Our columnist discusses education, innovation and competition in Florida’s hotbed of dressage this winter.

Florida woke up slowly this January, but by the end of the month it was alive with non-stop educational activities as well as competitions.

The U.S. Dressage Federation trainers’ seminar was, as always, a great hit, and since Steffen Peters has cut down on his visits to Florida, we appreciated another opportunity to avail ourselves of his wisdom. As was the case last year, he was partnered with U.S. Equestrian Federation Young Horse Coach Scott Hassler, and the focus was on problem solving while emphasizing the welfare of the horse.

The USEF hosted two events, one regular observation session at Haven Safe Farm, which is traditionally closed to observers. The attendance was strong, and USEF Dressage Technical Advisor Robert Dover expressed satisfaction with what he saw coming up the ranks. A couple of weeks later, the pipeline of coaches had an open training session where they all worked together with riders of all levels, a first-time event, which gave the public an opportunity to see what we are doing to help develop future dressage combinations.

In mid-February, the Global Dressage Forum North America had its second season, and it showed a lot of improvement in organization and flow. Andreas Stano, the producer of the event, had a sold-out house, but unfortunately about 150 of the ticket holders couldn’t attend due to the winter weather raging all over the country, which grounded a number of flights.

The spectators who made it to the forum were treated to a solid education on basics, served up in a clear and transparent fashion. It seemed as if all the presenters had agreed beforehand on their approach and theme, but it was just a stroke of luck that all the work they offered fit together like a perfect puzzle.

First up was Jan Brink from Sweden riding a lovely young mare while explaining to the audience what he expects from horse and rider at this stage. He talked about the different zones the horses exist in while being trained, pointing out that while the horse can vacillate between the comfort, stretching the limits, and the panic zone, the rider has to remain in the comfort zone all the time.

When questioned by the panel about what other sports would help your riding, Brink maintained that you can only learn riding by riding. He also said he advocates test riding for his students as often as practical. Often the excuses for not wanting to ride tests are based on an unwillingness amongst riders to be criticized, but if you train and want to compete, the test is an unavoidable conclusion, and it makes no sense to resist riding the test.

Canadian Christilot Boylen also gave a fabulous exhibition of riding, demonstrating various exercises to keep the young horse alert to the aids and in front of the leg. As I have always believed and practiced, she favors the leg-yield as the “mother of all exercises,” and she showed a variety of sample methods to prove her point.

To develop the half-pass, she used her partner Udo Lange as her demonstration rider and had ground poles placed on the diagonal to clarify the path and degree of bend needed and help develop the proper feel for the movement. She cautioned about sacrificing rhythm and suspension in the gaits in favor of bend and instead suggested we work with what the horse can offer in lateral suppleness.

In the reinback, one of the points made by Lange was to lighten the seat, something I have taught forever but which often elicits a confused response from the rider. Try it; you will like it!

One of the questions posed to Christilot was what kind of student she prefers. She was very clear about this: one that is willing to work and never asks in the job interview which day she has off. Christilot rides seven days a week, rotating her horses but getting them all out doing something every day. A strict work ethic for equine and human alike is her recipe for success, and talent will not make up for laziness.

Along the same line, we were treated to another super riding performance on several horses by Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén, the top Swedish competitor who appears unbeatable on the Florida circuit and is a top-placing rider in Europe. Not only is she an example of how to ride, but she is also a model of good horsemanship and a great fellow competitor.

The cooperation with her sponsor, Antonia Ax:son Johnson, has produced positive results since they started their partnership in 2000. When asked what makes a sponsorship work in the long run, Tinne had only one thing to say: mutual respect.

Tinne had assistance from the ground from Bo Jena, who later gave an expert long lining demonstration, making what is so difficult look simple. As in last year’s Global Forum, Bo showed how collection can be created from the work on long lines and is a great way of working a horse free of the weight of the rider and with a view from the ground.

Christoph Hess, Conrad Schumacher and Stephen Clarke all gave stellar presentations on the same theme as the other presenters, but all with an original angle.

Overall the forum offered a wealth of sensible and valuable information and advice, which, if followed, will produce proper basics in training and protect the health and welfare of the horses.

Dancing, Equine And Human

Our second FEI Nations Cup was held to packed spectator stands at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival showgrounds, and although the U.S. team ended up winning, the competition is becoming more keen, and the format of mixed teams appears to be workable. The purpose of this format is to encourage all countries in the Americas to field a Grand Prix team, but until they are able to, they can combine the large and small tour.

In the end, we hope to see a full-fledged CDIO on this continent that will serve as an Olympic qualifier. In the meantime, the format will be used for the Pan American Games next year in Canada.

In mid-February, the USEF held a fundraising event for the athletes to help pay for their travels and training in Europe. As he did last year, Robert Dover acted as emcee, and he was also the fire soul of the whole event. He and Janet Foy, chair of the USEF High Performance Committee, organized dancing lessons for some of our elite riders, and the dinner guests were treated to them performing somewhat out of their element. They looked great, danced like the stars they are, and were given scores by judges Bent Jensen, Jane Savoy and Ellin Miller accompanied by tart comments. Then they were “auctioned off” for great amounts along with the fabulous donated items to make for a sizable sum, which will help them on their way to a place on the dressage team.

Considering how much support some athletes from other countries, for example England, have from their government, we are almost forced to make an internal effort to augment the funds available from the USEF and USET Foundation in order to keep up.

As a bonus, several of the riders are continuing their lessons in dancing at the studio that helped them. Shelly Francis told me she never would have thought of it before, but now she has the dancing bug!

Scoring And Venue Innovations

Katrina Wüst, one of our FEI five-star judges, gave a presentation in Wellington, Fla., of her proposal to refine the judging of the freestyle. She has devised a system in line with the judging of iceskating to improve on the evaluation of difficulty.

Her aim is to make this score more understandable and transparent to the riders and the audience, as well as easier for the judges to determine. It starts with the riders handing in a “floor plan” before they ride and thereby determining the score they hope to gain if they manage to pull off every movement planned. If they do not, they will receive deductions.

The system is a bit more complicated in reality, and it needs testing and tweaking, but it will give judges some clear guidelines to follow and make the judging and results more transparent, while giving the riders more control over their fate in the ring.

I was fortunate to be able to judge and compete at several of the shows at the Adequan GDF grounds this year, and I observed the impact that the creation of this facility already has had on the quality of the riding and training displayed during the Florida season. It became evident between January and April how much both horses and riders who had not previously been on the Florida scene were absorbing the closeness and intensity of this mecca of American dressage.

It can be debated whether having just one facility—nevermind how excellent—available for the CDI horses during the entire season is a good thing. Since we’re all trying to emulate European conditions for our horses, it is clear that in this instance we are not following suit. It is rare that any horse on the European CDI circuit sees any one facility more than once a year.

Be that as it may, dressage is alive and well in Florida during the winter season, and there were several new and a few very young combinations who will rise to the top after getting their feet wet in Wellington this year.

Going forward, our Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games trials are just around the corner, and the California shows are in full swing to finalize the list of invitees to Gladstone, N.J., in June. On the initiative of Catherine Haddad Staller, who has done some very successful fundraising, and thanks to several generous donations, we are offering some serious prize money in all divisions. This will help to defray some of the costs for traveling and accommodations and also encourage the horse owners by giving them something back for a change! Gladstone has so much tradition and old-world charm to offer, and I am glad we are heading back there for the World Games trials, which promise to be a hotly contested event this year. June is a great time to be in New Jersey, so plan to go and watch our nation’s finest battle it out for a ticket to Normandy!

Anne Gribbons was the U.S. Equestrian Federation technical advisor for dressage from 2010-2012. She has trained and shown 15 horses of her own to Grand Prix and competed in 10 national championships as well as in Europe, including the Aachen CHIO (Germany). Seven of her horses have been U.S. Dressage Federation Horse of the Year, and she was a member of the 1995 Pan American Games silver medal-winning team for the United States. Anne is a Fédération Equestre Internationale five-star judge, and she was a member of the FEI Dressage Committee from 2010-2013. She started contributing to Between Rounds in 1995, and she was inducted into the Roemer Foundation/USDF Hall of Fame in 2013.