See, I told you so.  All I had to do was mention the word, ” Rollkur” and sure enough, the posts start streaming in!  But here’s the thing - I already mentioned that we’ve been around that track before and so this topic, while not off limits, is surely not going to win that reader an award for coming up with something new and fresh to talk about. Still, regarding Patrick, I already put the official statement from the FEI on my site so scroll back and you will see that it has not just been swept under the rug. OK?

To the reader who has so kindly written in about why she is timid to write, I sort of figured that one out on my own, but I am really happy you got up the nerve to write twice! Your second question is about trainer certification, I presume, and there are very successful models used already in several European countries which would work well enough in North America as well. The problem has always been that of fear by many in trusting that the few will be able to do a great job of carrying out such an institution with a high degree of professionalism and ethics. Here is the best barometer for selecting a trainer. Look at their show record of horses and riders they have trained and competed with. If they have repeatedly come out with beautiful and world-class results, they are good enough. One top horse may just be a fluke as may one top rider. Longevity of the kind that Jessica Ransehousen, Guenter Seidel, Steffen Peters, Ashley Holzer, and Debbie McDonald have is proof of their ability at the highest level. At lower levels, great instructors are the ones whose students keep being funneled upward into the higher levels and exemplify beautiful seats and extremely correct horses which are both complimented when seen by those top trainers I mentioned before.

So, now that I’ve said all that, not to be disrespectful, but I’m looking for posts that are way more fun and provocative, and remember, they don’t always have to be about Dressage or so serious.
There is life beyond horses, ya know!

Cheers!

RD

So here’s the thing - I’m not sure if I’m barking up the wrong tree here, but I was under the assumption that this blogging thing was going to be more of a 2-way street. I mean, I keep trying to come up with interesting stuff to talk with you guys about, but most of the time I’m obviously just talking to myself because aint nobody answering!
Now, that is not to say that I feel like people are not reading my site. I know by tracking the numbers that many thousands of you are coming to Dover’s World every week, but maybe you can call me an “attention hog” ’cause I want people I write to write back.
Maybe it’s another Jewish thing I can blame on my mother. You know that one about how the kids never call or write and definitely stay away from home too long between visits. Hmm. I’ll have to think about that possibility.
One thing I am sure of is how to push people’s buttons so they will write in. All I have to do is say something about hyper-flexion or, as they call it, Rollkur, and I’m bound to get a bunch of irate readers wildly complaining about those who would commit such an atrocity. But, since we already covered that subject ad-nauseum, I have to think up some new post which will get my readers to go crazy with me and let me know it.
So let me think. What if I were to say that most dressage riders have controlling personalities? Probably too obvious and not controversial enough, right?
How about this - the reader who writes in the most provocative question or comment which causes gobs of people to respond, will receive a special award from me. Send in your post under this one and I will make the best one into a new thread and tell you what you’ve won. And trust me, it will be good!

Cheers!

RD

I can honestly say that I’ve been very impressed over the last few years by how many riders I’ve been seeing in the gym, religiously working out each day. I have to admit that, until 1988, at 32 years of age, I had never even thought of spending time in a gym. If you asked me, I had more than enough exercise just riding my 12 to 14 horses a day and teaching who knows how many lessons.

But the thing is that, as I have written before, nobody told me that just the simple act of touching my toes could be the difference between having my health in my middle age versus the surgery I required last year on my back. All because I didn’t think that stretching my hamstrings each day had any bearing on my spine and vertebrae. How wrong was I!

So, as I said, I am so pleased to be seeing more and more of my friends in the horse world in the gym, working out, doing yoga or pilates, or just taking stretch or dance classes. I promise you will thank yourself a thousand times over 10 or 20 years from now for the exercise you perform today. A very wise person said, “It doesn’t matter if you like doing it or not, as long as you do it.”

And I can safely say, because of making the promise to myself  last year after my operation to take my workouts to the next level in order to fully recuperate, I am now in the very best shape of my life.  What shape will you be in when you are 39 like me ….. again?

Cheers!

RD

Well, I’m back from Vancouver where I had a great time with the riders, coaches, trainers, and supporters. I have to thank Ali Buchanan for being a great host and organizer as well as all the volunteers who made the week one I will remember fondly.

My next stop is in Tallahasse for my symposium at Dover Farms. (That really is the name. The owner and organizer, Carol Dover, though no relation, has become a great friend to me and the Equestrian Aid Foundation) I hope you will all come out and take part in what I guarantee will be a very fun and educational weekend, not to mention the costume benefit for the EAF which will be Saturday evening.

After that, I leave November 11th for the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. I absolutely can’t wait as I haven’t been to the Royal since I was a kid, but can still remember being mesmerized by everything from the dwarf rabbits to the teams of Clydesdales and Percherons. The CDIW will host 6 top international riders comprised of Cheryl Meisner, Jacquie Brooks, Denielle Gallagher, Tina Konyot, Heather Mason and Ashley Holzer. It’s going to be a very exciting show and I hope you will all come out to support it and show everyone why Dressage should be made more and more a strong part of the multi-discipline shows. Remember which sport keeps filling the stands more than any other at the
World Cups!

I will continue my “Talent Search” across Canada as well as going to all the winter/spring qualifiers on both coasts. If you have a great horse, feel you are a great rider with Olympic aspirations, or are interested in supporting the Canadian Team in any way, remember, I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Contact me here on DoversWorld.com by clicking the “Comments and Questions” icon at the top of the page.

Cheers!

RD

For anyone that enjoys keeping up with Robert Dover’s life, I just installed Twitter Updates on the top right side of the page! So enjoy the tweets!  I will probably be installing one on university world too once I get an account, that way you guys can be updated on college life tweets. So check back there soon!

JF

P.S for all you horse lovers don’t forget to look at Dance Away

Another fun day is over observing the Coaching Symposium with Ellen Bontje and Christoph Hess here in beautiful Vancouver. The enthusiasm has been terrific and I see the potential in both horses and riders to excel. I also see the need just as clearly for extremely well defined, funded, and administered programs at all levels.

I am reminded of a time when my mentor, the late Col. Bengt Ljungquist, looked at the vastness of the United States as well as the amazing potential of its people and resources, and created a vision which put the pieces of the puzzle together and thus created the evolution of Dressage sport in America. It is a lot like training a horse. Put all the pieces in their correct place and get them working in harmony with each-other and suddenly there becomes “music”- a true work of art!

And so it is with arts, machines, countries, and sport organizations and their teams. Putting this puzzle together will be hard work but also exciting and fun, eh?

Cheers!

RD

I arrived in Vancouver at my hotel at 2:00am this morning and Ali, one of the organizers of the symposium, picked me up having spent the entire night awake working to ensure all would go smoothly for me and everyone else. The poor guy has to be exhausted but, like so many of the others I have met today, has great enthusiasm and passion for Dressage
Canada and its future programs and I’m very glad he is such a strong force out here.

I also really enjoyed watching Ellen Bontje and Christoph Hess work with riders and horses at all levels while also being very interactive with the many trainers and judges who are here to audit.  Both Ellen and Christoph teach with great passion and respect for the horse and you could see each combination make nice progress from the beginning to the end of their lessons.

I would say that the throughness and commitment to going forward of the horses I watched today were the issues most requiring of work and with further emphasis on these points I can imagine seeing many of the riders receiving far higher scores with their mounts. I spoke to some of them, reminding them that they need to, as they are riding, be visualizing the most fantastic version of the grandest vision they can imagine of themselves and their horses, as if they were watching a movie in their minds. Remember, you cannot create art of any kind without first seeing the inner-vision of  it in your mind. This is the same with painting, sculpting, riding, and yes, building a winning team!  I am putting together, day by day, with the help and support of all those who are ready, willing, and able, my vision of a medal winning Canadian Team.

Cheers!

RD

Dear Rhonda,

I am OCD about clealiness and perfect order for my horses, barn and the farm grounds. I can not ride or simply enjoy the company of my six horses before all is perfect in all aspects. I have tried - again and again to just relax and go forward with training, but all I do is stare at what needs to be done. I have even hired a few people to assist me but the outcome is never the result that I expect. So, in your opinion, what should I do?

JP

Dear JP,

I have a very close friend who suffers from the same obsession of order and tidiness.  I bet you’re the type of person who has decorative towels hanging in your bathroom and that your head would explode if someone accidentally used them. Trust me JP, I know you better than you you know yourself. I had a similar situation on the early 1990’s but my demons told me to steal Tampax and candy bars from Duane Reade. Lets just leave it at that and move on. back to you…

Without being judgmental JP, you are a bit crackers. But that’s OK.  Some of my best friends and the most interesting people I know are crackers too. The bad news from this situation is that you can’t make the feelings go away completely. You will suffer with this for the rest of your life (as will those around you). It’s just who you are. You are just wound way too tight.

But, the good news is that there are a few things you can do to help silence the demons roaming through your head constantly telling you to clean. First off, get yourself laid more often. I bet it’s been at least two years. No one this uptight has a descent sex life. Secondly, get yourself a therapist and see him/her at last once a week (make sure its the kind of therapist who can dispense Xanax).  Third and most importantly, make sure to send Rhonda three of those Xanax pills per week (preferably 5 mg each). It ain’t easy fielding questions from crazy people…

Good luck,
Rhonda

So, I know you’ve probably been wondering, ” What the #*%! ever happened with the Joe Zada scandal?” The answer to that is , up until now, not so much.

After giving our testimony and documents to both the FBI and the SEC, we have left it, as have the throngs of others who lost their money to Zada, to the authorities to handle. And yes the wheels of justice really do turn very slowly, but I promised I would report any substantive news, should there be any. Up until recently, there have only been several front page articles in both Palm Beach and Detroit regarding Joe’s alleged misconduct.

But today something very interesting happened. Zada’s attorneys dropped him as a client citing irreconcilable differences. I shall summarize it for you.

Richmond Greer hereby moves to withdraw as counsel for defendant, Joseph P. Zada, and in support thereof, states as follows:

1.  Irreconcilable differences have arisen between Richmond Greer and Zada that prevent Richmond Greer from effectively representing Zada’s interests.

2. The parties will not be prejudiced by Richmond Greer’s withdrawal based on the fact that this matter has already been reduced to a judgment for plaintiff.

3. Richmond Greer asks that the Court allow Zada 30 days to obtain new counsel.

In other words, folks, even Joe Zada’s lawyers no longer want to deal with him. What does that tell you?

Cheers!

RD

I am very excited to be leaving tomorrow for beautiful Vancouver, B.C. to attend the Coaching Symposium being conducted by two good friends and colleagues, Ellen Bontje and Christoph Hess. These are two of the top people in their fields and they will be working with riders and horses at various levels from Juniors and young horses through international Grand Prix combinations. It will be fun to watch so many people and horses I have never had the pleasure of meeting before.

I also hope to have some time to spend with the riders and coaches to discuss their personal goals as well as my thoughts on short and long-term programs to bring Canada, with their help, to the medal podiums at every FEI level. It is my intention to, in the next 8 weeks, have strategies in place using our vast resources of top, experienced professionals to help administer our programs. I know this sounds like an awful lot to produce in such a short period of time, but that’s just it - we have less than one year to the World Equestrian Games and I have every interntion to do all I can to field a top team! I am already working in many different directions to help support our elite riders as well as doing what I can to enhance our depth of our Grand Prix combinations. At the same time we will be putting together a major meeting or group of meetings to amass an overall strategy to create and fund programs necessary to assure Canada of sustainable long-term success.

Sounds like too much for one person to undertake? Right you are, and that is why I am putting out a “MAJOR CALL TO ACTION” to every top rider, trainer, coach, owner, sponsor, ancillary professional and official, so that all of us together will craft and implement programs ensuring the brightest possible future for Dressage Canada!       See you in Vancouver!

Cheers!

RD