Everyone knows it takes a village to raise a child, but that saying also applies to an FEI-level dressage horse.

The process of choosing the perfect combination of sire and dam, of raising a healthy foal, then breaking him and putting in the years of training it takes to move through the levels involves a small army of experienced individuals.

The United States certainly has a great depth of upper-level riders, and the quality of U.S. breeding stock has improved dramatically in the last 20 years, but there’s still a missing element when it comes to taking well-bred youngsters and turning them into winning show horses: young horse trainers.

“We care about the progression of young horses in this country,” said Scott Hassler, director of training at Hilltop Farm in Colora, Md.

That’s why Hilltop Farm, with the support of Harmony Sporthorses, hosted an all-expenses-paid symposium for 41 young horse trainers on April 25-27.

Hassler joined German trainers Ingo Pape and Dr. Ulf Moeller in conducting the three-day symposium. More than 240 trainers applied for the limited spots by filling out an application and sending in a videotape of themselves training and riding a young horse.

Although it was difficult to narrow the field down to 41, Hassler used a few key criteria.

“We looked at age–that they’re going to have a long time doing young horses–and they can ride young horses,” he explained. “Also geographical area–that we covered the whole country and Canada. Then we took people we felt were really showing talent and interest specifically in the young horse development program for this country.”

Of the participants chosen, 11 were asked to be riders, some with their own horses and some on Hilltop horses. The horses were all between 3 and 6.

Participants arrived Sunday night and were welcomed to either a hotel or guesthouse at Hilltop. They jumped right in with the introductory meeting that evening.

“We gave a run-down of what the three of us–Ingo, Ulf and myself–wanted to achieve in the three days,” said Hassler. “We explained that it was more than just training the horse, but also about how you handle your clients, how to evaluate horses, and when to take the next step with your horses.”

On Monday training began. “We more or less said, ‘Here we are together as trainers. Let’s evaluate, critique and start to figure out how we’re going to approach this horse,’ ” explained Hassler.

And on Tuesday, “The roof came off,” according to Hassler. “We really trained. We really got into issues, and we corrected them.”

A family emergency meant that Pape had to leave on Monday, but Moeller and Hassler pressed on.

“If there was a combination [Moeller] took, he would do all the training for about 20 minutes, and then I would come in at the end of the training and give my critique of what was done, and what I would approach differently,” said Hassler.

“That was neat that they didn’t always agree,” said participant Jesse Collins from Beaumont, Texas. “There definitely are different ways to approach different problems.”

“We have an 18-year friendship,” said Hassler. “We wanted to show working together and how our friendships have helped us over the years. Here’s a bunch of young professionals from all over the country. We wanted them to become friends because you might need each other down the road.”

“All the trainers were great,” said Collins. “We have an e-mail list now to keep in touch. I’m flying to Chicago next week to buy a horse for a client, and it’s through a trainer that I met at the Hilltop clinic. It’s really opened up a great network.”

A Whole New Approach

For some of the participants, like rider Erin Sweeney, the symposium revolutionized her training approach. Sweeney, of Gordonsville, Va., starts young horses for a living and heard about the symposium through Pape when she was in Germany picking up a stallion.

She rode Rapture R (Rotspon–Damaris), a 4-year-old stallion owned by Roberta Falk, at the symposium.

“For me it was a real exposure to fast-track training,” said Sweeney, 40, who started training young horses more than 17 years ago. “When you’re training a young horse for the FEI 5- and 6-year-old tests, there’s not really time to be a baby for long,” she said, noting that the 5-year-old test requires a first-level frame and the 6-year-old test requires nearly a third-level frame.

Consequently, the trainers at the symposium pushed Sweeney to pick up Rapture’s frame and ask much more of him than she had previously.

“I always had a reservation in my mind that it might not be good for the horses to work up,” said Sweeney. “With three days of immersion and listening to Dr. Moeller talk about this frame and really understanding it, now I see how good it is for the horses. As a rider, I felt what a soft connection you have up there, and that makes me know that it’s the right frame.”

Sweeney had been allowing Rapture to canter with his nose down in a long frame, sometimes diving down on the forehand. “I thought, ‘This is nice, his neck is long, the contact is soft, he’s reaching for the contact, he wants to go down there, let him go,’ ” she explained.

But her rides with the clinicians changed her mind. “They were adamant that I seek a higher contact because then they start balancing with the hind end instead of the front end,” said Sweeney. “You encourage them to do this with half-halts. Any time I feel Rapture lower his neck, I just tighten my stomach and sit in a little firmer seat, support with my leg. His head and neck come up, so I release my contact, and he just floats like that.”

And Sweeney has been able to maintain and continue this progress. “I’m very excited and inspired,” she said. “As the frame has developed, his gaits have developed. The topline and frame of the horse are so strong that the legs can really move. When they have the freedom, then they can go ahead and gymnasticize and develop physically.”

Building Confidence

Sweeney had her eyes opened to a different training approach, but for other participants it was the confirmation of their training techniques that was helpful.

“It confirmed what I do from starting the horses to progressing through the levels,” said Collins, 27, who actually got his start in eventing. “It really gave me some confidence that I didn’t have going in. From the longeing techniques to the riding to the progression–what’s too fast, what’s too slow, what to do with each horse at each age. It really was a confirmation that I’m taking the horses in the right direction.”

And when participants were unclear about something, they said it was easy to ask questions. The symposium was closed to everyone but the participants.

“We didn’t know how it would go, and I didn’t want that pressure,” said Hassler. “I just wanted to relax with these people and see how it goes. Now I would have all the confidence in the world to have as many press as want to come watch.”

But he still wouldn’t invite auditors, and the participants agreed.

“It was so amazing that it was a closed situation,” said Eiren Crawford of Loxahatchee, Fla. “There was open discussion. Like what do you do if you have a client with unrealistic expectations? We could talk about stuff like that without worrying that the client was there at the show with you.”

Crawford, 28, is a barn manager at Five Star farm and hopes to specialize in young dressage horses. “It was the honesty of the discussion and honesty about different approaches you could take with the training and not be afraid of sounding like an idiot or offending somebody,” she explained.

And with a relatively small group, they could focus on real training. “We got to see real problems, real issues, and how the trainers work through issues,” said Collins.

“You’re in a clinic or a show and people are watching you,” he continued. “You may not give your horse a good, swift kick or a whack with the whip if they’re not responding with the hind legs. There was less pressure because we could really address each issue and not put on a fancy show. They could be real trainers and do what they really would do.”

It’s What They Do From Here That Matters

By the end of three days, most of the participants were buzzing with enthusiasm to return home and spread the word.

“It was absolutely inspirational,” enthused Crawford. “I’ve gone sky diving twice in the past, and I had the same rush after that clinic. I was ready to take on the world afterwards.”

But the real key will be what these 41 trainers do with their experience. “I think the future is young horse training,” said Teresa Butta-Stanton, a 30-year-old trainer from Davidsonville, Md., who rode her 5-year-old Bacardi in the symposium.

“For this country to really keep moving up, we need to get our young horses out there and doing well,” she continued. “Not only do we need a good Olympic team, but we also need to be horsemen all the way around. You have to have good-quality upper-level horses, and you have to have a basis where those horses are going to come from and people to start them and train them until the top professionals get them.”

Sweeney believes, “If you can do a good job with young horses, you’ll have a job. There are a lot of people breeding, and they all have to be assimilated into the horse world. I got my start with them, and I can remember thinking it was a drag because I wanted to do Grand Prix dressage. Now I’ve learned to love and appreciate the process of building young horses.”

Butta-Stanton knows that “a lot of people want to get on and put their shadbellies on and do the FEI–I want to do it too! And I’ve been fortunate to have two FEI-level horses, but I’ve also had to deal with what I had. We do have good young horses here, and they shouldn’t go to waste. People need to seek out the young horse trainers and let their horses go as far as they can.”

And this won’t be the last young horse training symposium at Hilltop Farm. “We’re going to start designing for next year,” said Hassler. “Anne Gribbons is going to be a part of it next year. It won’t be completely free because this was the kick-off to get people excited about it. But I think the format was exciting and showed people it was well worth the time and effort.”

“Certain Boundaries Must Be Clear”

Although each young horse is an individual, some key points to remember came up repeatedly at the Hilltop Farm symposium.

“Young horses have to be very clear and very guided as to what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable,” said Scott Hassler, director of training at Hilltop Farm. “From there you reward, but the riders have to be extremely clear. Otherwise you’re setting up the foundation for problems later, and this is where they start their education. If you allow them now, it’s going to show up later.”

He continued, “With young horses, there are always things that show up. They’re enthusiastic and they show things. I think that’s the fun of young horses. We really tried to define not controlling them too much, letting them be a young horse, but also understanding what a boundary is. There are certain boundaries that must be clear.”

One boundary young horses must understand, according to Hassler, is that it’s never acceptable to get behind the leg.

“They have to accept the aids,” said Hassler. “You really have to make the point clear with a horse that challenges you and doesn’t want to go forward, doesn’t accept the leg. If you don’t address this, it’s a major problem for the future. So you have to decide as a trainer how you’re going to win it. And for some people that’s as you’re built, or as you’re talented, but you must get them in front of the leg.”

Hassler used the example of a horse that kicked out at the whip to demonstrate his point. “He swished his tail really hard and kicked at it,” he said. “So we had to just be consistent about it and not overreact. Just keep using the whip and people really saw that we tend too often to blame ourselves instead of that sometimes the horses screw it up.”

Hassler urged, “Don’t alter your program. Just make it simple for the young horse; just do it. That came out so they could see it on several of the horses. Acceptance of the leg, acceptance of the whip, acceptance of contact. Don’t alter your program–solve the issue. That’s what the light bulb was on Wednesday. They saw that we didn’t have these issues anymore. The horse that didn’t take the whip was totally able to take the whip and make a half-halt with it, and the horse was super.”