Aachen Wrap Up

Wow, I am still on cloud nine after our fantastic trip to Aachen! In case you're just tuning in, four young riders (Sadie Lahey, Rosie Julian-Simoes, Sarah Cohen, and myself) and two chaperones (Charlotte Bredahl, FEI 4* judge and Olympic bronze medalist, and Annie Morris, USDF gold medalist and USDF certified instructor through 4^th level) just returned from an incredible week spent at the FEI European Dressage Championships in Aachen, Germany. Aachen is a world class place in so many ways! There were so many top riders and horses who reminded us just how breathtaking dressage can be, tens of thousands of spectators for dressage alone who understood what was happening in the tests and verbally reacted to mistakes or highlights, and countless vendors we passed by who sold everything from hot tubs and kitchen knives to bridles and boots to sushi and pasties.

L to R: the female German team riders Isabell Werth, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, and Kristina Broring-Sprehe. All are amazing riders and horsepeople!

While there, not only did we watch much of the schooling and all of the test rides, but we also had the amazing opportunity to meet with some of the best judges, riders, and trainers in the world! A huge thank you to all the people who took time out of their busy schedules to talk to us: Mary Seefried, Australian FEI 5* judge; Katrina Wuest, German FEI 5* judge; Anne Gribbons, American FEI 5* judge; Carl Hester, British Olympic gold medalist and Charlotte Dujardin’s trainer; Kyra Kyrklund, Finnish multiple time Olympic competitor; Oliver Oelrich, German young rider and young horse trainer; Mikala Gundersen, Danish Grand Prix rider; Bo Jena, Swedish FEI 4* judge and chef d’equipe of the Swedish team; Hans-Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen, German junior and young rider team trainer; Jan Bemelmans, German FEI trainer and French chef d’equipe in Aachen; Christoph Hess, German FEI 4* judge; and Henk van Bergen, Dutch FEI trainer and coach. Everyone was so incredibly generous and shared a vast wealth of knowledge with us. I do not think I can choose a single favorite person or quote, but here are eight of my top takeaways from our conversations:

1) Listen to your horse! No two horses have exactly the same personalities or preferences, and no two horses react to the same training schedule in exactly the same way. Be willing to experiment and adjust your program to each individual horse’s needs.

2) Ride accurately! Whether you are riding your first Introductory level dressage test at a schooling show or a Grand Prix test at the European Championships, you still can improve your score significantly by riding accurate lines and transitions. The riders that showed near-perfect accuracy here were the same riders who finished at the top.

3) Treat every horse like a Grand Prix horse. Sometimes a horse that may not seem like it will be a Grand Prix horse turns out to have incredible talent for the Grand Prix. Plus you never know where or with whom the horse will end up!

4) Work on your seat, and then work on it some more, and then some more! You cannot truly be a top class rider without a top class seat. Frequently working without stirrups is a great way to improve your position. Even Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, a top rider with a gorgeous and effective position, schooled Unee BB without stirrups at Aachen!

5) To be successful, you have to take initiative. For instance, stop waiting for the perfect Grand Prix horse to come along; instead, find a young horse and make him into that perfect Grand Prix horse yourself! If you work a little bit harder than everyone else, you will find success.

6) Judges are humans too! I know that phrase sounds obvious, but as a rider I also know it’s so easy to unfairly blame a judge for giving scores that seem too high or too low to yourself or others. Judges are honestly rooting for every horse and rider combination to succeed! Sometimes they make mistakes, but changes are happening in the sport to make judging fairer for both judges and riders. The Judges Supervisory Panel is a recent, wonderful addition to dressage that serves this purpose (see the Day 5 post to learn more about it!).

7) If possible, match good young riders with good young horses and good coaches to benefit all involved. For example, set up a two year contract where the rider pays the horse’s expenses in exchange for the opportunity to learn from and compete a talented horse. The riders learn about the training process and improve their riding skills, the horses receive good training without their breeders or owners having to bear huge expenses, and the trainers can help mold these young riders and future trainers into high quality professionals.

8) A horse must enjoy his work; he has to want to perform for you! You have to remember to reward your horse often (for example by praising him, patting him, walking him on a long rein, or hacking him) to show him how much you value and appreciate him. If respect flows from the rider to the horse, it will flow from the horse to the rider too!

The judges gave Charlotte Dujardin a well deserved average score of 9.2 for her position and seat in the Grand Prix!

These tips will definitely stay with me forever, and I hope that you will remember them and that they will benefit you too! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who made this trip possible: Mark Foulon and Lynda Clarizio, for believing in my riding dreams; Marcus Orlob and Shannon Stevens, Frank and CeCe Maddlone, Ariane Vasquez, and Jaine Aldinger, for recommending me for this program; Jenny Johnson, Eliza Sydnor Romm, and Beth Baumert, for spending countless hours preparing and organizing our trip; Michael Poulin, for turning his dream for young riders into this fantastic program; Charlotte Bredahl and Annie Morris, for being not just chaperones on this trip but incredible mentors, advisers, trainers, and friends; Sadie Lahey, Rosie Julian-Simoes, and Sarah Cohen, for all the discussing and debating and laughing; and the Dressage Foundation, for giving us the opportunity of a lifetime.

L to R: Sarah Cohen, Jennifer Foulon, Rosie Julian-Simoes, and Sadie Lahey waiting for the Grand Prix freestyles to start. I learned so much from talking to these incredibly dedicated riders and passionate horsepeople, and I feel lucky to now call them my friends!