer Mellace

1

2

COURTESY OF TRAFALGAR SQUARE BOOKS

NAVEL TO SPINE: Without correct “navel to spine” engagement of the deep abdominal muscles, most people stand or sit with the belly poked out, the lower back arched and tight, and the neck and head carried forward (1). “Scoop” the belly in without tension to help align and lengthen the spine and create a stable core and elegant posture (2).

ing than normal athletic training.”

A good Pilates training program will develop strength, flexibility, and control in equal parts (Joseph Pilates originally called his method Contrology). “Pilates does this by focusing on the development of your stabilizing muscle system rather than your global mobilizing muscles,” Dulak explains.

To understand the difference, envision a dancer’s movement compared with that of a football player. “Yes, they both are fit, but the kind of fitness or muscle development is totally different,” Dulak says. “The subtleties of movement required of an upperlevel dressage rider are more aligned with the training a dancer needs.”

Text and photos of the Pilates exercises in this article are reprinted or adapted from Pilates for the Dressage Rider by Janice Dulak, published by Trafalgar Square Books. Used by permission of Trafalgar Square Books, HorseAndRiderBooks.com.

Pilates remains a popular exercise regimen after several decades, and Pilates studios and instructors certified by various organizations are relatively easy to find. Books and online instruction are also widely available, though Dulak strongly recommends in-person sessions if possible, particularly for beginners, as correct form is critical.

“Can dressage be done without an instructor? Yes, but to really improve you need to know what you are doing.

A 20-meter circle that I practice on my own is not the 20-meter circle my trainer makes me do!” Dulak says.

Want to get a taste of the Pilates method? Try these moves from Dulak’s book, Pilates for the Dressage Rider.

Navel to spine. Sitting in a comfortable position, place one hand on your stomach and the other on your lower back. Now poke the belly out, expanding your waistline forward.

Feel how your lower back arches and your back becomes hollow and tight.

Now, in contrast, keep your hands on your stomach and lower back, and engage your deep abdominal muscle (the transversus abdominis, or TA) by pulling your stomach in and up toward your spine. Try to activate your TA without tensing your shoulders or holding your breath. As you “scoop” your belly in, feel your waistline becoming narrow in the front while your lower back feels wide. Also feel your spine elongating both up toward your neck and down toward your tailbone. This feeling of the lower back lengthening and widening is the TA stabilizing the spine with the coactivation of the multifidi, which are the deep spinal-stabilization muscles that run along the vertebrae. The action is that of the slack being taken out of the back to create a strong but supple spine (see photos above).

Feel “collection” in your body by engaging your Powerhouse. Your Powerhouse is your core—the muscles of your trunk, especially the TA, the gluteals (your derriere), and your upper thighs. These key core muscles

stabilize your body as it moves and provides the dynamic engagement needed to perform, whether in dressage or other activities. They “collect” your body similar to the way you collect your horse in dressage.

To feel this collection, get down on your hands and knees. Engage your Powerhouse: Pull your abdominals in and up, and squeeze your gluteals to elongate your lower back and round your spine. Feel your stomach pushing your ribs back toward your spine, and think “C-curve” or “round and deep.”

You are now “collected.”

Now, release your Powerhouse muscles completely. Feel how this total release sways your lower back and lifts your chin. Your lower back and neck will feel shortened and tight.

This is the feeling of “lengthening” the spine without engagement.

Return to the deep and round position. Using your Powerhouse muscles with control, slowly lengthen your spine. By remaining dynamically engaged as you perform this movement, you will achieve the feeling of a true lengthening of the spine.

Rolling back. The purpose of this exercise is to increase the flexibility in your spine by use of the C-curve.

Think of this as the ultimate engagement for “deep and round.”

Step 1: Sit on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Hold on to the undersides of your thighs with both hands. Your arms will be bent, and you will use them to help you as you begin to move. Curl your chin to your chest as if you were trying to put the top of your head on your knees. Scoop your tailbone under as you pull your stomach in and up and squeeze your bottom (see photo on the next page).

This is C-curve, or the deep-andround part of the exercise.

Step 2: Keeping the Powerhouse engaged, inhale as you begin to lower your spine toward the floor, one vertebra at a time. This is the essence of lengthening the spine while staying engaged. Hold onto your thighs with your hands, but allow your elbows to

USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

25

Rider

SPINAL FLEXIBILITY AND CORE STRENGTH: Rolling back

slowly straighten to allow your spine to move toward the floor. Keep your chin on your chest to anchor the top part of this stretch. Go only as far as you can keep your abdominals “in and up.” Hold this position for a moment while you exhale and deepen the scoop of your stomach and bottom.

Step 3: To come back up, engage your Powerhouse muscles even more and, using your arms if necessary, curl back up one vertebra as at time as you inhale and return to the starting position. Exhale and release the muscles. Repeat five to eight times.

• Your first goal should be to touch the back of your waistline to the floor.

• If your abs begin to pooch out, you have rolled back too far and lost engagement of your Powerhouse muscles.

• Imagine that you are a large area rug that has been rolled up. As you unroll the rug, it touches the floor. As you roll back up, you want to roll the rug up tightly.

Dressage Cross-Training Option 2: Yoga The ancient mind-body practice of yoga complements dressage because it is a holistic approach that focuses on physical and mental wellness and fitness, says longtime yoga instructor, retreat leader, and horsewoman Cathy Woods. Based in North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains, Woods is the author of Yoga for Riders and the creator of Body, Mind, Equine, a yoga-based program for equestrians.

“The physical piece focuses on strength, balance, and flexibility,” Woods says, “while the mental part centers on mindfulness, focus, present-moment awareness, breathing, energy awareness, and body awareness, all of which translate to time with horses from ground to saddle. Rider fitness is more than just physical fitness, which is what people think of; but I like to think of wellness and fitness overall.”

The stretching and strengthening involved in yoga poses can help to reduce the stiffness and soreness caused by saddle time, both during and after riding, says Woods. Plus, greater fitness and flexibility makes a rider less vulnerable to injury: “When we can learn where we’re holding tension in our physical body and then how to release that tension, it helps us to move more in sync with our horse.”

The lines between yoga and Pilates can get somewhat blurred, and some regimens deliberately blend elements of both. But whereas Pilates has more of a pure exercise focus, the mind-body element distinguishes the practice of yoga, Woods says.

“Both are low-impact and have positive effects on our health,” she says, “but the awareness we bring to yoga is what makes yoga yoga and not just exercise. I like to view yoga practice as an opportunity for collection and ground work for the human body, mind, and spirit.”

Even within the practice of yoga as a form of cross-training,

26 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

“your yoga practice can offer different things on different days,” says Woods. “Some days might include mat work while other days incorporate yoga into mounted work, like stretches that help with alignment and balance and then little fitness breaks that allow you to get off your horse and do a few stretches.”

Woods adds that yoga doesn’t have to be a time-consuming pursuit. “I’d rather see someone spend 20 minutes on the mat and be focused versus stressing over a full hour class. Setting realistic goals of what our practice will look like is key.”

Now try these poses from Yoga for Riders.

For leg and back flexibility: Standing forward bend. This exercise stretches the backs of the legs (hamstrings) and the lower back.

You are also in inversion, which brings increased blood flow to the head, brain, scalp, face, and thyroid.

• Begin by standing tall and straight with your feet hip-width apart or slightly closer.

• Raise your arms overhead, sweeping them out and down as you “dive” into a forward bend. Touch your knees, shins, or the floor— whatever works for you—while keeping your knees relatively straight. If you have to bend your knees to touch the floor, then move your hands back up to your shins.

• Be sure not to lift your head to avoid creating neck tension. Your head and neck should be completely relaxed, hanging like a piece of fruit on a tree. Breathe into the backs of your legs while they get a deep stretch. To come out of the pose, bend your knees slightly to keep pressure off your lower back and roll up slowly, Text and photos of the yoga exercises in this article are reprinted or adapted from Yoga for Riders by Cathy Woods, published by Trafalgar Square Books. Used by permission of Trafalgar Square Books, HorseAndRiderBooks.com.

STANDING FORWARD BEND: This basic yoga pose stretches the hamstrings and lower back STANDING GODDESS POSE: This regal pose strengthens the quadriceps, inner thighs, and glutes

COURTESY OF TRAFALGAR SQUARE BOOKS

HIP CRADLE: This deep stretch opens the hips and stretches the lower back

stacking your vertebrae one by one and observing your blood flow as it is redistributed.

For hip and lower-back flexibility: Hip cradle. This is a fairly simple but effective hip and lower-back stretch. The hips and lower back interconnect, so both benefit riders, keeping the hips “happy” and free of tightness.

• Sit tall on the floor and extend both legs straight out in front of you. Bend one knee and rest your foot against your opposite hand, wrist, or elbow (photo shows

TREE POSE: This classic yoga pose improves balance, focus, and strength

elbow placement; wrist or elbow placement are more challenging).

Listen to your body about what’s best for you.

• Wrap your other arm around the bent knee, hugging your knee toward your chest. Find the spot that brings you deepest into your hip without pain. Close your eyes and hold that position, breathing down into the hip three or four times.

Send your hip breath, energy, oxy-

gen, and permission to soften.

• Gently come out of the pose by extending the bent leg back onto the floor, and give it a little shakeout before repeating the exercise on the opposite side. Notice how the hip you have stretched feels “softer” than the one you haven’t.

For balance, focus, and strength: Tree pose. Any onelegged pose is a balance challenge.

Variations make tree pose less or more difficult.

• Begin in mountain pose: standing with feet hip-width apart and toes pointing forward. Gently engage your leg and buttocks muscles.

Pull up tall out of your waist as you drop your shoulders down from your ears and lift the top of your head toward the ceiling. Fix your gaze ahead on something not moving. Focus your eyes, but keep them relaxed and soft.

• Bring your palms together in prayer position in front of your chest.

• Move your weight over one foot by shifting your belly button or your “center” to one side.

• Soften the standing knee so that it’s neither bent nor locked.

Keeping your gaze fixed on a still point, bend the knee of the free leg

USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

27

PLANK: This pose targets the core, back, and arms

and turn it out, placing your foot against the ankle, knee, or thigh of the standing leg. The higher you place your foot, the more challenging the pose becomes.

• For an added balance challenge, lift your arms overhead.

• Hold the pose for two to five slow breaths. Place your foot down mindfully, returning to an engaged stance. Repeat on the opposite side.

For leg strength: Standing goddess pose. This is a great quadriceps, inner thigh, and glute strengthener.

• Begin in a wide-legged stance with your feet and your toes turned out slightly. While staying centered, bend both knees equally, sinking your tailbone toward the floor while keeping your spine straight (don’t lean forward) and the top of your head lifting toward the ceiling, chin parallel to the floor. Your hands can be in prayer position or overhead.

• Take several slow, deep breaths.

Imagining that you’re sending breath and energy to your legs may give them more stamina in this sometimes challenging but empowering posture.

For core, back, and arm strength: Plank. The classic “pushup position” strengthens the core muscles, the back, and the arms.

• Position yourself facedown on your mat with your wrists directly under your shoulders and your legs straight with your feet hipwidth apart and your heels on an angle, aiming toward the floor.

Keep your neck in a straight line with your spine, not tucked or hyperextended.

• While in plank, squeezing through your hips and buttocks will engage and work the abdominal muscles even more.

Breathe slowly and deeply. Try to work up to holding the pose for 10 to 20 breaths. If you are new to this posture or have weak core muscles, you may only be able to hold it for a couple of breaths.

Advice from an Equestrian Physical Therapist

Most elite sports teams employ fitness trainers and physical therapists (or “physios,” as they’re called across the pond) to help fine-tune athletes’ performance. Equestrian sport in the US finally followed suit, and today US Equestrian’s Human Sport Science & Medicine (HSSM) Program has certified a small group of physical therapists who are specially trained to work on equestrians. We asked one, Stephanie Seheult, DPT, of Yucaipa, California, to explain the HSSM approach.

Seheult’s first credo is that whatever an equestrian does for the majority of the day—whether it’s a pro who’s in the saddle for hours on end or an amateur with a nine-tofive desk job—affects the way that rider’s body feels and performs.

“Amateur riders are more likely to have a weakness and imbalance, versus a tightness often found in the professional rider,” Seheult says. In her Advanced Physio business, which offers clinics and both

28 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

in-person and virtual one-on-one evaluations and training, “most riders I work with have a desk job or spend a lot of time driving—both daily activities that will affect their time in the saddle. So anything they can do different to challenge their body, whether it’s cardio or strength training, is beneficial.”

When Seheult recommends cardio, she tells her clients to find any activity they enjoy, as the point is to get their bodies moving. She does point out, however, that postures in cardio activities differ: Cycling, for instance, closes the hip angle, while running or using an elliptical trainer requires a more upright stance with an open hip angle. Ideally, choose an activity in which you’ll use your body in a different posture from how you spend the majority of your day.

In other words, if you drive or sit a lot, cycling might not be the optimal cardio activity to choose to benefit your dressage.

Strength is as important in riding as cardiovascular fitness. Here Seheult isn’t too picky, saying that any program that challenges balance, strength, stability, and coordination can be effective. “The type of exercise I promote the most is Pilates,” she says, “because it helps promote all these things while using the core.

But Pilates isn’t the only way.”

Yoga can be beneficial, too, especially if you lack flexibility, says Seheult; but she finds that certain types of yoga are better for riders than others.

“Supportive-type yoga is best, not yoga that wants you to see how deep you can go into a stretch,” she says.

“You want to relax into a stretch versus holding the position, and you don’t want to stretch too deeply. Be mindful of where your limitations are so you’re not hurting yourself in the long run.”

Finally, and maybe most important: Find a routine that you like and will stick with.

“The main thing I tell riders is to do whatever you want to do, because

COURTESY OF TRAFALGAR SQUARE BOOKS

Rider

1

2

COURTESY OF DR. STEPHANIE SEHEULT

SIDE LEG LIFT: Lying on your side with a resistance band placed around your thighs, just above the knees (1), lift your top leg straight up (2).

Maintain alignment. This exercise works the hip muscles that stabilize the hip and pelvis, which in turn help to keep the rider sitting square and centered in the saddle.

if you don’t want to do it you won’t,” Seheult says. “Find something you enjoy, and do it in moderation. You don’t have to go run, lift weights, and do Pilates every day, but doing one thing three times a week is better than nothing. I don’t think working out one or two times a week is a bad thing.”

Try these two exercises that Seheult recommends for equestrians: Side leg lift. This exercise targets the group of hip muscles that stabilize the hip and pelvis, and that help prevent the rider from leaning one way or another while on the horse.

• Place a resistance band around your thighs, just above your knees.

• Lie on your side on the floor on a comfortable surface, such as a carpet or a yoga mat. To ensure proper alignment, lie with your back against a wall.

• Place your top hand on your waist.

You will use your hand to make sure that you are not rotating your trunk during the exercise.

• Keeping your top leg straight, turn your toes slightly toward the ceiling. Inhale.

• As you exhale, lift your top leg straight up, keeping your heel against the wall. Less is more: Lift your leg only as far as you can without changing your breathing, posture, or body control.

• Do two sets of five to 10 leg lifts.

Repeat on the opposite side.

• Do not perform this exercise if it causes any sort of pinching or

burning pain. If you feel pain, stop and consult a medical professional.

“T” stretch. The T stretch targets the pectoralis major (the chest muscle, aka “the pecs”) and also stretches the biceps and the anterior deltoids.

This stretch can be performed while lying on the floor on a comfortable surface or lengthwise on a foam roller, positioning the roller so that it supports you from head to tailbone. The foam roller helps to provide leverage to add more range into the stretch. Lying on a foam roller allows you to focus on your spine in a neutral position and also ensures that your torso is straight.

Finally, because a foam roller is an unstable surface, your transverse abdominis and your oblique abdominal muscles will activate to help keep you in position.

• Keeping your abs engaged, bring your arms out to the side in a “T” position. If you feel any pinching in a shoulder joint, do not come all the way up to a “T”; instead, do what Seheult calls a “sad T.” • Knees and feet should be in line with the hip joints. For an added benefit, place a resistance band around your thighs above the knees (pictured), and gently push out with both legs to activate the gluteus medius, a smaller gluteal muscle that plays an important role in stabilizing the hip.

• Hold the position for 30 seconds.

Repeat three times.

T STRETCH: Equestrian PT Dr. Stephanie Seheult demonstrates the exercise, which can also be performed on a foam roller for a deeper stretch and a stabilization challenge.

She’s added a strength component by tying a resistance band around her legs above the knees; gently pressing outward activates the small but important hip-stabilizing muscles gluteus medius.

Whether you choose to do yoga, Pilates, cardio or strength work, or a combination, the benefits of crosstraining can help you both in and out of the saddle. Get moving and have fun!

Jennifer Mellace is a published author who writes about topics ranging from health and wellness to lifestyle and business. She lives in Frederick, Maryland, with her husband, two children, and three dogs. Visit her website at MellaceWrites.com.

USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

29

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GMO Good Officers Are Hard to Find A GMO’s board of directors is its guiding light.

Here’s how some GMOs find—and keep—these VIP volunteers

I

n any volunteer-dependent organization, it seems to be a universal truth that recruiting and retaining these critical workers is a challenge. When the volunteer position is that of a board member or officer, the commitment and responsibilities involved raise the stakes even higher.

USDF group-member organizations (GMOs) are no exception.

GMOs need strong, capable boards of directors to function optimally and to help ensure a solid and vibrant future. All GMOs have at least four officers—president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary— and most clubs, especially the larger

How Do You Find Them?

One GMO president who didn’t wish to be identified quipped that their club’s sole requirement for board membership is a heartbeat.

“Yes, a heartbeat is all that is truly required,” agrees Dorothy Kapaun, president of the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Dressage Society (RMDS). “I became VP because I was late to a meeting. I walked in and was ‘voluntold’ I was the new VP. Within a few months, I was requested to become the president.”

In Kapaun’s experience, a sincere desire to serve trumps experience.

“The biggest attribute one can have,”

SEATS TO FILL: Your GMO’s officers set the club’s direction and are responsible for its finances

ones, have additional board positions, sometimes as many as a dozen or more.

For this article, we interviewed a total of 13 GMO officials via Zoom or phone. They shared their highlights, lowlights, and strategies for attracting and retaining effective leaders.

she says, “is an interest in what is best for the club and not their own ego.”

Connecticut Dressage Association (CDA) president Hanna Calcagni differs slightly, pointing out that “It does take some knowledge and experience to run a schooling

32 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

show or a clinic. Most of our board members start as volunteers, and as they gain experience tend to slide into various roles that suit their interest.”

“Entry-level” volunteering, agrees Striving Toward Rider and Driver Improvement with Dressage Education (STRIDE) representative Loretta Lucas, is a good stepping-stone for prospective future board members. “It gets them used working with the board, and then they’re more comfortable in some of the different leadership positions,” says Lucas, whose GMO is based in Ocala, Florida.

“We usually rely on referrals from the outgoing board member or other board members,” says Holly Cornell, president of the New Jersey-based Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training Association (ESDCTA). “We also publish requests to fill vacant board positions in our monthly newsletter.”

The New York state-based Cayuga Dressage and Combined Training Inc. (CDCT) maintains a Nominating Committee, whose job it is to identify potential board members, according to CDCT co-president Shannon Ryan-Dinmore. “We tend to have people move in succession— VP becomes president after a twoyear term, and so on. Sometimes people do not want to continue their board positions, so we let everyone know what’s available, take nominations, and then vote as a GMO.” New Mexico Dressage Association (NMDA) president Maribeth St. Cyr’s recruiting strategy includes “sending e-mails and mentioning volunteering and board or coordinator opportunities in our newsletter.

SHUTTERSTOCK

By Penny Hawes

When it came down to it, I had to call a couple of people and ask them to serve in order to get the response I was looking for.”

The Dressage Club of New Mexico is one of USDF’s newer GMOs. According to president Maureen Mestas, “The board of directors is a group of six business owners and professionals, all of whom are passionate about dressage. Each board member brings a unique strength and contribution. We function as a ‘working board.’ We organize our shows, create and implement our education programs, raise funds and donations, and support our members with awards and recognition.

“Attracting members to our board of directors is something we always want to examine at the end of our membership year,” Mestas continues. “I think it is a good question to ask of each board member: ‘What do you enjoy about being on the board? What would you like to see improved or changed to make being a board member enjoyable and rewarding?’ We will have our first election of officers and board members this year, with nominations and voting coming directly from our membership. I am very excited to see the direction our members take DCNM.”

Timely Considerations Depending on their level of involvement, board members can devote many hours each month to GMO projects. The time commitment can vary widely, depending on the club’s size and its activities roster.

The time commitment at the RMDS depends on the season, but in a typical month a board member will spend four to 15 hours on GMO business, says Kapaun.

“As president, I spend 15 to 20 hours a week performing duties,” says the NMDA’s St. Cyr. “This particular club has done nothing to modernize its operations, so I spend most of my time creating updated versions of almost everything, from

entry forms to questionnaires. Once this work is complete, I will spend less time doing it. I have delegated some of this to others.”

St. Cyr says that the NMDA vice president’s position is less demanding except at year’s end, when that person plans the club’s annual awards banquet, a duty that takes “about 10 hours a week for a couple of weeks in a row.” She says that the job of schooling-show coordinator— “at least 40 hours a month” from March to October, and one that she herself is currently fulfilling—is the most time-consuming.

The NMDA secretary’s position requires about 10 hours a month, St. Cyr estimates, with the treasurer spending about 15 hours a month, plus a few more at the beginning of the year performing year-end duties.

Education and membership chairs and the NMDA member-at-large are generally lighter workloads entailing about five hours a month, but St. Cyr notes that “all of these jobs can become a larger commitment if the person spearheads a program or event. The education chair will spend another 20 hours or more putting on a clinic. We have a couple of these a year, and they all attend monthly meetings on Zoom or in person. Many of them also volunteer at schooling shows.”

Greatest Recruitment Challenges For the CDA’s Calcagni, “Probably the hardest role to fill is president.

I just took it over after running our schooling shows for the past five or six years. So far, so good! It’s more of an oversight position, communicating with the other coordinators to be sure our events and projects run smoothly.”

The RMDS has struggled in the past to fill the position of marketing chair, says Kapaun. But in a clever bit of, well, marketing, the club rechristened the job “championship chair”—and now has a “fantastic person” in that position, she says.

But according to the GMO officials we interviewed, the position of treasurer gets the award for most difficult board seat to fill.

“It’s definitely a struggle” to find a treasurer, says Cecelia Conway, president of the Wisconsin-based New Dressage Association (NEWDA).

“We’ve struggled to find and retain a treasurer for the last five years and have largely resorted to hiring someone to do accounting.”

The North Florida Dressage Association (NFDA) has had the same dilemma, according to GMO president Martha Moore. “We had someone agree to be treasurer, but she only lasted for about two months.

In the past, we did have a treasurer that was not a good fit, so that’s the one position we’re the pickiest about filling. You have to have someone you trust. We’ve talked about getting an accountant, but that’s another monthly expense. We haven’t done it yet, but I can maybe see us going in that direction.”

Feeling the Burn (out) Burnout is a concern for many GMO officials. In some cases, clubs’ most committed board members have served for years or even decades, and they’ve grown weary of the responsibilities and the time commitment.

“I’ve kind of created my own problem,” admits Fort Worth (Texas) Dressage Association (FWDA) president Barb Harty, who’s been in the role for 20 years. “The president ahead of me had major health problems, and the club was about to dissolve. I said, OK, I’ll do it for two years.

“So many of our board members have served for so long,” Harty continues. “We said to members, ‘If anyone would like to serve, anyone on the board would be glad to give their position to someone.’ But everyone said, ‘You’re doing such a good job, we have more money than we’ve ever had, we’re having more activities than we’ve ever had; why

USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

33

GMO would we want to change?’ Well, you see the gray hairs? I had long dark hair when I started.”

NEWDA is structured in chapters, and “we’re having difficulty in finding and recruiting new officers, especially at that level,” says Conway.

“There’s an upswelling of burnout among the ones that have volunteered because they wind up doing everything; otherwise nothing gets done.”

Term Limits: Helpers or Handcuffs?

A GMO must draw up bylaws in order to attain IRS 501(c)(3) status as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.

In recent years, many GMOs have found that their original bylaws, often 10 or more years old, don’t reflect their current needs. The item our sources most often mentioned as needing tweaking is term limits.

The FWDA “got rid of term limits and redid our bylaws,” says Harty.

“We eliminated three or four positions and put in some new positions that people were more interested in.”

The Aloha State Dressage Society (ASDS) in Hawaii is one GMO that instituted term limits. “You can have two four-year terms in a position before you have to step out of that position, but you can move to another position,” explains ASDS president Lisa Webster. “I’m really excited about it; I don’t want to be president forever!”

STRIDE also has term limits, according to Lucas. “Terms are one year, and you can serve two consecutive terms; but a lot of people just rotate through, and we have an immediate past president position to help the transition.”

The Oklahoma-based Central Plains Dressage Society (CPDS) fills its officer positions slightly differently, says president Kathy Maxwell.

“You get elected on for three years, but each year whoever’s been elected gets together and we say, ‘What’s your skill set, and where would you like to serve?’ It works for us. We

34 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

had one [open] position this year and had two people who jumped up and volunteered, so we just added a member-at large [position] and said, ‘If you’re willing to serve, join us!’”

Virtually all GMO officers would love to see more members step up, but Maxwell, for one, sees reasons to be hopeful.

“There are always people who are willing to work who have a specific skill set,” she says. “That’s how we’ve come across people with computer skills or who are great at organizing people. They have a great skill set, so we just have to meet them and figure out how it’s best used and work together.”

Penny Hawes is a writer, rider, and coach from Virginia. When she’s not working, you can find her hiking with her daughter, driving her MGB with her husband, or hanging out with her assortment of horses, cats, and dogs.

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Forward Transitions Not all horse-related jobs involve riding and training. Meet seven successful professionals who turned their dressage passions into unique horse-industry careers.

BY EMILY ESTERSON

JENNIFER BRYANT

HANDY WITH A CAMERA? This operator had a front-row seat at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games dressage competition

36 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

I

COURTESY OF EMILY ESTERSON;

n 2005, I had a big glass office next to a busy newsroom filled with reporters, advertising sales representatives, graphic designers, and circulation managers. As the editor-inchief of a midsize city’s business newspaper, I worked long days and sometimes deep into the night.

I was also a liar.

My horse was boarded about ten minutes away from the office. I took long lunch breaks: “Errands, lots of errands!” I’d tell the staff before rushing to the barn to catch a ride midday, or “I’m having dental work” so I could participate in a clinic. (My staff must have thought I had terrible teeth.) There was a shower in the tack room that no one ever cleaned, but I used it to rinse off the sweat and dust before jumping back into my power suit.

Then the newspaper changed hands, and I got passed over for a promotion (go figure). It took me one week with my new boss to know that my fancy newspaper career was over.

I decided that horses needed to figure into my professional life in some way. Either I had to find a flexible job that allowed me time to pursue my passion, or I’d have to incorporate my passion into my career. I had written the occasional freelance article for Dressage Today magazine and worked briefly for a natural-horsemanship newsletter, so I mined my network. I landed as a contract editor for horse-industry magazines covering equestrian businesses and the management of equine veterinary practices. Later I launched a business creating magazines for equine associations and events, and now I also develop and teach online courses in equine business management and journalism for University of Guelph Open Education.

And my schedule is flexible. For almost 20 years, I’ve been gigging around the horse industry. I don’t have to lie any more—because horse people understand.

For those driven by a passion for horses and dressage, there is often an incident or a series of incidents that incites a professional or career pivot toward horses, even if it is not directly related to dressage. It also ignites entrepreneurial spirit, as a financially sustainable “day job” in horses is hard to find. Many passionate horse people create their own careers on a path that is not unlike dressage itself: constant learning.

For this article, we asked six other successful professionals in various equine-related industries to share their own career trajectories. If you, too, yearn to make horses a part of your career, their stories may provide inspiration.

PUTTING HER PASSION INTO WORDS: Equestrian writer, editor, and educator Emily Esterson and Belle

The Apparel Entrepreneur For FITS founder Sheryl Rudolph, who worked for Pendleton and Nike as a sportswear-fabric specialist, losing her job as a fabric-sales representative was a precipitating moment.

At the time, Rudolph had started riding a friend’s horse, revisiting her childhood passion. “So I went to get some breeches and boots, and it was still the same stuff that I hated as a kid. I was thinking about all the work I had been doing [with fabric and sportswear], and I started making notes about how I would improve riding gear.” The idea for FITS was born, the business launched out of her basement in Portland, Oregon.

Rudolph leaned on friends and former colleagues in the industry to help her get started and released her first breeches—featuring a supportive stretch fabric and segmented full seat—in 2005. During this time, she also got deeply into dressage, purchasing a nine-year-old Welsh Cob, FITS Toandos Mountain Man. With the help of trainer Bernadine Diers, Rudolph took “Monty” from barely broke to the upper levels. A freak nonhorse-related accident ended Rudolph’s riding career; but Monty, now 23, has shown Grand Prix with Diers, who now owns him.

“It never felt like work,” Rudolph says of the venture, USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

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even though FITS grew very quickly and the stresses were many. “Working with people with common interests, that was really joyful for me.

If you’re doing something you love with people with common interests, you never work a day in your life.”

Rudolph is now retired, having sold her company several years ago.

Today, FITS remains a confirmed and successful brand in the industry.

The Judge Giving back to her profession and improving her teaching were two motivations for Janet “Dolly” Hannon, a Colorado-based US Equestrian “S” dressage judge and trainer.

After earning a degree in horticulture from Colorado State University, Hannon worked in that field for a couple of years. But horses pulled her, and she began working for trainer and dressage judge Janet Foy. Hannon soon pivoted from eventing to dressage, and in the late 1980s and 1990s she purchased an FEI-level schoolmaster while building her own training business.

During one trip to California to

EXPERT EYE: Dressage judge and clinician Dolly Hannon

train with Hilda Gurney, the Olympic medalist mentioned that Hannon, with her keen eye and knowledge, would make a good judge.

With a thriving dressage-training business already in the works, Hannon embarked on the long, costly, and occasionally discouraging road to earning her judging licenses.

“For my ‘R,’ they had changed the riding requirements, so I had to catch-ride to get the scores I needed and apprentice on the East Coast,” Hannon says. By the time she earned her “S” and had judged for five years at that level, she had aged out of eligibility for her FEI judging credentials.

Hannon, who says she loves teaching, honors those who have helped her along the way: If it hadn’t been for mentors like Gurney and show managers like the late Lloyd Landkamer, she says, she might not have come as far as she has. At his shows, Hannon explains, Landkamer always gave her large lower-level freestyle classes to judge because he had determined that Hannon would learn to be an expert at judging these classes. “He helped me along the way in terms of getting

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other jobs,” she says.

Nowadays Hannon maintains a full teaching, clinic, and training schedule; rides and shows her own horse, Electra; and travels to judge all over the country. Perhaps what she loves most, though, is the way that judging informs and improves her own teaching.

“I’m definitely giving back to the sport, because, generally speaking … judging is not going to be the way to make a lot of money,” Hannon says.

“It’s very gratifying and fun to meet people, and great to see what’s going on all over the country.”

She admits that it took a lot of grit to get her “S,” saying that the achievement helped her overcome the disappointment of not being able to get her FEI credentials. The current chair of the USDF Freestyle Committee, she recently expanded her volunteer contributions when she was invited to join the faculty of the USDF L Education Program.

Serving on the faculty, she says, was a longtime goal.

“I know I make a difference with teaching, and now I will be able to teach apprentice judges. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

COURTESY OF SHERYL RUDOLPH; HEIDI HELMER

FUN IN THE SADDLE: FITS founder Sheryl Rudolph riding her Welsh Cob, FITS Toandos Mountain Man

on pursuing a passion and committing to it.

“The benefit of extreme crisis,” she says, “is that it forces you to make decisions and to be really clear about what your desires and your capabilities are.”

The Musician

HER CALLING: After a demanding communications career and an MS diagnosis, Anna Sochocky pivoted to combine her loves of horses and reading into a career as an equestrian writer

COURTESY OF ANNA SOCHOCKY

The Writer Anna Sochocky rode as a child but then took a long hiatus, returning to riding in her forties when she moved from the Midwest to Santa Fe, New Mexico. She’d also had a long career in communications, having worked on political campaigns, as a lobbyist, and as a communications director—a career she says she didn’t particularly love.

When her mother died, Sochocky was thrust into essentially two fulltime jobs—one her demanding day job as a communications director of a college, and a second handling her mother’s complicated estate. She was exhausted, often reading legal documents through the night.

A year to the day after her mother’s passing, Sochocky was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“It was a perfect storm,” she says.

“I realized you cannot waste your time. Take the reins of your life. I thought: Writing is what I’ve always wanted to do, and I have to do it now.”

A longtime dressage enthusiast, Sochocky earned an MFA in creative

writing and took an online equinejournalism class. Finally she had her career “lightbulb moment”: “The two things I love are horses and books. I was still navigating the diagnosis when I was walking down the hall in my house, and I thought, ‘Horses, health, and history! Ta-da!

That’s my brand.’”

It took a few years to gel.

Sochocky attended American Horse Publications conferences, networked with editors, and slowly built a portfolio of published articles. “I was kind of piddling around, writing one or two stories a year. But last summer, it started to explode. I put in a resume at The Horse, and I pitched six stories to Horse Illustrated. The floodgates opened. It took me four or five years because of my health and getting my focus.”

This year, Sochocky has ten articles either published or soon to be. She’s experiencing what she calls a renaissance period in her equestrian life, riding with clinicians and instructors at Santa Fe Sport Horse and enjoying ground work. She says the MS diagnosis put a laser focus

Beth Hall pursued careers in both horses and music, but it would be years before she hit on a way to combine her passions.

As a student at the University of Massachusetts, Hall rode under the tutelage of such dressage luminaries

Career Change?

S

ome horse-related careers are an outgrowth of practitioners’ existing skills, such as musical training or a journalism degree. Others, such as saddlery work or dressage judging, require additional specialized education.

Here are some resources to explore that relate to the careers discussed in this article.

American Horse Publications: americanhorsepubs.org Equine Business Management diploma, certificate, and courses, University of Guelph (online): equineguelph.ca/#gsc. tab=0 Society of Master Saddlers: mastersaddlers.co.uk/courses US Small Business Administration’s SCORE program (free mentoring for entrepreneurs and small businesses in local communities): sba.gov/ local-assistance/resource-partners/ score-business-mentoring USDF dressage technical delegate resources: usdf.org/education/td.asp USDF L Education Program: usdf.org/ education/judge-training/lprogram/index. asp USDF resources for musical freestyle: usdf.org/education/other-programs/musical-freestyle/index.asp

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as Susan Blinks and Sarah Geikie.

Later she completed the USDF L program, bred and trained Swedish Warmbloods, taught lessons and clinics, and established and ran Woodwind Farm in her native Alabama.

The musically inclined Hall started piano lessons at the age of five, later embracing the flute as her instrument of choice. She obtained both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in music. She’s been a soloist and plays in a quintet.

The defining moment that reshaped her career, says Hall, was a riding accident that left her unable to either ride or play music for a long time.

“I got really hurt coming off a young horse,” she says, “and creating dressage freestyles started to make more sense to me than getting hurt.”

Not surprisingly, Hall had previously choreographed her own freestyle and hosted freestyle clinics at her farm. But her new career as a freestyle designer really began when her friend Rebecca Rigdon—whose mother, rider/trainer Arlene Rigdon, had been one of Hall’s dressage mentors—called to ask for help in developing a Grand Prix freestyle.

ENTREPRENEUR: Premier Equestrian founder Heidi Zorn with her horse, Primo

“After that, it took off very quickly,” Hall says. A tech-savvy cousin helped her to set up the technology she needed to develop her business, and later she worked with a sound engineer at a university.

About six years ago, she took over all the work—from choreography to writing arrangements to recording—involved in her Woodwind Studios freestyle-design business.

“Passion is only as good as the training that backs it up,” Hall says of dressage freestyle. “You have to have a solid grounding in both disciplines to put it all together for a ride.” Thanks to her music training, she knows how to select pieces, edit music, and sync tracks with horses’ footfalls. Her strong dressage background helps to ensure that each client’s horse is capable of the choreography: “You have to know what questions to ask the rider.”

For Hall, being a freestyle designer truly hits all the right notes.

“It was a happy melding of two things I really love,” she says.

The Arena Specialist In 2001, Heidi Zorn, co-owner and founder of Premier Equestrian, Sandy, Utah, couldn’t afford to pur-

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chase a $5,000 dressage arena. So she asked her neighbor, PVC fence fabricator Mark Niehart, if he could make one for less. He could and he did, and the two have been business partners ever since.

Zorn, who owned a small advertising agency at the time, has always had a bit of an entrepreneurial bug and a horse obsession. “The main reason I got into this,” she says of the venture, “was to support my horse habit.”

Premier Equestrian expanded into footing when Zorn’s ten-year-old Andalusian turned up lame. “I really started to notice the surfaces we were riding on—old sand and clay mixes,” Zorn says. “So we started modifying different surfaces, and I got with a local engineer who worked at the copper mine.” The engineer educated Zorn and Niehart about the various types of sand, and Zorn began experimenting with footing additives. She proclaims: “Today, I will never ride on a poor surface again.”

Premier is now the North American market leader in dressage arenas and footing, and it holds the title of official footing advisor for the 2022 Ecco FEI World Championships in Denmark. Even so, its original,

COURTESY OF BETH HALL; COURTESY OF HEIDI ZORN

UP THE SCALE: Dressage rider and musician Beth Hall parlayed those skills into a successful freestyle-design business, Woodwind Studios

low-cost arena, the Classic, remains a mainstay, with Zorn noting that “there is a big need for people who don’t have deep pockets [to be able to] put in a nice arena in their back yard without having to take out a mortgage.”

Like others who have incorporated horses into their careers, Zorn loves interacting with horse people in her work life, saying, “We talk the same language … we have our own vernacular.” She also relishes the opportunity to work with experts like equinebiomechanics expert Dr. Hilary Clayton, among others, to expand her knowledge, “not to mention all our customers. We all share this passion.”

COURTESY OF ADRIENNE HENDRICKS

The Saddler Adrienne Hendricks needed to replace a keeper on a bridle but couldn’t find anyone to do it. Then her father said, “Don’t you think we could do this?”

As a child, the Boise, Idaho native says she had to “fight” to ride English, and her mother started the local Pony Club. Later Hendricks left Boise for a while, pursuing a career as an investment professional.

When she moved back 15 years ago, the family still had horses, an arena, and some old saddles that needed work. “I was shocked at how much it cost” to repair them,” Hendricks says. So with her father, she started working on her own tack. She introduced herself to local instructors, and when an English tack shop went out of business, she purchased its sewing machine. Former saddler, cowboy, and eventer Gary Mittleider, who lived nearby, helped Hendricks to drop the panels on a saddle; but he also told her that if she wanted to work on tack, she needed to apprentice.

Hendricks got in touch with British Master Saddler Suzie Fletcher, who was in Colorado at the time.

TACK EXPERT: Saddler Adrienne Hendricks

Fletcher wasn’t exactly encouraging, telling Hendricks that she had a lot of people requesting apprenticeships. But “for some reason, I hit a chord” with Fletcher, Hendricks says, “and a flew out a couple of weeks and did a re-seat. I was also transitioning out of banking, and I got really good at it.”

To earn the title of Master Saddler, a craftsperson must make a saddle, bridle, and girth from scratch. Hendricks is currently working on it, apprenticing with Fletcher and taking courses with people like Frances Roach, who is the bridler to HRH Queen Elizabeth II. When Fletcher returned to England, she left her repair business in Hendricks’ hands. Hendricks is also now the US representative for British saddler Lovatt and Ricketts.

Throughout her equestrian career, Hendricks has ridden different breeds and disciplines, from Western to eventing to endurance to dressage. She’s currently schooling her Hanoverian/Thoroughbred cross Fourth Level and also has a new horse, a Friesian.

“I wanted my whole life to ride

horses, but I wasn’t good enough,” Hendricks says. “My parents said, ‘You have to go to college.’ Now I’m finally living my dream, doing something with horses all day long.”

The people we interviewed for this story agree: The joy of working with others who who share the passion for horses and dressage is worth financial and personal sacrifices. Sometimes that means learning a new skill, investing in training, or embarking on a tough entrepreneurial journey.

But a life lived with horses—and horse people—makes the effort worthwhile.

Emily Esterson is the author of The Ultimate Book of Bits. She runs a custom publishing business, ESquared Editorial Services, and has three horses on her small farm in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She also teaches equine journalism in the University of Guelph Equine Diploma program.

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Dressage Dynasties In these families, horses are the tie that binds

BY SUE WEAKLEY

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D

ressage DNA—and the associated grit and determination— seem to run in some families.

For this youth issue of USDF Connection, we thought it would be fun to talk to some well-known enthusiasts and their children, to find out what keeps the passion for horses and dressage alive.

What we learned: Although all of the “kids” were introduced to horses at a young age, none of the parents insisted that their offspring follow in their dressage hoofprints. But when the horse bug bites, it serves as the glue that helps to keep these dressage dynasties together.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY: Betsy Steiner (left) and her daughter, Jessie Steiner, are dressage kindred spirits and longtime partners in their Steiner Dressage business

COURTESY OF STEINER DRESSAGE

The Barteaus: Running Blocks with a Butterfly Net FEI-level dressage trainer and competitor Yvonne Barteau (whose former husband, Kim Barteau, is also a trainer) is pleased that her children didn’t follow exactly in her footsteps yet are all involved with horses.

The eldest, Yvonne’s son, Jamie Lawton, specializes in starting young horses. Eldest daughter Jessica Lawton was formerly the barn manager at the family’s KYB Dressage in Illinois and now keeps the books for their two north-Florida farms and their equine-rescue organization, Horses Without Humans. Kassandra “Kassie” Barteau, 34, won six FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC) medals in the 2000s before becoming a Grand Prix-level competitor and trainer. (She’s also the owner/trainer/rider of Horses Without Humans rescue Falling Skies, the 2021 Adequan®/USDF First Level Horse of the Year.) The Barteaus’ youngest, Kayla “Hudie” Barteau, 27, is a dressage rider and trainer as well as a specialist in exhibitions and liberty work.

“As a parent, you don’t want your kids to fall off and get flipped over on and all the things that happen to you,” says Yvonne, “so you basically run around with a butterfly net, trying to run block for them and keep them from dying and making choices that don’t put them in harm’s way. I got super lucky as a parent, but I do think that they all made the choice with their eyes wide open, and then it was the love of the horse that pulled them in.”

Even though she grew up surrounded by horses and saw the business firsthand, Kassie says that life in the horse industry is different from what she imagined as a teen.

“It’s always changing,” she says. “It’s not a sport or a lifestyle that really stays the same. I would say, no, it’s USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

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not what I expected: It’s much bigger and better, and the options feel infinite when it comes to horses.”

Hudie didn’t get seriously involved with riding, teaching, and training until after high school. She advises up-and-coming horse pros to be open-minded: “Every horse is very different, so don’t get discouraged. Never give up, and you’ll be surprised when one horse comes along and it just all makes sense.”

Yvonne says that she encouraged tenacity and individuality in her children, including insisting that they start their own horses and work with rescues. ”I realize that none of my children are just like me and they’re not like each other, but they all can make their own space, and they can all make their own relationships with both horses and people,” she says. “I gave them a door that they could walk through, but they walked through and they kept on walking.”

The Baumerts: Does This Look Like a Horse You Wanna Ride?

Grand Prix-level rider/trainer and 2019 US Pan American Games team

silver and individual bronze medalist Jennifer Baumert, 51, remembers growing up on her parents’ Cloverlea Farm in Connecticut, where she watched the older kids take lessons with her mother, USDF-certified instructor/trainer Beth Baumert.

“I aspired to be like all of them, and one of them put me in front of her in the saddle on a big Appaloosa mare,” Jennifer says. “It was the first time I cantered, and I remember just looking down and seeing the ground go by so fast, and it was exhilarating.”

That love of adrenaline led Jennifer first to eventing. “I kicked butt in dressage for eventing,” she laughs. “I could have rails down and sometimes even a refusal in cross-county—no problem.” But she found she didn’t have the heart for the sport, and so she switched to dressage.

One of Jennifer’s favorite stories about her mom involves Beth’s masterful ability to lunge a horse.

Beth “had this phrase she’d say when lungeing: ‘Does this look like a horse you wanna ride?’ I would always be smart and say, ‘Yeah, let me on it.’”

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The sage advice behind the phrase stuck. “I’m older now,” says Jennifer, “and with the spicy young horses I’ll say, ‘Does this look like a horse you wanna ride?’ And I’ll think, ‘No, not yet, or not today; maybe tomorrow.’ This just shows how you become your mother!”

Jennifer credits her mom with helping to shape the path of dressage in the US. In the 1970s and 1980s, she says, American dressage “was just sort of a new thing, and it was very much a kick-and-pull kind of scenario. I admire how dedicated she was to watch the best riders and trainers in the world. Then she became involved with Dressage Today. [Beth was that magazine’s longtime technical editor.] I think she actually helped the sport evolve in a positive direction.”

Beth later combined her skill sets to write the dressage books When Two Spines Align and How Two Minds Meet. She currently also serves as CEO of the philanthropic organization The Dressage Foundation. Not surprisingly, she is a strong believer in education, including for those young people bent on a career in the sport.

JOHN BORYS PHOTOGRAPHY; PHELPSPHOTOS.COM

FAMILY AFFAIR: The entire Barteau family is involved with horses. Pictured are youngest daughter Kayla, now a dressage pro (left); and mom Yvonne with Kassie at the 2006 FEI North American Young Riders Championships (now NAYC).

“Barring extenuating circumstances, education and going to school are the most important thing,” Beth says. “Kids should always have the advantage of a good education, even if it’s only in their back pocket.”

Her daughter took that advice, graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in psychology and a minor in physical education and German. The latter proved especially useful when Jennifer moved to Germany after college to further her dressage education.

Both mother and daughter have found fulfillment in dressage. As Beth puts it, “One of the great things about being a dressage trainer is that it usually involves teaching. Teaching is a career that helps people, which I think is good for the soul.”

COURTESY OF BETH BAUMERT

The DelGiornos: From Headless Horsewomen to Volunteer of the Year Debbie and Nicole DelGiorno reversed the usual riding-bug passing-of-the-baton when Nicole’s obsession with horses became her mother’s.

Nicole, 30, a USDF gold medalist based in Medford, New Jersey, dragged her never-even-owned-acat-or-dog mother into a life they now both love. Debbie, of Camden Wyoming, Delaware, a USDF participating-member delegate for the past 13 years, is especially keen on promoting young people and youth programs in dressage. In addition to being the Region 1 USDF FEI Youth Committee representative and the Region 1 North American Youth Championships (NAYC) chef d’équipe for nine years, Debbie has been involved with Dressage4Kids’ Youth Dressage Festival for 16 years.

Nicole may have a non-horsey

PROUD MOMENT: Beth Baumert celebrating daughter Jennifer Baumert’s medal wins at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima

day job (she works in nonprofit marketing and fundraising for MarketSmart), but she remains deeply involved in the dressage world. She has served as the Region 1 Junior chef since 2017, and she is a board member of both The Dressage Foundation and Dressage at Devon. In the evenings and on weekends, she’s a dressage instructor/trainer who is passionate about helping youth.

In Nicole’s case, the love of horses blossomed early. According to her mom, as a toddler Nicole rode her stick horse around the house until its head fell off. She moved on to forcing her Barbie dolls to ride Breyer horses, but the unarticulated

Barbies of the time soon met their demise, and the DelGiornos had a container full of Barbie heads, limbs, and bodies.

“Yeah, there was a lot of decapitation in my search for equestrianism, apparently,” Nicole says with a laugh. “My first vivid memory is my granddad, seeing all the decapitation that was taking place, decided that he needed to stop the carnage.

So, much to my parents’ chagrin, he went and got me a pony at a local auction.”

The 10.1-hand equine was adorable but completely unbroken. “It took two adults to catch it,” Debbie says, and the DelGiornos couldn’t

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find anyone to train it because of the pony’s tiny stature. “So it was pretty much a pasture ornament until Nicole was old enough to really have the courage to get on and start training it herself. And she did. She actually even jumped him and, although he wouldn’t load and it would take two people to literally carry him into the trailer, that was how it all started.”

When Debbie saw a flyer for a Horse Care 101 class, she gamely decided to learn the basics so she could at least put on a halter and pick feet—and she eventually took up riding herself. Nicole became involved in Pony Club and discovered dressage. She went on to earn four NAYC medals, including two golds, as an FEI Junior. Now she’s working toward completing the USDF L Education Program.

For her tireless contributions, Debbie was named the 2017 USDF Volunteer of the Year. She encourages others to get involved, as well.

“You can volunteer at shows.

That’s how we started—just volunteering with the local GMO. Nicole would run tests, and I would be the ring steward. And then they asked

me to be secretary of their GMO, and then vice president, and then it just goes on and on and on. The sky’s the limit because we need volunteers. And if you’re good and dependable, we need you.”

Debbie got so busy with her volunteer duties that her own riding got put on hold. Her latest goal is to get back in the saddle and to join The Dressage Foundation’s Century Club, for riders and horses completing a dressage test who have a combined age of 100 or higher.

“I’m incredibly proud of her,” Nicole says of her mom. “She’s a force to be reckoned with, and her focus is more on the governance and on the volunteerism. Just trying to make the sport healthier, safer, or happier for everyone is her goal.”

The Steiners: So Do You Think You’re Gonna Stick With This?

When Betsy Steiner knew she was having baby girl Jessie, she wanted to immerse her daughter into the world of horses. “I hoped, but I didn’t want to force her,” she says. “I wanted her to love it.”

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COURTESY OF DEBBIE DELGIORNO

MASTER CHEFS: Debbie DelGiorno (fourth from left) and daughter Nicole DelGiorno (second from left) have become standout dressage volunteers and leaders. They’re pictured celebrating the 2016 NAYC Region 1 Young Rider team gold medal.

Betsy didn’t grow up in a horse family, but her parents encouraged her to follow her heart. They promised their daughter that she could get a horse when they moved to the country, so 13-year-old Betsy was delighted when they moved to the Cleveland suburbs.

When moving day arrived at last, “I found a bunch of logs,” Betsy says.

“While everybody was unpacking and bringing things in, I was outside. I took the logs, and I had rope and I lashed them to trees and built a corral. My dad found me out there and said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I built a place for my horse.’”

That should have put the family on notice that Betsy was serious about horses, but for years her parents seemed to think that the the infatuation would fade. Even after Betsy rode for Team USA at the 1990 Stockholm World Equestrian Games, her mother asked, “So do you think you’re gonna stick with this?” Betsy says.

Although Jessie had the luxury of growing up around horses (her father is Betsy’s ex-husband, the late German dressage master Uwe Steiner), she was allowed to ride only if she pulled her weight grooming and doing barn chores. When she hit her teenage years, “I would do the horses for a while, and then I would leave it for a while,” she says. “I wanted to be a regular teenager. I grew up in the Midwest, in a place where dressage was not a thing. It was just me out there in the middle of a cornfield.”

She tried cheerleading for a while, “but I missed riding.”

Jessie attended Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where she earned a BA in communications with a minor in English literature.

After college, she followed her mother to California and got a “real

COURTESY OF STEINER DRESSAGE; COURTESY OF ROBERTA WILLIAMS

TEAM STEINER: Daughter Jessie Steiner (mounted) and mom Betsy Steiner celebrate after a good show

job” so that she could afford a nice horse.

Jessie soon found that life as a typical adult-amateur rider was not to her liking. “She came home from her job one day and just cried,” Betsy says. “I said, ‘What do you want to do?’ She said, ‘I just want to ride,’ and I said, ‘Well, that’s easy enough!’”

For years Betsy and Jessie, 51, have been partners in their Steiner Dressage business, dividing their time between New Jersey and Florida. Both women teach, train, and compete through the FEI levels.

“I think we’re lucky that we get to share this,” Betsy says. “Through the years, the person that’s always there whom I can count on is Jess.

I think we’re incredibly lucky and fortunate, and we thank God every day that we have the life we do.”

The Williamses: Growing up in Camelot Noel Williams was raised in a land of fairytale horses. Her parents, George and Roberta Williams, were both employed by the Tempel Lipiz-

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Noel, George, and Roberta Williams with Sir Velo

zan Corp. in Old Mill Creek, Illinois, he as a rider/trainer (later director) and she as the director of program development.

“It was like being in Camelot,” says Roberta, herself a Grand Prixlevel rider/trainer who today chairs the USDF FEI Youth Committee.

“I would go to work, and Noel would come with me. When we went to horse shows, she was in my backpack. There never was not an interest; she was always there, and she always loved it.”

The family lived on the 7,000acre Tempel Farms surrounded

by Lipizzans, first in a house with cross-country jumps in the back yard, then in a house next to a field of young Lipizzan colts.

“I long-reined Noel on [the Lipizzan stallion] Jacinda when she was about four so she could feel piaffe, passage, pirouettes, and changes every stride,” says George, who was based at Tempel Farms for 20 years before switching to the world of high-performance dressage. Now a well-known international trainer and competitor, he currently serves as USDF president

and is the USEF national dressage youth coach and its dressage highperformance and pathway development advisor.

“I like to think that she was hooked on dressage from that point on,” George says of his daughter.

Noel, 34, progressed through the youth ranks, winning the 2005 USEF FEI Junior National Championship team and individual gold medals and a 2007 NAYC Young Rider team silver medal. She is now the head trainer at Nancy Holowesko’s Crosiadore Farm in Trappe, Maryland, and is working toward her USEF “R” dressage judge’s license.

“With the horses, she has this feeling,” Roberta says of Noel. “She never wants to give up on a horse.

She always, always thinks that the horse just needs love or understanding.” Her dad says that his daughter loves the training more than anything. “I believe she is motivated by all of the right reasons,” he says.

Noel knows she scored a parental jackpot. “It was not very easy for me growing up with him because the man is like, literally perfect, and

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The Wagners: From in Utero to Dressage Pro Emily Wagner Miles says that her mother, German-born dressage instructor/trainer Jana Wagner, introduced her to horses in utero.

As Emily tells it, a very pregnant Jana was teaching a rider how to sit the trot. “She jumped on the horse with her big, pregnant belly so that he could see how her belly moved,” Emily laughs. “That was me in there.

So I claim that I taught somebody how to sit the trot before I even took my first breath.”

Jana was a single mom raising four children while running her own business and farm. “I made all my kids ride,” she says. “I said to them, ‘I

TEAM EFFORT: Emily Miles and her mother, Jana Wagner, after Emily won the 2021 USEF Developing Prix St. Georges championship aboard Daily Show, owned by Leslie Waterman

don’t have time to be a soccer mom.

Your sport will be riding.’”

Emily loved horses, but, exposed to the reality of living paycheck to paycheck, she decided to pursue a different career. “It’s just a really hard business, you know?” she says.

“And I think that it’s a privilege that I got to see that. I went to school to try to be a doctor so that I could be on the other end of that coin. I always expected to have horses in my life, but I did not want to be the starving trainer.”

The horses had other ideas.

“I tried to quit, and then I always had a horse that somehow came and pulled me back in,” Emily says.

The mother-daughter team are now partners in Wally Woo Farm, a dressage training and breeding facility in La Cygne, Kansas. (As the farm’s website explains, it got its name through Jana’s attempts to

48 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

pronounce “Valley View” with a German accent.)

Emily, 34, who is the only one of the siblings to have followed their mother’s career path in dressage, says that she doesn’t regret her choice.

“Absolutely not,” she says. “I’m so thankful that I have the profession I do now. They say dressage takes multiple lifetimes to learn, and I feel like I got a part of her lifetime that she could instill in me at a very young age.”

Jana’s advice to parents with “horsey” kids? Let them work in barns; pay for only one lesson a week and have them work off the rest. When they are younger, get them a pony so they can saddle up themselves.

“Let them fall off,” she says. “Let them ride bareback. That is what teaches them riding. If they learn

COURTESY OF WALLY WOO FARM

he’s literally a saint,” she says of her father. “The thing that stands out is his work ethic. He works so hard for everybody, and with his diplomacy and fairness, he really is so good in all of the positions that he’s in. He stands out even among the best of the best, and I don’t know anybody else who has as much technical knowledge as he has.”

Roberta has also set an example for her daughter to emulate, serving on endless committees and being recognized as the 2021 USDF Volunteer of the Year.

Her mother “makes herself available to all of the kids [in the USDF youth programs],” Noel says. “She’s like the mother hen. She’s so supportive, and she listens. And she’s also a stunningly beautiful rider; she is quite knowledgeable and experienced and has a lot to offer. She’s really the one who taught me to ride.

“I joke now that I really need her at the horse shows because she’s like my emotional-support blankie,” Noel laughs. “She’s my babysitter and my hand-holder, and I really need her.”

the freedom of being out there in the field or just sliding off and sitting underneath the tree and doing nothing, it’s that partnership, that friendship, that inner peace of a person together with a horse that will keep them going.”

COURTESY OF AKIKO YAMAZAKI

Yamazaki and Yang: Daughters of Trailblazers Adult-amateur Grand Prix-level rider and competitor Akiko Yamazaki is known in dressage circles as the owner of Four Winds Farm in California and of many of Olympian Steffen Peters’ competition horses.

She was introduced to horses by her Japanese mother and grew up jumping in Costa Rica.

When Yamazaki’s daughter Miki Yang was two, the family lived in their barn house while their main residence was being remodeled.

When daughter Emi was born, she came home to the barn house.

“They grew up around horses,” Akiko says. ”I think when you’re so little and you’re exposed to it, you naturally want to do it.”

Miki’s first equestrian passion was vaulting. She was the youngest member of the US vaulting team at the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, turning 10 on the first day of competition. She went on to win a bronze medal at the 2015 Youth World Championships.

Then, trading her vaulting outfits for dressage togs, Miki has won a slew of accolades, including the 2018 FEI Children’s National Championship, the 2019 FEI Pony Reserve National Championship, and Young Rider medals at the 2021 NAYC. Emi, now 14, remains an avid vaulter. She won a bronze medal at the 2021 National Vaulting Championships and another bronze at the

SHARED JOY: Miki Yang and her mother, Akiko Yamazaki, embrace after Miki’s performance in the Young Rider division at the 2022 CHIO Aachen, Germany

2021 Senior World Team event.

This fall, Miki, 18, will attend her parents’ alma mater, Stanford University in California, with plans to enter its new Doerr School of Sustainability.

Akiko says she admires her daughters’ heartfelt passion for horses. She believes the girls’ work ethic stems from years of watching elite-level dressage and learning what goes into achieving those results.

“When you’ve had those experiences where you’re watching very high-level sport, you know what the standard has to be,” Akiko says.

Her daughters “watch how Steffen behaves, how he prepares himself mentally, how he’s preparing the horse, and how he warms up the horse.”

Miki says she’s grateful that her grandmother initiated the familial passion for horses.

“My grandma is a total trailblazer, and so ahead of her time,”

she says. “There’s this picture of her standing in a group as the only woman in a riding club with 20 or so other members, and she just looked so proud.”

Miki also recognizes the lessons that her mother has handed down.

“I credit all of what I’ve learned as a horsewoman and rider to my mom,” she says of Akiko, “because she is who I learned from and observed all my life, and she does so with such compassion, fairness, understanding, and care for our horses.”

Sue Weakley is a freelance journalist with a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. She taught journalism and integrated marketing communications at the university level for five years before melding her love of dressage with her love of writing.

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Meet the Candidates

uring the 2022 Adequan®/USDF National Convention this December, the USDF Board of Governors will elect seven USDF Executive Board members: USDF vice president and secretary, as well as directors of USDF’s oddnumbered regions (1, 3, 5, 7, and 9).

Two officer positions are up for election. Current USDF vice president Kevin Reinig of California is running for another term. Longtime USDF secretary Margaret Freeman of North Carolina is stepping down at the end of 2022, and the USDF extends its sincere thanks for her years of dedicated service. Debra Reinhardt of Connecticut, a former Region 8 director, is running for the open secretary’s seat.

USDF’s regional directors represent the members of the organization’s nine regions (see map) on the Executive Board. Incumbents Bettina Longaker of Virginia (Region 1), Heather Petersen of Colorado (Region 5), Carol Tice of California (Region 7), and Bess Bruton of Texas (Region 9) are running for reelection. In Region 5, Susan Skripac of Arizona is challenging Petersen for that director’s seat. And in Region 3, longtime director Susan Bender of South Carolina is stepping down at year’s end. The USDF is grateful for her many years of service.

Running for the open Region 3 seat is current USDF Historical Recognition Committee chair Charlotte Trentelman of Florida.

Additional nominations for vice president, secretary, and regional directors in Regions 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 will be accepted from the floor of the 2022 Board of Governors General Assembly.

ODD YEAR: Up for election are the directors of USDF’s odd-numbered regions

Like all organizations, USDF needs committed leadership in order to enjoy continued growth and thoughtful direction. The USDF Executive Board functions as a cohesive team and strives to further the organization’s mission and goals. For the 2022 election cycle, the USDF Nominating Committee asked each candidate to submit a brief biography and to answer a series of questions.

Officer candidates The president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer are officer positions. The candidates for USDF vice president and secretary were asked to respond to the following questions: 1. What special professional or technical skills would you bring to the Executive Board to help implement the strategic plan of the organization (e.g., financial, legal, business, management, technology,

50 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

human resources)?

2. How has your involvement in local, regional, and national USDF activities promoted and enhanced dressage, both regionally and nationally?

3. What specific goals and objectives do you have for USDF? 4. How will you, as an officer, encourage greater member participation and help to make USDF the “go to” organization for dressage in the United States?

The candidates’ responses follow.

Vice President Incumbent: Kevin Reinig My wife, Ericka, and I have a dressage business, training horses and riders of all levels and

USDF ILLUSTRATION; CCOOL PHOTOGRAPHY

D

Get to know who’s nominated for USDF Executive Board office this year

TERRI MILLER

traveling to many shows, including the Young Horse Championships and the US Dressage Finals. I feel I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the board and look forward to continuing my service on the USDF board to progress the sport of dressage.

At 15, I started working at a local Hanoverian breeding farm. I worked my way through high school and then college, earning a finance degree. In college I was hired at a community bank. I enjoyed my work at the bank, but I missed the horses, so I went back to the breeding farm, eventually starting our own dressage training business.

I served for nine years on the Executive Board of the California Dressage Society (CDS), six of those as president. While on the CDS board I served on many committees, including as chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and of the Championship Show Committee.

I am the current USDF vice president, and I sit on the USDF Regional Championships Committee, serve on the US Dressage Finals Organizing Committee, and serve on the US Equestrian Dressage Sport Committee. As we move forward, navigating the issues surrounding the pandemic, EHV-1, and using our new communication channels to keep our members informed, it has been great working with USDF to keep dressage moving in a positive direction. I look forward to continuing my service on the USDF Executive Board.

Responses to questions: 1. I have a strong background in finance and business management.

I have worked in the horse industry for over 30 years. My wife and I have owned and operated our dressage training business for 18 years.

2. My work on the CDS board and as USDF vice president keeps me in touch with what is going on in the

sport of dressage and the direction the membership would like to see the sport develop. I am constantly looking for ways for the GMOs to support the national programs and work with other GMOs to coordinate their programs that promote dressage.

3. My goal is to improve communication with dressage enthusiasts, using social and classic media outlets to help them see that the best way they can support and progress the sport of dressage is through membership in both USDF and their local GMO. 4. I want members to think of their USDF membership as so much more than a way to access education, competition, and awards opportunities. Dressage enthusiasts need to look at USDF membership as a way for them to do their part in shaping the direction and future of the sport of dressage, both here in the United States and internationally.

Secretary Candidate: Debra Reinhardt I have been competing horses since 1981, starting in the hunter world. By 1988 I had completely changed to dressage and bought my first dressage horse.

I have continued to compete and have won many year-end awards, including my USDF bronze and silver medals. Besides being an adultamateur competitor, I am also a US Equestrian “R” technical delegate.

Managing shows has been a passion of mine for the past 25 years. I have managed some of the biggest dressage shows, and I started the CDI3* Darien, Connecticut, which became the CDI-W Saugerties, New York. I ran the American Bankers Insurance Group/USDF Region 8

Championships for five years, and now I’m very involved with running the Great American/USDF Region 8 Championships. In addition, I have been involved in the US Dressage Finals for six years as the event coordinator, and then as the show manager.

My experience with the USDF started in the early 1990s as chair of the Marketing Committee, where I championed the High School Lettering Program and created the Membership Committee. In addition, I have been a member of the USDF TD Council and Freestyle Committee, chair of the FEI Managers Committee, USDF Region 8 director for nine years, and I am presently vice-chair of the Competition Management Committee.

My wonderful husband, Steve, who is the best show secretary (I am a bit prejudiced!), and my incredible son, Robert, make my life complete!

See you on the center line.

Responses to questions: 1. While many people may think of me as a show manager/secretary, as I have run my business, Centerline Events, since 1996, I bring much more experience than competition management. I am an adult-amateur competitor and a licensed “R” technical delegate. In addition, my experience as associate publisher of Dressage Today magazine allows me to bring my knowledge about publishing to the Executive Board.

2. I was on the USDF Executive Board for nine years as Region 8 director. I was the event coordinator of the US Dressage Finals for the first four years and then became show manager, during which time I learned more about how the office and USDF in general operate. On a more local level, I manage Dressage4Kids’ Youth Dressage Festival, which hosts the USDF Junior/Young Rider Team Competitions, and for

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Regional-director candidates

The candidates for regional director were asked to respond to the following questions: 1. What special professional or technical skills (e.g., financial, legal, business, management, technology, human resources) would you bring to the Executive Board to help implement the strategic plan of the organization?

2. How has your involvement in local, regional, and national USDF activities promoted and enhanced dressage, both regionally and nationally?

3. What specific goals and objectives do you have for USDF and your region if you should be elected regional director?

4. How will you, as a regional director, encourage greater participation by each member within your region?

Region 1 Incumbent: Bettina Longaker With more than four decades of experience in horse ownership, riding, competition management, and GMO

leadership, current Region 1 director Bettina Longaker looks forward to continuing to serve the region for her third term.

Bettina has run USDF Youth and Adult Team Competitions, FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships (now NAYC) competitions, USEF-licensed/USDFrecognized dressage competitions, Great American/USDF Regional Championships, and the US Dressage Finals. She has also served as president of two Virginia Dressage Association (VADA) chapters and VADA itself.

Raised in Ithaca, New York, Bettina’s formal training as a rider started at Cornell University with Charles “Chuck” Lent. She credits Chuck as instrumental in preparing her for dressage by teaching her the balanced seat at a time when the forward half-seat was becoming popular. He also hired her when she was 17, making her the youngest instructor in the Cornell Equitation Department.

After moving to Virginia in 1976, Bettina earned a BS in information systems from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her interest and training in dressage ensued, and she earned a USDF bronze medal in 1985 and became a USDF L graduate with distinction in 1993. That same year, she volunteered to work as secretary at one of the largest East Coast dressage shows at the time, paving the way for many more years of volunteering.

Today Bettina lives in Somerset, Virginia, where she operates her business, Scripts & Rides LLC. She looks forward to remaining active in USDF governance as the organization takes on its new role in educat-

52 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

ing USEF dressage officials and writing the US dressage tests.

Responses to questions: 1. With my background in information technology, both professionally and in my dressage work, I have honed my skills in working with different personality types. This gives me invaluable insight into the confusion that many feel with the never-ending evolving technology, especially after the COVID pandemic and the change to all-online entries.

2. For the past four decades I have run the gambit of shows, from schooling shows to the US Dressage Finals. Involvement from the ground up has helped me understand the needs of the varying levels of dressage riders across our nation. We have to remember that as show management, we are service providers who have the responsibility to help our riders understand their obligations to themselves, and to understand the requirements they must fulfill to succeed in their dressage endeavors.

3. I still have two large concerns: “Who will take over for the aging generation?” and “Are we doing enough for the everyday competitor in today’s world?” I will continue to solicit from my region’s members their views and opinions and to share their views at the Executive Board level.

4. Everyone says it: Communication is the primary tool we have to encourage active participation. In this busy world of e-mails, texts, and social media, I have tried to communicate efficiently without bombarding my region’s members to distraction, while always being available for their inquires.

Region 3 Candidate: Charlotte Trentelman Charlotte Trentelman is a US Equestrian “S” dressage judge from Ocala, Florida. She helped develop

COURTESY OF BETTINA LONGAKER

over 20 years I have either managed or been secretary for the Great American/USDF Region 8 Championships. I have run two USEF “S” Judge Promotion Programs along with judges forums, and have another judge program set to start in January 2023.

3. I would like to help USDF be the only place to go to get knowledge, education, find instructors, competitions, and every aspect of dressage information.

4. We need to provide our members with more opportunities to communicate with the Executive Board. With the use of Zoom, we can hold “town meetings.” We can encourage the membership to communicate with the officers and regional directors via e-mail.

COURTESY OF CHARLOTTE TRENTELMAN; COURTESY OF HEATHER PETERSEN

shows on the early Florida circuit as a manager, secretary, trainer, technical delegate, and judge. She has competed with numerous breeds in dressage since 1976. She currently chairs the USDF Historical Recognition Committee.

She worked as a local organizer for the USDF National Symposium in Orlando, Florida, for the years it was held there.

Prior to 2000, Charlotte served two terms as USDF Region 3 director. She has attended 30 USDF annual conventions, often as a participating-member delegate.

When not on the road judging, she enjoys volunteering with local organizers of USDF L programs.

She feels that USDF has the best educational system for dressage in the world.

Responses to questions: 1. I am task oriented and a team player. I have experience in many different aspects of dressage and USDF. 2. I have been involved with the USDF Historical Recognition Committee for almost all of the years of its existence and presently am the chair. I have served as president and vice president of my local GMO, STRIDE; organized shows; and helped with educational programs.

3. I feel that we have had a great regional director in Sue Bender, and I want to carry forward the programs that she has put into action. Region 3 covers a lot of territory, and all of it needs to benefit from USDF programs. Making our members feel that their voices are heard is very important.

4. I will reach out to all the GMOs and identify a liaison that we can call on to let us know what their

clubs’ problems and needs are.

I want to have committee members who are visible and approachable to the region for all categories of members.

Also, I want to network with these people to identify members who want to participate in programs and the annual convention. Many have voiced a need for fresh ideas to come to the convention. I’d like to try to make this happen.

Region 5 Incumbent: Heather Petersen Heather Petersen was born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa. She attended college at Iowa State University, earning degrees in music (oboe performance) and animal science.

She met and married her husband, Michael, during college and moved to Colorado soon after. They have two children, Elizabeth and Sarah, and a menagerie of animals on their farm. Before working in the horseshow industry, Heather worked in restaurant management with the McDonalds Corporation and private franchises.

Heather is an active amateur dressage competitor; mother of two active Jr/YR dressage competitors; a USEF “R” technical delegate; an FEI Level 1 steward; a current or past member of several USDF and USEF committees; and a member of show management of USDF Regional Championships, Rocky Mountain Dressage Society (RMDS) Championships, and CDIs. She is the secretary/manager for many other successful national competitions, schooling shows, and local shows as well as an RMDS past president, education chair, and current sec-

retary. She has organized USDF L programs, USEF “r” dressage judge programs, and several educational symposiums. She has also served several years as a USDF Region 5 NAYC chef and enjoys organizing the USDF Region 5 FEI Jr/YR Clinics. Volunteering is one of the best ways we can give back to the sport of dressage.

In her spare time, Heather loves to ride her horses, read lots of books, and hang out with her family and animals. She has enjoyed getting to show in other parts of the region in recent years and connecting with the Region 5 membership.

Responses to questions: 1. While on the board of the Rocky Mountain Dressage Society, and in my previous terms serving on the USDF Executive Board and several other large nonprofit organizations, I’ve worked through budgeting, restructuring, long-term planning, and membership retention. Managing restaurants and my own horse-show management business has given me experience in management, cost analysis, and budgeting, as well as an awareness of the importance of teamwork.

2. Having served and currently serving on quite a few USDF and USEF committees, I have helped to provide valuable resources for dressage competitions and competitors.

By organizing judging programs and other educational programs, I have worked to increase the dressage knowledge base. I’ve enjoyed working with our juniors and young riders, helping grow the sport and create potential open and adultamateur competitors.

3. I would like to see USDF maintain and develop more diverse educational programs to meet the changing needs of our membership.

Helping educate our instructors will strengthen our sport from the bottom to the top, including our

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I am a retired associate professor of vocational teacher education from SUNY Oswego and have also taught online for Texas A&M Commerce and the University of Arizona. I was a pioneer in online teacher education in SUNY, and I encouraged many educators to expand to traditional and nontraditional students through a variety of teaching mediums.

I currently give about 20 riding lessons per week and manage my Friesian Sporthorse Association/ Georgian Grande stallion, Wallace G, in his journey to Grand Prix with Taylor Lindsten in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Candidate: Susan Skripac Born in Youngstown, Ohio, I have been riding and a student of horses since 1962. I have been a 4-H member, club president, advisor, and horse-judging coach in both Ohio and New York.

I have owned and shown Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, Arabians, grades, and now Friesian Sporthorses/Georgian Grandes. I have been a devotee of dressage since 1992 and now of working equitation.

In addition to chairing the Cooperative Extension Board in Oswego County, New York, and the faculty assembly/senate of the State University of New York at Oswego for seven years, I was president of the Central New York Dressage and Combined Training Association, and a board member of the Dallas Dressage Club.

I am currently a board member and futurity chair for the Arizona Dressage Association. I have volunteered at many dressage shows, the American Eventing Championships, the World Equestrian Games, and the US Dressage Finals. I’ve learned much from each of these experiences.

Responses to questions: 1. I taught using videoconferencing in its infancy and then online since 1998. I chaired the faculty assembly at SUNY Oswego and was well respected for my organizational and collegial ways in collaborating with a highly opinionated group of academics and professional staff.

I listen in order to gather information and solve problems, and to develop systems that work well. I listen to learn. I listen to help. I listen and think.

2. Each GMO of which I have been a member has encountered similar issues: membership, volunteerism, appropriate event venues, and youth participation. I look for old and new ideas to help the organization better serve its members. This is difficult, as professionals’ goals differ from those of adult amateurs and youth. Education and community are foremost in my mind. But a GMO must balance raising funds with providing education and service—a challenge, to be sure. When you meet me, ask me about my three mantras.

3. Balance the geographically vast region with services, virtual seminars, and in-person horse shows and clinics; and increase social interaction such that learning is a natural outcome. Make each member of a

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region understand their place and that they can expect something from being a member.

4. Have quarterly Zoom/virtual calls with questions submitted before and during the call, and Zoom participation in regional meetings. Write/email GMO members and engage in conversation of their choosing. Many members join and want more but do not always know what they want.

Region 5 is large, our states have pockets of us, and some members live and ride far from these pockets.

Region 7 Incumbent: Carol Tice I started dressage to improve my Western horses and never left!

My lessons started with a person recommended by the instructor at my soon-to-be husband’s boarding stable, Sherry Guess. Her tutelage and recommendations on continuing my dressage and riding education continue today.

Through Sherry, I became involved with my local chapter of the California Dressage Society (CDS).

Since then I’ve volunteered in every aspect of producing a show, on my local chapter board, and on the CDS Executive Board as a regional director, vice president, and president. When I was not to continue on the CDS EB, I found myself becoming more involved with USDF than just being on the GMO Committee, and I was elected as Region 7 director.

My days are normally busy with shared duties alongside my husband, Jim, taking care of our riding-school horses, his hobby farm of registered miniature Herefords, and my helpful goat, along with two dogs and a somewhat feral cat.

I have been the volunteer co-

COURTESY OF SUSAN SKRIPAC; TINA FITCH PHOTOGRAPHY

amateurs and youth.

For our region, I will focus on keeping up good communication, finding more potential venues for our Regional Championships, and helping our diverse membership meet their goals.

4. I will continue to encourage more involvement in USDF regional and national activities as well as GMO programs. I would like to see more of our GMOs offering newsletters to their membership that can be shared throughout our region to spread ideas and encourage crossparticipation in events.

ordinator at the four-ring Del Mar (California) National Dressage Show for many years and for the Great American/USDF Region 7 Championships/CDS Championships. I’ve used dressage theory for all of my students, both English and Western, for my over 30 years of teaching beginners and competing riders. While my dream of riding a Prix St. Georges test has yet to be realized, my horses are happy learning and moving up the levels using the training scale, albeit in a Western saddle these days.

CYRILLE BULLOCK

Responses to questions: 1. I have been involved with managing and running my husband’s and my small business for 35 years. Before that I was an outside sales rep, which required finding and keeping new clients.

2. Through my involvement with my GMO at the local, state, and national levels, and having served on various USDF committees and special task-force working groups, I feel that the main focus has been how to recruit and maintain interested riders in dressage. Listening to the members, bringing their requests and needs to the governing bodies of these organizations, and supporting their ideas have proved productive in producing new programs.

3. My goal is to help increase GMO membership within my region and to work on the communication lines between GMO members and USDF. 4. Considering that many members are comfortable with the status quo of programs and offerings by both USDF and their GMOs, I’d like to continue work on committees that develop new member programs and update current ones.

Region 9 Incumbent: Bess Bruton From the time I could walk, I have been fascinated with horses. One of my first books was about the Spanish

Riding School of Vienna and the Lipizzan stallions. I knew about the levade at age six and wished that my Shetland pony would cooperate. Alas, he just rolled in the sand or headed for the nearest tree branch.

I attended a Houston Dressage Society meeting sometime in the late 1970s. Soon after, I started taking lessons and going to clinics, devouring as much knowledge as possible about dressage.

Showing followed, with my first “10” for a halt at my first recognized show. Fast-forward 30 years to earning my USDF bronze and silver medals.

I’ve been involved in horses pretty much my whole life, from behind the scenes at shows and clinics to serving on national, regional, and GMO committees and boards, including as USDF Region 9 director.

I have owned and operated a horse farm, worked as a trainer/instructor, am an L graduate, and have written equine-related articles. Outside the equine industry, I have worked as a certified yoga teacher/ trainer, a home ec teacher, in retail sales, as a dog trainer, and in the oil and gas business. In my spare time I enjoy painting, working with clay and glass, fishing, and hiking.

The beauty I saw in that children’s book about the Lipizzan stallions still rings true today. I hope that dressage will be here at least another 500 years so others can be fascinated, intrigued, and fall in love.

everyone, but I enjoy it.

I’ve owned or been involved with several types of businesses, all of which have given me good life experience. That varied knowledge helps in good decision making.

2. I’ve been involved with dressage at the GMO level since the 1970s—from videographer, volunteer at shows, show secretary/manager, USDF L graduate, and braiding manes to competing through FEI. I have also organized clinics and trained and taught horses and riders.

I’m a past GMO president and have worked on numerous committees.

I have been involved with USDF at the regional and national level since the 1990s. I served several years as a PM or GMO delegate and on national committees, and I’m a past and current Region 9 director.

The many hats I’ve worn through the last 40-plus years have, I hope, helped to promote passion and love for dressage and the horse.

3. To listen and hear members’ needs, and to remember those needs as executive decisions are made. All goals and objectives should be based on what is best for our members.

They are the reason for our existence, along with the love for our sport and the horse.

4. Promote events, barn activities, GMOs, the region, and nationally through communication by e-news, website, social media, and so on.

Finding out members’ wants and needs to assist them in reaching their goals.

Responses to questions: 1. I’m told I am very organized, a good listener, levelheaded, and can analyze and think through problems. Administration is not for USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

55

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USDF OFFICE CONTACT DIRECTORY

Phone: (859) 971-2277, Fax: (859) 971-7722, E-mail: usdressage@usdf.org Accounting...................................................................................... (859) 271-7891......................... accounting@usdf.org

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Address and E-mail Updates...................................................... (859) 971-2277.............................changes@usdf.org

July/August 2021

Adult Education Programs ......................................................... (859) 271-7882.......................... education@usdf.org All-Breeds Awards ........................................................................ (859) 971-7361.............................allbreeds@usdf.org Applications Submitted at Competitions................................. (859) 271-7880........................... affidavits@usdf.org Breeder Championship Series................................................... (859) 271-7878.........................sporthorse@usdf.org

Official Publication of the United States Dressage Federation

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Buyer’s Guide to the Prepurchase Exam (p. 44)

Demographics and Statistics...................................................... (859) 271-7083.................................... stats@usdf.org

Handling GMO Conflict (p. 20) Raise Your Training Standards with Sue Blinks (p. 30)

Donations........................................................................................ (859) 971-7826................................donate@usdf.org GMO Education Initiative............................................................. (859) 271-7882.......................... education@usdf.org

Dr. Hilary Clayton on Donzi MC

Group Membership....................................................................... (859) 971-7048.....................................gmo@usdf.org Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement Awards.................. (859) 271-7873......................... halloffame@usdf.org Horse Performance Certificates................................................ (859) 971-7361........... horseperformance@usdf.org Horse Registration......................................................................... (859) 271-7880............horseregistration@usdf.org Human Resources/Career Opportunities................................ (859) 271-7885......................................... hr@usdf.org

L Education and Continuing Education................................... (859) 971-7039............................ lprogram@usdf.org Licensed Official Education........................................................ (859)-271-7877.......................loeducation@usdf.org Mailing Lists.................................................................................... (859) 971-7038.......................... mailinglist@usdf.org Musical Freestyle........................................................................... (859) 971-7039...............musicalfreestyle@usdf.org NAYC Criteria and Procedures.................................................. (859) 971-7317..................................... nayc@usdf.org Nominations – Delegates, Regional Directors...................... (859) 271-7897......................nominations@usdf.org Participating and Business Memberships............................... (859) 271-7871.......................membership@usdf.org Prize List Questions...................................................................... (859) 271-7896...............................prizelist@usdf.org Regional Championships Program........................................... (859) 271-7886........................regchamps@usdf.org Rider Awards.................................................................................. (859) 971-7361........................riderawards@usdf.org Safe Sport........................................................................................ (859)-271-7877............................safesport@usdf.org Score Corrections......................................................................... (859) 271-7895............. scorecorrections@usdf.org Secretary/Manager Services ..................................................... (859) 271-7895.....................competitions@usdf.org Show Results.................................................................................. (859) 271-7895.................................results@usdf.org Sponsorship Opportunities......................................................... (859) 271-7887......................sponsorship@usdf.org Sport Horse Education and Programs..................................... (859) 271-7877.........................sporthorse@usdf.org Store Merchandise........................................................................ (859) 971-7828.....................merchandise@usdf.org University Accreditation and Credit Check............................ (859) 271-7882...........................university@usdf.org USDFScores.com.......................................................................... (859) 271-7878................................reports@usdf.org USEF/USDF Dressage Seat Medal Program & Semi-Finals....(859)-971-7886....................................... youth@usdf.org Year-End Awards........................................................................... (859) 971-7361.................................awards@usdf.org Young Rider Graduate Program................................................ (859) 971-7317....................................youth@usdf.org Youth Education and Programs................................................. (859) 971-7317....................................youth@usdf.org

For specific staff contacts visit the USDF Web site.

58 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

PAID

Junior/Young Rider Clinics.......................................................... (859) 971-7317.............................jryrclinics@usdf.org

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. Postage

Insurance Certificates for Competitions.................................. (859) 271-7886............................. compins@usdf.org

Lebanon Junction, KY Permit # 559

Instructor Certification.................................................................. (859) 271-7877..... instructorcertification@usdf.org

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United States Dressage Federation Official Page

Rider Project........................................................................ theriderproject.org....................................56 Shooting Star Farm ........................................................... shootingstarfarm.com............................... 57 Sox For Horses.................................................................... soxforhorses.com...................................... 23 Sporthorse Auctions.com................................................. sporthorseauctions.com...........................56

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USDF CONNECTION | September/October 2022

59

My Dressage Off the Ledge Kristi Wysocki dealt with crippling fear as a rider. Now the well-known instructor/trainer and judge helps both riders and horses vanquish their demons.

THE ADVOCATE: Kristi Wysocki and friend

Wysocki, who started out eventing, says she was not a timid rider as a kid. She traces her first experience with fear on horseback to “when I started jumping at the Preliminary level. I was probably fifteen or sixteen.”

Between fences that were starting to look big and going off to college, Wysocki never went beyond Prelim.

Looking back, she says, “I do think that there was an underlying fear that was making that decision, because it certainly wasn’t my horse’s capability.”

By the late 1990s, Wysocki had switched to dressage and bought her first FEI horse. “I went to a couple of shows pretty quickly and did really, really well, so I thought, ‘Huh, I’ve got this down.’”

Then came a show at the Colorado Horse Park, where the fence near Wysocki’s competition arena was decorated with state flags.

“Right as the judge rang the bell,

the wind picked up and all 50 flags started going whap, whap. My horse became a dragon very quickly. I finished the test, but I was shaking. It was not a good experience. Then the horse started rearing. He went up pretty darn high a few times. There were three times during the year of the rearing that I actually got off.”

Looking back, Wysocki feels more sympathy for her horse.

“Now that I know what I do [when fears arise], I’m pretty darn sure that as I put my foot in the stirrup iron, I told him loud and clear, ‘I am scared to death. How about you?’

My fears made him make the choices he made, which I didn’t understand at the time.”

Wysocki realized that she needed to find ways to deal with fear in the saddle. She read a book on sport psychology and tried some of the suggested techniques, such as making silly noises to help herself relax. It worked. At that year’s USDF Regional Championships, she earned three championship titles and one reserve.

“It was a pretty magical transformation,” Wysocki says.

She worked with other horses with fear issues. One had had a bad experience in a stall, and “every time something happened on the ground or under saddle that he didn’t like, he would literally climb the walls.”

On the advice of a clinician, Wysocki tried long-lining. “The third or fourth day I did it, he suddenly stopped and looked at me, and he never did it again.”

Her experiences with those two reactive horses, Wysocki says, “started making me understand the horse’s fear. I started to realize that all the defensive, bad behaviors were their instincts for survival kicking

60 September/October 2022 | USDF CONNECTION

in—because they were afraid, not because they were jerks. Those experiences actually made me a way better trainer because, once I understood that the horse was afraid, I was no longer afraid of them. I was more like, ‘OK, how can I get through to you so you aren’t afraid any more?’”

As an instructor and clinician, Wysocki has encountered plenty of fearful riders, as well. Finding that simple reassurance is of little help, she took the opportunity during the 2020 COVID lockdown to work with a sports coach.

“I did a really intensive one-onone with her for about nine or 10 months, making me understand the physiology of the fear, not just the emotions,” Wysocki says. The coach “taught me tools to give the rider in the heat of the moment to help bring them down—not necessarily out of the fear but to move the fear down, and get it to a point where the rider could cope, and then try to progress and get better.”

The immediacy of the results gave Wysocki goosebumps. “All I did was get the rider to calm down and smile,” she says. In the space of five minutes, she could see a fearful rider transform from “almost ready to get off the horse” to “laughing and having a good time.”

Although Wysocki learned fearmanagement techniques for self-help, she says that “the real reward has been in helping a horse or rider overcome their fear. Now I think it’s my greatest gift that I can give to horses and riders.”

Katherine Walcott is a freelance writer based in Alabama.

ERIN LATTARREL BURK

I

n her own equestrian journey, “fear was my biggest obstacle,” says dressage rider, trainer, clinician, and judge Kristi Wysocki, of Coupeville, Washington. Yet as she moved from handling her own fear to helping horses and riders handle theirs, “it became probably my biggest asset in the long run.”

By Katherine Walcott

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