trinitydressage.com Blog

The dressage world received interesting news this week – when it was announced that Isabel Werth and her small tour horse Whisper, were suspended for use of an illegal substance on Whisper several days before a competition. Those charges are under further hearing and any further suspension for Ms. Werth will be announced later this summer.

On the heels of that news, was a website blog by Anky regarding her slip in performance and what her interest levels are, now that she has taken most major titles and medals, repetitively.

Both of these announcements are disturbing. The good news is that there now be a little more room at the top for other horse/rider combinations. Selfishly, I hope at least one of them can be from the USA.

The heat has been oppressive in Kansas this week – and riding unpleasant unless you have the schedule to ride in the a.m. or the very late p.m. I do not. Therefore, I have not been training for a few days and that always make me cranky – which does not please my lovely canines. Maybe later today, if the ‘force’ works with me.

A wonderful clinic to be held in Omaha for the weekend of July 4th. At least 4 horses from Trinity heading up to enjoy the venue and the education. I will be holding down the fort and playing with my own ponies, as usual.

Trey the wonder-dog, is at the vets to get a diagnosis on a torked shoulder/elbow/etc. He is an amazingly accomplished dog, capable of breaking various body parts in his quest to guard the farm and kill whatever he can. What a guy. I think if he had been human he would have been a ER doctors joy.

New, very LARGE fan, for the barn. Repairs for the spreader (an ongoing project) and beginning repairs on the decking for the hay storage. Just more days in paradise!!

And just one more picture of my Flash with Fast Eddie.

Ok, Ok, I’m going to be slightly biased on this one. The United States with Steffen Peters and Ravel won the Grand Prix in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Not by much, but he did squeek past Isabel Werth and bring the win to us. I could not be happier and not for the reason you all ight believed.

I was just so bloody sick of the Anky & Isabel show – that it is always nice to see the addition of talent =- from any where.

Sincere thank yous to Universalsports.com for the lovely live feed. It was priceless to see when it was not possible to attend in person.

Now, I am also riding again, and the sore muscles are amazing. I thought for sure I would be soud asleep tonight and resting those muscles. However, said muscles are not happy with me for charging ahead with conditioning and riding and they are making me pay tonight. I am going forward with my reconditioning schedule – however I will need a new bottle of Advil and Tylenol to mix the best pain relief cocktail I possibly can.

In closing for the night (morning) let me again say thanks for the judges and the audience in their support of Peters & Ravel. It’s just unbelievably nice that there are new people at the top of their game.

I admit it – I’m confused. Totally. The World Cup Dressage Competition is coming up in April and will be held in the US (Vegas) again this year. The worlds top performers have been qualifying for the opportunity – the ‘right’ – the points, to attend this venue and represent their countries. The rules are clear – even for armchair riders.

Now – news is that the medal winning Anky and Salinero will NOT be attending. Why? Because they didn’t follow the rules. The very rules her Husband insisted be added a few years ago (that there must be TWO (2), Dos, Deux,) qualifiers. Anky only has one. She withdrew from another due to a physical problem. Ok, I get that. But why is she allowed to complain and try to find a way AROUND the rules????? Because she’s special?

Lets face it. She is a draw and that means money. Pure and simple, this is all about the money. The sad fact is there are few other players in the dressage arena that bring the kind of money in that she can. But does that mean she can continue to break the rules to suit her? I’m still sticky over why she doesn’t have to HALT when the rest of us still must do this most lowly of movements. In fact, if she’s the worlds best and SHE can’t do it – why are we mere mortals even worrying about it and why wasn’t it removed from the most recent tests?

Oh – I know – it’s like outcome based education. If you try real hard, it counts. Of course, if the horses feet are still moving, it still doesn’t mean you didn’t try – so we’ll give you points on that anyway. Besides, if we make her mad, she might not show and it always comes down to the stinking money.

My fondest hope is that somewhere else in this round world of ours, there are horse/rider combinations that will generate the same level of devotion and interest. In fact, the absolute BEST thing for our sport would be at least a dozen of these people/horse combos that will overtake the single Princess concept. I’m sure it’s good to be Queen, but it would be better for dressage for a larger group to generate the excitement and be able to draw in the money.

Ok – I’m shoving my soap box back into the closet. Rant over for tonight. Halting at X.

The national news services have been studying what makes the American so greedy – so ruthless and so selfish – as has been evidenced by the Wall Street stupidity and the overall bad behavior of the financial giants and other hedge fund managers. To date, I don’t think there has been a published answer to any of these questions, but it did get me thinking about and relating those questions to the Equestrian World.

Are we greedy, ruthless and selfish, as an industry or as a discipline? Or do just a few bad apples spoil the whole bag? Dressage is possibly the least understood of equine pursuits, perhaps because it is difficult to measure much of what is being judged – at least difficult to a non-professional. Obviously, in jumping it’s time and clean rounds. In racing you either came in first or are still trying to find the end of the oval. But dressage – now we are a horse of a different color and even within the sport (Nationally and Internationally) we manage to stir the pot of disagreements and bad sportsmanship. Even on a local level, there are those that absolutely refuse to pursue the sport for the joy of what it is, and instead find opportunties to mislead others or simply try to ruin the fun of other competitors. Why? Beats me – but it seems they enjoy doing it, just because they can.

Imagine my delight to be introduced to a young teen who wants to pursue dressage as a starting point for her equestrian fun. She absolutely adores pulling the horse out of the stall and brushing and polishing her lesson horse until the mare shines. She listens attentatively to her instructor and she actually attempts to follow instructions, instead of pulling any one of the 100 primadonna excuses I have heard by students to teachers. This gal is a joy. And she reminds me of what we ALL started out as when we began our Horse journeys. Fun was what it was all about. Fun and interaction with the horse. The wind in our hair. The sun on our face. The laughter and the hard work and sweat trying to get everything ‘just right’. It’s been reassuring to see that there are new people coming into the Equestrian arena that still have it all together for the right reasons.

Now as for the other nasty old birds that we all know……maybe they’ll just go get lost on a trail ride this spring. One can only hope.