by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 2, 2024
Could mandatory registration of dressage trainers be on the horizon, along with a certification requirement for these professionals?
It’s a definite possibility in the wake of Tuesday’s FEI stakeholder meeting in Switzerland, where some key players in the discipline met to discuss the core objectives of dressage and “ways of realigning the discipline to reflect these objectives.”
Dressage has been under scrutiny not only since the pre-Olympic Charlotte Dujardin scandal (the Olympic multi gold-medalist was shown hitting a student’s horse with a longe whip in a video that went viral) but also after other allegations of abuse became public.
What is the overall goal as seen at the meeting? Those attending contended that horses should be trained through balanced and systematic education, while being ridden to be calm, supple, flexible, confident, and responsive, “fostering a deep and positive connection with the rider.” You may be seeing that perception written into the FEI Rulebook going forward.
“A crucial aspect is that Dressage is practiced without tension or resistance, ensuring harmony between the horse and rider,” the FEI stated.
FEI Dressage Director Ronan Murphy explained the next step is to figure out how to “adapt our practices and approaches to ensure these standards are met. This effort is not the responsibility of any one group; it is a collective mission for the entire Dressage community.”
FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said, “While showcasing top sport, the Paris Games brought to light challenges that have prompted us to reflect and reassess in the post-Games period.”
One thing that should be reassessed is how the blood rule is handled. A case in point was the way the head of the ground jury stopped Marcus Orlob in the middle of his Paris Grand Prix test because his mount, Jane, had a tiny scratch on her white hind leg. It wasn’t gushing blood. Had it been on a black leg, it wouldn’t have been visible at all.
Was anyone in the stands, far from the middle of the arena, able to see that? No, so they were mystified when the rider was excused. Why not let the athlete finish his test and then have the veterinarians in the backstage area determine afterward whether the horse should be disqualified. The scratch obviously was not anything to do with abuse; it happened when the mare whirled to follow the previous entry, who exited the arena the wrong way.
The FEI should train and trust officials to make judgments about the presence of blood and determine whether it stems from something the rider has done or from another source. Animal rights activists have terrified officials, even though many of these protestors know nothing about horses and may have objectives that don’t necessarily relate to horse welfare. The fear of having horse sports excluded from the Olympics has been a driver for incidents like the one involving Jane.
National federations and media were not part of the Tuesday meeting. Participants included representatives of the
International Dressage Rider’s Club, the International Dressage Officials Club, the International Dressage Trainer’s Club and the dressage organizers, as well as the presidents of the European Equestrian Federation and the Pan American Equestrian Confederation; the FEI vice president, the chair of the FEI Para Equestrian Technical Committee and the FEI Dressage Steward General.
The discussion will continue at the FEI annual meeting in November and its sports forum in April 2025.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 3, 2024
Six years after Amanda Steege and Lafitte de Muze won the World Champion Hunter Rider Professional Challenge at the Capital Challenge Horse Show, they did it again Wednesday night in Maryland.
Scores of 93.66 and 91.16 over two rounds gave Amanda a total of 184.82, 6.08 points ahead of runner-up David Wilbur with Four Aces.
Amanda Steege and Lafitte de Muze (Shawn McMillen Photo)
On Friday night, Scott Stewart took the $30,000 WCHR Pro Hunter Rider Final, in which the top four riders rode “donated” horses they had not competed previously in a format like the Final Four, which used to decide the world show jumping championships.
It was the eighth time that Scott, 60, had won the title.
Despite his record, “I still get nervous,” he conceded.
“It’s a great honor to be included in these group of riders. I’m hopeful that I’ll get to keep doing it. I’ve won it enough, and I just enjoyed doing it, so I wasn’t really expecting to win, but I was, I would say, probably the most relaxed I’ve ever been.”
Scott had a 20-point margin over second-place Geoffrey Hesslink. Amanda was third and Nick Haness, the 2022 winner, finished fourth.
Of her victory earlier in the week, Amanda said, “We pick certain classes throughout the year that we really aim Lafitte for and try to have him peak at.”
Lafitte, who is owned by Cheryl Olsten, has the right bloodlines for victory. The son of Darco is out of Everlychin de la Pomme, a mare who won the Grand Hunter Championship at Capital Challenge in 2013 with Scott Stewart aboard, after she had campaigned in the jumpers with Shane Sweetnam.
Amanda, who is based in Califon, N.J., and Wellington, Fla., has a motto of “calmly confident” with her 13-year-old Belgian warmblood mount, “just trying to go out there and pick up the canter and show a little pace without overdoing it and attacking the jumps.”
“To win this same class again is very exciting,” she said.
“I think it’s remarkable to have a horse like Lafitte for seven years and have him still be so at the top of his game. Every round that I do on him, he tries so hard. He never comes out of his stall and feels like he doesn’t want to go to the ring. I just am so thankful to have him for the last seven years, and I’m looking forward to quite a few more.”
Amanda noted that Lafitte is “unbelievably intelligent” and “really a ham” who is always up for a photo session and posing with his prizes.
The rider gives credit to her partner, Tim Delovich, who “is so responsible for Lafitte being Lafitte.”
“Lafitte is amazing, but he’s an athlete and he’s sensitive,” she explained.
“Tim is his person and sort of pulled it all together with him. I really do think Lafitte understands this whole thing and that he’s really supposed to be showing off when he’s out there. He makes us all better.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 6, 2024
Germany collected the trophy for the first final of the new Longines League of Nations Sunday in Barcelona, but the clever course by Santiago Varela didn’t make it easy.
The Germans had a total of 12 penalties over two rounds. Can you believe the worst score in the second round was two knockdowns from Checker 47, ridden by Christian Kukuk, who just won individual gold at the Paris Olympics? (and where Santi was the designer, with Gregory Bodo of France).
The Netherlands was second on 16 penalties, while the podium was completed by Sweden with 20, which included 0/4 for two rounds from world number one Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward.
The U.S. wound up sixth of nine teams with 28 penalties and no clean rounds, just a bunch of 4 fault trips and one 8 fault round.
Coach Robert Ridland called the team of Alex Matz (Ikigai/4), Lucy Davis Kennedy (Ben 431/4 and 4), Aaron Vale (Carissimo 25/ 4 and 4) Spencer Smith (Keeneland/4 and 8) “relatively inexperienced.”
“It was one of those days that we fell victim to four-fault rounds,”he said.
“Everyone put in solid rounds and dug deep to deliver a good result. Our primary target this year was the Olympic Games, where we won team silver. None of the team medalists from Paris were on the podium here (gold medal Britain did not compete in the final), which shows just how many talented nations there are in jumping and that everything has to go your way on the day.”
click here for results
by Nancy Jaffer | Sep 19, 2024
In the wake of the announcement that the last three shows of the season at Princeton Show Jumping have been cancelled, the Princeton Equestrian League Year-End Awards Party has been rescheduled. It will be held Oct. 5 at Hunter Farms, 1315 The Great Road, Princeton, N.J.
The party begins at 3 p.m., the awards will be at 4:30 p.m.
The party is free for all 2024 PEL members, trainers, and their families. Princeton will supply pizza and drinks; those attending should feel free to bring desserts or other items to share. Click on this link to RSVP by Oct. 1.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 1, 2024
It was a change of pace for me recently when, instead of asking the questions, I became the one being interviewed. I was a guest on this week’s episode (number 754) of The Dressage Radio Show, the official podcast of the U.S. Dressage Federation, to discuss “Riding Through,” a book I wrote with Olympian Debbie McDonald that was published in 2006.
Debbie McDonald and Brentina, 2008.
The “how-to” dressage tips it details are timeless, which is why it has been chosen as the first offering of the U.S. Dressage Federation Book Club, a benefit for the federation’s members. The club will have a discussion about the book in a webinar Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Evelyn Lancione, USDF’s member education coordinator, is in charge of the webinar, during which members will discuss the book and ask me questions about it. To register for the webinar, click on this link. To submit a question, address it to bookclub@usdf.org
The podcast was hosted by Reese Koffler-Stanfield and Megan McIssac. Here are links to the episode on the Horse Radio Network and on Apple Podcasts. The entire 47-minute episode of the podcast is interesting, since part of it deals with the Paralympics. However, if you want to go directly to my segment, you can fast forward on your podcast app to the 30-minutes-30-seconds mark, or you can just click on this link to listen to my segment of the podcast on YouTube starting at that time stamp. To hear what Evelyn had to say, go to the 23-minute mark.
by Nancy Jaffer | Sep 29, 2024
A rider who was equally at home on jumpers and hunters, Patty Stovel can best be described simply as an incredibly hard worker who was a great horsewoman and teacher. She passed away Sunday at 67 after a long illness.
Trainer Otis Brown, a long-time associate of Patty’s, posted on social media: “So hard to say goodbye. I will forever cherish our 40 years as friends and business partners. From World Equestrian Games to six times champion of the International Hunter Futurity, numerous national champions and Grand Prix wins, I am forever grateful. Thanks for the memories, Patty.”
Patty grew up in Connecticut at her family’s Merrie-Land Stables, learning to ride under the guidance of her mother, Barbara Johnson, who instilled a love of horses in all her children when she built her business starting in the early 1960s. By the time Patty was 16, she was running her own little barn down the road. A working student for George Morris as a teenager, she finished second in the AHSA Medal Finals on her home-trained Brownstone.
Patty went on to work for Otis Brown in Tennessee. Among the top hunters she rode was Nashville Gent, who became the AHSA’s 1986 Regular Working Hunter horse of the year. Her most memorable jumpers included Volan and Frisco Kid. But it was Mont Cenis, the brilliant athlete she started riding when she went out on her own in 1990, who was her horse of a lifetime.
Patty rode him through the trials for the 1994 World Equestrian Games in the Hague, courageously meeting the challenge despite a broken wrist and collarbone to make the team. Patty finished as the best of the U.S. squad, in thirteenth place.
Among her many other accomplishments, she rode Frascati to the American Horse Shows Association Working Hunter Horse of the Year title in 1999 and 2000. She also guided Chippen in Style to the 2009 American Quarter Horse Association World Championship in Progressive Working Hunter.
Patty Stovel
Her daughter, U.S. Equestrian Federation National Breeds and Disciplines Breed and Program Manager Lexie Cerys Stovel, said on Facebook, “She lived and loved the horses for her whole life. She accomplished so much, from being the highest placed U.S. rider at the (1994) World Equestrian Games, to winning the American Gold Cup, to winning Regular Working Hunter Horse of the Year two years in a row.
“She was also the best mom. The number of animals she surprised me with over the years is uncountable. She is the reason I am the animal lover I am.”
In an interview, Lexie said that her mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2000, but had a “really good quality of life until the last eight months,” continuing her pursuits almost as normal for several years.
“She felt she was really blessed to have that time,” said Lexie, but noted that even when her mother was really sick, she showed in the Baby Green Hunters in June at the Kentucky Horse Park.
“She never wanted to not be doing it. She was committed to horses and the industry. It wasn’t something she was able to give up. She fought for over four years. She was always so strong-willed,” observed Lexie.
In addition to Lexie and her brothers, Robert Johnson and Donald Johnson, Patty is survived by her ex-husband, Ken Stovel. A celebration of her life is being planned for Ocala this winter.
Those wishing to make a donation in her memory may contact the Pancreatic Action Network at
www.pancan.org or
Paws4thecause.com, an animal rescue from which she got quite a few dogs.
