Reasons Or Excuses For No Sitting Trot at 3rd/4th Level Dressage

Paul Alvin-Smith training an ANCCE stallion at WVH

A fellow Grand Prix dressage rider recently equated the proposal to offer riders an opportunity to waive out of sitting to the medium and extended trot at 3rd/4th dressage level testing, the same as offering folks the chance to play pickle ball instead of tennis. While that may be a bit harsh, judges such as Natalie Lamping, who I entirely respect, believe differently. And she has been taken to task for her opinion in the press with quite a vehement response that has at times been very disrespectful.

Lamping's colleague Janet Foy, chimed in to say the USDF committee on such matters has heard this all before, and that the idea when previously floated was, 'booed out the room.'

Other fellow coaches/clinicians/competitors including Olympic medal earning dressage folks we have historically worked with to improve ourselves, have also spoken out against the idea.

Let's consider the apparent reasoning behind allowing riders to waive out of sitting to these movements:

• Many riders are plagued by back injuries or other physical limitations that make sitting to the trot difficult.

• Older 'schoolmaster' horses may have physical weaknesses or soreness and find these movements difficult with the rider sitting to the gait.
  

The reality is that any horse ridden with the correct seat that is properly developed in its topline and overall musculature really shouldn't find these movements more difficult if the rider is able and talented enough to sit in the saddle and ride them properly. Though protecting the very young horse should always be regarded.

The idea of taking 3rd/4th level national standard tests and making allowances for either the lack of development of the horse, unsoundness or physical issues the horse is suffering, or a rider's physical limitations however tragically they may have been caused, seems rather ridiculous to those of us that have worked our way through the 'tennis' version of the sport while still considering ourselves practitioners of the art of dressage.

There are currently 'waive out' allowances in the sporthorse world. For example, 4 year old horses at championship level with their young backs are thought to be too fragile to handle a rider sitting for the movements. In my humble opinion, perhaps instead of allowing riders to waive out, more thought could be given to why there is a necessity of train these horses to medium and extended gaits at all at such tender ages, just to show them off for breeding prowess and bring in big bucks at auction sales and the like. 

So many of the young horses that show spectacular gaits in the dressage and jumping arena at these events frankly never make it to the top of the sport, or if they do, not for a sustained period of time and a full career, because they have been pushed to such extent in their early years causing damage.

Rising or posting to the medium and extended trot is advocated during the training of the horse of course. The reason being to allow the horse to 'free' its back for development and release of tension, and to encourage the horse to stay forward. The rising/posting trot is often used during training (or should be) to refresh the horse and create more expression and animation in the gaits.

The practice of rising/posting the trot is also useful for working on cadence within the gait. Suppling the horse can be accomplished both sitting and rising, but each is for different purposes.

 

But the other reality is that a dressage test takes just a few minutes to complete, and these movements are a small part of those tests. It is just that, a test. How can you judge whether the horse is being correctly progressed to the FEI levels and standards (and for that matter rider) if the rider is not sitting to these movements? 

The only way to correctly utilize the seat aids is, not surprisingly, by sitting to the gaits when riding the horse. The subtleties of the use of the rider's seat are not stand alone enterprises either. The coordination between hand/leg and seat is obviously essential.

If the rider/horse combinations at national level events at 3rd/4th level don't address the progression of the training toward FEI, then what are they for? 

A maxim that folks that have done the hard work necessary to learn to be accomplished in the saddle at advanced levels and to train and ride horses in a classical dressage manner will utter is, " You can't buy a good seat." 

That is true, so perhaps riders that simply buy a fancy moving horse but can't sit to the gait in order to ascend the levels are truly cheating aren't they? If they are allowed the bonus of waiving out of sitting to those gaits then isn't that sending the wrong message? Isn't it putting the rider before the horse?

I earnestly deplore the workmanship of riders where I see the poor horse pulled in the mouth, hard handed riding where the rider's feet are braced forward in the stirrup irons with their backs behind the vertical braced in some sort of 'driving' position. That type of tomfoolery should not be rewarded with good scores no matter how earnestly the horse manages to complete the task at hand regardless of such interference. Indeed, such riding does do terrible damage to a horse's back, hing legs, his confidence in the reins and his development to the higher levels.

At the end of the day, for lots of good reasons classical dressage training methods require the rider to sit with a soft, independent seat. Riders need to be able to absorb the 'wave' of movements through themselves without impeding the flow of energy across the horse's back, from back to front.

A test is a test. It's in the name. Sad to say, if the horse or rider is not up to the task for any reason they probably should not be riding in the recognized competition ring should they?

The reality is that any such waiver would be open to such abuse, and goes so against the principles of training in dressage that it would make a mockery of the system. 

If riders have difficulty with sitting to the trot, then we certainly need to do a better job as trainers of helping them improve it and attain the nuances of how to use it.

Ultimately, the goal of all classical training, is to have the horse so well-trained and in such harmony with its rider that it can be 'danced' lightly with mostly the rider's  seat as its Director. I'm not quite sure how this waiver idea would help progress either horses or riders to that glorious result. To ride a horse trained to that level is the epitome of great dressage training in my mind and one of the best feelings you can attain with a horse.

Let's talk about the schoolmaster horse for a minute. 

Renting out your schoolmaster for folks just wishing to attain their 'scores' so they can be called a USDF bronze,silver or gold medalist is in my opinion doing a terrible disservice to those that have made their own horses to attain the award. 

Many, many riders have contacted Paul and I asking to lease our trained GP horses, especially those of our horses in semi-retirement where the inquiring rider/trainer believes they are now ready for schoolmaster use.

Excuses - and sometimes true stories about the reason the rider seeks to borrow a trained horse are many. Perhaps the horse they were training at the required level to complete their medal score requirements had come up lame or even died. Such stories do pull at your heart strings. We have all been there - great plans thwarted by an injury or disease suffered by our beloved equine partner.

It is heartbreaking but of course, those things do happen. But as a trainer, to take a horse you have made yourself to Grand Prix and subject him in his vulnerable later years to starting afresh with a new rider for a temporary period simply to garner the person scores that they have not evidenced (for one reason or another) that they themselves are responsible for training in the horse, seems disloyal to the horse/human relationship to me and a bogus qualification to say they can teach.

From time to time, we have invited our own students to ride our elderly statesman horses, in order to feel the beauty of a trained horse to both inspire and teach the student the aim of their work. But our horses are always ridden under our supervision. It's not about not sharing or not caring. It's about protecting the equine partners who cannot speak for themselves and ensuring they are not subject to confusion or being pushed too hard or in the wrong manner for the glory of an ambitious rider or to cash in.

But competition standards and awards for completing these 'bronze/silver/gold' standards by attaining scores in competition should not be handed out lightly. I believe they should only be awarded to those that can evidence they have taken a horse from start to finish. From basics to Grand Prix. Scholmaster employed for this purpose may well not be physically completely up to the task. It is why they are often relegated to the lower levels of competition in the first place.

Of course the schoolmaster horse has a role to play. But it being pounded around the arena when it is not quite at that level of physical well-being to complete the job just for the rider to earn a score is not one of them. So giving a waive out because of a horse's age or soundness really shouldn't be offered, especially when it is claimed as protecting the horse. The schoolmaster belongs at home if he is not fit to the level, and the usefulness of the horse as a teacher at a lower level of showing explored.

Would the rule change with the waiver inadvertently allow ambitious riders an option to buy their way into a sport with a fancy horse, or give riders the opportunity to avoid the need to attain and manifest the necessary talents to ride at any level? I don't have the answer to that.

I do believe though that it is necessary to maintain a certain standard and well-thought out training progression in the USDF testing. In my mind it has to begin with honoring the correct classical training methods. Let it at least begin there. 

Though of course, with rollkür, and a myriad of 'means' and methods of forcing the horse to engage itself with equipment etc. and other shortcuts and abuses will always happen. And unfortunately as we've all seen, the rewards may not always be dished out with those standards to protect the horse in mind!