Throughout my career, riding for the team was always the end goal, be it at the Olympics or world championships or throughout the year at Nations Cups. It’s been the most satisfying part of my career. We always say that we put the United States first, and then other things take care of themselves. It was a good guiding principle, and one we impart onto our students.
It was not only John and I who were driven by that idea; most of our owners who supported us so well through my career also were motivated by representing our country, not so much by the prize money. We were very lucky that they had the same goals we did, and it helped foster some of those relationships. I probably wouldn’t have had some of those owners if that wasn’t our goal. Sharing your own dreams of representing the country will often inspire that in others.
There’s so much media and social media attention out there for series like the Rolex Grand Slam, Major League Show Jumping Tour and the Longines Global Champions Tour—much more than for championships or Nations Cups. When I was riding we used those kinds of shows as a path to make it to the Olympic Games. I think if you asked some of the stalwarts of the team, like McLain Ward and Laura Kraut, they would say the same thing: These competitions let them compete against the best of the best, and the prize money helps to continue your career. But really those shows serve as a road to the Olympic Games and world championships and riding for the team, which is the ultimate goal.
I hope the younger generation and the equestrian community don’t see these mainstream competitions as an end goal and are still inspired to aim for representing the United States, but I worry that the shows that are really good at promoting themselves are the only things people care about. It’s a different level when you’re competing for your country, and you have to keep your eye on that main goal. These series and competitions are really valuable, but there should be a higher tier you’re aiming for, specifically representing your country at major championships.
If we think of the concept of the Olympic Games, and how important it is to keep horse sport in the Olympics, the team competition is extremely important. That’s part of the reason we have to put importance into the Nations Cups. There’s no prize money at the Olympic Games—one of the reasons it’s one of the most pure goals we can have—and the prize money at Nations Cup competitions is split four ways, so it can be more lucrative for a rider to choose to compete in a grand prix rather than a Nations Cup. But this is sport; it’s not just all about money. When you look back at your career, maybe you don’t look at your bank book as you do at those medals. After all, if you’re good enough to win a medal at the Olympics, you’ll win a lot of prize money along the way.
“But this is sport; it’s not just all about money. When you look back at your career, maybe you don’t look at your bank book as you do at those medals.”
There’s so much gain from putting the United States first. From the person who gives $25 to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation to the person wearing the medal, we need to instill the feeling of pride in everyone who contributes.
No matter how big or small your contribution, you should feel proud to represent the United States. That’s why we need top horse-and-rider combinations representing our country as often as we can, because people like to be involved in excellence.
This all dovetails into social license: We really have to prioritize the pure and most altruistic goals that we have and keep those in place to allow us to use horses.
We should still train our horses the way we know is the best for them, and do everything the best way we possibly can, and keep trying to learn. But one thing I hope everyone keeps their eye on is that we’re all representatives of the sport, and we have to take very good care to always represent ourselves in the best light. That is tied in to having the loftiest goal of a partnership between horse and rider for the betterment of both.
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Olympic Qualification
On the developing side of the sport, we saw the CSIO3* teams had some really successful campaigns in Europe, finishing on the podium three out of four times. That’s a real positive, and we hope people coming up will continue to be supportive of the team in coming years.
Last year the U.S. had a good year at the top of the sport, qualifying for the Longines Nations Cup Final in Barcelona and having a good competition there. The team qualified for the Olympic Games at the Santiago Pan American Games—the last chance to qualify, but that’s not too unusual. In my career we had to bring our best team to the 2003 Santo Domingo Pan American Games (Dominican Republic) and the 2011 Guadalajara Pan American Games (Mexico) in order to qualify for the Olympics. For a long time the only option to qualify besides the Pan Am Games had been the world championships. If your team didn’t have a good showing there, your only other chance would be the Pan Am Games. Now you can qualify at the Nations Cup Final, but you have to be the top team not already qualified.
It wasn’t the worst thing in the world not to qualify at the world championships. We all knew that between Barcelona and Santiago, we’d get there. But there are big-picture things to consider too. The world championships are an opportunity to carve out another spot for your region of the world.
This time around we had no North or South American countries qualify through the world championships; Brazil qualified at Barcelona, and the United States, Canada and Mexico qualified at the Pan Ams. As a consequence we have just four teams from the Americas qualified for the Olympics, when in other years the strong North and South American teams would do well at the world championships, so we’d have more teams from our region at the Games. When we look at the big picture, that strengthens our position in the world, strengthens our position as a country, and it raises the level of competition for all of us in the Americas.
Reformatting The Nations Cup Series
In 2024 we will have a new format replacing the Nations Cup qualifiers for the Longines FEI Nations Cup Final: the Longines League of Nations. We do think it’s important that there is an elite Nations Cup series. We hope that Nations Cups of all levels thrive, so that there are more opportunities for people to represent their country.
For the United States the hardest team to field will be the one in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) because it’s during our biggest circuits here in North America in the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida) and Desert Circuit in Thermal (California), and our team will travel the farthest to get there. However it’s very exciting that we will have one of the qualifiers here in Ocala, Florida; that’s very convenient for people already in this country. It will also be very easy for the entire equestrian community to support our team in Ocala. We hope to see you there rooting on Team USA.
This being an Olympic year, we’d think the League of Nations will be helpful in making sure our Olympic team will be successful in Paris. We’d think Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland will be developing the upper end this year through this series, testing out some new horses or new combinations. In the Olympics we now have three-rider teams, and the second round of the League of Nations competitions will be three-rider teams, so that will be good practice, especially at Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and St. Gallen (Switzerland), which are later in the season.
Rule Change Woes
It’s been a rocky road with the Fédération Equestre Internationale’s Tack App, which launched in 2023. While the app was intended to bring clarity as to which tack is allowed and which isn’t, in practice it’s been chaotic. At first they were changing what was permissible seemingly randomly—they’d add equipment to the permitted list, and if you didn’t check the app the week before, you didn’t know. Sometimes they take something that you couldn’t use last month off the prohibited list, so all of a sudden, you can use it, but you don’t know that. It’s been a nightmare for stewards and riders as well.
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It’s happened where you have something on your horse that you were able to use for years, and suddenly, when you’re five or six out from going in the ring, they tell you that you can’t use that bit or that contraption; you have to change it. That’s no good for the horse either. We have to make sure responsible people are deciding what can and can’t be on there. The timing of items being removed or added to the list also needs to be tweaked. Right now they can change things once a month, and even that is too often, I think.
At the FEI General Assembly in Mexico City, the FEI decided that as of Jan. 1, 2024, the Tack App will be replacing rules for tack, equipment and dress. That means that changes to what’s permissible or not don’t have to go through the rule-change process. Especially because of this, I think the app and the process needs the kinks worked out.
Another FEI change we saw last year was the addition of a rule that says that judges can eliminate people while on course if they think allowing someone to continue would be “contrary to the principles of horse welfare,” which presumably includes bad riding. So far, I haven’t seen or heard of the judges fulfilling their duty by stopping a dangerous round. I’ve seen a lot of bad riding and dangerous things happening, and now it’s on the judges to stop it. That’s a challenge. I think it’s a very hard position to put the judge in, and there was a discussion about having someone who was recently active as a rider help make the decision, which probably makes sense. You’re talking about snap decisions that can have a big effect. Maybe there are better alternatives to this rule, like changing the rules to say that, at a high level, one stop and you’re out, or once you reach a certain number of faults, you’re automatically eliminated.
We’re all for horse welfare. We all have to be responsible to each other to make sure we put our best foot forward all the time in our sport. When we have some of these damaging documentaries, like what happened with Helgstrand Dressage, that’s really bad, because it’s not just about them, it’s about everybody. [Editor’s note: Helgstrand Dressage is owned by the Global Equestrian Group, which also owns The Chronicle of the Horse.] We all have to do our absolute best to demonstrate why we do this sport, and that’s because we love horses.
Beezie Madden earned two FEI World Cup Finals wins during her storied career, as well as two team Olympic gold medals, one silver team medal and an individual bronze medal. She also earned individual and team silver at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games (Germany) and individual and team bronze at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (France). She has two Pan American Games team gold medals, one individual silver and one individual bronze. These days she focuses on training horses and riders out of Cazenovia, New York, where she lives with her husband, John, and their dog, Rudy.
John Madden is Beezie Madden’s husband.
This article originally appeared in the January 2024, issue of The Chronicle of the Horse. You can subscribe and get online access to a digital version and then enjoy a year of The Chronicle of the Horse and our lifestyle publication, Untacked. If you’re just following COTH online, you’re missing so much great unique content. Each print issue of the Chronicle is full of in-depth competition news, fascinating features, probing looks at issues within the sports of hunter/jumper, eventing and dressage, and stunning photography.
