OK, Gang,  I have now been in the Toronto area as well as around Ottawa for the last 10 days and seen upwards of 60 horses and riders at all levels from 3 year old babies to international Grand Prix. My marathon is now over and I am preparing to go to bed early after dinner in my room near the airport so I can be on my plane at 7:30am tomorrow. And i can honestly say that, although I can’t wait to see Robert and Simon as well as my folks back in Florida, it has been quite an amazing trip, all in all.

I saw another 18 combinations today in Ottawa, including a few fantastic young riders with lovely horses, and quite a few other very nice prospects as well as one long-listed Grand Prix combination, Simone Williams and Wunder Ein.  Naturally, with so many to look at, I said to myself that I would definitely be brief with each one and simply sit there quietly and judge whether I felt each was up to the level I am hoping for and finally giving a thumbs up or down. Of course, that was the opposite of what happened as just as is always the case, I can’t possibly just watch riders going around without jumping in and giving a full lesson to each with the objective of truly hoping that each combination would go home feeling they had a life changing experience, if only that they understood the commitment I explained is necessary to become a great athlete in any sport, including Dressage. One of the greatest challenges to our riders’ progress is the fact that they, for the most part, are trying to do this without a training system which includes daily supervision by a top professional. This is, I admit, hard for me to understand since I have never in my entire career been unsupervised for even a day that I can recall.

In Malcom Gladwell’s book, “The Outliers”, he explains that becoming great in mostly any endeavor requires a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice. I would take what he says even one step further to state that becoming great at something is dependent upon at least that many hours of “perfect practice under world-class supervision”. With regard to Dressage, it is not even enough to run around an arena year after year doing all the movements if the position, the basics and the all important half-halt are not the highest priorities in one’s mind. It is only through the constant unwavering commitment to excellence, fostered by the top professional to their student, that the grandest possible results are achievable.

So, as you can imagine, it was a week of watching, doing my best to help teach and train, and finally asking the riders about their future goals and plans to realize them. Many had plans but even more did not, or the ones they shared with me were sketchy at best. In my usual blunt but hopefully tactful way (not always), I tried my best to make it crystal clear in each case exactly what I felt every one of the riders needed to do to achieve their goals. I am certain that it was not always easy to hear, but I promised, as I have to you, my readers, that I will never lie to you no matter how hard the truth might be for us all to listen to, including myself.  That, at the end of the day, is the very best I can do for everyone, and it is my sincere hope that everything I said was taken knowing that my intentions were and always will be to help and support our Canadian riders to the very best of my ability for as long as I am on the job!  Now, I will be watching closely to see how many  and which of our riders not only heard me but will act on my suggestions.

Cheers!

RD

After spending a great week in the Toronto area at the Royal and quite a few barns where I saw some wonderful riders and horses at all levels, I was on the plane last evening for Ottawa. This morning I and members of Dressage Canada and Equine Canada met with members of Own The Podium which is responsible for administering funding to all of the sport disciplines within the Olympic family. Thankfully, Dressage met first this morning so, with what I believe was a very successful meeting taken care of, we were on our way to the first barn where Gina Smith keeps her horses and clients. It is directly on the St. Laurence River and is just beautiful, as have been all of the stables where I have made stops so far.

I saw everything from a lovely 3 year old to Gina’s coming Grand Prix horse and pretty much every level in between. It was a fun day and I hope, as I always do, that all of the riders felt they learned something new and helpful for their education and that of their horse. I will report after my 2nd day in the Ottawa area.

Cheers!

RD

Today was my 4thday of looking at many combinations for both the short and long-term success of Canadian Dressage. What is absolutely obvious to me is the fact that the experienced past team riders are, without exception, extremely talented people, some of whom have very promising mounts while others simply do not at this time. I felt myself wishing I could do someting  magical to snap my fingers and produce world-class horses for a few of these athletes as I know that by doing so they would rise like shooting stars directly toward the heavens with a stop on top of the podium next year!

The good news is that there are more very good horses with top riders than I even thought when I took on the role of Coach/ Advisor. Now, for me, the challenge is to do all I can to help my riders and their horses gain the necessary training, experience, and exposure to instill the highest degree of confidence in them throughout the coming year leading up to the WEG’s.  Tailoring exactly the right plan for each of them is an art unto itself, since it entails all sort of logistical and practical variables, unique to each combination.

I have to say that this is the stuff I actually love and thrive on. Figuring out each strategy like a puzzle is exactly like training a horse in that way. And just like the horse must want to partner up and play along, so must the riders take all steps necessary to ensure their ultimate success, even when they require great sacrifice to do so. In the end,  it is not really ever the coach that makes winners out of the riders, though we may truly wish for our ego’s sakes that it was so. The riders themselves, like all great athletes, artists, or business men or women,  bring success upon themselves because to do anything else simply is not within their genetic make-up.  The coach merely  has the job of assuring that his or her athletes have everything they need to allow them to focus on being stars!

Cheers!

RD

I continued today, after meeting with Dressage Canada’s Board, with my talent search going from barn to barn in the Toronto area. I can honestly say that there are some wonderful riders and horses, though not many of them will be ready with their riders for next year’s World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. Naturally, I am also looking for future stars, both human and equine, and trying to give my honest appraisal of everything I am seeing to the riders as well as my opinions regarding their training and strategies for their progress toward their ultimate goals. And that’s where the rubber tends to meet the road!
The thing is that, as I have said so many times, becoming great at anything in life requires many things; talent, dedication, an amazing work ethic, financial and other resources, support from family, loved ones and pretty much everyone in one’s life, tools ( a great horse, proper equipment and all the other items required to train and compete with), and willingness to make huge sacrifices to achieve one’s desired outcome. Even with all these elements in place and the very best trainers or coaches one can find, you still need a lot of luck for everything to go your way to make an Olympic or World Championship Team.

Now, I always say that I completely understand people having their priorities in life which may prevent them from doing what they would need to in order to get on a team, and I do not begrudge them that. But if they tell me they are determined to go for the gold, sorry, but they just can’t have it both ways. It is not possible to say that they intend to go to Florida or California for 8 weeks and do the trials to get selected onto the team, unless, that is, they are like Steffen Peters and Ravel who are already clearly world-class competitors. It is especially necessary for riders to understand that they and their horses must be working daily at an extremely high level of quality with excellent basics as well as expression, and that they must be getting scores at home or at small shows up at or over 70% well before the first CDI (without a whip!) takes place in the end of January.

So I am looking for those combinations which clearly show they have all that it takes to make next year’s as well as future teams for Canada. Remember what I said the other day in my blog. Imagine this is an audition for “So You Think You And Your Horse Can Dance “…..AND BRING IT!

Cheers!

RD

Ashley Holzer won both the Grand Prix and the Freestyle at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto riding her Pop Art. It has been a very hard time for Ashley as she lost her father recently andcoming to the Royal was very emotional for her as well as her Mom, but with her usual grace and professionalism, she rode like a star and earned over 75% in the Kur. The six horse/ rider class included 3 other Canadian riders; Cherly Meisner, Danielle Gallagher-Legriffon and Jacqueline Brooks, all of whom showed much better rides on the 2nd day and show much potential for the future. Rounding out the class were 2 American riders - Tina Konyot with her stallion Colecto which is very green but shows great promise for the future and Heather Mason who I feel is riding the best horse she has ever had and is in his first year at Grand Prix as well.

The Royal is just a wonderful show for so many reason and I have enjoyed it immensely. I have also bee spending time in meeting with Canadian riders as well as officials of both Equine Canada and Dressage Canada, not to mention going to barns in the area to continue my nation-wide talent search for future stars at all levels. I will do two more days of meetings and training sessions here in the Toronto area and then leave for two more days of the same in Ottawa, finally flying home to Florida on the 18th. My next trip with be out to Alberta to see the horses and riders in the Calgary area on December 2nd and 3rd.

Well, I’m certifiably exhausted and signing off for now

Cheers!

RD

Hooray! Thanks to Johnny Robb, The American Shetland Pony Association and everyone who helped so much to make sure it happened, Gary Johnson now has a new driving pony named Ranger. Finding this pony and getting him to Gary has been a true labor of love, ever since he was introduced to Mary Phelps and I by Shelley Zlotkin of Sharing Village’s “Driving For Surviving” organization at Gladstone last June.

Gary is an inspiration to everyone around him and I can’t thank all those who participated in making this dream come true for him!

Cheers!

RD

PS - I will be uploading a great pic of Gary and Ranger as soon as I get into my hotel Room in Toronto tonight and can get on my laptop.

It’s hard to believe that it will be one year in a week since I received that fated call from Princess Haya asking me to become part of a Dressage Task Force to deal with 5 general tasks. Now, one year later, with the General Assembly taking place in Copenhagen next week, our Task Force, lead fearlessly by Frank Kempermann of Holland, met for the last time to go over the input which was returned to the FEI regarding our proposals by all the National Federations and Stakeholder Groups, not to mention a few very vocal individuals voicing their extremely strong opinions.

I am very proud to say that our proposals were, on the whole, very well thought of world wide. Naturally, it is impossible to make everyone happy in every case; however, we have done our best today to deal positively with those issues raised which we agreed need amending for the sake of fairness around the world.

I truly believe that the Dressage Task Force has been one of the highlights of my career, not because I am sure we will have brought a new era to the sport, although I hope very much this will result, but rather because this time spent with my brilliant colleagues has proven to the source of great interest, excitement and most importantly, life-long friendships!

Cheers!

RD

Canada definitely has momentum rolling along already, and Toronto winning the bid for the 2015 Pan American Games is further proof of it.
I congratulate them and know it will be a fantastic games.

I leave for Toronto and the Royal Winter Fair on Tuesday morning and am looking forward to watching the CDI, meeting with officials of Equine and Dressage Canada, and spending the following days in both the Toronto and Ottawa areas looking at approximately 40 to 50 horse and rider combinations.
I am also going to Alberta in the beginning of December to see another 10 combinations as I get a feeling for Canada’s talent across the nation at all levels.

So here’s a word to all of you who will be riding in front of me as I travel through the provinces- think American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance …… and BRING IT!
I am hoping to see riding and horses which make the hair on my arms raise.
Got it?

Cheers!

RD

I can’t tell you how happy I feel to report that October held far more wonderful experiences and outcomes then negative ones. It’s sort of like watching the news day after day and just wishing someone - anyone - would report something even a little uplifting.

Well, first of all, my Mom is undergoing chemo again but is, so far, tolerating it very well, and she loves her new specialist and has the most positive attitude I can remember her having in years. I just know she will be back in a remission very soon. Like I keep reminding her - This is my movie and nobody is going anywhere until I say!

As you already know if you are a loyal reader of Dover’s World, which I hope you are because where else can you read about everything going on in the sport of Dressage, get life help from the amazing Rhonda Weis, talk to my Mom about everything under the stars, here about college life from Julian, and keep track of me and my friends, eh? ( See, I’m practicing my Canadian ), I have the great honor and privilege of having been selected as Canada’s new Technical/Coach Advisor. I’m in the midst of a cross-country meet and greet/ talent search having been to Vancouver and am leaving for Toronto and Ottawa on Tuesday. I will also be going to Alberta in early December. Believe me, I know thee is a lot of hard work ahead to produce both short and long-term goals, programs, and strategies necessary to make Canada into a top world power in the sport of Dressage. But I love a good challenge and can feel the excitement and support which I am very grateful has been pouring in from all across the country, especially from the riders!

Robert has been doing an absolutely amazing job with his real-estate business and is as busy as a person can be. I am so proud of this and the fact that he is doing all this while also going back to school for his B.A. in business. And I always thought just dealing with me was a full-time job!

Both of my former assistants have been extremely productive recently. Katherine Bateson Chandler has been over in England with her 2 horses owned by Jane Clark and has moved them both up into the Grand Prix. Very exciting and I can’t wait to see them compete when they get back to Florida. And not to be outdone, Phelisha Chandler has produced 7 pounds, 10 ounces of beautiful bouncing baby boy, named Preston. I don’t think it’s possible to have a name like Preston Chandler without becoming a famous “something”. Don’t you agree? I can’t wait to see Mom and little Preston when they come for a visit to Wellington.

Nothing is  new on the Zada front but I’m very sure the authorities are getting closer and closer to bringing him to justice. And that’s good enough for me.

Finally, I hope you are enjoying reading about my November Out For Good Hero, Ron Davis. He is one of the most amazing people I have ever had the honor of knowing and calling my friend.  If you ever have the chance  to meet him- take it. I guarantee you it will be worth it!

Cheers!

RD

I am thrilled to announce the arrival of Mr. Preston Chandler to my former assistant, Phelisha! Preston weighs in at a whopping 7 pounds, 10 ounces and I am told he has already been fitted for his Ralph Lauren riding breeches. All I can say is he had best grow up wanting to jump ’cause somebody needs to be in a sport that can win some money! Right?

My congratulations go out to Phelisha and the entire family and I know little Preston will be loved and spoiled just as his little noble self should be!

Cheers!

RD