Life has a way of reminding one of the beauty and majesty all around, even when sometimes people can be a bit harsh. In the midst of dealing with the usual stresses, Robert and I went for dinner at the Standard Hotel, directly outside on the bay in Miami Beach, on Sunday evening.

Now, I’m not a drinker by any stretch of the imagination, but every once in a while I like a good Mojito, and this place had a killer rasberry one. So we got a pitcher!

A couple of friends chanced by and we had a few chuckles with them when, just as the sun was about to duck completely below the horizon and we were on our way to sit back down to dine, the most gorgeous streak began to illuminate the sky. Every cololur of the rainbow created a longer and longer tail behind what we immediately recognized as the Space Shuttle, climbing ever higher in the heavens.

When people are in the presence of things which amaze them, whether it is art, music, the products of nature, or those of science, we feel what some term “Aesthetic Ecstasy”. Our mouths hang open in awe, the hair stands up on our arms, and we can’t take our eyes off this gift from God or the universe, depending upon what one believes.

And as the shuttle disappeared completely and the sky below was still lit by a few white, puffy clouds, I sat across from my beloved Robert and remembered again that quibbles about semantics and theories of dressage riding are fine, but life?
Life is FABULOUS!

Cheers!

RD

So, M. Canton and others have asked me to answer some questions pertaining to hyperflexion and nuchal ligaments, etc., two words which, in over 35 years of training, I’ve never used. Never!

But, I promised I would do my best to answer all fair questions, and so I will try, and I hope that readers will, at the very least, respect the effort and keep an open mind to my answers. Above all, I hope you all know that I truly love all animals, especially horses and dogs, and I would never do anything knowingly to hurt any of them. On to the questions.

The first one asks if I think that hyperflexion gains access to the horses back and puts them on their hindquarters. As I said before, I have never used what I believe people today are referring to as hyperflexion. I also have never seen the videos discussed in question 4, so I can’t judge them. Here is what I can and will say.

I believe that every horse should be treated as an individual, with thier physical and psychological needs being considered as unique to themselves and their training. Just like a person, their conformation as well as their personality predisposes them to reacting in particular ways, and the trainer’s responsibility is to key into these characteristics and adjust to them so as to produce the greatest possible results with the least amount of effort from both horse and rider. The low-backed, high necked horse may gain great benefits by being put deep in its frame, though this should still never be asked for by pulling their head down with force, but rather through the harmonious use of legs, seat, and reins in such a way that causes them to seek the ground and a lower, longer frame. The consequent stretching down does result in the back growing upward under the rider’s seat which brings the bridge of the back into a better place to carry the weight. To prove this theory to yourself, it takes only to look at the value of child’s pose or cat, and others like it in yoga. As the head and neck are lowered with the chin in, and the back is raised and rounded while the buttocks are lowered under the body, the restorative properties of this strech are manifested immediately. We do this in yoga in a soft and flowing way and never under stress or by force, and this should apply for the good of the horse as well. Please remember this last line, OK? By contrast, horses which are built very downhill and front-end loaded may be better off being ridden to a higher frame which keeps them off their forehand for a greater proportion of their ride. The horse tells the knowlegible trainer what it needs- and they listen!

Question 2 asks, basically, if I think that horses are being well trained and ridden in competition today - if they are correctly connected, supple, and showing good piaffe and extentions.

I feel like the guy on a sitcom whose wife has asked him a trick question, waiting for him to give the wrong answer and say, “Ah ha!”. It makes me want to run the other directiion, just as I’ve watched Tim on Home Improvement do on so many re-runs. But I will still try to answer.

I think that there is more good riding today on good horses in general than there was 30 years ago. There is also more bad riding on bad horses. There’s just way more of everything, and way more access to seeing it all in one’s home office. Take a look at books from the 30’s and 40’s, or even the 70’s, and you will see that a great number of the horses were extremely stiff and not even approaching what we today term as “through” or “on the bit”. In 1984, at my first Olympics, relatively few horses could actually perform all the movements in the Grand Prix at all, and the individual bronze medal was won with a 66%! What I am saying is that we have bred far more athletic horses in the last 25 years, and riders and trainers from around the world have likewise become far more sofisticated with regard to the selection of those animals appropriate for the international arena. Sadly, part of this equation has been the incredible rise in cost of these horses, some more expensive then our homes! These amazing equines are more refined than most from decades before, are hotter and more sensetive, and generally lighter to all aids. Do they use their backs more or less than in the past, extend with greater or lesser overstride, and piaffe with lower haunches? It completely depends on the horse, just like it always did. The great geniuses, both equine and human, that we mortals regard with awe, always have and always will out themselves from the masses, just as all the true artists of every age have. In my time, Granat, Allerich, Marzog, Rembrandt, Bonfire, Salinero, and yes, Kennedy, are just some of the amazing equines I feel honored to have known, along with their riders. Likewise, Schultheis, Rehbein, Klimke, Werte, and yes, Van Gruensven are among my notable “greats”. If, during their careers, they have had moments they, like I, wish hadn’t happened, because the horse’s best interest was not put above their own, I hope you, like I, will foregive them. Sorry if you can’t accept that.

I will once again remind you all that I LOVE horses and that I am totally against anything that produces unfair pain or bewilderment to them at any time. I welcome anyone to come anytime and watch me ride my horses, though only for hobby these days, or even better, come to one of my symposia as I travel the world on my farewell “Cher” tour. Come sit, ask questions, watch the horses and riders work, take part and have fun- and then go home and get back on your laptops and discuss what you’ve seen. I will try very hard as I always have to give you reason to be proud of me.

Cheers!

RD

I love horse people in general, even though I tend to joke about them a lot. I mean, we are a fanatic group, often probably worthy of having an enormous net dropped on us in which we’d be carried off to some remote island far away from the rest of the “normal world.” But, for the most part, we are fun and funny, smart and driven, hard-working and full of love.

Except when we are ragging on eachother!

As a Dressage rider who has been around the block more than a few times, I’ve been the recipient of my fair share of criticism, some probably earned, and I believe I’ve generally tried to take it like a gentleman. I guess it goes with the territory and I learned to expect it. I also found that, many times, once I was helping our country win a medal somewhere, the very people who had skewered me in the press, were my new best friends. So it all equaled out in the end.

But I try, when I am out teaching symposia around the world, to help everyone remember that, as a rule, all of us who train horses wake up every day wanting to do the very best we can with what we know. I don’t believe that any of us get up and think, “I can’t wait to go ride my horse poorly,” and that goes for amateurs and professionals alike.

Still, for us professionals, with the advances in technology, every move we make, in or out of context, is immediately made available for the world to see… and critique. While the computer has made learning and discussing valid points of training exceedingly accessible, it has also created a monster: the chat room. Now, not all of these sites are bad, but many are simply a place where people can anonymously spew their venom about others without their victims being able to defend themselves, much like graffitti on bathroom walls. Most of them are probably just unhappy individuals with too much time on their hands.

Just remember please what I said about generosity and that all of us are genuinely trying, just as you are, to find our ways through life, with and without horses. And despite our successes or lack thereof, we are all capable of getting our feelings hurt. So when you are about to say something unkind to the world about someone, ask yourself if you are living up to the best possible version of yourself. I bet you will think twice and pass!

Cheers!
RD

The following is a sponsored post. For information on advertising on Dover’s World, please contact us.

Jenna Wyatt is a multi-talented young lady. She not only rides and trains Dressage and keeps a barn full of nice horses and clients, she also has an amazing voice and has written and recorded her own songs. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Jenna stays true to her country roots and has both the chops and the looks to be another Faith Hill or Shanaya Twain.

I hope everyone will get to know Jenna better and discover her talents for themselves!

Continue reading for Jenna’s full bio and gallery.

Jenna grew up riding horses. Her parents had horses before she was born, her mother riding while she was in the womb. Pleasure riding turned into showing AQHA horses by age seven. At nine, Jenna started competing Hunters on the southeast circuit. That quickly led to showing Jumpers, which resulted in Jennaʼs Eventing Career. Jenna evented through the Preliminary level. While training as an event rider, Jennaʼs eyes were opened to the sport of Dressage.

In 1999 Jenna began training with Robert Dover. While under Robert’s tutelage she trained and competed from training level to Grand Prix. She rode many horses under Robert, including the talented Nairobi currently competing at the Grand Prix level. Jenna trained with Robert extensively from 1999 - 2004. “I have learned so much from Robert over the past 10 years. Just being around Robert is inspiring. Not only is he an amazing trainer and coach, he’s demanding and instill incredible high standards in everyone that he works with. He has this special way of getting to the heart of what makes a horse and rider click.”

Jenna Wyatt operates a full time training facility in Point Clear, Al and Wellington, FL. Her hard work, talent and dedication to the sport of Dressage has enabled her to train and compete two extremely talented and special horses at the Grand Prix level. Rising to through the ranks of international dressage is demanding and costly. We are seeking sponsors of all types… private, corporate, product endorsements etc. to help fund this international star on the rise.

Click More for contact info and photogallery!
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Dear Rhonda,

Our 7 year old son has taken to putting on my dresses and dancing around the living room lip synching Brittany Spears songs holding my hairbrush as a microphone. We want to be supportive, but are out of our comfort zone on this one. Should we encourage, discourage or ignore the behavior.

Thanks for any advice.
Lena & Bob

Dear Lena & Bob,

Thanks for such an honest and open question. Whilst most people would never admit this is an issue in their household (yes, I said whilst), it is an issue that many, many families struggle with. I must confess upfront that I am not a licensed psychologist (or a licensed anything for that matter), but do have qualifying experience in just this sort of behavior. And as usual, the answer is simple. If he is talented; encourage him. By the time he is a young adult, Pricilla Queen of the Desert will be a regular broadcast on the Turner Classic Movie channel and Junior will be primed to take the lead in the remake. If he’s not; discourage him immediately and with force. Society is cruel and merciless to talentless drag queens. If he is just average at it, then ignore it. He will get bored and move on to Tonka trucks or Barbie.

Either way, there is nothing to worry about at all. Love him, celebrate his uniqueness and get on to issues that are much more substantive. I have included a link below to a video that I think will help you realize that you are not alone.

Warm regards,

Rhonda

Send your questions to rhonda@doversworld.com

My friend, Sean, has actually entered the Esquire Magazine’s Best Dressed Real Man Contest! Sean is an amazing guy who sells real estate in the San Diego area and lives with one of my best friends and ex-teammate, Guenter Seidel. And beside all that, Sean is a great dresser so I hope that all my friends and Dover’s World readers will take an extra minute to go online and vote for him to WIN, WIN, WIN!

Check out his profile here

I have always had dreams of flying, like lots of you. If I knew I were never in danger of dying like these guys all believe, I would try this in a heartbeat!

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Listen, I am as fanatic about dressage as the next guy or gal, but I think it’s high time for a reality check on this whole notion of what is or is not “classical”. Let’s take a good look together at the subject.

When I was younger and very green, I moved to Germany to get a more classical education in Dressage and granted, learned a huge amount. I also went from only having had success in the U.S. to ultimately winning major Grand Prix as well as freestyles all over Europe. And I owe much of that success to great trainers who taught me very well how to better create throughness and harmony both at home and in the show arenas.

But at the same time I became aware that Dressage, like life, is not absolutely black or white, but actually exists more on a gradient determined by many variables. So I am going to put myself way out on a limb with this one and hope I don’t fall (or get pushed) off!

I first have to say that my opinions began to change when I observed things which made me question the ideas I had thought were absolutes about what was called “classical”. Once, I had gone for a lesson with one of the great classical trainers of our time and watched with my mouth open as, angry with something his horse had done, he took a hold of his ear from the saddle and twisted it until the animal fell to its knees. Classical?
I also rode with someone over there who was so frightened of their horses that they never rode outside from their indoor for one and a half years, other than when off at shows. Classical?

And then came the hooplah about people putting their horses deep which was later named, “hyperflexion”, as if this was some new and strange practice. In fact, I had thought that everyone put their horses deep and round until I got to Willi Schultheis’s farm for training in the early 80’s. Not only did he not believe in stretching down, all horses including the 4 and 5 year olds were in full bridles and no one including Schultheis ever posted a single step-ever! And when he rode the great Dinasty from Cindy Ishoy that year in an exhibition at the World Cup Finals in Essen, he did so with the snaffle rein dropped and only holding the curb, and the crowd went crazy with what was later described in the press to have been the Master riding in the classical fashion, only on the curb. And trhis was also the time that many people were saying we were ruining the sport by adding the Freestyle to the Olympics. We would be losing our classical principles, after all. Naturally, this did not take into account the hundreds of years before we were all competing, they were riding horse ballets for the kings and queens and their courts to the tunes from live musicians. And the Spanish Riding School, a meca of classical riding through the decades, has carried on the most beautiful tradition of blending technique and music to form great art for us all.

The sport of skating is a model for us to look at. The sport’s popularity has increased exponentially since taking out the very boring to watch compulsory figures from competition. It absolutely did not lose its commitment to its classical principles by doing so. In fact, the audiences have become very educated about exactly what the technical aspects of the sport require, and this along with the fun of seeing it performed to music in both short and long programs has driven their sport to new heights and helped to sell it to the world.

Don’t get me wrong. I still think Schultheis as well as the others I described were fabulous trainers; I just changed my philosophy of what the word “classical” meant to me.

So here it goes. I believe that a classically trained horse is totally adjustable to the will of the rider in his rhythm ( how fast or slow), his length of stride ( how long or short), and his frame ( how high or low and how long or short). And this adjustability must in no way create pain or bewilderment to the horse.
Now what could be more classical then that? These principles produce a thoroughly supple and obedient “partner” who will fight for and not against his rider, and be a joy for all to behold. That goes whether they have come from one school of thinking or another as well. And these horses and riders are able to enter the competition arena and prove their good training to the judges time and time again, like our great champions through the years have done, such as our only tripple individual gold medalist in history, Anky.

So there you have it; that’s my philosophy.

Oh, and by the way, that’s also my final answer and I’m sticking to it!

Cheers!

RD

Yesterday, I heard that the Jumper riders in Wellington met to discuss the formation of a North American Jumping Riders Club, similar to the International Jumping Riders and Dressage Riders Clubs already in existence. While I totally believe that all riders from around the world need to feel they have appropriate control over the direction of the sport in all its facets, I have a few thoughts on the matter which they might want to consider.

The FEI is truly trying to reform the entire organization, understanding that our sports are at a cross-roads and require, just as do our governments and businesses, far greater democracy as well as transparency. This was obvious in my sport by the fact that we had been governed by a technical committee consisting of, while very fine, well meaning people, 5 judges and one rider. No one officially representing the various other stakeholder groups such as organizers, trainers, or owners were given seats at the table, and this had to stop. And Princess Haya did just that.

A Dressage Task Force (DTF) was formed consisting of one rider, trainer, organizer, judge, and owner, as well as one Chef D’equipe. This interim group was asked to deal with 5 major tasks, for me the most important of which is how to bring about the democratization of the future Dressage Committee. The six of us have worked very hard to find solutions to this issue and yesterday, sent out to all NF’s as well as the international stakeholder clubs, our proposals.

And here is where, Jumping as well as 3-day Riders, you may find food for thought.
We believe that there must be a completely understandable process and criteria, by which a rider, trainer, judge, organizer, or owner from any country may work hard to one day sit on their FEI Technical Committee, or even become the President of the FEI for that matter. The FEI is producing a blueprint which NF’s can look to to form national Stakeholder clubs for each of the groups mentioned above. These will be mandatory if they intend to nominate and elect a representative to the international clubs. They will have to provide their by-laws as well and meet the criteria provided by the FEI.
The international clubs will need to fulfill the same criteria for transparency and democracy and will duly nominate and elect their representative to the FEI Technical Committee. At each level, the representatives elected must speak for the will of the clubs which elected them, or basically be fired from their job and have a new person elected to take their place.

I believe that this model will be accepted in time by all the disciplines and will help to revolutionize the sports. No longer will anyone be able to simply appoint a friend or colleage to the FEI, and all stakeholder groups will have far greater autonomy and control over the destiny of their sport.

I would urge anyone seeking more information on this as well as any equestrian sport related matters to contact our FEI Director of Sports, David Holmes. Beside being a very smart and hard working man, he is also extremely approachable and a really nice guy.

I hope this information gets to all those interested and feel very hopeful for a brighter future for all equestrian sports.

RD

With all the amazing traffic coming to Dover’s World, I’ve been receiving questions and comments from all around the world. So I’ve decided to put them up on the site for everyone to read and, like me, respond to when appropriate.

Cheers!
RD