I would agree that the lease/own a schoolmaster for the sole purpose of the medal concept is alive and well…kind of the American way isn’t it? 
I think medals are really only of value or meaningful to the person earning them so if that’s how they want to do it…so be it. I have my bronze and am half way to silver with scores earned only with my heart horse an Arabian. As an ammie I have no desire to ride another horse just to get silver or gold…it personally wouldn’t mean anything to me if it isn’t with the horse I have loved for the last 10 years and brought up the levels. As a goal oriented person it has been a fun and rewarding part of the training process to achieve performance certificates along the way and a bronze medal.
I got my bronze medal on a TB, with the scores through second level done while keeping the horse in a backyard, also taking lessons and showing HJ, and getting maybe one dressage lesson every two weeks. I also won a regional championship (the old AHSA Amateur Zone head-to-head competition) and a huge open first level class at Del Mar. This was back in the early 90’s. Is this possible now?
The HJ world does stratify their amateur and junior classes via cross-entry restrictions. For example, if you’re showing in the 3’ amateur or children’s (17/u) hunter divisions, you can’t show in any hunter classes at 3’6" or higher at the same show, though they can do a jumper class at 1.1 m (roughly 3’7"). So a person doing the 3’6" amateur/owner (there’s another whole ball of wax) hunters on one horse would not be able to show a less experienced horse in an amateur tuner class at 2’6" or 3’. They could show the young in an open class, but at a big 5-day show those would all be during the week, something of a problem if you actually have a normal job. At the smaller USEF shows that run over 3 days, there will generally be open schooling classes on the weekends as well. There are similar restrictions in the jumpers and I think there’s a rule about cross entering between certain even fairly high-level junior or amateur jumper classes and the big Grand Prix classes.
I left the dressage world in favor of western riding. To be honest, i have yet to find a dressage trainer in my area that has any concept of horsemanship and how horses think and learn…and i just can’t bring myself to work with my horse in a way that I find counter-productive. Not sure if I’ll ever go back, but I may pursue western dressage at some point.
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Interesting, I left western riding for dressage. I find the technicality of dressage and the precision as well as the closer partnership with the horse to be a better fit for me than what I was seeing in the western show world.
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Interesting comment! A teenage friend is down in Wellington as a working student. Her first foray into the wonderful world of high-end horses and owners. Early on she would call me to update, and she was talking about lousy ground manners when they were on a lead rope. Some of them can’t go anywhere without running you over or dragging you off where you aren’t going. She shot down my suggestions to apply a little on-the-spot training. Apparently that’s not part of her job.
I always thought that a horse is a horse no matter what you paid. He doesn’t know he’s a 6-figure FEI mount, so why hasn’t he been taught the same ground manners we train our regular everyday friends?
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having worked in UL barns i can tell you that there just is not a big emphasis sometimes on good ground manners. you can be a great teacher, instructor, clinician, whatever – and totally suck at installing good ground manners.
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This is a very true observation. Increasingly there’s a disconnect between what we see in the media as the best riders/horses and what is taught to be correct riding.
Recently watched the posted media video of one of our better US riders in a GP class. The horse that just a few years ago was willing and showed nice potential through natural talent, now looks resentful, and is stiff in the movements. No softness, no elasticity, and certainly did not look like a pleasure to ride. It wasn’t wonderful to watch, but the pair received a high score and a few hearty congratulations on social media.
It was sad to see that this beautiful, talented horse had become so unhappy through supposedly top professional training. That’s not how it’s supposed to be, and certainly not the essence of dressage. It was very much a turn off.
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A friend had a nice young DWB that she purchased from and left with a noted upper level trainer as a 3 year old. When she got him back, oh, he’d work on the bit at a level appropriate for his age, but he was a pig on the ground, difficult to load, etc. She ended up sending him to a cowboy.
Just another comment on “where is dressage going.” Let’s not forget that it was only a couple of years ago that a dressage judge wrote an opinion column in Dressage Today where she lamented about people who “wanted to do dressage” but couldn’t fork out for an expensive horse. She decried people with “$5,000 horses” who said “that was all they could afford.” She opined that people spend $35,000 for a car, so they should get a cheaper car and buy a pricier dressage-suitable horse. My reaction was, however pricey a car, it isn’t going to run out in the pasture the next day/week/month and injure itself, and secondly, for my self, I was riding/showing my $5,500 horse with moderate success at 2nd level and driving a '88 Chevy truck with close to 200,000 miles on it - just how much cheaper a vehicle would she suggest? And she was speaking in general terms. She did not limit it to “people who want to do FEI levels.” Then there was another judge who expressed that s/he was “tired of seeing horses come down the center line that should be out chasing cattle.” Had s/he said, “I’m tired of seeing horses come down the centerline dropped on their forehand,” no one would have disagreed, but s/he made it personal for those with non-traditional horses.
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I just got back from a lesson with one of my young horses (which is not a traditional warmblood although she is an oldenburg, she looks very much and has the mentality of a TB)
And I am still pretty high… And thats what dressage is about for me…
When I started her, her trot was like a sewing machine and her back was not moving at all. In fact I was pretty frustrated but because I couldnt sell her like this and had no other horse I had not choice but to continue…
I worked on rhythm and relaxation for a long time (works well now 
) and then I started to work on transitions and suppleness. OMG that was not easy, she found out that she had to use her back and she was not extremely happy about it. It was an Art to get her to do what I wanted her to do, but on the other hand not make her too mad. In the last few weeks I started to sit her trot which was also not easy at all. I just kept on doing what I was doing although I was pretty desperate…
In the last week I did have the feeling that we were progressing.
She could not keep that trot for a longer time though. So yesterday I decided to take a lesson with her at another facility. Last night I did not really sleep well because I wasn’t sure how my mare who was explosive anyhow because of all the new things would react at another facility. So I got there today and started the lesson and of course the clinician took all the little things we have been working on for granted and demanded more. Every time we did a walk trot transition I had the feeling she might explode but he praised us and said that she was doing it beautiful. And it was amazing, she was not exploding at all although I demanded more from her then what I usually do. And her trot felt more and more expressive throughout the lesson. So I guess this explosive feeling is really her using her back nicely The instructor had seen her 5 months ago and said that she progressed very very nicely and that her trot can be beautiful
And thats exactly the reason why I do Dressage. You don’t need an expensive horse for that. That feeling of success you have with any horse if you ride it well…
And something I would like to add. Dressage is not about soft and willing partnership… Sure its supposed to look like it, but IMO it always has to be a bit borderline… You have to go up to the point where something is going to happen… You just have to, otherwise everything looks boring… And thats maybe a misconception of many many people. You have to go for it, if you ride Dressage. Thats whats rewarding in the end…
Sorry for the post, but I am still feeling so relaxed and happy about my lesson today and so excited about this explosive feeling
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I’m with atlatl.in the transition from the western world (as a teenager, I showed all around on a QH.)
I got sick of being at shows where many horses had been taught pure submission, not partnership. While they were ALL great on the ground, they tended to be “trained” at 4, and lame by 8. My trainer from my teens wasn’t one like that, and he moved out of the breed he was in to one where horses are expected to last many more years. But still, they are trained fully at a young age for the most part. I wanted to stick with one horse for many years, and keep progressing and developing and improving my horse’s both mentally and physically. Dressage is the sport which allows that.
On the local level, I see more and more riders with that same mindset and moving up the levels with one horse, regardless its age. Including one who was a WP dropout and is now showing 4th, I think. They have been one of my favorite pairs to watch for the time the rider has spent developing this horse.
Many times I find the ground manners of dressage horses deplorable. However, I also find that the brains of the good dressage horses I’m around are far busier than the brains of most of the QH I rode. I actually have a different idea of what a good temperament is from that, and I hope the growing popularity of reining helps those who run breed registries to redefine what they consider a good temperament.
The problem with this world view is that it assumes that less expensive horses can’t be improved by dressage. And IMO, if they are performing all the directives correctly, and their paces are regular, and their hind legs are reaching under their center of gravity and elevating their forehand (despite whether they still look a little bit downhill because of how they are made), I think they deserve a minimum of 6 but, in my world, if they do all of this willingly, with suppleness, straightness, bend, connection and harmony, they deserve at least a 7. One of our local professionals, who is now an International rider, started out here competing on a cutting bred roan quarter horse and regularly scored in the upper 60s despite the mare’s smaller movement and downhill conformation. The rides were memorable: forward, fluid, harmonious, happy and obedient. The horse was connected, truly on the bit and striding under. I don’t understand why that shouldn’t be 7 or 8. And I really take issue with that same horse being beaten by a disobedient $$$$ warmblood just because it’s gaits start out at 8, and especially when I see the warmblood is not being ridden with true connection, is not on the bit, is rolled up or strung out. Just because a horse is build uphill does not mean that it is elevating its forehand (which would require it to actually DO something, like be connected and stride under instead of out behind…)
I ride a very nice, very well bred warmblood so I am not posting out of some sour grapes, just from the POV that I think that the judging has gone wrong and is scaled to owning expensive horses rather than by the directives. And, while I can afford to BUY an expensive horse, it would be the silliest thing I ever have done since I have no plans to show out of this area and our local barns are not set up to support long term maintenance of an expensive investment. You should really only buy a six figure horse if you can afford to LOSE six figures. The whole idea that you should drive a cheap car (and a car is a necessity) so that you can spend what your can’t afford to lose on a hobby is actually very much an elitist idea that has no basis in reality.
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Cowgirl - Isn’t Colorado also the home of “Lakota Lace,” an Appy cross that has been successful at FEI levels? (and who looks a lot like my horse in his markings, chestnut with a snowflake blanket, except he has a star and my horse has a blaze.)
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Yes, and same rider, a professional who typical winters with Kathleen Raine in California, also trained and successfully showed a pinto/friesian cross to GP. A very talented rider/trainer and both horses looked and moved like warmbloods in her program. People noticed them because they were the exception, not the rule.
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Well. I can’t argue with this. I too am amazed at how many dressage horses have poor ground manners; it just isn’t a priority for some riders I guess.
That said, since I spent loads of time showing showmanship and halter on the AQHA circuit every one of my horses has had impeccable ground manners; there simply is no other option. So after rainy days while others are getting dragged around the place even with stud chains on their horses, I hand walk both of mine together with no chain.
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and Laura Graves started her show career on a quarter horse.
As long as we’re generalizing, remember that Quarter Horses are bred to be even tempered and tractable. They tend to be more novice and beginner friendly, whereas the more sensitive, hotter tempered horses you often see in dressage require a higher level of horsemanship. I don’t think a lot of dressage riders have the necessary experience to handle them all that well.
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Saying that QH’s are “tractable” and “novice or beginner friendly” is a copout for not teaching basic manners.
Horses are horses and don’t come out of the womb knowing how to be well behaved. A polite horse is a trained horse.
I have been in enough “dressage” barns…including one run by the former groom of an Olympic rider, that I have concluded that basic horsemanship is a lost art in that part of the horse world.
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They are all individuals. I’ve been around plenty of obnoxious quarter horses that were spoilt. I blame the handlers. My WB gelding is half TB, hot and sensitive but he sure doesn’t run me over because he’s been trained not to.
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The big difference; is the ease of riding a QH with smaller size and stride is much easier for the novice and beginner when compared to a big WB or even a TB with long strides. It takes good equitation to be able to sit the big strides. Sadly, those smaller strides etc. are not what is wanted in the show ring so of course everyone strives to ride big moving horses. For the lower levels that may not be the best choice until such time as a true independent seat is developed.
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Sorry but I don’t agree with that. That is not what is Dressage about. To adjust to the stride of the horse. But sadly that’s what you see a lot :(. The idea is to work the horse over the back which will eventually make it great to sit… and I think that’s why you hear all this negativity about warmbloods 
if if you buy a horse with small strides because it’s easier to sit then it’s probably (not always) working over his back and then something is missing which will result in a lower score. Maybe it will be different to sit when it is working over his back???
i just had this experience with my young horse. She was very comfortable to sit but I knew she was not working over her back :(. Lately I am able to work her over the back ( at least sometimes). And she feels totally different… I had a time when she was not comfortable to sit any more. Now the better she works over the back, the nicer she is to sit… it’s not about the horse. It’s about how you ride it…,
