Dressage Disaster: No Excuse (Blog Post)
Bad Dressage Is Not All Bad
Dressage disasters are some of our most-watched videos here on Dressage Hub. While some people get disgruntled over the context of the videos, they have opened up some interesting conversations among equestrians within the community.
The disaster videos have encouraged people to talk about blue tongues, marshmallow fluff, and the professionalism of managing a bad ride in the ring. Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on for each of the videos in the Dressage Disaster series, they get people talking about important topics that conventional media refuses to address or is unable to address with a single photo.
After having a significant amount of time off during the pandemic, we are starting to see interesting things happen in the dressage ring. In a year where Olympic spots are up for grabs and equestrian egos are thirsty, bad decisions are going to be made.
The Importance Of Dialogue
I thought long and hard before posting today’s video, however, I do think that there is a lesson to be learned from these two rides. We spend a lot of time preparing for the perfect dressage test in the show ring but rarely do we talk about an exit strategy when things go wrong.
In today’s video, we are going to look at two different riders and how they handled their hot horses on a windy day. This video brings to light the question of when do you excuse yourself from the ring and when do you decide there will be no excuse for your horse and finish the test.
The First Disaster
The first ride is a young rider competing in the U25 Grand Prix. I try my best not to discuss the mistakes of young equestrians here on Dressage Hub but this one is different.
Shortly after entering the ring, this young rider in the video is headed for disaster, she is a skilled and effective rider but was unable to bring the horse back into focus. This rider has over 83 Grand Prix starts and has been riding this lovely PRE stallion for 6 years. This combination is capable of acquiring great scores internationally however, this was not their day.
The rider chose to complete the ride, instead of excusing herself by saluting to the judges before the test was complete. This means that this stallion will forever have a 50% Grand Prix score on the record, and she will need to justify the decision to the owner of the horse. If she had chosen to salute and exit the ring the score would not have been recorded on the stallions’ record.
The Second Disaster
In the second ride, we see a horse do the exact same thing in the Grand Prix Freestyle. Perhaps something was happening in the VIP tent on this day.
The rider chose to do their best to calm the horse and create a positive learning experience. When she realized that that was not going to happen, the rider politely excused herself and left the ring.
Our second rider has only 27 starts and was able to make the best decision professionally.
Boss Mare
Furthermore, we can take this discussion one step further.
The boss mares (aka karens) in the horse world love to gaslight anybody with an opinion by saying, “what have you accomplished?”
In this case, we see that experience does not always lead to the best choices in the show ring. The best choice for the horse is often overridden by the desire to win.
You don’t have to be Charlotte Dujardin to see that.
The Million Dollar Question
At the end of the day, it is about training and preparing for the best and the worst that your horse may have to offer on any given day.
So the question we need to ask then is, “When is it best to make no excuse?”
(Yes Karen, I am aware that is not grammatically correct, it is a fun play on words.)