Rethinking the USDF Medals

[cnm161]

I would love a rewards/ranking system that showed what trainers’ students achieved. I.e. are trainers consistently getting students to progress up the levels with success. Ideally with the same horse but I’m not too picky on that regard.

Right now, the customer of dressage training services has to piece together that information for themselves by watching who’s schooling who at shows or word of mouth. And, yes, maybe the medals status of the trainer carries weight by dint of being an actual objective measure of some amount of experience.

I know we don’t track that information (although what actually is happening with that Trainer/Coach box on entry forms? where does that data go?), and then there are repercussions re: clinicians – do they count as trainers? – but for the amateur rider looking for someone who is successful at mentoring and progressing amateur riders, that’d be a pretty useful system.

[allikat819]

Of course there is a distinction between riding the levels and training up the levels, but it’s clearly labeled a rider achievement award, not a trainer qualification program.

As a lowly AA with bronze with a couple scores eked out in the low 60s, I would argue I still put a lot of blood sweat and tears into the achievement, even if I didn’t do all the training all myself. I absolutely credit my trainers and coaches for having helped get me there, but it doesn’t diminish that I also worked quite hard.

I feel like the current USDF plans with a medal of distinction is a realistic plan to implement without alienating all of us.

[ThreeFigs]

I trained my gelding from Training to Fourth, got my Bronze and half my Silver with him before he got laminitis, ending his progress and his career. I now have a mare trained to PSG/I1 who is a much more difficult ride than he ever was. If I ever ride PSG tests and earn my Silver by the skin of my teeth, I’d be over the moon. I’d have achieved more than I ever thought possible. And I will have earned it, learning to ride this mare.

Should I be eligible for a “medal of distinction” for my Bronze horse? Don’t know, don’t care. I was on top of the world when I rode my gelding down center line. Didn’t matter what level we rode at. He was damn fun.

I think Steinberg’s ideas just make this sport even more elitist. It’s difficult, damn near impossible and EXPENSIVE to find ONE horse to train from the basics to GP. It helps if you have a wealthy sponsor, parents or spouse.

I have a ton of respect both for people who train their own up the levels AND the ones who have to adjust their riding to a new, trained partner. It’s not easy.

[Mondo]

@ThreeFigs

I think Steinberg’s ideas just make this sport even more elitist. It’s difficult, damn near impossible and EXPENSIVE to find ONE horse to train from the basics to GP. It helps if you have a wealthy sponsor, parents or spouse.

1,000 times THIS. Agree with your post 100%, Figs.

[xQHDQ]

Someone mentioned a trainer award. If we want to honor those who know how to train and those who know how to teach, maybe have an award for the trainer who has ridden 10 horses in FEI and another award for a trainer who has gotten 10 students to FEI. The end result for each award may not necessarily be able to be credited to that trainer (eg, they got the student already at 4th level), but it’s a nice add-on to their resume. Improving any horse is hard. Helping riders move up the levels is hard. If the number is high enough (eg, 10), it means these achievements are not just a fluke. Problem with this is that I always put myself as the trainer and coach at shows because I’m usually there by myself even though I have a trainer at home, so it could be difficult to track.

[Buster]

So, with that has been said, do we really need yet ANOTHER award/award system?!?! I can’t keep track of them all as is.

[swmorse]

I thought dressage instructors had to submit their students’ scores for some kind of certification?

This is from about 30 years ago. I boarded at a place where a gal had a few students and she mentioned something to me about having to submit her students’ scores to USDF. I confess I didn’t pay much attention as we were only chitchatting and I was and am not a student of dressage

She has gone on to get her gold medal, has her own place and does training and lessons. She’s doing quite well and is a good person too

[Mersidoats]

It used to be that you had to submit your signed scoresheets to USDF to qualify for awards. Now show secretaries have software that captures the scores and USDF uses that data to verify if requirements have been met.

[joiedevie99]

@swmorse

I boarded at a place where a gal had a few students and she mentioned something to me about having to submit her students’ scores to USDF.

At some point, I believe that you had to submit your student’s scores to get into the USDF instructor certification program.

[Cowgirl]

Do you know whether the “Medals of Distinction” will grandfather those who met those requirements when the original medals were achieved?

[skydy]

I haven’t read the USDF proposal, just the article. You’d have to go through USDF to find out what they are thinking.

[lorilu]

I believe so.

[meupatdoes]

The medals of distinction would be in addition to not a replacement of the current medals.

[Cowgirl]

I get that! I’m just wondering whether if they will award them to those who already met the requirements. I could not find any proposed rule (but maybe I didn’t search deep enough) so I don’t know what the proposed requirements actually are (i.e. it is more difficult to achieve a median of 64 at a level than just two scores).

[Mersidoats]

I got one of those update letters from USDF and it had an update from my region (region 3). According to that letter, the cutoff score will be 67% for these medals of distinction. They looked at the scores nationwide and picked the score that would put the rider in the top 20% of scorers. There was no mention of people being grandfathered in. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did - more $$ for them.

[Maude]

My issue with the medal system is that there is no separation for those of us who actually trained their horse (s) to earn their medals vs those who “bought” their medals by earning them on a horse trained by someone else.

[blue_heron]

That’s exactly what he is saying in the article. However, the bronze-gold medals are riding medals. Some COTHers have said it would be nice to have training medals, too, though how this would be tracked/implemented is up for discussion.

Riding for the medals on a trained horse is not as easy as people make it sound. You did not put the time into that specific horse, but at some point, you had to put the work in to learn how to ride. Have you ever ridden someone else’s upper level horse? It is not just pushing the buttons. You must learn to ride again on every horse you sit on. My friend and I, both with horses at 4th and PSG once decided to do a horse swap for the day. She couldn’t get my horse straight down the long side for most of the ride, she kept wanting to veer in toward X and back out. I lost my left stirrup pretty much every time I asked for the right lead canter. No upper level work was done.

[exvet]

I learned a long time ago not to let ‘this’ bother me. As I’ve mentioned in numerous threads, I start and back my own. Some I’ve bred (backed and started the parents too) and many I acquired from the breeders as unbacked youngstock. I’m an amateur, not a professional. I earn my keep and pay for the horses in another way. Riding, Training and Showing are all my HOBBY. I am addicted to the whole horse thing. I would never, ever, ever want to turn my hobby into my ‘living’. That would be the surest way to suck all the pleasure out of it. People who see me with my horses and on my horses know that I can ride. They know that I didn’t buy it. Maybe it’s because my mounts are all unconventional types or maybe it’s because they know I simply don’t ‘have the money’.

I know that my medals (bronze and silver so far) were earned on horses I brought from the ground up on my own and that’s enough for me. I’m proud of my efforts and grateful for those mounts who gave me the gift of the relationship I was allowed to develop in order to get there. For me that’s more important. My medals of distinction come from seeing others earn their medals on horses I developed, not to take away from the riders’ accomplishments because they didn’t exactly buy the medal ‘from me’ and I know that each ‘ride/mount’ required a certain skill to be able to go in and navigate the tests successfully. I also earn my medal of distinction each time a BNT gets on one of mine that I’ve trained or coaches me and confirms that the basics are there. Again, that means more than another plaque, certificate or name in an annual ‘rag’…case in point, I was entering an arena to school the day before I was to show in it. A trainer was schooling her student in the same arena. We were to ride in the same test the next day. The student didn’t have any idea who I was and from my perspective there wasn’t any reason for her to know. Evidently she must have made a somewhat negative or derogatory comment about my pony steed and I…to which the trainer said, “Don’t count her out, I’ve seen her come out of nowhere and steal the class.” LOL…again, THAT tells me that somewhere I already carry a medal of distinction

If they gave you medals each time you brought a horse through the levels I’d have more than one bronze and silver…no need for distinction. I am one of those that eeked by in the low 60s at PSG to earn my silver, though I did manage more than a few scores in the high 60s through 4th level; so, take my perspective with a grain of salt. Maybe medals of distinction would change my view of a trainer; but, honestly it would impress me more to know that a trainer can both produce both horses (with their arse in the saddle) AND students (without the need to put their arse in the saddle).

[Maude]

Yes, but actually training the horse, then competing it successfully are another whole ball of wax. I have my bronze and silver… After earning both of them having never written a trained horse other than when I trained myself I did have the opportunity to sit on a ground prey horse I’m pretty hoarse. Yes you have to learn the buttons but it’s far easier than actually making the horse yourself.

[blue_heron]

That doesn’t change the fact that the current medal system is for RIDING medals. If you want training medals, that would be a whole new can of worms.