E.U. Championships - WOW!
The other day I made my predictions for teams as well as Individual championships at the Europeans in Windsor, England this week. So far, I’m one for one. meaning I got the teams right. Now some might think it was fairly easy to get this one on the mark, but saying that perennial winner, Germany, would win neither gold nor silver still gave me great pause to consider! Still, that’s exactly what happened as well as my predicted landslide win for Holland. We’ll see if I fare so well for the individuals.:)
The bigger question is, “Why and how could this happen to the German team?” My answer to this complicated question might be very different than that of other experts in the field, but I will proffer my opinion to you and see how it flies. OK?
The first and most obvious reason for the German defeat is their loss of their queen, Isabell Werth, with whom they most certainly could have produced sufficient scores to put them in the silver spot. Obviously, the problems of drug abuses as well as the firing of key administrators was a drain on everyone involved in the sport there. And, of course, both Heike and Ulla had horses which sustained injuries, causing each to be out of the team. But, Germany was always famous for having teams so long on talent that they could field multiple squads, each of which would have come back wearing gold around their necks. So how did a country with so much heritage, pride, money, trainers, and horses find themselves so short on available talent?
I believe the answer is that their “machine” broke down as their great trainers, some of whom I have had the privelidge to work with, aged and either retired, lost favor with their riders and National Federation, or died. Think of it - Schultheis, Rehbein, Klimke, Theodorescu, Tempelmann, and others were the mentors of so many young, talented riders and, once gone, who has been left to ensure the standard would be maintained at the level it once was? Not so many is the answer, and those, like Balkenhol and Hinneman, though both great trainers, were not accepted in the recent political atmosphere where those making decisions might be persuaded to make decisions based on financial implications instead of “good old fashioned horse-sense.” In short, the system which worked so beautifully for years under greats like Harry Boldt, now residing in Australia, was left with nobody manning the ship and those left in charge lost sight somehow of how and why they were so successful for so many years.
This can most certainly not be said for Holland, which took the very best ideas from the Germans and applied them to their own system and now see themselves with enormous strength and huge growth and prosperity at all levels. It is a lesson which, I believe, America has yet to learn, though I am hoping beyond words that this will now be solved by programs and strategies created and administered by Anne, Debbie and Lendon.
And mark my words, Germany may be down for the moment, but don’t ever count them out long-term. This is their national sport and they will fix what’s broken and be back in the driver’s seat faster than you can say World Equestrian Games! In the meantime, my heartfelt congratulations to all the medalists, especially to Edward and Adelinde who have both provided the world with a new bar to strive for in the sport of Dressage!
Cheers!
RD
Jane Gennaro — August 27, 2009 @ 11:29 am
Does Holland now have the quality of trainers that Germany had back then? If so, they are not quite as famous as those you listed for Germany. However, it certainly does seem that Holland is the country to beat these days.
Sandra Turner — August 28, 2009 @ 6:56 am
Extreamly insightful and dead on………I was fortunate enough to live and work in Germany while those guys were front and center and let me just say wow! Until you put it in writing I suppose I didn’t realize that all of them really are gone.
Vanessa Vaile — August 29, 2009 @ 9:54 am
I lived in Germany in late 60s and had the indescribable fortune to ride with one of the last of “Rau’s boys.” Even back then, with the machine still humming, he saw the system going under, compromised as it were by less discipline, increasing impatience, market forces - perhaps insufficient and insufficiently trained replacements as well. It would sadden but not surprise him to see this.
Very good analysis - kindly put. Greed, aka market forces, is another factor. Horses rushed in training to sell abroad, horses sold that should have been retained, schoolmasters sold that should have been retained in accredited riding facilities and so on.