Stephen Clarke and the unlimited treasure chest of pearls

 

 

Among the many phrases that seemed ridiculous to utter even half a generation ago, one good candidate is “The British School of Dressage” .After all, they pronounce it dress idge, accent on first syllable..

How seriously could one take that?

Around 2011, with a total surprise  team gold at Europeans, the British announced their arrival  on the top of the podium, beating the highly favored German and Dutch teams.

Then of course in 2012 Olympics , for first time ever, the team gold and the individual gold to Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro,  setting a new standard in harmony and points/percentages.

‘Char and Bloobs’  have of course gone on to being the only 2nd rider to hold all 3 records at the same time ,following the magical combination of Ed-and- Toto.

Not to mention World Cup  and Europeans .

Obviously, this ‘overnight sensation’ and leap to medal contention did not really  happen overnight.

So two days spent listening to British 5* judge Stephen Clarke  seemed a great idea.

Clarke has been instrumental in rewarding the ‘natural’ movement over the artificial and often tense but flashy movement of years past. Himself a former international rider, Clarke wears so many hats: he is FEI’s Judge General (or ‘pope-general’ as many call the exalted position), and has been headlining trainer conferences and seminars for several years now, always a joy to riders and spectators alike. His seemingly effortless ability to come up with pearls of insight on a continuous basis is stupefying. It is like watching a sculptor chip away…here! and …here! and suddenly, the beauty hidden within the stone reveals itself.

The USDF Trainers Conference was held at El Sueno Equestrian Center, Somis California. There was ample parking, lovely CDS  volunteers , shade around the covered arena with excellent footing, and an excellent PA system.

Bring it on! Was the only thought as auditors sat 3 deep in their own and borrowed chairs.

The two days featured 8 horses, starting with 5 year olds, through to FEI . Along the way,  FEI O judge Lilo Fore added her insights in Q and A sessions as well as keen observations on each horse and rider.  Lunchtime each day was also Q and A, and Olympians Charlotte Bredahl-Baker and Jan Ebeling added rider perspective.

Each horse came in, showed their warm up , performed  a test — and then in the most charming  and polite way, Clarke made suggestions and observations. Horses hind legs moving away from the movement out behind suddenly underneath themselves and glorious.  Tension replaced by swinging backs, soft ears, smiling riders.

“If I have to pick a number one priority” says Clarke, “”it is Reaction. On the first aid from the rider.” He went on to say that getting a reaction to that first aid is the key to creating energy and making a connection.

We had amazing horseflesh ,experienced trainers and riders ,and each and every one ,along with the enchanted spectators, watched as new power and expression were added, Clarke suggesting at times to take the risk, make the movement bigger, go ahead, dare to!, he encouraged.

Each session was tailored to specific areas, but some favorite ideas appeared throughout the day.  The idea of developing shoulder-fore to  keep the horse straight and balanced, withers between both horse and rider hips; the idea of stretching the horse along the outside rein, careful not to position the horse with too much inside rein; the forward-back exercise, where the horse is encouraged to lengthen the frame and then sit a bit more on the hind legs,— Clarke cautioned riders to be careful not to create passagey , hovering trot. Only when the horse is truly collected and has impulsion and is reacting to light aids did he suggest slowing a movement down to develop passage.

Any time a horse failed to react, the rider was encouraged to really go forward, build up some energy and only then try to ‘shape’ it.

Clarke was careful to point out that if a rider sits shoulders behind vertical, there is the very real danger of pushing the horse’s front end down, on to the reins.

As the first combination of the day warmed up, Clarke started out, “Every rider goes to competition to do well. The breeding has only gotten better, so it really comes down to training .”

He pointed out that Valegro was not born with no weaknesses—he was trained, and continues to train .

“It is us , the riders,”  he continued  ‘who too often compromise and put limits on what we expect of a horse, both in terms of spectrum of movement and reactions.”

He made clear that his #1 priority in schooling is Reaction ,as stated. True submission is about the rider gaining control of the horse’s hind legs . This control can only happen when the horse agrees to react immediately to the rider’s light aids.

“Jumpers in Europe use a lot of dressage these days in order to maintain balance and rhythm around technical courses,” he continued. “They need instant reaction to have a hope of doing well.” He added—how can we  as dressage riders ask for less?  which makes him a sport-wide resource.

Anyone can suggest exercises and they will usually ‘help’ a problem. But Clarke has the ability of a TOP trainer to find the priority, work on that,and by extension, the movements become better and the balance/rhythm stay correct. That he can do all of this and find a humor that disarms and focuses the rider , even in this public situation–as though he and the horse and the rider are all in this together, equally visible to the spectators– that is his charm.

Judging young horses , Clarke said he immediately asks himself—“ would I want to spend the next 5 years training this horse?”

First of the day, Amelia Newcomb/Gatsby  5 yo KWPN G   (Sir Donnerhall x Jazz)

A theme was established as Clarke asked the rider to be sure to keep horse on outside rein and ask less positioning with inside rein. Clarke praised the elegant riding. Lilo noted that the horse showed  the desire to go forward, which reflected well on the training.

Next, Cyndi Jackson/Sir Amour  5 yo Han G (San Amour x De Niro) This PSI Auction horse price highlight came in showing his movement, but at first was locked back behind the saddle and ‘looky-looing’, impressed by the surroundings. Excellent work to get him through and over the back and really showed his power and willingness to stay connected. His willingness to stretch down—the reward Clarke asked EVERY rider to offer the horse at the end of the session—was proof of his trust and confidence.

Sarah Lockman/ Floriana B , 6 y.o KWPN gelding  (Vivaldi x Adriana B)  performed a 3^rd level test and then spent the session establishing better connection and focus to get the all-important reaction to the rider’s first aid. “And then” says Clarke, “the rider must sit like a churchmouse.”

 

Sandy Savage 12 yo mare Releve (Rotspon x Welt Klasse) first of the day in a double. 4^th level test.

After the test, worked on flying changes. Lilo : “Pirouettes really show the horse can sit and take the weight. Keeping uphill balance will help in the changes as well.”

Clarke used forward-back in the canter  to keep the energy and impulsion , asked the rider to use shoulder-fore to keep the horse positioned . With this well-schooled horse, Clarke  asked for more transitions within gaits, so that the extended movements and connection matched the excellent “sit” ability of the mare.

Afternoon.

 

1. D’re Stergios/ Sarumba Hano mare 9 yo (Sir Donnerhall x Lanthan)

Stergios  is based at Lilo Fore’s barn. Clarke remarked on horse’s athleticism, use of joints and generally wonderful  gaits.A really fantastic mare, the pair were participants in the 2015 Trainer Conference that Clarke did in Loxahatchee, Florida. His admiration for this incredible horse had not dimmed one iota.

They do the Prix St.Georges . Clarke: must have relaxation BUT also make sure horse stays focused and reacts to rider so don’t lose forward energy. They worked on and illustrated the need for the rein to always be given forward , so that the horse takes the contact happily and with trust. Clarke used the pair to illustrate what happened when a rider takes the rein backwards and the horse loses balance and focus—and of course, impulsion.

Clarke went on to say that he asks riders to think about engagement—the hind legs staying impulsive in the balance—rather than collection, which too many seem to associate with the front end and the reins. Sarumba’s walk was a true 10, and her owner-rider’s delight in her mare was felt by spectators as well.

2. Bredahl/Hamilton 10 yr old Danish G  (Romanov x Hojmoses Diva) Intermediaire One.

Bredahl warmed up with beautiful lateral work. Clarke then remarked, ““The test is: can the horse keep same rhythm in lateral, collected, and extended gaits? That is proof training is correct.”

He asked Bredahl to leg-yield in  canter to make sure Hamilton stayed  balanced and on outside rein . Another favorite exercise was used for several horses.  Counter-canter right, the rider asks for shoulder-fore looking  left and the horse to be responsive to rider’s left leg. Clarke explained that this helps horses strengthen balance and be straight enough for clean change.

 

 

3. Sabine Schut-Kery/Sanceo 10 y.o. Hanoverian stallion,  (San Remo x Ramiro’s Son II)   Intermediaire II

Even in the warm up we see Sabine ‘ask questions,’  keep checking the connection, focus, balance, impulsion. Clarke was charmed by the rider’s invisible yet effective aids.

Lilo Fore immediately pointed out, “ This  horse shows adjustability in frame as well as gaits and paces.”

Clarke immediately added, “She puts him in  frame and then we see he stays there on his own. True self carriage !”

 

And then, for a few moments, we had The Clarke and Fore Show:

LF  The long and low work lovely. Now we will see if she can put the horse up and out!

SC: if she can’t, will eat my hat!

LF: you don’t have a hat!

SC: I can find one—but I wont need it!

This combination were part of  the gold medal US team at  Pan Am Games and showed how they gained a team slot.. Sanceo  was supple over the back, swinging and confident.

Despite a 75+ score  in Int. II at the show immediately before this Conference, Sabine insisted she still has a lot to work on. Clarke immediately produced a giggle. They decided to work one one-tempis. . “Ride them like he has never done them before” says C. “You have to stay there and help him”

This lewd to discussion about flying changes, which Fore and Clarke agreed are the most personal and idiosyncratic movement, as no one gives exactly the same aids in teaching the movement. Indeed, it is the only movement that either happens within one stride—or it has not happened, even though it is usually called a ‘late’ change.  Lilo Fore pointed out the need to give the ‘change’ aid as horse finishes a stride in order to influence NEXT stride.

Lilo reminded us all that it is important to NEVER take reins backwards when horse is landing  ie RF hits ground, give aid for Left C and make sure reins allow horse to continue forward movement.

This led to Fore and Clarke  discussing how to score a mistake.

Clarke:  “ If the pair are trying for expression and taking a risk which fails—I often give 5

Fore : the change is  not the issue. The issue is how the rider uses tools to set up for the change. If the balance and rhythm are not there to begin with,  I will give 4 –but one has to judge the entirety, not just the mistake.“

 

Sanceo, refreshed from a walk break , now worked on piaffe. Clarke said, “let him travel forward… and only then ask a few strides on the spot.” Gradually, he then pointed out, they had  increased Sanceo’s comfort zone for what is easy.

Lilo Fore: “ this kind of schooling, where rider keeps everything so it is easy for the horse—this keeps the horse relaxed and forward — and helps to keep soundness.

8.Jan Ebeling/Darling (Donnerhall)   12 y.old Old? Gelding, they do the Grand Prix.

Clarke and Jan agreed the weak point was the pirouettes and so they went to work. “A pirouette,” says Clarke, “can only be successful to the degree of collection the horse willingly offers.”

He added—“this horse needs faster reaction to rider’s aids.”

The exercise that worked turned out to be: establish the canter, a few forward-backs to make sure the horse is focused, and then ask for ONE step of pirouette  turn — and immediately get out of it, as a reward..

Did this a few times in walk before returning again to canter.  The horse began to really take weight behind and turn on his own. Jan using shoulder-fore to keep horse straight and on outside rein. A few more tries, and Darling began to offer the pirouette turn.

A very happy Jan agreed that was where to stop, patting his horse, and immediately going to the same long and low posting trot stretch as Clarke had asked other riders to do.

Day TWO

Lunch discussion featured Clarke, Fore and Olympians Charlotte Bredahl-Baker and Jan Ebeling. Questions on cards filled out by the audience were answered—and then—why do we not have the right to show in a  snaffle at Grand Prix?

Sides were almost immediately drawn, Bredahl-Baker and Fore in total favor of snaffle only. Lilo Fore emphasizing, “The horses will say Thank You!”

Everyone talked about mouth size/problems , two bits vs. one etc.

Jan says he recognizes their argument and validity but can not be sure, as the double represents training.

Clarke and Jan both say they  think of the  double as a tool. Jan suggests, “Maybe different divisions?”

Fore and Bredahl-Baker point out that the new FEI tests for 7 yr olds-will allow snaffle and double in the  same class

 

Sabine brings her PRE stallion, Marques XXXVI. The 12 yr old black PRE stallion is Selecto VI x Alroso XXVI.  He is brilliant in ‘the 3 Ps of dressage” – Piaffe, Passage, Pirouettes. Sabine and Marques were USDF’s  PSG Horse of the Year in 2013—and then the horse had to have a long layoff, a soft tissue injury now fully healed.

So they work on incremental aids—using shoulder-fore in walk to gradually connect horse, give a little rein, so he lengthens frame, keeps contact,and finally takes longer steps.

Clarke says  “Your riding as good as anyone out there, including medal riders. I expect you to make more teams. “

Jan Ebeling brings 13 yr old Hessian stallion Rassolini  (Rubioso N x Silvano).  The stallion is doing Grand Prix.   Clarke immediately zeroed in on the problem. He told the auditors that he had judged the horse at the show only a few days ago, and the stallion has taken to sometimes ignoring Jan’s  request for piaffe.

Clarke asked Jan to ride the Grand Prix, give an aid and immediately be prepared if the horse did not comply with the first request. Rassolini piaffed around the outside of the arena, turned up centerline, and ignored Jan’s aid. Jan immediately turned a half circle back to long side, gave a few taps with the whip for immediate reaction, turned up centerline at A, and again asked for piaffe—this time getting the beautiful response he had gotten at the show while  working outside the arena. Clarke told the audience, “In this case, it is not a matter of letting the horse piaffe while moving forward instead of on the spot. There is not enough reaction to the rider when first asked—and there can be no compromise. “

Jan and Rassolini did a few more piaffes, the horse’s reaction now genuine and the movement matching the elegance and power displayed in the rest of the Grand Prix.

A fitting end to the two-day conference.

 

 

 

 

 

Defining Dressage Success

A popular definition of dressage is, ” 6 minutes of a rider looking to park the horse.”  Or, “horse ballet.”

These and other such definitions are part of the reason the sport is not popular .

It is a nice fantasy that dressage judging is the reason IOC is not happy with dressage.
IOC cares about money In, not statistics Out.
If dressage had its own Oleksandr Onyshchenko** (head of Ukraine Equestrian Federation, gas company magnate and show jumper rider, not to mention at one point owning all the horses that made up the Ukrainian team whose riders came from…several countries) or its own Mario Hoffmann** (head of Slovakian Endurance, banking magnate and endurance rider who stepped in to put on the 2016 World Endurance Championships when FEI suspended Endurance in the UAE), then dressage would,I remain confident, find the sponsors it so sorely needs to raise interest ,raise “media presence” and thus raise more money that IOC continually demands.

{ { ** Of course, both these hugely successful businessmen have been accused of corruption in their respective fields, but that is almost like a seal of approval, as hardly anyone can amass a fortune without being accused of something by somebody. Just ask Google.}}

The problem for equestrian sport is that it is relatively expensive to put on compared with track and field, let alone all the ball sports, gymnastics,etc. Relatively expensive and, thanks to a weak international umbrella federation, not really gaining in popularity except where it is already popular and Global Champions Tour has revved up interest.
Dressage judging and education , in fact, has never been better. Saying it can even be better still is of course true. Saying it is unfair, biased, scores are too variable within one test/one judge panel, basically is overkill.
In a large international class– 25,30 and more Grand Prix horses, most will get between 6 (Satisfactory) and 7 (fairly good).
AT this moment, there are only some 13 rider/horse combinations that have received 80 or better in a technical test. A score that would not even get them a spot on a regional team in gymnastics or figure skating.
This is because try as one may, judging a human athlete,aka Rider, performing with a non-human athlete, aka Horse…is not the same at all as any other sport or really, activity.
Show jumping and eventing have jumps and,of course, the reality that other than the pesky dressage in eventing, an absolutely clear way to judge who is winning and losing.
Dressage is about subtlety. It is about making something hard look easy. It is about partnership, harmony,and is defined best perhaps by the late,great Dr. Reiner Klimke: “to ride a great horse is to know a little better what it feels like to be a god.”
Dressage is about theater, about catharsis,about athleticism in much the same way that the ancient bull dances of Crete married awe and entertainment.

VALEGRO Champion Horse

 

 

 

Do you know where you were in 1984? I was watching Ahlerich and Marzog duel for the title of Olympic Dressage Champion at Los Angeles’ Santa Anita Racetrack. In 1984, we had no kurs, no 80% scores, no internet or social media.
A book came out about that year’s eventual champion: “Ahlerich:The Making of a Dressage World Champion.” Dr. Klimke traced the schooling and training and gave hitherto unknown glimpses of the need for understanding how to compete, how to survive, and how to win. Many people still have video of the victory-lap around the Santa Anita Racetrack, an endless succession of gorgeous one-handed, one-tempis as Dr. Klimke waved his top hat and basked in the roaring approval.
Dr. Klimke and Ahlerich set a record for international Grand Prix at that time, 70%!!!
Since then, we have had the amazing duels between Isabell Werth and Anky van Grunsven, two great champions with multiple champion partners.
And then, we had Edward Gal and Totilas — Ed-and-Toto as they were known with affection– all too briefly. For the first time, one horse and rider held all three world records at the same time and held all of us in the palm of their hand and hoof.
And here we are, 2015, and we have Team Hester — Charlotte and Carl and Valegro – and a new, wonderfully worthwhile book, “VALEGRO Champion Horse.”
I expected to enjoy this book. The photos are sumptuous, the narrative offers many insights.But added bonus—it presents quite honestly just how big a village it takes to get to the top in sport today. Any sport, but particularly one where one of the partnered athletes does not speak our language. Equestrian is notable for many things but perhaps most significant, only one athlete is human, and it seems to make little difference to the horse if the athlete is male or female, so men and women compete as equals—mo0re than can be said for any other sport.
The book’s format is delightful. On nearly every page is a bit of chronologically laid out history courtesy of Carl Hester (and co-author Bernadette Hewitt), plus a big sidebar from someone intimately connected to Valegro: breeders; vets; the people who have ridden him, groomed him, arranged the travel plans– the paper file, the shoeing, the massages; the owners; and the incomparable Alan Davies, manager of so much more than Carl’s competition horses.
Through it all are the constants that have become Charlotte Dujardin as competition partner and Carl Hester as co-owner, mentor, manager, trainer, teacher, and magician who looked into the hat and pulled out these concurrent Olympic, World, European and World Cup Championships.
The only bar still to be topped is the 90% technical test. Charlotte and Blueberry (Valegro’s barn name) are aimed to compete at Rio Olympics in 2016, so we might still see this magical bar finally be achieved.
As he has already done in past books, interviews and commentary, once again Carl Hester uses his refreshing blend of humor and honesty to reveal Valegro’s growth and development rather like peeling onion layers.
It is some 30 years since Ahlerich, and we are inundated with social media, kurs and 80% does not come close to Valegro’s 3 world records. Nevertheless, the instant communication has made everyone an expert on everything, especially training. But we still have only one Valegro.
Carl does not discuss the actual training here, more the strategy of keeping Valegro sound and fit. Of course we have his other books and videos outlining his process, his routine.
Significantly, Carl as an international competitor and co-owner of Valegro has been asked many times why he did not keep the ride for himself. Instead ,he and Uthopia and Charlotte and Valegro were 2/3 of the team that granted Great Britain its first and only Olympic team gold medal in dressage as well as the cherry on the icing of the cake, the individual gold for Char and Bluebs. Carl does indeed address all this in this book.
The growing realization that the calm, confident young horse might be special; the first glimpses of greatness; the incredible 2011 team gold medal at Nations Cup in Rotterdam, where the British team pulled out 80% rides and announced to the world that Great Britain had become a major dressage power.
Everything changed after that. Everything. Suddenly it just seemed appropriate that 2012 Olympics would be in London and medal hopes could begin apace.
The lead-up to the London Olympics in 2012 and the team gold medal, the cherry on the icing of the cake—the individual gold medal—is all presented here and is a very exciting part of the story.
But for me, the biggest moment is Aachen 2014 . Char and Bluebs by this time had come to own the #1 ranking on every dressage list as well as records set. But there was the still matter of Totilas, now ridden by Germany’s Matthias Rath and trained by Netherland’s Sjef Janssen. This collaboration had already produced unbelievable media coverage, both positive and negative, leading to electric sparks. Many saw Aachen as The Showdown between the two gold standards.
The incredible movement of Totilas.
The exquisite training and foundation of Valegro.
Instead, in the blink of time that flying changes take place and mistakes can be made, Blueberry’s Grand Prix score suddenly slipped the pair down to 5th or 6th place and Totilas reigned supreme in both the Grand Prix and the Special. Wisely, the Totilas team withdrew from the freestyle as a quickly recovering Charlotte dug down and with Valegro back in form did win the freestyle.
But now the question was there for all to ask.
Had we seen the summit for this partnership? What would the future—including World Equestrian Games—reveal? Would there be yet another new champion?
How Carl and the rest of the team rose to this challenge remains for me one of the best parts of the history presented here.
In tracing the history of Valegro, Carl also reveals the growth of and globalization of dressage as sport. It is exciting to have no foregone conclusions in any sport; it only adds to the drama and the luster to have intense drama and competition.
Despite the best care, the best technology, the best knowledge and experience, in horse sport, it still comes down to no hoof, no horse—and then no sport.
The book makes clear that achieving success requires all the touchstones—luck, knowledge, experience, strategy, planning. But maintaining that success, staying on top, is even more nerve-wracking and complicated.
Here’s wishing the best to Team Hester for Rio 2016 and well beyond!

Where do we draw the line? Who gets to draw it?

Below is a link to a new shooting star in gymnastics,  Li Qi of China:

http://tinyurl.com/qyamqfd

 

She is 13 years old, this routine is extraordinary. So extraordinary, was almost relieved she slightly muffed the final landing so she remains human and fallible.
But to perform like this…to make THIS extreme suppleness, athleticism, expression and power, balance and rhythm into her comfort zone…one has to accept the training sessions were not always pretty.
.
Why is this all right and not all right for horses?
I know, I know: we are their guardians, their stewards, trying to be their partners. We must speak up for them, because partnership is the crux of what we do in horse sport,whether it be to have a perfect pirouette, sliding stop, triple to an in-and-out, cones, etc etc. Partnership and communication–that is horse sport’s glory and fantasy.

Lately, there is another round of outcries about horse sport, horse welfare, training techniques, etc. Ugly photos, extreme positions..and so on.

All I ask is that people try to differentiate between what might be necessary and what is not. Which horses go into the arena basically focused and successful—and which ones do not. Because in the end, we must judge PERFORMANCE, not supposed intent.
This is why the judges at Young Horse and Aachen –among many others– gave marks that rewarded the performance they saw, not suppositions.

I know this is a can of worms, but the time to discuss this rationally is upon us. We always need to question, to debate–but we do NOT need to witch-hunt. The days of internet bashing simply have to stop: they do the sport no good, they do the trainers no good, they do us, the audience no good.

The Internet Rules Our Thoughts…we think

(Rinaldo de Craen)

 

The Internet is a wondrous toy, an amazing tool, and has changed the way we live. Huge money is being spent by various sources to ensure that everyone, everywhere, will be able to access The Internet (excepting of course local tribal types who will try to forbid such a doorway to knowledge).

In the world of horse sport, the European Championships at Aachen are proving just how powerful access to instant news can be.
Today was the Four-in-Hand Driving Marathon and the results decided the Team and Individual placings.
Netherlands once again won team gold–jubilation, tweets, photos, videos of happy teams and fans.

Having the marathon last–instead of the traditional middle, with the technical skill of cones last, more like 3-day-eventing uses show jumping AFTER cross-country– was a decision based on drama, emotion and spectacle.

Well, Aachen got all that, perhaps not quite the way they intended.
Because when it was over, Dutch legend Ijsbrand Chardon was on top by tenths,and his name inscribed on the Winner’s Record.
He had been leading throughout the competition, he is highly decorated–no surprise.

And then–surprise!
The results of the marathon had been re-calculated and Chardon’s score was still 162.37,(1st,3rd .1st BM  before marathon) but runner-up Michael Brauchle (GER) who has been 9th,4th, 5th up to marathon, had apparently gone even faster than first thought and now was 162.16 Somewhere, he had lost four-tenths!

(de Hoefslag)

New tweets, new photos, new faces looking bright.
At the very very top of driving, like any other sport, the very very top live to out-perform one another, so this was a bitter pill for Chardon,despite the lovely team gold.

Apparently the electronic scoring…was imperfectly entered.

The show jumping team qualification saga..continued

https://youtu.be/dYZGUMZJI3Q

(Irish Examiner)

Over in show jumping, the Irish team vows to take their appeal as far as they can–and when one watches the video,sees the guy run into Cian O’Connor’s sight line as he and Good Luck come down to the final line of jumps…one can only be sad that their Olympic hopes came down to this ridiculous moment.
But the internet allows us to watch the moment on endless loop…so we can all weight in what the final decision should and must be.

Tomorrow is the Individual Final for show jumping as well as Vaulting’s freestyles!
Am sure the Aachen organization is hoping for sunny, mistake free day!

Charlotte Jorst

Charlotte hacking Akeem in Florida

 
There are so many ways to talk about American dressage rider Charlotte Jorst.
In the past year, her local-to-California profile got raised several notches to international, thanks to being picked as part of the USEF’s CDI Observation Event Squad sent to Europe.
And then her results at prestigious CDIO 5* shows such as Hagen and Rotterdam put the cherry on the icing of the cake, most assuredly the team bronze at Rotterdam thanks in part to her Grand Prix Special ride for third place and a 71.33 behind Dutch team members Diederik van Silfhout and Patrick van der Meer.
“I think ,yes, that was my favorite memory of Europe, “ says Charlotte. “Walking through the tree-canopy trail to get to the huge show arena—and then the enormous crowd and the atmosphere! And then—everything falling together, finding my focus, feeling the flow into the next movement. “ She thinks for a moment, then adds, “That is where I really learned not to be intimidated, to realize that I can belong in this.”
One can also talk about Charlotte in terms of her horses.
Her partner in Europe was the 12 year old KWPN stallion Nintendo, and she is excited about his development. “I really think he is now getting more supple, bigger in the movements. Only the changes—but that is me, not him,” she adds with her characteristic honesty. “Just have to work harder!”
Also in Europe was Adventure, a 10 year old KWPN gelding, who gained top ten placings in small tour at the huge shows. “He is showing a real talent for piaffe and passage—I hope to bring him out at Grand Prix later this year,” she says.
Charlotte and ‘the boys’ are now back at home in Nevada, where she is enjoying being on her own, letting the two horses enjoy the longtime routine of power walks under saddle, hacking, and only once in a while, working a movement here and there. “I give them lots of praise! They really seem to love it, and I just keep giving it to them. I believe in that,’ she says.
Also at home is Akeem Foldager, the sensational gelding that Andreas Helgstrand thought to have for the Danish team. But difficulty dogged this horse before even Helgstrand had him, and has continued in his time with Charlotte. “Sadly, he is just turned out, probably for good. It is proving too difficult to keep him sound. But he has my pasture for his life, he deserves that.”
Vitalis, the magnificent KWPN stallion with whom Charlotte won US Young Horse Championship 6 year olds and then took to Verden for the international Young Horse, is now 8 years old and back in full training. Charlotte’s trainer, US Olympian Guenter Seidel, “has kept him in training while I was in Europe.” She nods, “We gave him a long time off after World Young horse, and he has had so many breeding commitments—but now he is going really well.”
“Training for top sport,” she continues, “is very demanding, very focused—and of course, nothing is ever as good as it could be. It can get very depressing. I need these times at home to just have it be me and the horses, enjoying each other, we focus only on what we want…”
Also at home is her new horse, Ray Dance, who qualified to go to Verden World Young Horse, but now is in Charlotte’s barn. “He is 6 years old, real collection is already easy for him! Riding him is very exciting!”
Her youngest horse, Forlan, was bopught as a 4 year old late last year, and has remained in Europe where he just won the Danish Nation Championship for 5 year olds. He will stay in Europe for another year because Charlotte has an ambitious showing calendar coming up. She hopes to start all of them back to competition with CDNs in California, and then go to Florida again for the winter circuit and CDIs.
And of course, there is the small matter of her growing clothing company, Kastel, which she tells me, just added 65 outlets in Germany. “Well, I like to be busy,” she says. Kastel’s sunscreen SPF shirts have added a touch of elegance to horse sport wear, and now they will have a new fall line for cooler weather—sweat jackets and shirts made of a new very fine, thin light wool cut the same as the summer shirts, long and short sleeve.
Anything Charlotte touches seems to bloom, so I ask if she any Vitalis babies. “No, not really.” But then a few days later, a text: She has just gotten word that the elegant mare she showed in Wellington, Fraktura, will need a few months off to let her hooves grow out, so off to the breeding shed (metaphorically,as this will be AI)
It will be interesting to see how all this develops as dressage riders in the US and elsewhere prepare to qualify to make teams for next year’s Olympics in Rio.
I do not count out Charlotte Jorst.

Thank heavens there is another week to go at European Championships!

I will absolutely print posts that hold opposing views to mine.
But I am NOT going to give time or space to diatribes based on personal emotion, NO facts, NO experience, NO knowledge, and zeal born of bigotry.
I am not not singling out people who have not done top sport, not trying to sneer at those who prefer the harmony–because I too prefer harmony! I am trying to say that the horse has a mind of its own; that the thin veneer of our training does not always hold when put up against millennia of being a prey creature, of NOT wanting to do what is asked at the moment. That competition itself is more a mental than physical undertaking for both human and alien. It is the ,yes, malicious cyber bullying–the absolutism of some statements devoid of fact, knowledge,experience– that allow me to be so sympathetic to the dressage riders. Again I ask-=-where does anyone see this in showjumping? in eventing? in reining or driving? How can a sport grow when its very fans spend so much time tearing it down?

Am grateful that eventing and reining enthusiasts managed to enjoy this year’s Europeans and the excellent competition.

Am even more grateful that Aachen/Europeans moves on this coming week to Driving, Vaulting and Show Jumping. We shall see how fans of these disciplines treat their top sport.

Dressage: The Sport That Eats Its Young

 

 

European Championships at Aachen are bringing out the best—and of course the worst—elements of horse sport. This is a huge stage, a stage that consistently and rightly wins best show of the year, so it is only fitting that some of the big questions go on the table here.
It remains amazing how the dressage cognoscenti—which includes everyone who has ever looked at a horse/seen a horse/thought about a horse/can spell the word ‘horse’ — know everything better than the judges, better than owners, better than riders, better than coaches and grooms.
I have read the comments, the tweets, the scathing oh so clever pieces dismantling the rides one by one, giving credit to the few acknowledged as Right and Good.
And frankly, it all makes me a little sick in the mouth.
Everyone tut-tuts that Carl Hester has ‘taken a piece of clay’ and made it into something special. Frankly: THIS IS DRESSAGE. It is about training, it is about partnership, it is about making each ride a bit better.
Carl, among his many achievements, has produced the current record holders of the sport; this partnership with Nip Tuck is yet another facet of dressage, probably the one that deserves the most applause—a trainer starting a horse, training a horse, showing a horse.
This is what Isabell Werth has been doing for decades; what Anky van Grunsven did for decades; what Edward Gal is starting to do –and has done brilliantly—with Undercover. Here is a horse that came with serious baggage , mostly from tension. And now, he has a horse that WALKS , that halts, that is beginning to truly trust the connection. This is a “robot” as some like to say? Obviously not riders.
Sure, the horse does not have the best canter. And sure, the horse is not Totilas (more on that later). But Ed is training everything, schooling everything, figuring out the best way to ask for everything—and is being rewarded by actual judges.

And many seems to believe that Charlotte Dujardin is herself like a robot, able to turn off nerves and feelings!!  This was obviously not the case in the Grand Prix  which had a few errors, and frankly was also not the case in the Grand Prix Special, where she and Valegro went to The Zone and pulled out a gorgeous test,on (her) world-record pace, but ending barely one percentage point below.
Totilas taught everyone a big lesson: that it is possible to have power and expression without negative tension. I can close my eyes and see him and Ed in one of those magical pi-pa tours, dropping into that cocky yet serene walk, ears catching for the oohs and ahhs as everyone appreciated what we were privileged to watch. A once-in-our-lifetime creature.
Now of course, everyone ‘knows’ that it is possible to have this power without tension: the breeders apparently breed for this; the riders aim for this; the judges reward all this.
And yet, Undercover is stamped a robot. A mechanical bunny manipulated by a rider.
I say total piffle.
As for Totilas, he still draws the crowds and the hordes of internet posts.

So here was Totilas II, post-Ed, post the Dutch team, and now The Comeback.

The buzz was amazing and grew from there.
At the vet check, the horse was not held but had to trot three times before the jury agreed to give the nod. This proved to be the omen for things to come.
The crowd grew as the black stallion and his current rider entered the arena and remained transfixed as the pair went through the movements.
When it was over, everyone could see that the horse had had some problems in engaging the hind end and had taken irregular steps.
And so the hounds of the internet were let loose and began baying.
The screams have only gotten louder: the horse should never have been allowed to pass vet check! Anyone can see total lameness!
Snark snark snark.
The reality is that tension and pressure on riders almost always makes for some poor timing and stutter steps. The reality is that several horses showed more irregularity than Totilas and yet were not rung out. The reality is that we have seen this magical creature probably for the last time and I for one am glad that the jury allowed us this privilege, marred as it was. I can only imagine the screams of protest if the horse had been spun at vet check and we were all left to conjecture as to what had happened.
Totilas—thank you for the great memories, they are indelibly written on my heart.

When is US $4 billion+ not enough?

 

 

Follow the $$ trail.  It is complicated but interesting–and has a huge bearing on horse sport.

IOC gets $$ from selling TV broadcast rights to the highest bidder.
TV gets $$ from selling commercial spots, not merely on traditional TV but also online and other media platforms.
NBC has traditionally dominated the US television Olympic coverage. The US market represents a huge part of the $$ IOC gets. But NBC reportedly lost around $223 million on the 2010 Winter Olympics. Everyone was worried about 2012, part of their existing contract/bid.
In 2011, NBC, FOX and ESPN bid for TV rights once again. NBC won out with a monster US $ 4.38 billion bid—but spread that amount over the next 4 Olympics 2014, 2016 2018 and 2020.
Influenced by NBC’s longtime commitment-=-and loss the year before—IOC accepted the bid ( ESPN and Fox each bid over 1 billion for the rights to 2014 and 2016). But NBC had a plan to use social media to hype the Olympics, drive what turned out to be  38% more viewers to the TV—and a hefty percentage to its online platforms.

NBC discovered the effect of raising TV viewing spilled over in the most amazing (and lucrative) ways:
“”Archery is the new curling. It’s delivered an average of 1.5 million viewers making it the highest-rated cable sports, beating out basketball,” says Alan Wurtzel, head of research for NBC .
Yes, NBC has found a way in using social and online media to drive viewers to prime time to make money on old-media TV where it can charge the highest rates.
This got new sponsors to want commercial time—and they had to pay a lot more than those who had locked in their rate well before the actual air date of the Olympics. And of course, NBC, now owned by Comcast, is looking to cable for further profits. ““If you can add 20 or 30 million subscribers,” says NBC’s Neal Pilson, “and raise fees by 30 or 40 cents a sub, that’s significant money.”
SO more money . 
Which is why IOC now is , um, pained that it accepted “only” 4+ billion $$ while “allowing” NBC to rake in huge profits.
IOC creates its own product coverage of the Olympics and sells the broadcast rights to various local markets that for whatever reason shave not bid already for exclusive rights. Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) is an agency of the International Olympic Committee, established in 2001 to be responsible for host broadcasting – the world feeds provided to all international broadcasters of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games from 2008 on. Previously the host broadcaster role was delegated to the local organising committees or to third-party broadcasters. Then in 2008, IOC woke up and smelled the money.

Taking a page from NBC, it recently realized that social media and online media are key to getting more interest from potential sponsors/selling commercial time for ever more money.
And here we are—with FEI dutifully telling us the New Way To Go: more social media, more appeal to teenagers, more bling and emotion and circus and costume. More countries (because then IOC will then have more markets that might want to see a local boy or girl competing).
Because their own survey shows that 86% want to feel some emotion, not be hushed up and told to quietly appreciate the finer points.

Show jumping and eventing provide all of that (although eventing needs to stick with Pretty Pictures of course—no problems on XC)
Reining was fine before FEI and therefore drives its own bus. They have flowing manes, sliding stops, guys in cowboy hats and jeans, loud whooping crowds and announcers, music and costumed freestyles. Yup, they are in the driver’s seat!
Para is even better off—there is hardly any story/competitor in para equestrian who does not come with a true and heartfelt Story.

So that leaves dressage, the fusty old auntie in white gloves, sipping sherry, hushing everyone, clapping quietly at the end of the performance.

Maybe they have a point or two.
Just hope the beauty of dressage, the reality that it is the ONLY horse sport where welfare is truly paramount (don’t hit me, it is true) doesn’t go under the bus.

2015 is rolling down the hill, but towards what?

 

or

 

 

In ten days or so, The FEI Sports Forum will hold its annual meeting and once again the blackmail–scusi, the discussion– will begin.
How best to re-create, present, and change/adapt horse sport to the IOC perspective and thus save horse sport, blah blah blah.

For what seems like forever, I have shrugged and admitted that the blackmail position holds me in thrall; that horse sport MUST be in the Olympics; that the ROI for sponsors and for funding means that horse sport must appear on the global stage.

But maybe that is not true.

Maybe it is time to recognize what Andrew Zimbalist means in titling his book “Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup.”

That the only countries left who truly want to bother putting on the Olympics are mainly dictatorships, because everyone else recognizes that the corruption of IOC and their bloated requirements make sport lower than secondary to the insatiable desire for more and more TV revenue; that it is nearly impossible to break even, let alone make any money by hosting the Olympics , given the economic realities.

What are the figures, according to Zimbalist?
China spent $40 billion to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing and Russia spent $50 billion for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

Qatar, which will be the site of the 2022 World Cup, is estimating that it will spend $200 billion.
On World Cup Soccer.
Of course, as much of that has been revealed as bribe and graft money, it remains to be seen if FIFA actually keeps World Cup in this location. But I wonder how much choice they will have?

Horse sport is about admiring and cheering on the partnership between human and horse. That means adequate infrastructure, which for dressage and show jumping means arenas, stalls, and (please! no more Caen!) decent toilets. Even as FEI’s survey reveals that most people do indeed want to admire the partnership, the harmony, the courage of an alien and human working together — they insist there is also the need for bling, for glitz, for sound bytes! For noise machines and circus! For …you get the picture.

Under current IOC guidelines, bidders may drop sports, add new sports, and basically be creative in how they see their budgets, so long as they guarantee TV revenue to IOC..

I started out thinking we need to beg and borrow, if not steal, to stay in the Olympics.
And then I realized “the Olympics” I had in mind was the one from my childhood. When we in the US has USET and we all dreamed of ‘making the Team’.
That Olympics is long, long gone.
And maybe horse sport should be in the forefront of the move to secede from this all-too-bloated and corrupt greed machine that is the current Olympic circus.