Yeah, especially in levels above first. Even on a school master or BTDT type you have to have the ability to ride the horse. The horse isn’t that much of a machine. Sure some are “easier” than others, but I agree that you can’t just sit up there while the horse collects the ribbons.
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I was lucky enough to own a schoolmaster who was possibly the closest thing to push button there was. If you could get in the zip code, he could make it look like you knew exactly what you were doing. I put a beginner h/j rider on him and she was passaging around in less than 10 minutes. He was a blessed saint who never ever got frustrated and could usually guess what you wanted correctly with about 95% accuracy.
He was one of a kind and I miss him dearly.
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I was just getting ready to state this.
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Is it possible she tried, but was denied that by MBs team?
For him it’s insurance against them going too far…
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That is how I took the comment as well.
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Wow, this thread turned into a dumpster fire since I was last here. Just caught up on close to 3k posts and that was a ride!
- That passage video is a travesty.
- LK absolutely believes she’s a good rider despite lacking the motivation to actually become a good rider.
- Don’t feed the pigeons.
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On the flip side when I rode IHSA we always made the dressage folks ride stock seat whether they liked it or not. This was when it was still rather ruleless and an outlaw club sport. LOL.
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Same with the Saddleseaters.
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Actually, Stephen Colbert looks like he has a better seat than LK. 
At about 2:27.
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I always thought he did a remarkably good job in his lesson. 
I think I read somewhere that he rode a bit as a kid.
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They’ll just poop everywhere.
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Yes, I think he rode dressage when you get, but I could be remembering wrong.
I too was lucky to have a unicorn schoolmaster. However my guy would just laugh at you if you didnt ask correctly. Took me forever to learn how to do a trot canter transition according to his standard. Put a pro on my guy and you had GP, put a kid on him and he would happily take care of him/her. Coolest horse ever.
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Some years back, we looked at a stallion son of Rubinstein I in Germany that was pretty solid at PSG/I-1 and schooling GP. A hunter friend had come with us to look for a young hunter prospect and she agreed to sit on the stallion just to see what he was like with someone with no dressage background. Within a few minutes, the trainer friend I was with had the hunter rider doing half-pass in trot and canter, canter zig-zags, canter pirouettes, 2 and 3 tempis, some passage, and a bit of forward piaffe. Our hunter friend had never done any of that stuff, but she was grinning from ear to ear. The horse was a classic Rubinstein son - kind, gentle, easy to handle, and super uncomplicated and generous under saddle. He didn’t seem to have a “No” in him - everything was either “Sure!” or “Um. I’m not so sure, but I’ll give it a go!” The trainer was considering buying him to add to her lesson string and we discussed a partnership so I would have an UL schoolmaster, but we discovered him cribbing in his stall when we went back the next day to ride him again. Trainer wouldn’t allow a cribber in her barn, plus they had him priced as a stallion and wouldn’t come down, so we had to pass on him. I always regretted leaving that guy behind. 
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While I am sure some upper level school masters are that easy most are not. You can probably experience piaffe and passage with a little instruction but you have an entire 5 minute plus test to get all the movements in the right place at the right time. I really really disagree with all this sour grapes and rail birding.
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LK’s lifetime scores certainly don’t reflect the number of years of superior training she has had access to and the availability of above average horses at her disposal.
That’s not “railbird sour grapes” - that’s based on her official USDF Rider Scores. Scores of 5, or 5X.xx, simply mean sufficient and scores of 6, or 6X.xx mean satisfactory. Based on LK’s own posts of her amazing ability certainly don’t match up with her official record.
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I’ve never seen any adult amateur not be thrilled with over 60. It takes a lot of time, work, and money to do so paid for by the full time and part time jobs and riding at night and taking vacation to show.
GP horses will humble all kinds of riders and really tell who has basics or not. For that matter, when LK said she was training at a higher level than anyone, I took that to mean any other students, not the assistant trainers (MHG and JH) and she purchased JP so probably was getting some instruction in riding his upper level movements while focusing on the basics to improve and medal at the level she was able to ride well enough to do so.
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In my opinion the very best and most well rounded, talented dressage horses all have Rubinstein bloodlines. His stamp on dressage horses has been phenomenal.
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True, except Lauren does not work, has all the time in the world, and by her own words, a person of unlimited means. What she doesn’t have is drive, passion and dedication. This is not a put down as much as it is a fact. I can say I weigh 130 lbs but that doesn’t make it so and can never be true if I don’t work my ass off to achieve it.
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