WILLIAM MICKLEM - DRESSAGE AND CROSS COUNTRY

My last three blogs were probably a little serious for many but the pay off will make it worth the effort of getting to grips with them, and I know that most of you are prepared to go the extra mile. In truth my Constants and Variables offer both a long term training structure and a simple action plan for each ride that is both easy to use and really effective. This weeks blog is also serious, because it makes a very important point in the debate about cross country rider safety. It is about suitable horses and the mental qualities required in a good cross country horse, and it relates to a comment that Chris Irwin made in his blog, after his visit to Badminton, about cross country and dressage.

HIGH PRAISE FROM CARL HESTER

Although I agree totally with Chris that good dressage requires a happy, calm athlete, and that the medal winning horses need to show good dressage, this does tell the whole story. (NB By the way if anyone doubts the quality of the best tests at Badminton, it is worthwhile noting what Carl Hester, trainer of the demonstration horse liked so much by Chris, said about them: There is no doubt that they would be competitive in pure dressage at this level.)

The top riders only compete on horses that are good in all three phases but this does not mean that a poor dressage automatically leads to a poor cross country. Our conundrum is the fact that some of the best cross country horses in the world do not do good dressage. For example the current British High Performance manager, Yogi Breisner, rode one of the horses, Ultimus, that is often listed as being one of the best cross country horses of all time. However although Ultimus was clear and inside the time four years running at Badminton, he always had to overcome a poor dressage on the first day.

SAFETY FOR ALL RIDERS

At a lower level this is even more common. For example my wife Sarah had two outstanding cross country horses, Desi and Glen Shira, who also both found the requirement for a best behaviour dressage test somewhat difficult. Desi was safe and clear inside the time at both Junior European Championship and Young Rider European Championship level, while Glen Shira was safe and clear inside the time at Advanced level. What was so wonderful about these achievements was that Sarah was not a high level rider.just like the majority of riders in the world, although she did have a wonderful attitude of mind.

I actively choose horses for my students that have good mental attributes for cross country, but the down side of this is that the same mental attributes often make them challenging dressage rides. What riders need for safe cross country riding is a forward thinking, courageous and quick-witted horse with a fifth leg. Such a horse likes to get from A to B with speed and has both great focus and very quick reactions, but often sees the letters of a dressage arena as suspicious objects! Such a horse tends to be very alert and responsive to everything around them, including the one paper bag that was rustled by that evil child 100 yards away! Yet such a horse is a cross country diamond..an invaluable partner for both extraordinary achievement and safe achievement.

BETTER TEMPERAMENT OR SLOW WITTED

The other side of this coin is twofold. Firstly if you change this mind set greatly, to create a more laid back character, they often become less safe a ride across country. Secondly horses that would appear to have a better temperament for dressage are often actually slow-witted rather than more trainable, and it is these horses that fail to look after our riders across country. This is therefore my point..I undoubtedly agree that our aim for all cross country horses should be good quality dressage but we need to be very careful how this influences our choice of horse and very careful not to lose these natural survival instincts with inappropriate training.

We should also not forget that it is often the shorter striding horses with great bounce that jump well and have the best fifth leg. These are not the big striding models that are chosen for dressage success and this opens up the debate about the huge value dressage judges put on size of movement. In my opinion the balance has gone too much in this direction and the sport would be better off rewarding a great way of going and a great partnership more highly and being less excited by pure size of step.

COMPLETION IS WINNING

In addition it should not be forgotten that completing Badminton is an extraordinary achievement, and there are many riders whose aim is simply to do just that. It is a similar philosophy to the hundreds of thousands participating in the modern phenomenon of the big city marathons, when completion is winning. Winning an Armada Dish for completing Badminton five times remains one of the most desired awards, and it is very important for the sport that such awards are still considered prestigious. The strength of the sport is in the large numbers of riders having big dreamsdreams that may well be realised with the right horses and coaches, even to the extent of completing Badminton. But the right horse to complete Badminton may very well be so self-motivated and alert that remaining settled for Dressage is very difficult. Of course this should not be an excuse for poor riding or poor training at home and not for one minute would I suggest this.

DOUBLE BADMINTON WINNER

There is also one small correction needed in Chris Irwins blog, that, with a twinkle in my eye, I cannot resist as I live in Ireland and love our horses. Pippa Funnell won Badminton twice with her great Irish gelding , not on Primmores Pride. What is also interesting is that Supreme Rock scored more 10s in the dressage (for his extended walk and medium trot) than any event horse before or since. Obviously his cross country was also great and long may we breed horses of his calibre and character. Happy days.

William.

www.WilliamMicklem.com

WILLIAM MICKLEM - DRESSAGE AND CROSS COUNTRY

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