Our columnist believes a good rider can succeed in equitation regardless of the size of his or her pocketbook.
In many ways, the equitation division really shaped the direction of my career. Winning the USET Show Jumping Talent Search Finals in 1985 gave me a confidence that I don’t know I would have had otherwise.
Winning that class made me believe all the clichés were true—that if you work hard, anything’s possible, and if you dream it, it can come true.
The equitation division taught me to ride and to compete, and it rewarded me with some wonderful highs at the end of it. That gave me incredible confidence, which opened doors for me to get rides and jobs and to find my way to where I am. I’ve seen that it’s done that for so many in the history of the division.
It started for me as a kid when I got to go to Madison Square Garden to watch the ASPCA Maclay Finals. From the outside looking in, it looked impossible to win something like an equitation final. I was that kid who didn’t have a fancy horse and couldn’t go to the big shows. I had trouble paying for lessons; I braided and trailered my own horse. But I didn’t let that stop me. I just quietly had the goal in my head, “I’d really like to win a final.”
It happened for me, and I think the equitation division continues to be the place where someone who doesn’t have all the means or the best horse can still find his way and compete head to head with those who do.
Paying It Forward
I’ve made an effort over the years to help out the kids with lesser means. I’ve never forgotten that all of this would never have happened for me without many people along the way reaching out and lending me a hand and supporting me. Judy Richter’s generosity to me had such a big impact on my career, and that has inspired me to do the same.
When I see young people who need a leg up or a little direction or a horse to ride, I try to step up and help. They’re part of the future of our sport, and I want to facilitate that for them. And I firmly believe in the equitation division as the best place to develop their skills.
If you want to ride a hunter or a jumper beautifully, it all starts with the foundation of learning how to ride a course in beautiful style with correct position, which is what the equitation is all about.
Many of the winners of equitation finals have gone on to be the top professionals in the hunter disciplines or gone on to represent the country on show jumping teams. And many of those kids haven’t been the ones who owned multiple hunters and jumpers.
For a junior rider with limited financial means but all the ability, the equitation is the place to have a platform and get noticed. They can compete at a national level and win titles. From there, they can find work or riding opportunities and start a career.
I think the equitation division has done huge things for those kids. Without that division, I don’t think it’s that easy to find your way to the top of the hunter or jumper ranks if you don’t have a lot of financial backing.
Providing A Path
Kent Farrington is a perfect example of how the equitation division really works for some riders. He was always a good rider and had a great foundation from Nancy Whitehead, but he needed a leg up.
He took advantage of some help, like a borrowed horse and some instruction as a working student, and won [the Pessoa/USEF Medal Final in 1998 and the Washington International Equitation Classic Final in 1999]. That helped him go on to get some riding jobs, and look where he’s ended up.
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He went further on his own merit, but did winning those titles give him some confidence, speed up the process, and open a few doors? I would venture to say it did all those things.
What Kent has accomplished in his post-equitation career is exactly what you hope will happen for these kids when they finish their junior years. When you’re watching him compete in the grand prix classes, you can’t help but notice that he’s doing it in beautiful style. He and the horse are also beautifully turned out. He’s the epitome of what the equitation division can produce.
There’s been a lot of discussion lately because the U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping High Performance Committee has become involved in the specifications of the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals and the qualifying classes [implementing a three-tier format].
They’re concerned that the level is too low, and there’s been a lot of dialogue about the water jump. I’ve been supportive of making some changes because I think the division is really important to the future success of our teams.
On the other hand, I’m slightly concerned that if you raise the level so high, it then puts a real emphasis on needing a better horse. Part of what has really worked in the past in this division is that a top rider such as Kent Farrington could get it done on an average horse.
The jumps are only 3’6″, and good riding and talent can make up for a lesser quality of horse. When you’re pushing the height of the jumps and having the water jump in every class, then the horse’s ability and quality are also factors in how the rider can do. We already know that’s a big factor in the hunters and the jumpers on a high level, so I’d hate to see the equitation division become out of reach for the kids with average means, because right now that’s the only place that they have.
It’s All Important
Especially on the East Coast, it’s ingrained into junior riders that doing the equitation and going to finals is imperative. It’s just part of the system, and it’s what everyone aspires to because they can see how it leads to other things.
| We Show Too Much And Train Too LittleI believe that we show way too much in our country, and we’re always trying to teach people at shows. Good footing is a blessing and curse; it preserves our horses, but in doing so, it also allows us to show endlessly and not make judicious decisions about our schedules.I’m fortunate that my farm is located in the New York area, close to many shows, so the training can really happen at my farm between shows. I don’t ever want to go to a horse show unprepared. I always stay home before a big event and get ready. That way I can go to the big event and feel like all my riders are prepared.I had never taken kids to Spruce Meadows (Alberta) before this summer. I knew that it wouldn’t go well if we didn’t prepare for that. I didn’t just go from show to show and just show up there. We stayed at home, schooled on grass fields, got ready, and we succeeded.I’m always struggling with that, because you also have to make an effort to get everyone qualified and meet their goals. It’s so easy to end up showing too much. But people need to learn how to ride at home, not at the show.
The show is the place to show what you know or don’t know. Then you have to go home and get ready to go again. That should really be the process. Florida is a perfect example. There are many, many weeks of shows. I didn’t think that the horses or the staff or the riders could do it every week. I didn’t think anyone was learning anything anymore by showing that much. I built in a week off here and there in the schedule. It’s not healthy to show 12 weeks in a row. Everybody wonders how I bring 100 horses to the shows. They ask how we get them all ready. But the answer is that we get them ready at home. There’s the odd exception when things are going poorly and you have to make a few adjustments; everybody has that. But we don’t have that times 100. We have that times one or two. A big part of our success has been that I really feel the importance of teaching at home. You cannot duplicate lessons at a horse show the way you can at home. You’ve got to do your homework at home—that’s where you cannot be afraid to try some new things and iron out the problems. Then everybody goes to a show and feels ready. |
When they’re seeing these riders who just won a final a few years before competing on Sunday in the grand prix, they can’t help but notice a relationship between those that do well in the equitation and those who go on in the sport.
But for some people, the equitation division is an end to itself. Their goal through the junior years is to be competitive and qualify for and win the finals. In many families, the financial support ends there. That person has to go to college or figure out a way to earn a living to support what they enjoy. Many of them have circled back and are riding and showing.
And there are those who go on to be professional horsemen. I don’t think it’s realistic that more than a handful each year—or maybe even one or two each year—are going to go on to become top professionals or future representatives of our country. Just like in baseball, only a select few get called to the major leagues from the farm team.
But I do think it produces a few future top riders each year, and that’s good; I think it was its initial intent. Some of them are self-funded and can transition right to the big leagues in the jumpers and accomplish great things quickly, which is wonderful for them and for our country.
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The path from equitation success to professional success isn’t as smooth for those who can’t afford to buy horses to pave the way. I think being a junior at a high level in our country sometimes spoils these kids. When the junior days are over, the catch-rides end, and they’re in the same boat as every other good or bad rider in the country, looking for a way to get to the next step.
Yes, it’s very difficult for them to get from that place to the next place. They have to be clever about it, and they have to work hard, be smart and persevere.
My parents’ biggest concern was how was I possibly going to make a living riding horses. But I put one foot in front of the other. I never wavered, and I worked my way up from grooming to managing to riding and to teaching.
I never thought along the way that any of those steps were beneath me or not important. To this day, I can drive the truck, braid the horse, ride the horse, clean the stall. It’s all important.
A Tough Reality
A lot of younger riders trying to get started on a career aren’t really ready for the reality of the post-junior years. It’s a big eye-opener to have to get up at 5 a.m. and clean the stall and put the caulks in and ride the horse.
In America, with the rare exception, most of us make a living teaching others how to ride, not by riding ourselves. I don’t think they’re always prepared for that reality.
Showing as a talented junior with horses being offered left and right is one thing. It’s glamorous and fun. They’re getting a leg up onto these great horses all day long and winning all these accolades, and there’s a lot of buzz about them.
But when all that dust settles down, they’re back in the pool with the rest of us. The year after their last class as a junior is a big watershed moment. When they realize it’s hard work seven days a week, a lot of them fall by the wayside, no matter how talented they are. That’s why we’re lucky if we only get two or three each year who go on to be top professionals.
They have to find something that separates them—their work ethic, their personality, their raw natural talent, all of the above. Everyone brings something different to the table, and there’s a niche for everyone; the key is for these young riders to find their own path. For those who are left standing after that, there are opportunities out there to succeed.
Being a good rider is not the same thing as being a good horseman. Are we as trainers partly to blame? We’re developing good ring riders, but we’re not really developing horsemen. To sustain a long and successful career—of both horse and rider—you need to be a horseman. I think the division could be criticized for that.
Full service care was begun so these kids could go to the barn after school, ride, and get home in time to do homework. But in some cases this has led to a “hands-off” mentality about the horses. There are plenty of kids who want to learn all the care involved, and those are the ones who usually go on and develop into horsemen.
But because they can choose to adopt a “hands-off” approach, we’re producing fewer and fewer of those true horsemen. But I also think that the equitation at a high level separates the kids who learn the horsemanship from those who don’t. A switch of horses or walking the course on your own leaves the riders a bit to their own devices. That shows who has learned more than just how to ride a course; it shows who is on their way to being a horseman.
The beauty of this division is that those questions do get asked so the cream rides to the top.
Andre Dignelli has been training horses and riders for more than 20 years. A winner of the 1985 USET Show Jumping Talent Search Finals, he worked for Judy Richter at Coker Farm (N.Y.) and won the team bronze medal at the 1991 Pan American Games (Cuba) aboard Richter’s Gaelic. In 1991 he also had his first national equitation winner, Peter Lutz, capture the Rolex USET Show Jumping Talent Search East and the ASPCA Maclay Finals. Since then, he’s trained a slew of top equitation winners, including Maggie McAlary, Addison Phillips, Matthew Metell, Samantha Schaefer, Lillie Keenan, Schaefer Raposa and Brittany Hurst. His students have also won major hunter classes such as the $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships (Ky.) and grand prix show jumping classes. Andre and his Heritage Farm team were the Chronicle’s 2011 Show Hunter Horsemen of the Year.
