[QUOTE=lorilu;8300021]
Debbie has stepped down: http://horsesdaily.com/article/debbie-mcdonald-steps-down-usef-developing-dressage-coach[/QUOTE]
Yes - as Yaya posted two hours earlier.
[QUOTE=vineyridge;8300220]
Maybe it’s just getting to be too hard to work under RD.[/QUOTE]
And according to the rumor mill, that was one of the reasons why Hassler and Steinberg stepped down from their positions.
DM and RD seemed to work well together, but as someone said to me, “A little RD goes a LOOONG way”.
She may be getting worn down by the travel, the directives from RD and/or USEF to “go there and hold this clinic”, “teach that person”, etc. Or it could be she feels the pay isn’t enough to justify her having to be “on call” and present at certain places at certain times, esp. if she has to turn down opportunities to teach clinics elsewhere. Maybe she doesn’t like the way people buy their way onto teams by buying (or having their sponsors buy) fancy international caliber horses.
While RD is all about getting the wealthiest riders (or riders with the wealthiest sponsors) on the fanciest horses on U.S. teams, spending half the summer in Europe, winning medals, etc., DM strikes me as being more about - ahem - DEVELOPING horses and riders to their full potential. Maybe that is what she means by “losing our way in this sport.”
We may never know the REAL reason, and I don’t think she is under any obligation to tell anyone, esp if it is due to a personality conflict with RD, or TPTB at USEF. I think she is too much of a professional to “undermine” RD in his quest to get the U.S. on the podium in Rio by gossiping about him.
Whatever her reasons, I wish her the best in future endeavors. And I personally would like to see her pursue a judging license. :winkgrin:
Spend enough time around the “professional” side of horses (no matter what discipline) and it will burn you out.
In a longer article here: http://www.dressage-news.com/?p=32562, there are a couple of references to the demand for her training from various high level riders. Laura Graves, Kimberley Herslow, Adrianne Lyle, all named.
With this kind of client base and a few others I know have horses with her, she can probably make more $$$ with less aggravations than her current situation.
Wont speculate on the relationships at USDF, but 10 years as head of a program is a long time even in the best of jobs, especially when you are trotting around the US and Europe all the time.
She seems to spell it out clearly here (from Dressage-News):
“I can’t do it all,” she said, and deciding how to handle the demands “has been driving me crazy for a while.”
[QUOTE=DownYonder;8299925]
So two weeks after writing that “cryptic facebook post”, she has resigned as Developing Coach.
In the past year, USEF has lost:
Scott Hassler - YH Coach
Jeremy Steinberg - Youth Coach
Debbie McDonald - Developing Coach
Sort of makes you wonder what is going on.[/QUOTE]
I know Jeremy was torn between enjoying the job and frustration that he had trouble with supporting his own (paying) clients due to time spent as the coach, I’m guessing for less money than he would have made otherwise. He had a hard time scheduling shows, riding his own horses, taking training time at home. I have never asked about his relationship with RD, but these were expressed before RD was on the scene. Add to that, he has relocated and is building a business in a new location… I don’t think ANY nefarious reasons were needed. But when I ride with him next week I won’t ask, either, as that’s none of my business.
Since leaving the position, Jeremy has written multiple articles pointing out weaknesses in modern competitive dressage with which I VERY strongly agree, but which he could not have written as a program representative. I admire that he has used his name to do so without pointing fingers and being inappropriate, but just making suggestions and indicating strengths of the past we sometimes forget.
As others have noted, being a team coach is TOUGH. I wish all the former coaches the best, and hope the new coaches prosper and enjoy the time in their new positions. 
[QUOTE=DownYonder;8300432]
And I personally would like to see her pursue a judging license. :winkgrin:[/QUOTE]
Debbie just turned 60, so she’s aged out of any chance of international judging. I’m not sure her time would be best spent judging training level rides for months on end as an L graduate with distinction in order to put in her time to apply for an r license and so on, when she has the opportunity to influence some of America’s best young riders.
[QUOTE=AllWeatherGal;8302951]
Debbie just turned 60, so she’s aged out of any chance of international judging. I’m not sure her time would be best spent judging training level rides for months on end as an L graduate with distinction in order to put in her time to apply for an r license and so on, when she has the opportunity to influence some of America’s best young riders.[/QUOTE]
The work she has done with the named riders says it all. If she wants to have some balance in her life, her time is probably best spent working with her private clients and not traveling around to a ton of shows as she would otherwise do in the developing program.
[QUOTE=AllWeatherGal;8302951]
Debbie just turned 60, so she’s aged out of any chance of international judging. I’m not sure her time would be best spent judging training level rides for months on end as an L graduate with distinction in order to put in her time to apply for an r license and so on, when she has the opportunity to influence some of America’s best young riders.[/QUOTE]
While I appreciate the amount of training required, I do somewhat wish that someone like Debbie could be added in without the training. Ultimately I don’t think the training eliminates personal opinions on what is correct anyway, and I certainly think Debbie has a great opinion to offer…
[QUOTE=AllWeatherGal;8302951]
Debbie just turned 60, so she’s aged out of any chance of international judging. I’m not sure her time would be best spent judging training level rides for months on end as an L graduate with distinction in order to put in her time to apply for an r license and so on, when she has the opportunity to influence some of America’s best young riders.[/QUOTE]
Yes, you are right. And I think that is a shame. It would have been nice to have someone with her integrity judging at the top levels of sport.
[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8302974]
The work she has done with the named riders says it all. [/QUOTE]
Agree. She has proven that she is the “go-to” coach for riders with the desire and ability to make it to the upper echelon.
It must be a weight off her shoulders to realize that she will be able to choose her own schedule and her own clients, and not have to bow to the whims of TPTB at USEF.
Since it happened to more than one horse in the clinic, I’d like to give the horses a little more credit than simply saying they were spooking because they didn’t have to stare at the ground anymore. Afterall, when they walked into the ring in their doubles, they got a good look around and were ok, yes ?
To me this story shows that when the riders’ sense of security was compromised (no double bridles, change in position) the horses reacted accordingly. We know how sensitive horses are to the riders’ temperament. Without the rider’s sense of confidence, the horses had no one to rely on, and so they became flighty.
The rider’s sense of confidence was the only variable that changed from the first day to the second. The horse didn’t change, nor the surroundings, nor the weather, etc. If the rider remained quietly confident in his/her riding ability, there should have been very little change, if any, in the horse’s demeanor when he went from double to snaffle.
