July/August 2020 USDF Connection

July/August 2020

Official Publication of the United States Dressage Federation

Special Horse-Health Issue What’s Under Foot?

The Latest in Dressage Farriery Do Stereotypies Affect Performance? (p. 34) Safe Sport: What You Need to Know

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USDF CONNECTION

The Official Publication of the United States Dressage Federation EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Stephan Hienzsch (859) 271-7887 • stephh1enz@usdf.org EDITOR Jennifer O. Bryant (610) 344-0116 • jbryant@usdf.org CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Hilary M. Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS EDITORIAL ADVISORS Margaret Freeman (NC), Anne Gribbons (FL), Roberta Williams (FL), Terry Wilson (CA)

An official property of the United States Dressage Federation

TECHNICAL ADVISORS Janine Malone, Lisa Gorretta, Elisabeth Williams SENIOR PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR Emily Koenig (859) 271-7883 • ekoenig@usdf.org

YourDressage delivers exclusive dressage stories, editorial, and education, relevant to ALL dressage enthusiasts and is your daily source for dressage!

Look for these featured articles online at YourDressage.org

GRAPHIC & MULTIMEDIA COORDINATOR Katie Lewis (859) 271-7881 • klewis@usdf.org ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE Danielle Titland (720) 300-2266 • dtitland@usdf.org

USDF OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE BOARD PRESIDENT LISA GORRETTA 19 Daisy Lane, Chagrin Falls, OH 44022 (216) 406-5475 • president@usdf.org VICE PRESIDENT KEVIN REINIG, 6907 Lindero Lane, Rancho Murieta, CA 95683 (916) 616-4581 • vicepresident@usdf.org SECRETARY MARGARET FREEMAN 200 Aurora Lane, Tryon, NC 28782 (828) 859-6723 • secretary@usdf.org TREASURER LORRAINE MUSSELMAN 7538 NC 39 Hwy, Zebulon, NC 27497 (919) 218-6802 • treasurer@usdf.org

EDUCATION “Returning to Competition After COVID-19 Lay Off”

REGIONAL DIRECTORS REGION 1 DC, DE, MD, NC, NJ, PA, VA BETTINA G. LONGAKER 8246 Open Gate Road, Gordonsville, VA 22942 (540) 832-7611 • region1dir@usdf.org REGION 2 IL, IN, KY, MI, OH, WV, WI DEBBY SAVAGE 7011 cobblestone Lane, Mentor, OH 44060 (908) 892-5335 • region2dir@usdf.org

Dr. Hilary Clayton provides an insightful look at how to re-condition your horse back into work after a break in training.

REGION 3 AL, FL, GA, SC, TN SUSAN BENDER 1024 Grand Prix Drive, Beech Island, SC 29842 (803) 295-2525 • region3dir@usdf.org REGION 4 IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD ANNE SUSHKO 1942 Clifford Street, Dubuque, IA 52002 (563) 580-0510 • region4dir@usdf.org

COMPETITION

REGION 5 AZ, CO, E. MT, NM, UT, W. TX, WY HEATHER PETERSEN 22750 County Road 37, Elbert, CO 80106 (303) 648-3164 • region5dir@usdf.org

“Being in the Right Place”

REGION 6 AK, ID, W. MT, OR, WA PETER ROTHSCHILD 1120 Arcadia Street NW, Olympia, WA 98502 (206) 200-3522 • region6dir@usdf.org

Judge Mike Osinski shares tips about how to get both a great score and valuable feedback in your next equitation class.

REGION 7 CA, HI, NV CAROL TICE 31895 Nicolas Road, Temecula, CA 92591 (714) 514-5606 • region7dir@usdf.org REGION 8 CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT DEBRA REINHARDT 160 Woods Way Drive, Southbury, CT 06488 (203) 264-2148 • region8dir@usdf.org

ACHIEVEMENT

REGION 9 AR, LA, MS, OK, TX SHERRY GUESS 18216 S. 397th East Avenue, Porter, OK 74454 (918) 640-1204 • region9dir@usdf.org

“A Star Is Born - Breeding a Dressage Horse”

AT-LARGE DIRECTORS

Hear from two breeders about life at their farm where they breed and raise the dressage stars of tomorrow.

ACTIVITIES COUNCIL SUE MANDAS 9508 Bridlewood Trail, Dayton, OH 45458 (937) 272-9068 • ald-activities@usdf.org ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL KEVIN BRADBURY PO Box 248, Dexter, MI 48130 (734) 426-2111 • ald-administrative@usdf.org TECHNICAL COUNCIL SUE MCKEOWN 6 Whitehaven Lane, Worcester, MA 01609 (508) 459-9209 • ald-technical@usdf.org

COMMUNITY “Pint Sized Equine Partner, Bryan the Cob” A Region 7 rider shares her adventures and completely unexpected successes with her young Welsh Cob.

It’s YourDressage, be a part of it!

Visit https://yourdressage.org/ for all these stories & much more!

USDF Connection is published bimonthly by the United States Dressage Federation, 4051 Iron Works Parkway, Lexington, KY 40511. Phone: 859/971-2277. Fax: 859/971-7722. E-mail: usdressage@usdf.org, Web site: www.usdf.org. USDF members receive USDF Connection as a membership benefit, paid by membership dues.

Copyright © 2020 USDF. All rights reserved.

USDF reserves the right to refuse any advertising or copy that is deemed unsuitable for USDF and its policies. Excluding advertisements, all photos with mounted riders must have safety head gear or USEF-approved competition hat. USDF assumes no responsibility for the claims made in advertisements. Statements of fact and opinion are those of the experts consulted and authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the policy of USDF. The publishers reserve the right to reject any advertising deemed unsuitable for USDF, as well as the right to reject or edit any manuscripts received for publication. USDF assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. All materials must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Questions about your subscription or change in address? Contact USDF Membership Department, 859/971-2277, or usdressage@usdf.org.

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2 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

USDF Connection

JULY/AUGUST 2020 Volume 22, Number 2

Columns

38

4 Inside USDF

A New Face on the Executive Board

By Kevin Reinig

6 Ringside Stay Safe

By Jennifer O. Bryant

Departments 16 GMO

GMO Awards Roundup

By Melissa Schoedlbauer

20 Salute

The Dressage Dynamo

By Margaret Freeman

22 Clinic

Nailing It! Riding with Success Through the Levels Part 5: Third Level

By Beth Baumert

30 Free Rein

Features

Making the Most of a Half-Halt

By Jayne Ayers

34 Sport Horse

38

Do Stereotypies Affect Dressage Performance?

By Heather Smith Thomas

Hoof Wear for Dressage Performance

50 Reviews

Modern farriery melds tradition and technology.

We look at the latest innovations helping dressage horses to feel and perform their best.

By Fran Jurga

Time for Books

By Jennifer O. Bryant

56 My Dressage

A Different Beat

44

8 Sponsor Spotlight

Safe Sport: What You Need to Know

Safe Sport is the new norm in our sport, but confusion still exists.

We clarify the law and explain how it applies to you.

By Sue Weakley

By Gwen Ka'awaloa

Basics 9 Collection 52 Rider’s Market 54 USDF Connection Submission Guidelines

On Our Cover Photo by Amy Dragoo/AKDragooPhoto.com.

54 USDF Office Contact Directory 55 Advertising Index USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

3

Inside USDF A New Face on the Executive Board Meet Californian Kevin Reinig, USDF's new VP

I

am excited and honored to have been elected as your new vice president. For those who don’t know me, please allow me to introduce myself.

I was born in southern California and grew up in Anaheim Hills.

My introduction to horses was on my uncle’s dairy farm. When I turned 13, we moved to Elk Grove, just south of Sacramento, and my interest in horses grew. I wanted to be a cowboy and started taking Western lessons at a local barn that offered training in multiple disciplines but that was mainly an eventing facility. Eventing looked like fun to me, so I made the switch.

When I was a freshman in high school, a local breeding farm that was starting a sport-horse auction hired me as a groom. I stayed on after the auction, working in their young-horse program. I had very little experience working with foals, and I quickly learned that I needed to expand my handling skills if I was going to survive. My passion for young horses and breeding grew, and I was promoted to assistant breeding manager. I worked with the veterinarians and learned all aspects of the breeding business: collecting stallions, shipping and freezing semen, breeding mares, and delivering and raising foals.

Working my way through high school and college at the breeding farm, I graduated from Sacramento State University with a degree in finance. I thought I should get a

“real job” related to my major, and I began work as a loan officer at a small community bank in Elk Grove that handled a lot of agricultural loans. I enjoyed making deals and helping local businesses grow, but I missed working at the breeding farm. After about two years, I left the bank and returned to my former job as assistant breeding manager.

When the farm owners retired, my wife, Ericka, and I established a breeding, training, and sales business, KEFA Performance Horses. We managed a breeding program for a local stallion owner and ran our training program from their facility. After the stallion was retired, the owner took a step back from breeding to concentrate on riding. Ericka and I likewise turned our focus to training and showing, and we now travel all across California with our clients to compete in dressage. We also travel East to participate in such national shows as the US Dressage Finals and the Markel/USEF Young Horse National Championships.

About this time, I was elected to the California Dressage Society

4 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

(CDS) board, becoming president in my third year. I served on the board for a total of nine years, six of those as president. With my term coming to an end, I felt I still had something to contribute to the sport of dressage. After consulting with friends and mentors, I decided to see if I could serve the sport we all love on a national level.

I feel that my experience with CDS has prepared me to work with the great people serving all of you on the USDF Executive Bard.

California is the third-largest state in the country, and CDS is the USDF’s largest GMO, with chapters across the state serving members’ local needs, not unlike USDF’s many smaller GMOs. CDS is divided into three regions, each with its own unique challenges.

While I was on the CDS board, I began working at dressage shows.

I was a ring steward, helped with ring setup, did scoring, and much more. It was an eye-opener as to what it takes to put on a show, and it gave me new appreciation for our show managers and the work they do for the competitors. In dressage, we have a tendency to get a laser focus on our own training and goals.

I want to remind everyone to be supportive and encouraging of our fellow dressage enthusiasts working to accomplish their goals—and, most of all, to have fun!

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Ringside Stay Safe From pandemic mantra to sport buzzword, it’s all about protecting ourselves and others

to Know” (page 44). If you want to understand where Safe Sport came from, how it’s administered, who’s required to take the training, and more, please read the article—if not for yourself, then for your children or grandchildren, and all the other youth in dressage whose participation we must nurture if we want our sport to have a future.

Because I’m an adult with an active US Equestrian (USEF) “competing” membership, I’m required to maintain Safe Sport training currency to be able to participate in USEF activities. Translation: If I want to show in dressage, I need to be Safe Sport-trained. If you haven’t yet completed the training, just do it. It doesn’t take long: I’ve wasted more time on social media on a slow afternoon than it took for me to click through the course sections, watch the videos, and complete the quizzes. It feels good to know that I’ve done my part to help ensure that no other child in our sport will be victimized. Horse people have a responsibility to protect the welfare of our equine partners; we also need to protect one another.

6 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

Now, about those equestrian activities: By the time you read this, dressage in the US will be gingerly sticking its toe into the competition waters once again. USEF greenlighted licensed shows beginning in June (with many provisions and restrictions), and in mid-May USDF announced a way forward for Great American/USDF Regional Championships and USDF Breeders Championships (see page 11 for details). You might be panicking a little at the idea of getting back out there after this enforced time away from showing, and if you are, dressage judge Jayne Ayers has some great ideas on making the most of the down time (page 30). Actually, Jayne’s tips are great advice for any dressage rider who wants to improve, on or off the horse, competition-oriented or not.

The equestrian competition experience going forward will be different from what we’re used to, but we dressage enthusiasts are lucky in that we already embraced the solo-participation model.

I hope to see you at a show, clinic, or other dressage event this summer. We can wave at one another from a respectful distance.

Stay safe.

Jennifer O. Bryant, Editor @JenniferOBryant

MICHAEL BRYANT

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has made “stay safe” an instant cliché (along with “we’re all in this together”). But to those of us in the US equestrian and dressage communities, staying safe has a double meaning.

When it comes to equine activities, there’s no such thing as truly safe sport. But if we’re going to engage in what liability releases refer to as a “rugged adventure recreational sport activity,” let’s make sure that the horses themselves—not the people—are the only risky element.

That sums up the aim of Safe Sport, the initiative-turned-federallaw that emerged from the wreckage when the news of a former team doctor’s rampant sexual abuse of minor athletes brought US gymnastics to its knees. When it surfaced that youngsters were suffering abuse in other sports, as well—including equestrian—the whip came down, and an organization called the US Center for SafeSport was put in charge of, among other things, teaching coaches, adult participants, and others what to do to protect kids in the “Olympic family” of sports from abuse. This description is an oversimplification, but it captures the gist of what it means to be “Safe Sport-trained.”

Since the Safe Sport training mandate was rolled out in 2018, it has produced confusion in the equestrian world. To help sort it out, journalist Sue Weakley undertook the herculean task of creating our guide, “Safe Sport: What You Need

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Collection Bits and Pieces from USDF and the World of Dressage

AMY DRAGOO/AKDRAGOOPHOTO.COM

USEF Green-Lights Restarting Shows ★ USDF Updates Qualifying Procedures ★ NAYC, Dressage at Devon Latest Cancellations

IN THE FRAME Award-winning equestrian photographer Amy Dragoo captured a dressage horse's shadow reminiscent of classic equestrian statuary.

USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

9

Collection MEET THE INSTRUCTOR

USEF Unveils Guidelines for Reopening Competition COVID-19 put a wrench in equestrian competition, and when US Equestrian (USEF) put the kibosh on showing, plans for show organizers, judges, volunteers, competitors, and trainers were put on hold.

THIS WON’T WORK: Dressage shows will need to figure out how judges and scribes can work together safely in the COVID-19 era

Following its announcement that suspensions of USEF activities would be lifted as of June 1, 2020, on May 4 the USEF rolled out a webinar, “Planning for a Safe Return to Competition,” with subsequent documents provided in a Competition Toolkit (usef.org/media/ covid19-toolkit). The USEF COVID Action Plan (usef.org/forms-pubs/ XhKGVYiiwTA/usef-covid-19-actionplan-for-operating) contains both mandatory and recommended best practices for show organizers and participants, and helps those involved limit their risks.

The webinar, which with other related presentations is archived on the USEF Network (usef.org/ network), outlined the USEF’s commitment to moving forward and

the requirement that USEF-licensed competitions operate in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations, as well as with World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Of course, despite the ending of USEF suspensions, stay-at-home guidelines are being relaxed state-by-state (and are not necessarily statewide), meaning that there is no unified national approach to restarting USEF-licensed competitions.

Specific USEF guidelines include most likely disallowing spectators at shows and limiting who may accompany riders onto show grounds. Predetermined and monitored time in stabling and warm-up areas was suggested.

There was talk of assigning competitors ride times—which would be no change to the way that dressage shows have always operated. The webinar panelists, led by USEF CEO Bill Moroney, mentioned the problem of dressage judges and scribes maintaining acceptable social distance, but no solution was discussed.

All show management, riders, trainers, and grooms will be required to sign a beefed-up, COVID-19-specific USEF waiver and release of liability (usef.org/formspubs/5rBPDFaxM-I/usef-waiverrelease-of-liability). In addition, volunteers, officials, competition staff, and service providers will have their temperatures checked once a day. A face mask or face covering for all staff, officials, volunteers, service providers, and participants (when not mounted on a horse) is mandated.

Since the rules for each show are fluid, check the USEF Action Plan as well as local, state, and competition guidelines to keep up to date.

—Sue Weakley

10 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

Heidi Hauri-Gill, Enfield, New Hampshire Heidi Hauri-Gill is a USDF bronze and silver medalist and a USDF-certified instructor through Second Level.

SHARING HER PASSION: Hauri-Gill

How I got started in dressage: I have been passionate about dressage since 1984, when I was at Morven Park in Virginia, learning how to be a trainer. As soon as I started to feel how horses responded to my aids, I was hooked.

I wanted to share what I was feeling with as many riders as I could by becoming an instructor.

I wanted to become certified because: The USDF Instructor/ Trainer Program is based on classical dressage. As I progressed in my own riding and training, I realized the importance of the methods as described by dressage masters throughout the ages. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of training that is required to become a certified instructor.

Training tip: If you are looking for a trainer, be sure to look for someone who is a certified instructor. If you are a trainer who is not certified, do go through the process. It will tune up your skills, and you will get to learn from some of the best instructors out there.

Contact me: heidi@firstchoiceridingacademy.com or (603) 276-0378.

—Alexandria Belton

JENNIFER BRYANT; COURTESY OF HEIDI HAURI-GILL

COMPETITION

CHAMPIONSHIPS USDF Announces Restructured 2020 Regional, Breeders Championships Qualifying Process Along with the questions regarding US Equestrian’s suspended show season, USDF members anxiously awaited news as to how the USDF would handle the issue of qualifying for championships in a truncated season. In a May 19 open letter, USDF president Lisa Gorretta announced modifications to two USDF championship programs for the 2020 competition year.

Regional Championships.

Competitors must still earn the usual two qualifying scores in order to participate in a 2020 Great American/ USDF Regional Dressage Championship, but both scores may be earned at a single show and

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COVID-19

from the same judge or panel. If you earned a qualifying score in a designated qualifying class prior to June 1 but didn’t pay the qualifying fee, you can pay the $15 and have the score count after the fact. USDF changeof-region fees will be reduced, and late and change fees on the part of show organizers have been waived.

Breeders Championships. One qualifying competition, which may be held in conjunction with USDF Breeders Championship Series Final, is required for a series to hold a series final competition.

In series qualifying classes, the top three placing horses will qualify for the series final, regardless of whether the first- or second-placed

horse has previously qualified.

For further details regarding Regional Championships qualification, read Gorretta’s president’s letter online at usdf.org/press/news/ view-letter3.asp.

In her letter, Gorretta acknowledged that as a result of states’ varying levels of shutdowns and reopening processes, “there will be inequities” regarding competitors’ ability to show this year. “We will do our best to ensure ‘as level a playing field as is possible’ for the rest of the season.” She encouraged USDF members to read “USDF Best Practices: Considerations for Dressage Competitions” (usdf.org/ docs/announcements/BestPractices051920.pdf), which advises show organizers, managers, and officials in planning for social distancing, sanitizing, and other issues at licensed dressage competitions.

More Major Dressage Shows Cancelled

The month of May brought news of more cancellations of iconic dressage competitions, all the result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent reduction in qualification opportunities caused by shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, and the anticipated travel difficulties.

Organizers announced the cancellation of the 2020 dressage and jumping Adequan®/FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC) on May 6. The dressage and jumping NAYC were to have been held August 4-9 at the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival in Traverse City, Michigan. (The regular Festival hunter/jumper competition is still scheduled to run on those dates as planned.) The 2020 eventing NAYC had been called off previously.

The Great Lakes Equestrian Festival had won the bid to host the dressage and jumping NAYC in both

2020 and 2021, “so we look forward to wonderful sport there next year,” said Sabrina Ibáñez, secretary general of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), in the press release announcing the cancellation.

On May 7, organizers of the 2020 National Dressage Pony Cup (NDPC) & Small Horse Championships announced that event’s cancellation.

The increasingly popular dressage championship show for ponies and small horses was to have been held July 17-19 at the National Equestrian Center in Lake St. Louis, Missouri.

It will return to that venue in 2021, NDPC founder Jenny Carol said.

Dressage at Devon (DAD) in Pennsylvania, which combines a CDI, performance competition from Fourth Level through Grand Prix, and a large dressage sport-horsebreeding show including the USDF Breeders Championship Series East

DREAMS DEFERRED: The 2020 NAYC is among the competitions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Coast Final, was the next domino to fall. On May 20, the show’s board of directors announced the cancellation of the 2020 event, which was to be held September 22-27.

“We are already planning for a very special Dressage at Devon 2021,” DAD president and CEO Lori Kaminski stated in the press release announcing the cancellation.

USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

11

Collection Laura Roberts, US Equestrian Job title: Director, dressage performance and event support; USEF/ USPEA National Para-Equestrian Dressage Centers of Excellence coordinator, US Equestrian, Lexington, Kentucky (usef.org) What I do: I work closely with our managing director of dressage, Hallye Griffin. I assist with team logistics, and I A LIFE IN SPORT: Roberts help a lot with owner relations.

How I got started: I was an eventer. I competed in Young Riders. At the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, I majored in sport management. From there I worked for USA Karate and then US Figure Skating before I came back to the horse world and worked for USEF. Best thing about my job: I like to watch people’s journeys and see how they evolve as athletes.

Worst thing about my job: Not being able to solve everything.

My horses: I don’t ride any more. I stepped away from that when I moved to Colorado. I always knew that I was going to be in equestrian sport for the rest of my life, but I needed to figure out that I was going to be on this side of the sport.

Tip: Keep an open mind, and never stop learning. Never assume that you’re an expert.

—Katherine Walcott THE NEAR SIDE

USDF BULLETINS New Opportunities for USDF University and TD Education

Earning education credits has never been easier! USDF University features new online courses and short courses by topic, and all items in the Education Library are eligible for education credits. To receive credits in the Education Library, simply view, listen, or read an item to receive 0.25 education credit. Credits for online courses and short courses are awarded after completion of the quiz. Learn more at usdf. org/university.

Dressage technical delegates (TDs) and USDF members can test their knowledge online. New learning modules and quizzes cover competition attire, equipment, and volunteer positions. Each learning module is worth 0.50 education credit, with credits awarded after completion of the quiz. Learn more at usdf.org/education/td.asp.

Youth Recognition

USDF congratulates the following members, who have achieved their US Pony Clubs (USPC) dressage specialty ratings: C+ Dressage Raegan Oake, New Jersey Camille Pitre, Mississippi C-3 Dressage Emma McKeighen, Washington Rio Mowbray O’Neil, Washington H Dressage Maija Liisa Luttinger, Iowa B Dressage Barbara Brogan, New Jersey Jessica Fan, Texas.

Congratulations to USDF adult member Joan Leuck Waak of Wisconsin, who earned her USPC C-3 dressage specialty rating.

The following USDF members have been recognized by the USPC for participation in both USDF competitions and USPC rallies: Medallion Club (one USPC dressage rally at Training Level or above, and one USEF-licensed/USDF-recognized competition at Training Level): Brianna Godshall, North Carolina Valerie Golden, Ohio Bronze Medal Club (one USPC dressage rally at First Level, and one USEF/USDF competition at First Level): Caroline Sipe, Georgia Isabella Vaca, California Silver Medal Club (one USPC dressage rally at Second Level, and one USEF/USDF competition at Second Level): Iselle Longman, North Carolina Gold Medal Club (one USPC dressage rally as a competitor at any level or as a volunteer, and one USEF/ USDF competition at Third Level or above): Iselle Longman, North Carolina.

For more information about this recognition program, visit the USPC website at ponyclub.org.

12 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

TAYLOR PENCE/US EQUESTRIAN

BEHIND THE SCENES

YOUR CONNECTION TO DRESSAGE EDUCATION • COMPETITION • ACHIEVEMENT

U.S.

FEATURING

USEF Grand Prix & Intermediaire I National Championships USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ National Championship USEF Young Rider & Junior National Championships USEF Pony Rider & Children National Championships Markel/USEF Young & Developing Horse National Championships USEF Dressage Seat Medal Finals

August 18-23, 2020

HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center Wayne, IL

FESTIVAL OF CHAMPIONS

GMO GMO Awards Roundup Great clubs are fueled by dedicated members.

Just in time for this year’s entry deadlines, find out whether your efforts might be award-winning!

By Melissa Schoedlbauer

G

roup-member organizations (GMOs)—affiliated regional and local dressage clubs—are the backbone of the USDF. With more than 100 GMOs across the country, dressage enthusiasts can tap into education and participate in all aspects of our sport at the local level.

Through the efforts of their members, GMOs support USDF’s dedication to dressage education.

Each year, USDF recognizes GMOs’

Newsletter, Website, and Photography Awards Communication is key. GMO newsletter awards recognize excellence in print and electronic newsletter writing, in two categories: first-person experience and general interest. Each GMO may submit one article per category. Articles must be written by club members and published within the past 12 months.

the photographer must be considered an amateur. Entries are evaluated on impact, creativity, composition, lighting, and subject matter.

Staying up to date. GMO website awards recognize excellence in website design. Nominees in this category may be developed and maintained by either a paid or volunteer web designer. Judges evaluate entries’ layout, functionality, organization, and availability of information.

For each category, a first place and an honorable mention are chosen in each of four GMO size classifications: 1) fewer than 75 members, 2) 75-174 members, 3) 175-499 members, and 4) 500 or more members.

Members of the USDF Group Member Organizations Committee select the newsletter, website, and photography awards judges, all of whom have real-world experience in their assigned categories.

LOCAL HEROES: Regional GMO Volunteer of the Year awards recognize “GMO backbone” members. Barbara Soukup (left) accepts the 2019 Region 2 award from USDF president Lisa Gorretta on behalf of the honoree, Northern Ohio Dressage Association member Diona Liebenthal.

outstanding accomplishments and GMO members’ extraordinary volunteer efforts. Annual awards honor everything from compelling newsletter content to regional volunteerism. Read on for a look at the full slate of GMO awards—and then get ready to enter, as most awards have an entry deadline of August 31!

Submissions are judged on thesis, focus, clarity, and organization.

A picture is worth a thousand words. GMO photography awards recognize outstanding images by amateur photographers featured in GMO newsletters. Images must have been published in the GMO’s newsletter within the past 12 months, and

16 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

This award recognizes one GMO that has made an outstanding effort in developing a program that has contributed to the club’s membership growth and retention. Examples of eligible programs include educational programs, sponsorship programs, volunteer-recruitment or -recognition programs, awards programs, community outreach, fund-raising, charity events, and materials created to promote the sport of dressage.

A three-judge panel, selected by the Group Member Organiza-

JENNIFER BRYANT

Creative GMO-Sponsored Program Award

tions Committee and comprising one representative from each of the USDF councils, chooses the winner.

Selection criteria are innovation, appeal, service to the membership, organization, promotion of goodwill toward the GMO and dressage, and overall generated interest.

Regional GMO Volunteer of the Year Awards GMO programs rely heavily on volunteers. Exceptional GMO volunteers in each of USDF’s nine regions are recognized through the annual Regional GMO Volunteer of the Year awards.

Judges are USDF Group Member Organizations Committee members.

The Ruth Arvanette Memorial Fund Grant

JENNIFER BRYANT

Ruth Arvanette was a longtime Lincoln, Nebraska,-based USDF employee who later worked at The Dressage Foundation, the charitable organization established by USDF founder Lowell Boomer. Until her death in 2000, Arvanette remained a staunch supporter of the USDF, and she played an instrumental role in establishing many programs still in place today, including the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards.

To honor Arvanette’s legacy, USDF developed the Ruth Arvanette Memorial Fund Grant. Grant funds enable one deserving USDF group member

A LEGACY OF LEARNING: Named in memory of the late USDF employee Ruth Arvanette, an annual grant helps fund a trip to the USDF convention for a deserving group member.

The 2019 recipient, Jessica Foschi of the North Woods Dressage Association (left), poses with USDF president Lisa Gorretta.

USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

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GMO to attend the annual convention. It was Arvanette’s hope that grant recipients would help their GMOs through the newfound knowledge they’d gained at the convention.

Members of the USDF Group Member Organizations Committee select the annual grant recipient.

GMO award winners and the Arvanette Grant recipient are recognized in a special presentation held during the Board of Governors General Assembly at the Adequan®/

USDF Annual Convention. For a look at last year’s winners, see “GMO: Regional and GMO Excellence,” March/April 2020.

How to Participate Any GMO in good standing may submit one entry or nomination per GMO awards category. All submissions are due in the USDF office by August 31.

Newsletter, website, photography, and Creative GMO-Sponsored

Program awards entries must be submitted by an official representative of the GMO. Nominations for Regional GMO Volunteer of the Year awards must be submitted by GMO presidents or their designees.

Applications for the annual Ruth Arvanette Memorial Fund Grant are due August 31, as well.

More information and downloadable entry and nomination forms are available on the USDF website. Direct questions about GMO awards or the Ruth Arvanette Memorial Fund Grant to gmo@ usdf.org.

USDF wants to recognize GMOs for their efforts and hopes to receive a nomination from each club, in each category. Encourage your GMO to submit nominations today. And if you are a USDF group member who has always wanted to attend the Adequan®/USDF Annual Convention, take this opportunity to apply for the Ruth Arvanette Memorial Fund Grant!

Melissa Schoedlbauer is USDF’s Membership Department manager.

IN THE NEXT ISSUE • Youth issue • Should aspiring young dressage pros skip college?

• Move up to Fourth Level with Beth Baumert • Regrouping for Tokyo: How 2020 Olympic hopefuls are handling the postponement

18 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

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Salute The Dressage Dynamo From holding the Region 8 director’s reins to earning her USDF gold medal, Fern Feldman has been a force for good in dressage

marriage, and raising two boys. Before that, her equestrian experience had been limited to weekly lessons until age 11. Then, 35 years later, “My sister and I went to a five-day adult camp,” Feldman says. “We were exhausted at the end. But we both then sought out lessons.”

Feldman worked with Connecticut-based USDF Instructor/Trainer Program senior faculty member Vicki Hammers-O’Neil for 10 years.

Later she began training with New York State-based Olympian Lendon Gray. It was Gray who eventually convinced the petite Feldman to try riding and showing ponies rather than horses.

The advice paid off: It was Feldman’s partnership with her palomino Connemara, Fidelio, that led to her earning her USDF gold medal.

A LIFETIME OF GIVING: Fern Feldman (second from left) receives the 2019 Now 27, USDF Lifetime Achievement Award from USDF Historical Recognition “Deli” is retired Committee chair Charlotte Trentelman; USDF president Lisa Gorretta; and from competiFeldman’s friend, colleague, and former instructor Lendon Gray tion but still teaches the for Feldman to do in the world of children of Feldman’s current dresdressage and in support of the USDF. sage trainer, Jessica Rizzi, of MiddleShe’s earned all three USDF rider field, Connecticut. At 77, Feldman medals, including her gold medal herself no longer competes but still at age 70 as an adult amateur. She’s rides daily. Her latest equine partner done just about every volunteer job is another Connemara, 13-year-old there is to do at the USDF and in the Duncan, whom she’s been riding and dressage community. training since he was six.

Feldman, of Cheshire, ConnectiAs a student, Rizzi says, Feldman cut, only took up riding regularly is nothing like the stereotypical “dres(and, later, dressage) after education, sage queen.”

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JUST HER SIZE: With the Connemara pony Fidelio, Feldman (pictured at Dressage at Devon in Pennsylvania) earned her USDF gold medal at age 70

“Every day, I can enjoy meeting her in the ring,” Rizzi says. “Fern teaches me something every day.

She’s always helping me. She goes above and beyond in her generosity.

She’s there helping my kids groom their ponies and tack up.”

Volunteer Extraordinaire Riding is only the start of Feldman’s activities and achievements in dressage. For two decades, she served on the USDF Executive Board as the Region 8 director. She’s been a member of several USDF committees, including Regional Championships, University, Development, Bylaws, and Management. She was on the Instructor/Trainer Committee almost from its start 30 years ago and is still active there, helping to organize instructor/trainer workshops and testings.

In those 20 years as a regional director, “I really did span so many USDF presidents and directors,” Feldman says. “The different people I’ve had the privilege to meet…it’s a

JENNIFER BRYANT; JEFF KURTZ

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ern Feldman is the epitome of how someone turns volunteer work into fun. She says she can’t imagine having it any other way.

“If it’s not fun, do something else,” she says.

Feldman has found so many ways to have fun doing national-level USDF volunteer work and other dressage-related activities that she was presented with the USDF Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 Adequan®/USDF Annual Convention in Savannah, Georgia.

It’s hard to imagine what’s left

By Margaret Freeman

JENNIFER BRYANT; MARGARET FREEMAN

remarkable sport. USDF has been consistently for the dressage rider. I always feel they try to balance out and keep all the groups in mind. They’re very aware of their audience.”

More recently, Feldman joined the board of the Lincoln, Nebraska,-based dressage charitable organization The Dressage Foundation (TDF) and now serves as the organization’s secretary.

“Fern is a doer herself, but she also sees the big picture and empowers other people to see a better version of themselves,” says TDF president and CEO Beth Baumert. “This is an incredibly rare quality. She enables the players to rise to the occasion, whatever that occasion might be.”

Feldman has also been hugely instrumental in the success of Dressage4Kids Inc., a youth-focused nonprofit organization founded

by Lendon Gray. She has served as D4K’s vice president since its inception 20 years ago, including handling the bookkeeping and myriad other jobs. She helped establish and run D4K’s Youth Dressage Festival every summer and its Weekend Educational Program each winter, in addition to its scholarship program.

“We have the ability to change programs because it’s nimble,” Feldman says of the organization, which provides educational and competitive opportunities for youth in dressage. “Lendon, of course, has a lifetime appointment. People are happy to more than contribute. It’s about doing for others.”

On a more local level, Feldman has served as president of her USDF group-member organization (GMO), the Connecticut Dressage Association, whose board meetings and annual parties were held at her home for years.

But even this impressive list doesn’t cover all of Feldman’s activities. Somehow she also finds the time to serve on several non-horse-related boards and programs, including helping her family in developing a super starch for her grandson with Glycogen Storage Disease.

REGION 8 DIRECTOR: Feldman (pictured at the 2004 USDF convention in Lexington, Kentucky) served for 20 years

MARSHALING THE TROOPS: Feldman keeps things rolling at Dressage4Kids’ 2005 Youth Dressage Festival in Saugerties, New York

WIT’ THE KIDS: Feldman (front row, right) and Lendon Gray (back row, fifth from right) with D4K Winter Intensive Training program participant volunteers (and demonstration rider Elizabeth Caron) at the 2017 Adequan®/USDF FEI-Level Trainers Conference

“She does this with such apparent ease,” marvels Baumert. “It’s the integrity. She’s incurably honest and positive.”

Baumert recalls how Feldman helped the USDF Instructor/Trainer Program get started in Connecticut in the early 1990s: “In a motherly way, she took the professionals under her wing and helped them do it.

She’s a major reason for the strength of the program in that area.”

In addition to her riding, Feldman is also a skier and jogs every day before she heads to the barn to ride.

She and her husband, Barry, have two sons and six grandchildren.

Gray emphasizes Feldman’s passion and dedication for dressage but also her diplomacy, which makes her

invaluable in volunteer organizations: “She’s a unique and effective advocate for the sport of dressage.”

When Feldman received the USDF Lifetime Achievement Award last fall, Gray gave the introduction speech. She concluded by saying: “Fern, if I ever grow up, I want to be like you.”

Margaret Freeman, of Tryon, North Carolina, is herself a multifaceted dressage enthusiast. A freelance writer and journalist who has covered multiple Olympic equestrian events for the Associated Press, she is also a USEF “S” dressage judge and the current USDF secretary.

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Clinic

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EXCLUSIVE TRAINING SERIES

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Nailing It! Riding with Success Through the Levels K

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Based on USDF’s On the Levels videos. Part 5: Third Level.

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f you’re putting your big toe in Third Level waters, it means that you came out the other side of the Second Level “black hole.”

Congratulations! That’s a big deal.

It means that your basics are solid, but the best advice on that front is not to rest on those laurels. The most successful riders are constantly confirming and reconfirming the basics that make correct collection possible.

By Beth Baumert The positive qualities that were a “tendency” at Second Level become more confirmed at Third.

Your horse’s collection in an uphill frame has become more consistent.

It’s no longer OK with the judge if collection comes and goes, as it did at Second Level. As you probably know, however, your daily work with horses at every level through Grand Prix includes a warmup that sets the stage for collection by developing

the horse’s connection so that he is “collectible.”

How do you know when your horse is “connected” and therefore “collectible?” During the warmup, you should eventually feel a relaxed, swinging back under your seat, and you can add weight to a hind leg during the sitting moment of the rising trot. That is, you can increase the engagement during that moment, and collection evolves because of that ability.

Engagement The word engagement is noted often at Third Level, so it’s important that riders understand this term (see the definition on page 23). To understand engagement further, it’s best to look at the whole story regarding the horse’s hind leg.

ENGAGING PICTURE: Extended trot by 2019 US Dressage Finals Third Level Adult Amateur reserve champion Serenade MF (Sir Donnerhall x Don Principe), a Hanoverian mare owned and ridden by Alice Tarjan, and bred by Maryanna Haymon

22 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

o confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, and having begun to develop an uphill balance at Second Level, now demonstrates increased engagement, especially in the extended gaits. Transitions between collected, medium, and extended gaits should be well defined and performed with engagement. The horse should be reliably on the bit and show a greater degree of straightness, bending, suppleness, throughness, balance, and self-carriage than at Second Level.

SUSANJSTICKLE.COM

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The Purpose of Third Level

Engagement: The USDF Glossary Definition

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ncreased flexion in joints of the hind legs during the weightbearing (stance) phase of the stride, lowering the croup relative to the forehand, enabling the back to assist in elevating the forehand, and providing a springboard for upward thrust/impulsion. Engagement is carrying power, rather than pushing power.

At canter and piaffe, there is additional flexion at the hip joints and also greater flexion at the lumbosacral joint, which contribute to the horse’s ability to lower the haunches.

Note: Engagement is not flexion of the hocks or “hock action” when the leg is swinging forward (as seen most clearly in gaited horses and Hackneys), nor does it describe the forward reach of the hind leg under the horse’s body.

horse’s center of gravity in…you guessed it: shoulder-fore.

2. When the hind foot lands, you can add a bit of weight (with your seat) to that hind leg to increase…you guessed it again!

Engagement. Without engagement, an effective half-halt is impossible.

3. When the hind leg thrusts, you can add to that pushing power and increase the scope to increase ground coverage

Convenience doesn’t always equal results.

MAYBE IT’S TIME TO KICK THE CUP!

The hind leg does three things: 1. It reaches, 2. It lands on the ground (engages), and 3. It thrusts.

Then it reaches again. Keeping this in mind can help you to develop and improve your timing. You can—and should—influence your horse during each of these phases, keeping in mind that each phase is very brief! Here’s how it works: 1. When the hind leg reaches, you try to influence the direction of that reach. Specifically, you ask the hind leg to step under your

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Self-Carriage: The USDF Glossary Definition

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tate in which the horse carries itself in balance without taking support or balancing on the rider’s hand.

for those extensions that are required for the first time at Third Level.

So within each stride, there is pushing power during the thrusting moment and carrying power during the engaging moment. Ideally, you have some control over the ratio between the two—and that is what creates the wonderful, comfortable state of balance.

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USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

23

Clinic rider’s directional influence during the reach moment.

Together, half-halts, transitions, and shoulder-fore balance your horse; and with greater balance comes improved self-carriage.

Proof of self-carriage is required in Third Level Test 2 in the form of Überstreichen. Let’s discuss Überstreichen, as well as the other new movements in Third Level.

A Look at the Third Level Tests The new movements in these tests include: Überstreichen. In test 2, you are required to prove your horse’s self-carriage by releasing both reins for four or

The Collective Marks

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he collective marks at the end of the dressage test sheet reflect, in a general way, the qualities that were present in the test. As a rule, the average of these marks will be approximately the same as the average of the scores for the actual movements. However, the collectives will probably influence the score slightly up or down.

It’s important to note that the exact wording of these collective marks evolves through the levels, from Intro through Grand Prix. At Third Level, the collective marks are: • Gaits (freedom and regularity). The coefficient for this score is 1. Prior to the 2015 US Equestrian test revisions, the gait score had a coefficient of 2, but it was thought that exceptional movement should be less important than correct riding. The change is generally considered a wise one.

• Impulsion (desire to move forward; elasticity of the steps; suppleness of the back; engagement of the hindquarters). Impulsion has a coefficient of 2. Note that the qualities related to impulsion are not related to speed. That “desire to move forward” is with elasticity, engagement, and suppleness. It is “carrying oneself forward” rather than flinging oneself forward.

• Submission (willing cooperation; harmony; attention and confidence; acceptance of the bit and aids; straightness; lightness of forehand and ease of movements). Submission is generally lacking when a horse is being shown at a level that is too difficult for him, or when he is disobedient or fearful. Submission is a reflection of the horse’s trust in the rider as well as of his understanding and willingness. The submission score has a coefficient of 2.

• Rider’s position and seat (alignment; posture; stability; weight placement; following mechanics of the gaits).

• Rider’s correct and effective use of the aids (clarity; subtlety; independence; accuracy of test). “Effective use of the aids” means that the horse understands the rider’s aids, and that those aids have the correct influence. Each of the rider scores has a coefficient of 1, giving the collective rider influence a coefficient of 2.

24 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

THE KEYS TO ENGAGEMENT: To create engagement, you need to understand the action of the horse’s hind legs. In this photo, the inside hind is reaching and will soon be engaged. The outside hind is engaged and soon to be thrusting. Pictured is 2019 US Dressage Finals Third Level Freestyle Open reserve champion Washburn SW (Wolkentanz II x Opus), a Swedish Warmblood gelding bred by StarWest, owned by Debra Klamen, and ridden by Kathryn Fleming-Kuhn.

five strides while crossing the center line in collected canter. Help your horse by preparing with two or three half-halts. Then when you release your reins, he should retain his balance, frame, rhythm, and energy. The directives read: Clear release of reins maintaining self-carriage; engagement and collection; shape, size, and bend of circle. Release the reins toward your

ÜBERSTREICHEN: If the horse maintains his balance, frame, rhythm, and energy when you release the reins for a few strides in the canter, you’ve proved he’s in self-carriage.

International competitor Karen Pavicic rides Beaujolais in an Adequan®/USDF FEI-Level Trainers Conference.

SUSANJSTICKLE.COM; JENNIFER BRYANT

As a refresher, here are the three things that the hind leg does that relate to the three ways to balance your horse.

• Half-halts balance your horse longitudinally.

• Transitions do the same. (To review these concepts, see “Clinic,” January/February.) Both halfhalts and transitions focus on the balance between the pushing power (thrust moment) and the carrying power (engaging moment).

• Shoulder-fore balances your horse laterally. (See “Clinic,” March/April, for review.) The shoulder-fore focuses on the

USDF ILLUSTRATION

horse’s mouth, rather than toward his ears. (The latter motion encourages the shoulders to drop.) This is a double-coefficient movement.

Extension. The extended walk replaces the free walk, meaning that it is ridden with rein contact, and with control of the poll and of the amount of stretching forward and downward.

According to the directives, the judge is looking for regularity; suppleness of back; activity; overtrack; freedom of shoulder; stretching to the bit; clear transitions. The extended walk is judged with a double coefficient in all three tests.

The extended trot and canter are, again, about ground cover. Whereas the medium gaits are about lifting off the ground, extension is about going over the ground. That sounds as if it’s all about thrust, but if you lose the engagement—that ability to carry weight on the hind legs—then you can’t stop at the end of your extension. Anyone who has ever tried this knows what that feels like!

In extended gaits, the judge looks for utmost ground cover with lengthening of frame, elasticity, engagement, suspension; straightness and uphill balance. The extended trot and canter are double-coefficient movements in Third Level Test 2.

Try this: Make your extensions of short duration and combine them with exercises that remind your horse of the connection, engagement, and collection. From last month’s installment, you know that small circles and lateral movements (with bend) improve collection.

• Third Level Test 1 calls for extended canter from H to K. When you’re practicing this movement, extend from H to E, then collect and ride a 10-meter circle. Then extend again from E to K (see Figure 1 at right). Judge all those transitions for yourself.

Remember to do this in shoulderfore so that your horse doesn’t get crooked.

• Again in test 1, you have to extend the trot M-X-K. In practice,

extend only to the quarter line.

Leg-yield or half-pass to the next quarter line, and then extend again to K (Figure 2).

Vary these exercises so that they become more challenging, but retain the connection. When you watch top riders, you’ll see that their extensions retain the qualities of collection, and collection retains the qualities of extension.

Half-pass. Test 1 begins with a shoulder-in left, which should improve your trot and set you up for movement 3: V-L, half-circle left 10m; L-H, half-pass left. Ride smart. First, don’t underestimate the difficulty of riding a half-10-meter circle or of riding the half-pass, but please be accurate. If

Figure 2. Blend extension with a lateral exercise by riding leg-yield or half-pass in between two trot extensions.

FIGURE 1. Ride a small circle between extensions to develop your horse’s ability to compress and extend his strides, and to retain the balance, engagement, and collection.

your 10-meter circle is only nine meters, you’ll not only lose points for that (directives: shape and size of half-circle), but you’ll make the half-pass less steep and therefore easier (directives: alignment, bend, fluency, and crossing of legs; engagement and self-carriage).

If your 10-meter circle is 11 meters, you’ll lose points because an 11-meter circle is easier and then the half-pass is too steep and therefore more difficult.

If nothing else, be accurate. Your halfcircles should go to the center line, and the subsequent half-passes should go to the letter. If they do, you’ll get a score that’s based on the actual quality of your half-circle and half-pass.

Half-pass is travers (haunchesin) on a diagonal line. When you were at Second Level, you practiced travers on the long side of the arena.

USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

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CANTER HALF-PASS: Half-pass is travers on a diagonal line—but unlike in trot, in canter the horse’s legs do not cross. Alice Tarjan rides her German-bred Oldenburg mare Fairouz (Franziskus x Don Frederico) to the 2019 US Dressage Finals Third Level Adult Amateur championship.

Submit your dressage stories, content, and photos to yourdressage@usdf.org

www.yourdressage.org

Now, don’t get lost on that diagonal line. Pretend there’s a wall there.

Point your horse’s nose, ears, and shoulders toward your destination and ride travers. Don’t make the movement harder than it is.

Third Level Test 2 introduces half-pass in canter. Notice that the directives are different: alignment and bend while moving fluently forward and sideways; engagement and self-carriage. Notice that there is no “crossing of legs,” and they want the movement to be “fluent.” The work should always be fluent, of course, but the judges probably see a lot of horses that look like hobbling crabs in this particular movement. Start the canter half-pass in shoulderfore and ride travers on the line as you did in trot. Again, don’t make it harder than it is.

Renvers. Renvers (haunchesout) is a wonderful straightening exercise. In test 2, your horse must go from shoulder-in to renvers. If that’s difficult, it probably means that your shoulder-in has a fatal flaw—most likely an overbent neck.

The directives for each movement are the same: angle, bend, and balance; engagement and self-carriage. The

26 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

tricky part is that the shoulder-in is a three-track movement (meaning that the horse’s legs are on three “tracks” or lines of travel), while renvers is now four tracks. When you ride the shoulder-in/renvers transition, get the increased angle required for renvers before you change the bend from inside to outside. For a smooth transition, make it gradual, over several strides. The renvers is a doublecoefficient movement.

Single flying change. One of the hallmarks of Third Level is that it’s the first time that flying changes are required. That’s a big deal. Teaching flying changes takes patience and time. It often takes a year to quietly confirm the flying changes, so you’ve probably been working on them.

In theory, those changes should be manageable if your previous work on counter-canter and simple changes has been on track. The countercanter should be straight. Check it: Can you easily ride counter-canter in shoulder-fore with a hint of counterflexion? Is the rhythm of the counter-canter bold but balanced? If so, you’re probably on track.

Check your simple changes, too: Can you half-halt and shorten the canter stride without your horse resisting? Do your half-halts add weight to a hind leg (i.e., are they engaged)?

How are your upward transitions from walk to canter? Your flying changes won’t be better than those.

In fact, whatever goes wrong with the walk-canter transition will also be wrong with the flying change, so work on those simple transitions. The flying changes in Third Level are doublecoefficient movements.

Rein back. It has been said that a square halt is the very best collecting exercise. Think about that in the moments before you ask for rein back. Make squareness a way of life, and it will encourage that straightness you need in the steps back. The directives for halt and rein back read immobility; willing steps back with correct rhythm and count; straightness; clear transitions. The rein back

SUSANJSTICKLE.COM

Clinic

directly creates engagement and collection by positioning the hind legs underneath the horse’s body. The challenge is retaining that engagement in the upward “clear transition” (in test 3, into the trot) following the rein back. The rein back is a double-coefficient movement.

The Double Bridle In all Third Level tests, the double bridle is optional. Some horses are more comfortable in the double. If that’s the case, there’s not much point in being prudish about it, but be sure you’re not using it to keep him on the bit. Most horses are comfortable in the snaffle. If you use a double bridle, be sure that the bridle and bits fit and that you can use the reins properly so that your horse is comfortable.

that “transitions between collected, medium, and extended gaits should be well defined and performed with engagement.” Third Level functions as a sort of Introductory Level for the FEI levels, with their movements of high collection, such as piaffe, passage, and pirouettes. At Third Level, you’re laying the foundation for playing with the big boys.

That’s why these clear transitions are so important. Your horse should go “like butter” from a clear twobeat trot to a clear four-beat walk and then to a three-beat canter and back to a four-beat walk. It’s proof of throughness, a swinging back, a good connection—everything you need to make Third Level great!

A Note About Transitions The purpose of Third Level, as printed on the test sheets, notes

In the next issue: Our series concludes with a look at Fourth Level.

Meet the Expert

B

eth Baumert is a USDFcertified instructor through Fourth Level, a USDF L program graduate with distinction, and the author of When Two Spines Align: Dressage Dynamics. She currently serves as president of The Dressage Foundation. For many years she owned and operated Cloverlea Dressage in Columbia, Connecticut, and served as the technical editor of Dressage Today magazine. She divides her time between Connecticut and Florida.

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USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

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Free Rein Making the Most of a Half-Halt There are ways to keep progressing in dressage, even if you have to take a break from showing

he “Safer at Home” mandate has produced a few side benefits for some of us. In recent weeks, how many of you have cleaned out a closet or drawer or box you had previously been too busy to look at?

Tackling these jobs is not fun, but in the end it can be satisfying. If you’re lucky, maybe you uncovered some long-lost treasures that made the effort extra rewarding.

Plan B for those times can make the disappointment easier to bear. It can also pay big dividends when it’s time to get back in the show ring.

Down time can be very productive— a bit like cleaning out those closets.

There is a threefold course of action that is never a waste of time.

First, focus on basics for both horse and rider. That means shoring up the foundation necessary to improve

TRAINING INGENUITY: If your horse learns to do this during the competition-season pause…

…he’ll be better equipped to handle this when you get back in the show ring

This year, riders have had their competitive goals put in limbo while the world sorts itself out. No one knows when we will return to a semblance of “normal,” but I am sure it will come. What to do with our competition horses in the meantime?

Keeping a horse at its peak for the shows is difficult to do long-term.

Maybe this is a good time to change the focus.

There are many things besides a pandemic that can cause a pause in a competition plan. A horse can sustain an injury that requires a long, slow rehab. A rider’s life circumstances—health, family obligations, financial setbacks—can make it impossible to pursue competitive goals for a time. Having a clear, positive

at the current level, as well as to make the next step easier and more accessible. Second, take the time to polish the details of the movements so that they are second nature when you ride a test. Third, address any issues your horse has with traveling to and being at shows.

Let’s look at each of these aspects in detail.

Get Back to Basics Rider basics. These include position, seat, and use of the aids.

Can you put your lower leg lightly against your horse so that your heel remains slightly down and vertically under your hip joint while he walks all the way around the arena? If you

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are one of the many who struggle with lower-leg position, you know that this is more difficult than it sounds.

Try this: Put a piece of masking tape vertically on your horse’s side to mark the back edge of where your calf or heel should be, and have your ride videoed so you can check your leg position. To test your ability to keep your leg in light contact with your horse’s side, place a small square of paper under your calf where it rests against the horse.

When you have mastered these tests at the walk, move on to sitting trot and canter.

Use the down time to work on your seat. If you look at the directive ideas for rider scores in the US Equestrian dressage tests, you will see what to work on (see “The ‘Rider’ Collective Marks Explained” on page 31). For example, “following the mechanics of the gait” requires that your arms and hands move freely in an elastic way to follow the oscillation of the horse’s neck in the walk and the canter. A good instructor should be able to identify which parts of your body need better relaxation, strength, or flexibility to facilitate improvement.

A break from the show ring might be the perfect time to add unmounted exercise to your daily routine. There are some really good online guides for equestrian fitness that you can explore.

Horse basics. The basics for the horse include all those things addressed in the collective marks in the tests, as well as the underlying components of each movement: freedom, regularity, energy, elasticity, swing, contact, bend, and balance, among other things. All riders work to improve these basics,

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By Jayne Ayers

but they sometimes don’t realize the degree to which the subtleties of the rider’s seat and aids affect how their horses operate. The rider must ask for what she wants but then must allow it to happen. So focusing on the aids is another worthy goal.

A simple example might be checking to see whether you tighten your arm muscles during a transition up, or whether you (correctly) relax a bit to allow your horse to jump forward into the next gait. If your horse tends to brace his neck

The “Rider” Collective Marks Explained

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ere are the criteria dressage judges use to evaluate the rider’s position, seat, and use of the aids. Use these directive ideas to help evaluate your own equitation and to identify areas to work on.

Directive Ideas, Rider’s Position and Seat Score • Posture and alignment. The rider’s ear, shoulder, hip, and heel should be vertically aligned at all gaits while sitting. The rider does not lean ahead of or behind the vertical. The rider is slightly in front of the vertical when posting the trot. The rider’s spine is aligned with the horse’s spine, the back is neither rounded nor hollow, and the shoulders and hips are level.

• Stability. As a result of having a stable core, the rider sits securely in the saddle. The rider does not rock from side to side, as is sometimes seen in the walk and extended trot.

• Elasticity. The rider has a positive, mobile tension without being rigid.

• Weight placement. The rider sits vertically with the weight distributed equally on both seat bones whenever the horse’s body is straight, and does not slip to the outside when riding a circle, a lateral movement, or any movement in which the horse is bent. The rider’s body does not lean inward or outward.

• Following mechanics of the gaits. The rider demonstrates the ability to ride in harmony with the mechanics of each gait, including the medium and extended paces. The hands act independently to maintain a steady, elastic connection with the horse’s mouth.

Directive Ideas, Rider’s Correct and Effective Use of the Aids • Clarity and subtlety. The rider prepares for and performs the movements using aids that are subtle, tactful, and effective, giving the impression of clear communication between rider and horse.

• Correct basics and criteria. The training of the horse appears to be following the principles established by the Pyramid of Training, and both the horse and rider appear competent with the criteria of the level.

• Independence. Separation of leg, seat, and rein aids in a way that allows the rider’s intent to remain clear to the horse, without the complication of inadvertent signals. For instance, the hands act independently of the horse’s motion to maintain a steady, elastic connection with the horse’s mouth.

• Accuracy of the exercises. The geometry of the movements is correct (e.g., size and shape of circles, riding through corners, geometry of serpentine, etc.). In lateral movements, the angle and bend are correct.

Material from the USEF/USDF Licensed Judge Training Program © USDF. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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Free Rein or toss his head in transitions up, he might be offering you a clue.

Does your horse bend equally in both directions in a figure eight or serpentine? Just turning your head in the new direction won’t get the job done. The rest of your body needs to change to ask and allow the horse to rebalance and to find the new bend through his whole body. Both your position and the aids you apply— shoulders and upper body, weight, hands, and legs—need to operate in the same manner in both directions so that the horse does the same. We all know this, but a break in competition might provide the time to see how well we are fulfilling that goal. A video camera and/or instructor will be necessary to break old habits.

Exploring how you use your aids for lateral work might provide clues as to why your horse does the exercises better one way than the other. Check the feel of your seat bones against the saddle to be sure they are weighted equally when he is supposed to be straight, and slightly heavier on the inside when he is bent. Does your spine consistently stay over your horse’s spine, or do you slide to the outside at times? Do you use your inside and outside legs with the same positions and pressures to the left and to the right?

All this is best started at the walk so that you have time to become really aware of what your body is doing, with less need to focus on the horse. Since we often do not feel our body’s lack of symmetry, a keen-eyed ground person makes improvement more efficient. Walk work is also a great way to keep a horse busy when strenuous work needs to be limited.

Hone Your Test-Riding Skills The second mission is to polish some of the test movements. How are your halts on the center line? Are they always straight and square? Does your horse stretch forward-downward reliably and willingly in the trot stretching circle? Can you count on

your turns on the haunches always being technically correct? These movements take lots of focused repetition, but they can become very reliable high scores with enough correct practice. They are exercises that are sometimes put on the back burner as we work to master the fancier movements. There should be no movements in your current level where you cross your fingers and hope for a decent score. Figure out why a movement is not reliable, get help to make it more correct, and put it into the category of exercises you can count on for a good score.

This is the time to go over your test sheets from past years to look for patterns in the comments from the judges. Where are the persistent weak areas? Do they show up in the basics overall, or have they to do with fulfilling the criteria for certain exercises? Make a plan to improve.

across a tarp on the ground, or have someone kick a soccer ball around their legs, or walk past with a strip of aluminum foil, all while they were safely on a lead shank being reassured by a handler they respected and trusted. This work paid great dividends when the youngsters started under saddle and went on their first off-farm outings. Older horses can build confidence from similar activities, too.

A pause in show-ring activities can happen for many reasons.

Rather than waiting things out and feeling disappointed by competitive goals you can’t fulfill, a positive approach to that down time can pay off. The extra time spent on that worthy training for you and your horse that you never seemed to have enough time for might be just the thing to make your next season the best one ever.

Outside-the-Arena Training Some of a horse’s issues pertaining to the show experience may be based in his natural fear of the unfamiliar.

Have you ever regretted not having taken the time to teach him to load in the trailer more willingly?

The time to do it is when you have nowhere to go and can take him in and out without pressure, perhaps with yummy rewards waiting. Does he spook at strange objects? It takes time and patience to build a horse’s trust and confidence, but it can be done by deliberately presenting scary sights or sounds—starting small and working up—as you prove yourself to be the herd leader who can be counted on to keep him safe from the monsters.

Competitive trail horses and police horses have to be trained to accept all kinds of things. Your dressage competition horse is no different. In my years of breeding and raising horses, I learned the value of time spent on what I called “chaos training” with yearlings and two-year-olds. We would lead them

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Meet the Columnist

J

ayne Ayers is an FEI 4* dressage judge, a US Equestrian and FEI Young Horse judge, and a US Equestrian dressage sport-horse breeding and dressage-seat equitation judge. She is a faculty member of the USDF L program and a past chair of the US Equestrian Dressage Committee. Based in Wisconsin, she teaches dressage riders at all levels and coaches for competition.

Sport Horse Do Stereotypies Affect Dressage Peformance?

Equine “vices” are annoying. Can they also affect soundness or other aspects of performance?

Here’s what we learned.

By Heather Smith Thomas

Physical Implications “If dressage horses exhibit weaving or box [stall] walking, the additional activity and loading in the limbs could potentially increase the risk of musculoskeletal injury, especially as they tend to favor walking in one direction over another,” says Dr. Jane Williams of Hartpury College

STRESS BUSTER: Stereotypies typically arise in horses that are confined or isolated, but they don’t necessarily hinder performance. This determined individual is cribbing despite wearing a collar.

behavior can become a need in itself, and the horse continues it.

We wondered whether stereotypic behaviors affect horses’ ability to stay sound and to perform successfully in dressage. To find out, we talked to top veterinary researchers as well as to dressage professionals who have worked with such horses.

Here’s what they told us.

in England, who with Dr. Hayley Randle of Charles Sturt University in Australia recently published a review evaluating the impact of stereotypies on performance. Williams adds, however, that “there is very little research to support this.”

One US-based expert who frequently fields questions related to equine stereotypies is the noted

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researcher Dr. Sue McDonnell, founding head of the Equine Behavior Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. McDonnell speculates that the repetitive actions associated with stereotypies could potentially be at odds with one’s training objectives. Cribbers, for instance, tend to have overly developed “under neck” muscles, which could alter a horse’s topline, its balance, and its ability to go on the bit. A weaver or stall-walker may be harder to keep weight on as a result of the extra calorie burn, and its movements may produce fatigue or muscle tightness. If a horse always walks or weaves in the same direction, or if its motion puts more stress on one limb (or one side of the limb) than the other, there could be an increased risk of injury, McDonnell says.

Another physical issue associated with stereotypies is ulcers.

“Many of these behaviors, especially cribbing, are associated with minor physical ailments, like gastric ulcers,” McDonnell says. “People argue about which comes first, the cribbing or the ulcers.” She recommends checking any horse with vices for ulcers. If ulcers are brought under control, the stereotypic behavior may lessen, she says.

Stereotypies and Learning Differences Because stereotypies manifest physically, we tend to think of their effects in those terms. But according to Williams, the brains of horses with stereotypies may actually be different from those of their “normal” peers.

Horses with stereotypies may learn differently than horses that do

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omestic horses may exhibit behaviors not seen in freeroaming horses. The stress of confinement, isolation from other horses, or both can lead to repetitive actions known as stereotypies. Also referred to as vices, such behaviors include cribbing, weaving, stallwalking, stall-kicking, and self-biting. Once established, a stereotypic

not exhibit such behaviors, Williams says: “Some studies suggest that stereotypic horses learn associations more quickly and stronger, and take longer to ‘unlearn’ them, than nonstereotypic horses. This is great if the horse is taught well, but not so good if they learn the incorrect responses to cues. For the dressage horse, this could mean these horses learn cues for the lateral and advanced movements quicker, but if the rider confuses the signals, the wrong response will be learned just as quickly.”

As a result, such horses may be somewhat better suited to experienced riders and trainers, who are less apt than novices to use incorrect or inconsistent aids, Williams says.

Paired with the right rider/trainer, the stereotypic horse might even progress more quickly than its “normal” counterpart, she surmises.

That ability to make associations between behaviors and outcomes can work for or against us, Williams notes: “The learning and behavior studies we’ve done over the years make it clear that any sort of attention [paid to a horse when it exhibits a given behavior] reinforces the behavior. The smart horses learn that if they make a ruckus, someone will come and give them attention.

Whether it’s yelling at them or feeding them, it drives that behavior as reinforcement.” In other words, when you scold your horse for cribbing or for pawing at feeding time, you may think you’re discouraging an unwanted behavior—but from your horse’s point of view, you’re reinforcing him.

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Life with Stereotypies Elverson, Pennsylvania,-based dressage trainer Angelia Bean currently has a weaver in her barn, and over the years she’s dealt with cribbers, other weavers, and stall-kickers.

“People worry about performance, but I feel stereotypic behavior is a bigger problem in the barn than under saddle,” Bean says. “It generally doesn’t affect a horse’s dressage career, though a weaver or

PERPETUAL MOTION: A weaver in action

stall-walker may have days when their backs, shoulders, and legs are tight. Regarding cribbers, I have two I’m working with right now, and I’ve never noticed that it had any effect on their dressage performance.”

Bean wondered whether the cribbing action puts extra stress on a horse’s back and hocks, and posed the question to her veterinarian. “The vet didn’t seem to think it would, because the horse doesn’t hold that position very long,” she says.

The one area of the horse’s body that cribbing seems to affect, in Bean’s experience, is the poll.

“I have found cribbers to be more sensitive at the poll,” she says, “so you have to be very particular about bridle fit. The anatomical bridles help a lot.”

One particularly dedicated cribber, owned by a student of Bean’s, even cribbed while turned out and while wearing a cribbing collar (most cribbers crib only while indoors). The collar succeeded only in making the horse’s poll sore, “so

we quit using it,” Bean says. The vice didn’t stop the horse and his adultamateur owner/rider from progressing to Third Level, she notes.

The current weaver in Bean’s barn is triggered when he feels claustrophobic and anxious, meaning that he’s worse when he’s in a windowless stall with a full door so that he can’t put his head out.

“His anxiety seems a lot worse than a horse that’s just rhythmically weaving back and forth,” says Bean.

“A weaver I had previously moved back and forth in an ‘autistic’ way, but he progressed through the dressage levels just fine. He was a really bad weaver; he even did it outside, not just in his stall.”

Although managing a cribber or a weaver has its challenges—“cribbers are hard on the facilities, and weavers dig holes in their stalls”—Bean has found that “stall-kickers are much harder on their bodies than the cribbers and weavers, because the kickers can injure their feet and legs,

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UNWANTED DEVELOPMENT: Because cribbing can strengthen the “under neck” muscle, many dressage enthusiasts try to find ways to reduce or eliminate the habit

and their hocks and SI [sacroiliac] joints get pretty sore.”

When she helps a client shop for a horse, Bean takes a pragmatic approach to the subject of vices.

“As a trainer, if a horse has a solid mind and his temperament is appropriate, I will overlook stereotypic behavior like cribbing or weaving.

But if a horse is a little difficult in any way, it becomes the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s one more challenge we don’t need. If the owner gets discouraged and decides to move on to another horse, there is a potential resale problem,” she says, noting that “some people will not buy a cribber.”

“That being said,” Bean concludes, “I’ll take a cribber or a weaver over a strong-willed, rude horse or [one with] a dirty spook any day.

There’s no perfect horse; you try to pick what is most important to this particular horse-rider combination, as part of the big picture.”

“I think cribbing can be attributed to many things, some of which may be serious,” says Merrie Velden, a dressage pro in Fresno, California.

“I owned one cribber that had a malfunction in his small intestine, and for him cribbing was probably a way to alleviate pain.” Cribbing, she points out, has been shown to release

endorphins, “which puts the horse in a happy place.” Sadly, that horse succumbed to his intestinal defect before he reached the age of five.

Some horses, Velden believes, crib simply because it makes them feel good. “The cribber I have now just cribs for pleasure after eating grain,” she says. “We know this mare does not have ulcers because we scoped her. I think she just craves the endorphins.”

Concerned that nonstop cribbing would develop the mare’s “under neck” muscle to the detriment of her dressage training, and unwilling to use a cribbing collar “because they cause pain,” Velden tried to cribproof the mare’s environment. “We had to take down her feeder, remove the waterer, and anything else she could reach that was high so she can’t develop that neck muscle. She still found a way to crib on the side of the stall door, but she has to lower her head and neck to do it. We feed her grain in a little pan and her hay on the floor, and her water is in a plastic tub that is very low so she can’t crib on that.” Hot wire around the top rail of her paddock discourages the mare from cribbing on that surface. The result: “She goes nicely and softly on the bit, and I don’t feel the cribbing

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is a problem, but we’ve taken every humane action to prevent it.”

Cribbing activity can cause wear on a horse’s top incisor teeth, but Velden says the issue hasn’t affected her mare.

“If you look at my mare’s teeth, one is a little shorter because she has to crib low and at an angle,” Velden says. “I am not worried about it because this doesn’t interfere with her eating or riding. She’s eight now and has learned to go on the bit on the snaffle, and keeps a very soft, lovely frame. Her bottom neck muscles are normal and beautiful, and she’s the first horse I got [a score of] 80% on, in Training Level. That doesn’t happen on a horse with an abnormal bottom neck muscle.”

Velden also has experience dealing with a weaver—a mare that “could pick up speed and weave incessantly,” she says. “This mare would stand and weave very fast, with her head barely clearing the stall wall.”

“There is a neurotic component to this behavior,” says Velden.

“Horses that weave are not happy horses. When we took this horse to her first show, she weaved continuously and made holes in the stall.

We had to take her out of her stall for three hours and just hold her in the arena so she wouldn’t go nuts.

At a three-day show, it took until the third day to finally be able to show her without her losing it.”

In Velden’s experience, “Thoroughbreds lead the list as weavers, maybe because they are confined and very hyper [in the racetrack environment].

It’s a bit like lions in a zoo. Caged animals pace and develop repetitive behaviors. I know of horses that have become so broken-down and unsound from weaving that you lose them to those issues,” she says.

To curtail the mare’s weaving, Velden analyzed the behavior pattern. She saw that “a weaver wants to weave facing front, by the door where they’d go out—and since they can’t go out, they weave.” She placed

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Sport Horse

Address the Cause, Not the Symptom

Although it may be encouraging to learn that a horse with a stereotypy can succeed in dressage, most of us would just as soon eliminate the behavior, which can range from irritating to downright distressing.

McDonnell urges a holistic approach

BACK TO NATURE: Keeping the horse in as natural a state as possible can alleviate or even eliminate stereotypic behavior

rather than merely trying to suppress the action.

“There is some sort of stress or discomfort that led to these behaviors,” she says. “Don’t add stress by yelling at the horse or punishing the behavior. The humane thing is to figure out why the horse is doing the

Do Stereotypies Have a Genetic Component?

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alifornia-based FEI-level dressage trainer and competitor Merrie Velden is convinced that genetics plays a role in the development of equine stereotypies.

“A famous sire in Germany was a cribber, and he produced cribbers,” she says. “There seems to be a genetic factor. People wonder if behavior is due to nature or nurture, but I’ve raised a lot of embryo [transfer] babies and had the mother, and the babies have some of the behavior quirks of Mom, even when they never knew her.”

Example: A mare Velden has bred using embryo transfer has the unique habit of rolling on one side, then turning over by sitting on her haunches like a dog and walking her front legs over to the other side. “Her son does the same thing, and she never knew her son; he was raised by a different mare.”

Because stress, confinement, or both seem to trigger the emergence of stereotypic behavior, you could own or even breed a horse with a genetic predisposition to stereotypies and never know it—if, say, he lives outside all his life.

The possibility of a genetic component could be comforting to owners of cribbers, as well as to those whose horses are stabled with those cribbers.

“Some people don’t want a cribber in their barn because they think it will teach the other horses to crib,” says Velden, “but I think this is a fallacy. I’ve had cribbers, and no other horses in the barn around them cribbed.”

stereotypic behavior and try to alleviate or resolve that reason, rather than try to thwart the behavior.”

McDonnell acknowledges that “vices”—like those that we humans engage in—can prove difficult to break. A stereotypic behavior “may become a reinforced habit because endorphins are released as the horse exerts or gets worked up,” she says.

But she offers a note of comfort to owners of such horses, who tend to fret about their animals’ worrisome repetitive actions.

“It can be helpful to get a 24-hour video of the horse, because often the horse is only doing it when people are there. It can be a relief for the owner or trainer to know the behavior is simply related to feeding time or when someone is in the barn,” she says.

Heather Smith Thomas has raised and trained horses for 50 years, written more than 12,000 stories and articles, and published 24 books. Her recent books include Storey’s Guide to Raising Horses, Storey’s Guide to Training Horses, Understanding Equine Hoof Care, and Horse Tales: True Stories from an Idaho Ranch.

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old tires in the front of the stall so that the mare couldn’t stand there, and “because they don’t want to weave at the back of the stall,” the weaving largely stopped, she says.

The effort, Velden says, was worth it: “That mare was actually one of my best riding horses, and easiest to train, once she trusted me. I have her four-year-old and five-year-old sons right now, and her five-year-old is my all-time favorite horse. He is a little high-strung like his mother and a little ‘cracker’ sometimes, but he doesn’t weave.”

In the end, “we don’t like the sound of a cribber, or the look of it,” Velden says, “but weaving bothers me a lot more.”

Horse-Health Spotlight

Hoof Wear for Dressage Performance Modern farriery melds tradition and technology.

We look at the latest innovations helping dressage horses to feel and perform their best.

CEMENTED PARTNERSHIP: Wearing glued-on steel front shoes with pour-in hoof packing, the Danish Warmblood gelding Lonoir pirouetted to victory in Florida in January with rider/co-owner Olivia LaGoy-Weltz

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BY FRAN JURGA

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he sport of dressage has always been about tradition. Until recently, so was hoof care. Exported European warmbloods arrive in the US wearing horseshoes made in the Netherlands or Belgium, and American farriers have been asked to emulate the conservative Old World style of trimming and shoeing, right down to the imported shoes.

But since 2010’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Kentucky, dressage horses’ feet have been liberated from convention. The most visible sign of the new age came in the form of the KWPN stallion Totilas, who swept the 2010 WEG dressage gold medals for the Netherlands without the traditional wide Dutch toe clips on his front shoes.

Everyone at those Games was so busy looking at Totilas that they may have missed an even more radical innovation. As the PRE stallion Fuego XII piaffed his way into spectators’ hearts on Grand Prix Freestyle night, the Spanish horse’s front feet were sporting some of the most unusual horseshoes ever seen: three-dimensional roller-motion “flying saucer” models that covered the soles completely. The shoes’ two-tiered ground surface made it easy for Fuego’s hooves to break over in lateral work, and to stay afloat during the collected movements.

Fuego wasn’t the only custom-shod dressage horse at that WEG. Others competed in heart-bar or egg-bar shoes, or with poured-in pads.

In the last decade, the hoof-care world has undergone a change of mindset. Today, dressage owners and trainers don’t hesitate to ask: If traditional shoeing isn’t helping the horse, then what will? Here’s a look at what they’ve been discovering.

JENNIFER BRYANT

No Nails? No Problem In January, before the coronavirus pandemic forced the premature ending of the 2020 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival in Florida, the sport witnessed a personalbest performance for a horse and rider who were coming off an 18-month layoff resulting from farriery issues.

Olivia LaGoy-Weltz, of Haymarket, Virginia, rode the 16-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding, Lonoir (De Noir 3 x Loran, co-owned by Mary Anne McPhail and the rider), to victory in the Grand Prix Freestyle during AGDF week 3, with a score of 80.495%. The achievement was a quiet endorsement for the new era of dressage hoof care. “Lono” may have worn the same European-made steel “Equilibrium” horseshoes as many of his fellow competitors, but his were direct-glued to his front feet.

3D SHOEING: Unusual footwear on the Spanish horse Fuego XII, ridden by Juan Manuel Muñoz Diaz, at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky

For months, Lono had been wearing the equine equivalent of orthopedic-support shoes following a farriery issue. His rehabilitative “Sigafoos” shoes (named for their inventor, former University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Center chief of farriery services Rob Sigafoos) were held on with adhesive cuffs made of hightech fabric.

In July 2019, Lono transitioned first to direct-glued aluminum and then to direct-glued steel shoes, with pour-in hoof packing, on his front feet. As an adjunct, the shoes were equipped with Hanton adhesive tabs to ensure stability under the forces of high-level work. (For more on these and other types of shoes and add-ons, see “Footwear Options for the Modern Dressage Horse” on page 42.) LaGoy-Weltz and her farrier, Scott Brouse, opted for the tabs to eliminate the risk of totally-glued shoes’ “locking in” the heels of the hoof and preventing natural expansion. (Traditionally, shoes are nailed only forward of the widest part of the hoof, to preserve a modicum of heel expansion.)

Since the ordeal, LaGoy-Weltz describes herself as an astute and compulsive observer of hoof shape, size, and condition. “Now I look at the feet of horses coming to my barn to train,” she said after her Florida win. She says she has become acutely aware of both the length of USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

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her horse’s shoeing cycle and how his performance relates to the dates on the shoeing calendar.

Radiographs are taken during each shoeing session to assess hoof balance, as well. At one point, LaGoy-Weltz asked US national dressage team veterinarian Christina “Cricket” Russillo to radiograph Lono’s feet on a day that he trained exceptionally well. That image became his benchmark.

The Paradigm Shift Improved communication and trust among riders, veterinarians, and farriers get the credit for the new options in hoof care. In addition, farriers are experimenting with new materials formerly reserved for layup use, adjusting them to a lighter sport application.

Today, the decision-making process regarding an upper-level dressage horse’s hoof-care regimen can look more like a corporate boardroom. Trainers, riders, owners,

and sometimes even national team selectors, coaches, insurance companies, and investors may need to be consulted before a shoeing change is approved. Also growing are the nondisclosure agreements that prevent the sharing of details about the farriery of top sires or competition horses beyond the barn aisle.

As a result, if you are curious about what is really going on in American sport-horse hoof care, you have to do it the old-fashioned way: by crouching down during the horse inspection at a CDI (FEI dressage competition) and observing what is (or is not) under each horse as it trots by in hand. Look for nail clinches, fabric collars and patches, or gluedon tabs—or the lack thereof—on hoof walls. They are usually well-camouflaged and colored to match wall pigment. Listen for the melodic clickclack of steel shoes on pavement, or note the higher, thinner sound of aluminum or the light echoless tap of polyurethane shoes or bare feet.

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LIGHT ON HIS FEET: Underside view of Lonoir’s front glued-on steel shoes

When it comes to farriery alternatives for dressage horses, the better question to ask might be “why” rather than “what.” The former can be a wide range of shoe styles, materials, and adhesion methods; the latter generally falls into two categories.

The first: A horse has an injury or a conformational issue that makes traditional Euro-type steel shoes either less than ideal for preventing overreach injuries, avoiding suspensory strain, or overcoming medial imbalance; or that makes a different shoeing approach helpful to a performance-enhancement degree that tips the scale in its favor.

The second is the personal preference or horse-care philosophy of one or more of the decision-makers.

A classic example is the desire to see a horse perform without shoes.

In recent years, the “barefoot movement” has expanded slightly to include a preference for nailless (glue-on) or removable shoes (i.e., hoof boots).

You’ll find barefoot horses at all levels in American dressage. But their feet may not be noticed when they go down center line, so the actual number of horses that train or compete without shoes is not well documented.

California-based Grand Prixlevel rider/trainer Shannon Peters has been a high-profile advocate of training and competing dressage horses either without shoes or with carefully chosen minimalist hoof wear.

“Ninety percent of mine are barefoot,” Peters says. “I have two in shoes.” Her current shoe of choice, if she decides they are needed, is a polyurethane EasyShoe Flex, developed by the combined efforts of glue-on-shoe designer Curtis Burns, founder of

Polyflex, and Garrett Ford, president of EasyCare Inc. hoof boots.

Peters’ preferences are not reflected in the mounts shown by her husband, Olympian Steffen Peters.

“Steffen still shoes his horses traditionally,” she says. The approach works for him: Peters had enjoyed 11 straight victories when the 2020 Florida winter show season shut down in February.

Hoof Research and Dressage Hoof research, conducted mostly in Europe, has seen an exponential increase in this century. Research leader Utrecht University in the Netherlands conducts studies on Dutch Warmblood and Friesian horses.

Dressage-specialist veterinary researchers like USDF Connection contributing editor Dr. Hilary Clayton are advancing equestrian sport science by analyzing hoof-specific factors as well as footing effects. A recent study by Clayton used elite dressage horses to measure relative ground-reaction forces on hooves during collected movements.

Research into dressage hoof care is not exclusively the domain of veterinarians. A new program at Great Britain’s Royal Veterinary College has brought farriers directly into the research picture, by training them in research principles and requiring each student to conduct a full independent study for the graduate diploma in equine locomotor research. Participants include international and Olympic dressage team farriers for the US and Great Britain; other farriers pursuing the degree are studying shoe-related effects of arena surfaces or testing the effects of minute adaptations to shoe designs.

Back at Utrecht, the veterinaryschool farriers there are researching the production, application, and use of 3D-printed horseshoes. Each hoof is scanned so that a computer model of it can be virtually and perfectly fitted with the shoe before it is even printed.

The Next Level One of the changes many riders and horse owners are seeing is that visits from the farrier and the veterinarian are more likely to overlap. It is not a coincidence: As LaGoy-Weltz has done with Lonoir, radiographs at the time of shoeing enable more precise monitoring of horses’ feet.

Fastidious recordkeeping is a good habit for a trainer or owner to develop, and most veterinarians and farriers are happy to explain changes in hoof balance, sole depth, or resolution of negative coffin-bone angles with the help of a radiograph on a laptop screen.

Still, the adage “handsome is as handsome does” applies to perfectlybalanced hooves, as well. Speaking to veterinarians and farriers at the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital’s International Equine Podiatry Conference in Kentucky, longtime British dressage team farrier Haydn Price cautioned: “Be careful. Remember that you’re not shoeing the radiograph. Shoe the foot.”

For a glimpse at the future of dressage hoof care, we talked with Jason Critton of C-Cross Farriers in Sedalia, Colorado. Critton was the official farrier for the 2017 FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Omaha, Nebraska.

Critton is keenly concerned with every hoof and shoe, but he says he is equally observant of the horse’s training surface.

“We’re still seeing dressage

horses shod without attention to the surface conditions that affect traction, and as a result we’re seeing a lot of coffin-joint inflammation,” Critton laments. For instance, “The traction of a fullered shoe may be fine for a sand ring at home, but that same shoe can hamper performance on a synthetic show ring [footing].”

“A horse’s foot shouldn’t make a perfect hoofprint in the arena,” Critton contends. “A dressage horse is in four-wheel drive. If you see a perfect print of the shoe, the footing is too sticky. You don’t see that in good [dressage] footing. Stickiness puts unnecessary stress on the body.” Instead, Critton wants to see evidence of a little bit of slide—the ideal balance between “slip” and “grip”—which of course can change when the horse encounters different footing at a clinic or a show.

Critton’s Colorado-based horses move differently when they go to Florida to compete, he says, and the movement of horses from other parts of the country changes when they come to Colorado. He even notices differences on the local level: “I expect to see changes in horses’ feet when they move between barns,” he says, adding that “if riders are thinking about changing barns, they should go and look at the arena footing, not at the stalls.”

Critton advocates for shoeing in three dimensions; he approaches the foot as if it is a sphere, not a block. Lateral work can be helped or hindered by the way that a shoe is shaped, he says, stressing that “it needs to be easy to break over that outside toe.”

About 10 of Critton’s equine clients go in polyurethane shoes. He uses a pour-in hoof filler to compensate for the reduction in weight between steel and polyurethane, and

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raditional steel horseshoes are alive and well, but they are far from the only choice.

Here’s what’s trending in sporthorse farriery.

European steel shoes. Classic sport-horse shoeing still prevails for most dressage horses. Pick up a foot and you will see Europeanmade shoes by such manufacturers as Werkman, Mustad, and Kerckhaert. These shoes are fullyfit, cover the heels well, and often sport side clips. They come in left

horse sinks into footing, especially for a heel-first landing.

Asymmetric shoes. The classic symmetric horseshoe can be hard to find at a modern dressage show.

Even more than bar shoes, asymmetric shoes are becoming quite standard. These shoes may have thicker toes, or one branch may be significantly thicker than the other.

Originally prescribed for horses with suspensory-ligament injuries (wider toes) or injuries to the collateral ligament of the coffin joint (wider branches), special designs of asymmetric shoes have enjoyed a boom in popularity and are often recommended by veterinarians who have an eye to injury and rehabilitation parameters.

Polyurethane POLYURETHANE OPTIONS: The Polyflex (left), shown with shoes.

Ten years ago, pour-in packing and frog support; and the wider EasyShoe Flex no one would have (right), shown nailed on predicted that a flyand right patterns, and may have weight plastic horseshoe would be variable widths, such as wider under an 18-hand Grand Prix drestoes. A typical measurement is sage horse, but welcome to 2020.

25mm wide x 8mm thick, for a large These shoes are often applied in warmblood. conjunction with a “pour in” pad Bar shoes. Bar shoes were or other type of packing material once anathema for dressage under the hoof. The best-known

CUSTOM ADAPTATIONS: (From left) Spider plate, onion heels, and lateral support on a hind shoe

horses, but the increasing sophistication of footing makes a bar shoe less likely to impede a horse’s hoof landing style, and thus less susceptible to being “grabbed” and pulled off. A bar shoe stabilizes the foot and can affect how deeply the

model is the Polyflex, molded of translucent plastic with a thin metal wire core to make the shoe shapeable. Another, the EasyShoe Flex, is wider and can be glued on or nailed. Developed in California and worn by several top horses

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in competition, a third model, the Eponashoe, is built around concepts that mimic ideal hoof balance and weight-bearing conducive to hoof health.

Moldable hoof wear. When it comes to what’s underneath a dressage horse, don’t expect riders to brag about their mounts’ unusual shoes. The opposite mindset may prevail if a horse has had its feet “molded” rather than shod. The pourable Formahoof polyurethane system encases the bottom of the foot and lower hoof wall in a translucent coating that can be configured to variable thickness and creates a one-piece prosthesis for the entire hoof.

But that’s not all. These common adaptations may further customize shoes’ fit and function: Spider plate: A lightweight insert between shoe and hoof, or welded to the ground surface, may be useful and also assist with keeping a horse “above” the surface.

Onion heels: An artistic-looking and ancient shoe adaptation from France widens the support to the heel bar area without enclosing the hoof in a bar shoe.

Hanton tabs: Small adhesive tabs are useful for farriers to try for wall defects, cracks, and loading.

Lateral extensions: When did hind shoes grow wings? Fifteen years ago, British dressage team farrier Haydn Price saw a way to recruit the outside branch of a horseshoe to help stabilize a horse exhibiting signs of “hock displacement” or “wobbly hocks” (bending out to the lateral side), particularly after fatigue sets in (this is why some veterinarians want to watch a horse walk after it finishes training).

Many farriers add lateral extensions even when horses don’t show signs, to increase stability and to expand the weight-bearing or landing platform in synthetic footing.

STUART MUIR/HOOFCARE PUBLISHING; CURTIS BURNS/HOOFCARE PUBLISHING; JASON CRITTON/HOOFCARE PUBLISHING

T

Footwear Options for the Modern Dressage Horse

he champions the plastic shoes to his customers, touting their restorative effect on hoof quality: “They stay in the optimum position, and they don’t wear down.”

Critton has also had horses train barefoot or in boots, although some riders and grooms tend to be impatient with boot use.

“Any shoe change,” he says, “requires a team buy-in. Otherwise, it’s not a good choice.”

Florida consulting farrier and horseshoe innovator Curtis Burns works on a grand total of two dressage horses, but both are international competitors at the very top of the game. His primary observation of rehabilitation work in 2020 is that, regardless of whether the horse races or piaffes, owners who seek him out want to fix the horse they have rather than start over with a new one. “It was a similar situation

back in 2008, when the economy was weak,” he says.

Among Burns’ clients is US Olympian Adrienne Lyle, who has competed both the international Grand Prix horses Harmony’s Duval (Rousseau x Riverman) and Salvino (Sandro Hit x Donnerhall) in glue-on Polyflex shoes; both horses currently wear nail-on EasyShoe Flex shoes.

Burns attributes some of the success of his shoes on dressage horses to the fact that his Polyflex Open Roller model is 14mm thick, compared to European steel shoes, which are about 8mm thick. “And when you add glue, it is even thicker,” he says.

“I can take five to six millimeters out of the shoe if I need to on one side, especially the lateral. Horses grow a lot of foot in my shoes, and I can rasp the shoe down as the foot grows.”

In 2011, the CHIO Aachen installed a “Walk of Fame” in a plaza

on the famed showgrounds in Germany. Organizers sank horseshoes from some of the show’s greatest champions into paver blocks, with more added each year. On display are steel shoes from dressage superstars Valegro, Damon Hill, Totilas, Ahlerich, Farbenfroh, Gigolo, Salinero, and Satchmo. But the champions of tomorrow—or even today—may be sporting 3D-printed plastic shoes, or hoof boots, or no shoes at all.

As freelance writer Fran Jurga has watched champion dressage horses come and go over the years, she’s always tried to find out what’s on their feet. She is the owner of Hoofcare Publishing in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

YOUR CONNECTION TO DRESSAGE EDUCATION • COMPETITION • ACHIEVEMENT

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Special Report

Safe Sport:

What You Need to Know Safe Sport is the new norm in our sport, but confusion still exists. We clarify the law and explain how it applies to you.

TOWARD SAFETY FOR ALL: Safe Sport law and policies aim to ensure an environment free from abuse for all athletes, especially minors

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AKDRAGOOPHOTO.COM

BY SUE WEAKLEY

S

afe Sport has become a part of our horsey lexicon, but it elicits very different reactions. Some consider it little more than fodder for gossip about trainers behaving badly. Others view Safe Sport as an omnipotently powerful threat to the reputations and careers of those who make their living in the equestrian world. Many have experienced a chilling effect, causing them to second-guess the impulse to give someone a leg up or a congratulatory hug.

Regardless of how you feel about it, Safe Sport is a part of our lives today as active members of a United States Equestrian Federation (US Equestrian, or USEF) affiliate, which is part of the Olympic movement.

As a USDF member, you may have completed the online Safe Sport training. When the training requirement was implemented in 2018 and took effect January 1, 2019, confusion abounded in the equestrian community: Where did the mandate come from, and why?

To which sport organizations does it apply? Who has to take the training, and what consequences await if a person fails to comply?

In this article, we’ll answer these and other questions, with the aim of helping you understand what your responsibilities—and rights—are as members of the equestrian community and participants in the sport.

Ugly Revelations Set Congress in Motion In 2016, reports began surfacing about a years-long pattern of sexual abuse of female athletes by then USA Gymnastics national team doctor Lawrence “Larry” G. Nassar. Hundreds of current and former gymnasts came forward with reports of abuse, and in 2017 Nassar pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault, among others, and was sent to prison.

The public would later learn that abuse was prevalent in a myriad of sports. An 18-month US Senate investigation found “alarming and dysfunctional systems” that allowed emotional, physical, and sexual abuse to persist in sports including gymnastics, swimming, figure skating, taekwondo—and equestrian sports.

On February 14, 2018, S.534, the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017, was signed into federal law. (Read the full text at congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senatebill/534.) Congress authorized the US Center for SafeSport—which had become the official organization for the Olympic movement when it launched on March 3, 2017—to operate as an independent entity to investigate

and resolve allegations of suspected sexual, physical, or emotional abuse of athletes, particularly minor athletes.

The US Center for SafeSport—as recognized by Congress, by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), and by the respective sports’ designated US national governing bodies (NGBs)—is the official safe-sport organization for all Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American, and Para Pan American sports in the United States. The USEF is the NGB for equestrian sport in the US. As the official USEF affiliate organization for the sport of dressage, the USDF falls under the USEF’s NGB umbrella.

What the Law Does and Who Must Comply S.534 imposes general requirements on athletic organizations, including child-abuse-prevention training for adult members who have regular contact with minor athletes. This requirement extends to all amateur sports organizations participating in interstate or international athletic competition whose membership includes any adult who is in regular contact with minor athletes.

To comply with the requirements, the USEF requires all active members aged 18 and older with Competing memberships to complete SafeSport training. The requirement includes adult amateurs; professionals; age-appropriate juniors; and horse owners, including those who have annual, three-year, or lifetime memberships. Also required to take Safe Sport training are USEF-licensed officials, chefs d’équipe, staff members, board members, and competition

Safe Sport and the USDF

U

S Equestrian’s (USEF) Safe Sport policy imposes requirements on its affiliate organizations, of which the USDF is one. The USDF has identified certain groups that have regular contact with minor athletes and therefore are required to complete Safe Sport training in accordance with USDF policy. These groups include, but are not limited to, USDF staffers, USDF Executive Board members, members of designated USDF committees, contractors, volunteers with identified roles within USDF youth programs, USDF-certified instructors, and USDF L graduates.

Safe Sport training is not a general requirement of USDF membership, but USEF compliance is necessary when USEF membership is a prerequisite for participation in a USDF program.

The USDF website contains information about the Safe Sport Initiative as well as links to Safe Sport resources. To learn more, visit usdf.org and click on the Safe Sport menu item.

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management. USEF also requires that all coaches, human physiotherapists, farriers, trainers, veterinarians, and select contractors who represent the organization and who are formally approved, appointed, or authorized by USEF must complete training.

The SafeSport training requirement does not apply to USEF fan members or to active USEF members under the age of 18 with Competing memberships. USEF does offer age-appropriate training to minors subject to parental consent.

The initial SafeSport training course, referred to as the Core Center for SafeSport Training, consists of

Don’t Play Detective or Vigilante

I

f you learn of allegations or suspicions of abuse or misconduct, do not investigate or attempt to evaluate their credibility or validity. Don’t confront the accused individual, question the victim, or contact others in an attempt to verify or disprove the allegation. All investigators working for the US Center for SafeSport receive training developed by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on how to conduct forensic interviews as well as other specialized training.

multimedia online modules that take about 90 minutes to complete. The annual SafeSport refresher courses— also mandated for the abovementioned USEF members and designated personnel—take about 30 minutes.

The US Center for SafeSport is an independent nonprofit organization. It describes its mission and authority as follows: As the nation’s designated safesport organization, the Center is a

resource for any sports entity, from youth to professional, and provides consultation on prevention techniques and policies while developing best practices and educational programs focused on promoting athlete well-being and putting an end to emotional and physical abuse in sports. The Center also provides a safe, professional, and confidential place for individuals to report sexual misconduct within the US Olympic movements. In an effort to prevent further abuse, the Center also retains the authority to prohibit and/or restrict participation of those found guilty of abuse from any NGB organizations associated with the USOPC and the Olympic movement.

Whatever your thoughts about Safe Sport, it’s important to understand that the federal government authorized its existence and it’s here to stay. If you participate in a US Equestrian-licensed competition, you are responsible for knowing the information outlined in the US Center for SafeSport’s Code and Policies and Procedures, and in USEF’s Safe Sport policy. By virtue of your participation, you have expressly agreed to USEF’s Safe Sport policy and the Center’s code, including the applicable policies and procedures.

Safe Sport: Guiding Principles Misconceptions remain about the scope and rules of Safe Sport.

Here, from US Equestrian’s online Safe Sport Resource Center, is an overview of what it means to be Safe Sport-compliant, as well as what actions the US Center for SafeSport can and cannot take in response to a report of suspected abuse. Read this section; then test your SafeSport IQ with the true/false quiz on page 48.

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US Equestrian’s Safe Sport tagline reads: “Recognizing, reducing, and responding to misconduct and abuse in sports.” This mission statement employs the philosophy that, as a group, we are obligated to ensure that members, especially minors, are safe while training, competing, and engaging in other activities related to their sport. Policies strive to create an atmosphere free from emotional, physical, and sexual misconduct by mandating the following: • One-on-one interactions with minors must be observable and interruptible, with exceptions requiring written consent from a legal guardian.

• Adults must include another adult on all electronic communications with minors in connection with USEF-sanctioned activities.

• An adult may travel with a minor only if there is another adult or two other minors present, or with written consent from the minor’s legal guardian.

• A working student under the age of 18 who is traveling or living with an instructor/trainer must have written consent from the working student’s legal guardian to do so.

• Any actions that could be construed as child abuse, sexual misconduct, or conduct reasonably related to an underlying allegation of sexual misconduct, as well as retaliation related to an allegation of sexual misconduct, must be reported within 24 hours of learning of the event. Failure to report child abuse, including sexual abuse, is a federal crime. If you fail to report, you may be subject to sanction and criminal penalties. Regardless of when the incident occurred, you must report it.

• Sexual misconduct is not the only form of misconduct addressed by the Center’s SafeSport code. The code also prohibits physical and emotional misconduct, including stalking, harassment, hazing, and bullying.

Show Organizers Have Safe Sport Responsibilities, Too If you organize USEF-licensed competitions, you are also subject to USEF’s Safe Sport policy and the Center’s code. The responsibilities of USEF affiliates (including the USDF), their associated organizations, and their activities include preventing a suspended or banned person from attending or participating in any activity or competition authorized by, organized by, or under the auspices of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, the NGBs recognized by the USOPC (including US Equestrian), or any US Equestrian-affiliated organization. Competition licensees and management are responsible for ensuring that no banned or suspended person is on the competition grounds.

Your Obligation to Report USEF members also have a responsibility to recognize and report emotional, physical, and sexual misconduct at the barn or at the show.

So what should you do if you witness or learn of suspected misconduct or abuse involving a minor?

Report sexual misconduct to law enforcement and to the US Center for SafeSport. All suspicions of child abuse or sexual misconduct with a minor must be reported both to law enforcement and to the US Center for SafeSport within 24 hours of knowledge of the incident. (A victim of child abuse or other misconduct is not required to self-report.) Knowl-

edge of criminal convictions must be reported to the Center, as well.

For state-by-state law-enforcement reporting information, go to childwelfare.gov/topics/responding/ reporting. To report to the Center, go to uscenterforsafesport.org/report-aconcern or call (720) 531-0340.

Safe Sport training is not a general requirement of USDF membership, but USEF compliance is necessary when USEF membership is a prerequisite for participation in a USDF program.

Report nonsexual misconduct.

The USEF handles all reports of nonsexual misconduct. Physical and emotional misconduct, including stalking, harassment, hazing, and bullying, must be reported to USEF. Submit a report by completing the USEF Safe Sport Incident Reporting Form (usef. org/forms-pubs/DIGFlTRWo4E/ safe-sport-incident-report-form) and e-mailing to safesport@usef.org, or by contacting a member of the USEF’s Athlete Protection Team: • Teresa Roper, Safe Sport Program Coordinator (859) 225-6915 or troper@usef. org • Sonja S. Keating, USEF General Counsel (859) 225-2045 or skeating@ usef.org • Emily Pratt, Director of Regulation (859) 225-6956 or epratt@usef.org.

The SafeSport Chain of Events You saw or heard something you believe to be suspicious, and you reported it to the proper channel or channels. What happens next?

After the US Center for SafeSport receives a report, it conducts an initial review to determine whether it has jurisdiction over the matter as covered under the SafeSport code. If it does not, it refers the matter to the appropriate NGB. The Center has exclusive jurisdiction over reports of sexual misconduct and will address and resolve those issues. No statutes of limitations apply to reports of incidents of sexual misconduct.

The USEF has jurisdiction, and the Center has discretionary jurisdiction, to investigate and resolve allegations of nonsexual misconduct; emotional and physical misconduct, including stalking, bullying behaviors, hazing, and harassment; criminal charges not involving child abuse or sexual misconduct; and any allegation that violates USEF’s Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention (MAAP) policies.

If the Center does have jurisdiction, it enters a fact-finding and assessment period in which information is gathered and the involved parties are contacted.

The Center does not issue a temporary suspension for every allegation of sexual misconduct. Interim measures may be appropriate in cases in which the risk of continued participation by a respondent could be detrimental to the sport. Temporary measures may include, but are not limited to, altering training schedules, providing or requiring chaperones, implementing contact limitations, implementing measures prohibiting one-on-one interactions, and suspensions from participa-

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Take the Safe Sport Quiz

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arn gossip is rampant regarding Safe Sport, and it can be difficult to discern what’s truth and what’s hearsay. Take the true/false quiz below to test your SafeSport IQ. Answers are at the bottom.

1. True or False (check one): Trainers cannot touch students, including demonstrating proper riding position or offering a celebratory hug. ___ True ___ False 2. A trainer can be banned from USEF membership based on false allegations made by one disgruntled client. ___ True ___ False 3. A trainer can’t give someone under 18 a ride home, if the trainer and the minor are alone in the vehicle. ___ True ___ False 4. Every person who is reported to the US Center for SafeSport is temporarily suspended until an investigation is conducted. ___ True ___ False 5. You’ve been noticing what appears to be inappropriate behavior between your trainer and a 17-year-old at your barn, but you aren’t sure whether it’s truly misconduct. You should report what you saw to SafeSport anyway. ___ True ___ False Answers: 1. False. Trainers can touch students in appropriate ways, such as adjusting leg and hand position or posture in the saddle, and can hug students in celebration or support.

2. False. The accused will have an opportunity to be heard by the US Center for SafeSport case investigator. This process occurs before any disciplinary action is taken. A person who falsifies information or maliciously abuses the process is subject to sanctions and potentially also to criminal and legal action.

3. True. An adult may travel with a minor only in the presence of another adult or two other minors, or with written consent from the minor’s legal guardian.

4. False. Temporary suspensions are rare. More than 99% of reports do not result in temporary suspension. In equestrian sport, only 0.5% of reports have resulted in an immediate, temporary suspension.

5. True. All reports of child abuse, including sexual abuse, must be reported to the authorities and to the US Center for SafeSport. Failure to report suspected child abuse, including sexual abuse, involving a minor is a federal crime. (Victims of abuse are not required to self-report.)

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tion in some or all aspects of sport activity. If temporary measures require monitoring or chaperoning, the respondent may be required to locate, arrange, and/or pay for some or all of those services as a condition of continued participation pending completion of the investigation. The respondent may request an interimmeasure hearing at any time.

The fact-finding process may lead to one of four actions: 1) a formal resolution resulting in an investigation, 2) an informal resolution, 3) a case closure when there is insufficient information to move forward, or 4) a finding that there are no violations by the respondent. In an informal resolution, the respondent takes accountability for the action and the matter is considered resolved. The decision is final.

If a formal resolution is indicated, the case is assigned a trained investigator, who conducts interviews and gathers relevant information and evidence. The investigator then issues a report with recommendations to the Response and Resolution Office, which then reviews and issues a subsequent notice of a decision by the US Center for SafeSport.

If a sanction is recommended, the respondent may request arbitration.

The arbitration decision is final.

The USEF enforces sanctions imposed by the Center and any interim measures, including temporary suspensions. According to the Center, as stated in US Equestrian’s online Safe Sport FAQ, sanctions will be reasonable and proportionate to the code violation and surrounding circumstances with the intention of protecting participants. One or more of the following sanctions may be recommended: written warning, educational or behavioral programs, loss of privileges, probation, suspen-

sion, or other eligibility restrictions up to and including permanent ineligibility.

Safe Sport Myths and Truths The rollout, scope, and processes of Safe Sport have received their share of criticism, some of which has been compounded by confusion as to how much power the US Center for SafeSport holds. For instance, some critics have charged that Safe Sport policies and procedures do not give accused individuals (known as respondents) their constitutional rights of due process (a fair chance to be heard) or the chance to confront their accusers, and that respondents have no recourse against false claims.

The Fifth Amendment guarantees that the federal government cannot deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process when the issue pertains to criminal proceedings. The Fourteenth Amendment applies those same provisions to state governments. These rights apply to actions by the government as they pertain to the law.

In the US legal system, the right to confront an accuser applies only to criminal law. If an accuser files a civil suit, the accused doesn’t have the constitutional right to confront the accuser. Therefore, outside of a criminal trial, that right doesn’t exist.

The constitutional guarantees do not apply to private associations. The US Center for SafeSport is a private entity; in other words, it can’t find someone guilty of a crime. It can only reprimand someone engaged in conduct that violates its rules—rules that, as you’ll remember, are mandated by Congress. In the realm of equestrian sport, the most severe recourse is to restrict or prohibit

participation. Doing so may indeed lead to loss of income or reputation for someone whose career depends on participation in USEF activities, but the restriction or prohibition of participation in a voluntary membership organization is not the same as a criminal proceeding.

Before any disciplinary action is recommended, the respondent has an opportunity to learn what evidence has been gathered, to be heard by the case investigator, to provide evidence, and to submit the names of witnesses who may have factual information to corroborate his or her side of the story.

There are consequences for knowingly making a false report.

US Center for SafeSport investigators know that false accusations are possible and are trained in recognizing inconsistencies. There are consequences for knowingly making a false report, and doing so may also violate state criminal law and civil defamation laws.

new policies to protect minors (the USEF MAAP policies) as recently as April 2019. In June of that year, the policies went into effect via Congressional requirements mandating that the US Center for SafeSport put in place policies and procedures that limit one-on-one interactions between minor athletes and adults who are not their parents or legal guardians.

To learn more about Safe Sport, start with the USEF website (usef. org/safesport). You’ll find links to the US Center for SafeSport, with extensive resources including: • Reporting forms and process • 24-hour help line • Definitions • Core Center for SafeSport Training • US Center for SafeSport’s code, policy, and procedures • US Center for SafeSport’s Centralized Disciplinary Database • USEF Safe Sport policy • USEF’s Safe Sport Sanctions list • USEF’s mental-health resources, including confidential professional counseling sessions available free of charge to USEF members.

What’s Next?

Editor’s note: This article was reviewed by the US Equestrian (USEF) Legal Department and the USEF Athlete Protection Team.

For Safe Sport to have a chance, members of sport organizations need to believe in and understand its influence. As USEF CEO Bill Moroney has acknowledged (“Inside USDF,” March/April 2020; “Broadened Horizons,” March/April 2020), the USEF knows that the Safe Sport program is fluid and may require modifications. In fact, the USEF Board of Directors approved updates to Safe Sport and adopted

Sue Weakley is a freelance journalist with a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. She taught journalism and integrated marketing communications at the university level for five years before melding her love of dressage with her love of writing.

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Reviews Time for Books Your summer may be quieter than usual. Why not pick up a good book?

By Jennifer O. Bryant

National Pride Equestrians of a certain age may have on their bookshelves a coffeetable volume called Riding for America. The 1990 book, edited by veteran equestrian journalist Nancy Jaffer, contains vignettes about some of the most celebrated US Equestrian Team (USET) medalists of the day, from jumper riders Frank Chapot and Katie Monahan Prudent to dressage’s Carole Grant Oldford and Jessica Ransehousen, to name just a few.

Under the auspices of the USET Foundation, editor Jaffer has updated this engaging formula with an all-new version, Riding for the Team (Trafalgar Square, 288 pp.). With stories of medalwinners from all eight current FEI disciplines, you’ll meet champions past and present. In the dressage section, the time line spans Carol Lavell to present-day stars Laura Graves, Kasey Perry-Glass, and US national dressage technical advisor

(and medalist) Debbie McDonald.

Riding for the Team is an enjoyable read and would make a great gift for a horse lover of any age who’s ever dreamed of representing the USA in equestrian competition.

Yoga for Your Horse If show season is a nonstarter for you this year, perhaps you can take advantage of the extra training time to work on your horse’s fitness. A key element of his fitness, as it is of your own, is core strength.

The concept of strengthening the horse’s core muscles is not new— USDF Connection contributing editor Dr. Hilary Clayton has written and lectured on the subject extensively. A new book does a twist—or should I say a downward dog—on the subject by using yoga as the inspiration.

Core Conditioning for Horses (Trafalgar Square, 304 pp.) marries cat/cow, chair, thread the needle, and other classic yoga poses to basic dressage and gymnastic exercises to produce what author Simon Cocozza calls “yoga-inspired warm-up

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techniques.” Cocozza, an Italian-born equine-biomechanics expert who’s a certified examiner for the French National School of Equitation, bases his system on a Core Score Chart—a 0-to-5 assessment of a horse’s ridability, suppleness, soundness, head/ neck/mouth, and “ridden mindset.”

Depending on the core score, the rider/handler then does the “yoga moves” at the appropriate level of difficulty: beginner (“release level”), intermediate (“coordination level”), or advanced (“tone level”).

Help Your Horse Feel His Best If you’d like to complement your horse’s “yoga” workout with some additional modalities, then Physical Therapy for Horses (Trafalgar Square, 248 pp.) would be a good place to start.

Translated from the German original, this guide by German “physio” Helle Katrine Kleven leads the layperson through the basics of equine anatomy and biomechanics, then offers a well-illustrated introductory course on massage, stretching, and rehabilitation modalities.

Kleven offers advice on using therapeutic ultrasound and other devices, including when not to use them.

Primarily, however, she shows why, to help your horse feel and perform his best, the best and most important tools are your own two hands.

The Apprentice Being a working student is a timehonored way of learning horsemanship and riding. The access afforded to Big Name Trainers sounds enticing, but former working students can attest that the jobs are far from glamorous.

If you’ve wondered what it’s really like to be a working student, or if you just want a peek behind the curtain at several top international training facilities, then pick up In the Middle Are the Horsemen (Trafalgar Square, 392 pp.). Author Tik Maynard grew up Pony Clubbing in Canada and later became a world-class modern

pentathlete. Following college and a career-ending injury, the twentysomething decided to explore his equestrian career options by spending a year as a working student.

DID YOU KNOW THAT AS A MEMBER…

Maynard began blogging about his experiences working for such luminaries as German dressage master Johann Hinnemann, US eventing royal couple Karen and David O’Connor, and US showjumping legend Anne Kursinski.

The blog led to a gig as a columnist for The Chronicle of the Horse, which later led to In the Middle Are the Horsemen.

Maynard’s career-reboot year was a pivotal one: He found his calling (eventing professional) and met his future wife, international eventer Sinead Halpin. The journey he recounts will resonate with anyone who’s done some soul-searching to find their life’s purpose, especially if that purpose turned out to involve horses.

…you are eligible for national level honors such as rider medals and university diplomas?

USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

51

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L e v e l

ON THE LEVELS

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ON THE LEVELS

©2018 United States Dressage Federation (USDF) and United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) All rights reserved.

Reproduction without permission is prohibited by law.

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F o u r t h

©2018 United States Dressage Federation (USDF) and United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) All rights reserved.

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Filmed at Starr Vaughn Equestrian Center, CA, Valley View Farm, KY, and Meadowbrook Farm, Marlborough, CT. USDF and USEF would like to thank the demonstration riders and owners of the horses used, along with the support staff at each filming location. We would also like to thank the following contributors to this project: • FEI 5* Judge Janet Foy • FEI 4* Judges Lois Yukins, Mike Osinski, and William Warren • USEF ‘S’ and retired FEI 4* Judge Natalie Lamping • FEI 4* Judge and USDF Certified Instructor Sarah Geikie • USEF ‘R’ Judge and USDF Certified Instructor William McMullin • USDF FEI Level Certified Instructors Reese Koffler-Stanfield, Rachel Saavedra, and Volker Brommann • USDF Certified Instructor Heidi Chote

I n t r o d u c t o r y

his is your opportunity to view the dressage tests and learn what is new and what you, as a competitor, need to know! With narrations by international dressage riders, trainers, coaches, and judges, riders will demonstrate proper execution and some common faults in the riding of the latest tests, effective through November 30, 2022.

2019 US Dressage Tests

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Effective December 1, 2018 through November 30, 2022 Cover photo ©SusanJStickle

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Here’s how.

Air Your Views

USDF Connection welcomes letters to the editor. Please send your digital submission by e-mail to jbryant@ usdf.org. Please include your hometown, state, and daytime telephone number. We’ll publish letters as space allows; all submissions are subject to editing. Unsigned letters will not be considered, although writers may request that their names be withheld. All letters become the property of USDF.

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Do you have a dressage- or USDFrelated question? Send it to “FAQ” and you may get an expert response in a future issue of USDF Connection.

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Share Your Story...

…or your views on a topic pertaining to dressage or USDF in “My Dressage,” USDF Connection’s member-written “back page.” Share your dressage discoveries, “aha” moments, challenges, and oberservations. Short “guest editorial” essays are also considered. All “My Dressage” columns are the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of the editors or USDF. Submissions accepted by e-mail only. Send submissions, along with your full name, hometown, state and daytime telephone number to jbryant@usdf.org, subject line should read “My Dressage.”

Please be prepared to supply a clear color digital photograph of yourself if your piece is accepted. Simultaneous submissions will not be accepted.

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USDF CONNECTION | July/August 2020

55

My Dressage A Different Beat A mounted-patrol officer discovers dressage

By Gwen Ka’awaloa

MULTITALENTED: Police Sgt. Joe Cummings with his first police horse-turned-dressage mount, Tug

In 2018, Joe asked me to help him prepare for his first mounted-patrol instructor course, which was based on elementary dressage. He had been advised to read up on dressage to prepare, and he asked if I would give him a few lessons. I agreed, assuming that this cowboy would quickly lose interest, dismissing dressage as “too English.”

I was so wrong! Book after book and video after video, Joe became fascinated by the pyramid of dressage training and became a true student of the process. Every lesson included a discussion of his latest reading and

how to apply his newfound knowledge in the saddle.

It’s difficult, however, to learn dressage equitation in a Western saddle. One day, Joe showed up with a dressage saddle that his horse’s previous owner had purchased. Next came a proper dressage bridle, and suddenly I was training a totally different team. We planned to attend a schooling show, and Joe showed up in breeches and field boots. He had invested 100% in dressage.

Joe’s intro-to-dressage year ended with a few Training Level tests and Western dressage classes, all earning respectable scores in the 60s. Our winter plan was for Joe to show at USEF-licensed/USDF-recognized competitions at Training and First Levels, but unfortunately Joe’s wonderful partner, Tug, developed some lameness issues that resulted in his early retirement.

Meanwhile, Joe had been accepted into the Royal Canadian Mounted Patrol two-week riding intensive program. To prepare, we again began an intense training program to get Joe in shape to ride with good equitation and balance.

I am proud to say that Joe graduated as one of the “Mounties’” top students, even getting to school on the more advanced horses. But when he returned home to Colorado, the loss of his patrol partner hit him hard. That spring, we began shopping for a new potential patrol horse-slash-dressage partner. I was picky about conformation, gaits, and balance; Joe focused on the temperament needed in a good police horse.

Finally, I found a six-year-old Azteca gelding that had some naturalhorsemanship training and three solid gaits. Zuni was a bit small but looked

56 July/August 2020 | USDF CONNECTION

like a good soul on the online video.

Joe tried him and fell in love. The natural horsemanship helped with the patrol-horse candidate evaluation, and a match was made. The first dressage lesson went well, too, but not before “Z” was asked to spend a day soon after purchase at a mountedpatrol clinic that Joe was teaching. Z was a rock star, even participating in some of the training and earning his certification at the first level.

As a trainer, I love teaching dressage to anyone who wants to learn.

Joe has been a joy to teach: He is truly a sponge, absorbing all lessons and attending every seminar he can to learn even more. My work with Joe has enabled me to enjoy the dressage journey again through fresh eyes.

He has reminded me that even the most unlikely student can put a new and refreshing spin on the learning process. A good police horse must be aware of but not reactive to many situations. I have found that these horses can still be sensitive to the rider while not reacting to an everchanging environment. What’s more, basic dressage training helps them to stay sound and the riders to be more aware of their own equitation and balance. Less hand, more seat!

Hawaii native Gwen Ka’awaloa is a USDF-certified instructor through Fourth Level, a USEF “R” DSHB judge, an “R” dressage judge with USEF Freestyle designation, and the current president of the Rocky Mountain Dressage Society. When she is not training at Kaimana Equestrian in Elizabeth, Colorado, she is an emergency-room critical-care technician at a local hospital.

COURTESY OF GWEN KA’AWALOA

P

olice officers make frequent visits to hospital emergency rooms, and that’s where I met Sgt. Joe Cummings. In the ER where I work, Joe and I discovered a shared passion for horses. When he got assigned to the Parker (Colorado) Police Department’s Mounted Patrol Unit, Joe told me about their plans and showed me videos of the training process. We would sometimes discuss the relationship between cavalry work and dressage.

Photo: Alden Corrigan

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