PrintOn Feb. 8, England’s Hartpury College will host an International Eventing Conference entitled “Training for Safety.”
This is an admirable aim, without a doubt, and some great sessions are scheduled, so the organizers are to be congratulated. However, the description of one of the presentations worries me greatly. The title is “Dressage—The Relationship With Jumping.”
The description notes that Pammy Hutton FBHS will dispel the “myth” that the higher level of dressage can be detrimental to jumping. I hasten to add that Pammy Hutton did not choose this description herself.
Everything Is Fine And Dandy
So does this mean that everything is fine and dandy with regard to dressage training in relation to jumping?
It certainly suggests there’s not going to be much objective analysis and debate about both sides of this argument. It also suggests that some people ignore the central truth that everything has advantages and disadvantages.
An awareness of the advantages and disadvantages obviously allows us to make better use of the advantages and avoid the disadvantages as far as possible. Being blind to the disadvantages makes us less effective and often less safe. The phrase “if you keep doing the same, you’ll keep getting the same result” also comes to mind.
It’s just beyond logic and flies in the face of the evidence to believe that we cannot do better with our dressage in relationship to jumping, especially cross-country jumping. I believe that the negative side of bad dressage is too often glossed over and that this isn’t just an occasional problem but a significant challenge facing our sport.
We should not run away from the fact that some types of dressage training are without a doubt dangerous for horse and rider—at any level.
For example, there was a talented and forward-thinking but safe horse at a CCI*** that was bought to be ridden by an experienced advanced rider. The one main task left to fulfill this horse’s potential was to “fix the dressage,” so an international Grand Prix rider and trainer was engaged.
Unfortunately, the result was rows and resistance. After a short period of time, the horse learned to fight the forced shape he was being put in, thrusting his head up and running blindly toward the corner of the school.
Not long after this experience, when going across country, the rider asked the horse to slow down in front of a fence. The horse switched straight away to his head-in-the-air, running-blind mode and literally ran into the next fence. He fell on top of the rider, who was killed on impact.
Acceptance Not Submission
Yes, this was lousy dressage training, but it happens, and it happens at all levels from novice to international.
In pure dressage and show jumping flat work, a “very strong style of riding” is considered acceptable by a number of trainers.
So, at the very least, the seed could be sown for all people reading the above blurb for this conference that aggressive dressage training is potentially dangerous for event horses. This is not splitting hairs, and who can argue against the fact that a life may be saved because a particular rider and horse worked in harmony instead of fighting each other in front of a fence?
This is a dual challenge because we have to work with, not against, our horses, seeking acceptance, not submission, and we also have to proceed a step at a time.
