Diana Al Shaer: "A Strong Community as Key to Sustainability"

Opinions

-- by Diana al Shaer, chair of the Dressage Committee for FEI Regional Group VII and FEI Solidarity expert.

Last year, our equestrian community faced many different challenges. In this article, I would like to mention the nature of these problems and possible solutions.

In the last few decades, the commercialization of our sport has grown to the extent of turning it into a big bubble, and it is natural that every big growing bubble becomes more and more fragile until the point it explodes. In our case, it was a social media explosion that clearly highlighted the urgent need for change.

Strong Community

Challenges can play a positive role in development under the condition that sustainable changes are being made. One of the most important criteria for sustainability and the ability to overcome the crisis is a strong community, united by common goals. A strong community can be created only with communication and transparency between all stakeholders, which is not always the case in our sport.

We have different players: riders, coaches, breeders, judges, vets, federations, media, etc. This chain consists of many parts, and each of them is important; if there is a lack of communication, the chain becomes fragile.

First of all, we should not forget that one of the components that unites us all is that we once decided to dedicate our lives to horses. A large group of people sacrifices much to be part of this community.

Unfortunately, like in every field, when it becomes commercial, people tend to forget why they entered this field. The pressure from the industry and sporting ambitions often takes away from the main pillars of our discipline - harmony and communication - but I am still confident that the majority of members of our community came to this field because their hearts beat for these beautiful animals. It’s important to remind ourselves not to let our passion become a routine or just a business.

There will always be negative cases, as in every industry, and there is no question that we should focus on reducing them. It must be in the interest of the majority to make our sport better.

Better Communication/Joint Educational Events

Bringing stakeholders together: riders,
trainers, judges, vets, federations, media

Communication and barriers between federations, riders, coaches, judges, other officials, and media must become more transparent.

It would be beneficial to organize more joint clinics: for example judging seminars open for the attendance of riders and coaches, as this provides a much better understanding of what exactly the judges expect from the riders and gives a better understanding of the role of each party. One thing is to read the rules, but another is to be able to dive deeper into the criteria and ask questions. This could ensure more clarity and a lack of misunderstanding between riders and judges.

In order to make our sport better, there should be cooperation and open communication without fear or tension. It will also help secure sustainable changes in our sport and ensure that new rules or guidelines are clear and transparent for all parties. These kinds of joint events could be arranged between other stakeholders.

Since last year, there has been a new FEI initiative: briefing meetings before the CDIs. It’s a great chance for the riders to ask questions and to establish better communication with the officials, as well as to get updates about important new dressage topics and rules.

It’s important not only to attend these meetings but also to take the maximum from them - listen, communicate, deliver your message, and suggest. It’s very important for our community to learn to listen to each other.

This will help create a friendlier environment in the competition field, reduce tension, and positively impact the state of mind of both the riders and horses. As a result, we will see happier faces and happier horses.

National, international, and continental equestrian federations could arrange open-door days or online conferences for respected members of their communities (riders, coaches, breeders, veterinarians, and other officials) to monitor the demands of their communities and to see if there are any suggestions from their side.

Proactive Community

The circle of active, decision-making community members can become wider if more people are involved. For example, it would also be beneficial to see more interest and involvement from the riders at events such as the FEI Sports Forum. It’s an annual forum that takes place every April in Lausanne. All parties can attend either online or offline. (It’s possible to ask questions or send your message online if you can’t travel.)

The forum provides insight into the decisions made by the FEI and opens a discussion about rule changes before they move to the General Assembly, which takes place every year in November. It’s a great opportunity for people who care about the industry to understand what the federations are doing, connect with their own federations, and share their points of view and suggestions.

It will make a big change if our community becomes more active, and such events are a good way to establish communication. Equine conferences, forums, and shows can be great platforms for arranging round tables between different stakeholders.

Education and Solidarity: Widening the Boundaries of Dressage into New Regions

While working with the newly developing dressage regions, I have seen how helpful it is to work together on a regional level. There are many different ways to share knowledge and experience between neighbouring countries, as well as arrange joint educational events and exchanges of officials to give them a chance to practice their skills.

There are interesting FEI Solidarity programs that regions can apply for to educate their officials and riders. These projects at a regional level create a stronger community and healthy competition.

We should not forget the importance of developing dressage and sharing knowledge with new regions; spreading education is one of the ways to secure the welfare of the horses. For example, FEI Solidarity department has many educational projects for riders, coaches, and officials, where it provides not only technical but also some financial support for developing countries. All the information can be found on the FEI website.

The applications have to be sent through the national federations, but if you think that some of these projects have value for your country, you can recommend them to your national federation by sending an email. This could be a good first step toward active involvement.

As there has been a lot of negativity in the past years, now it’s time to learn the lessons and continue on the pathway based on the following pillars: love for horses over ambition as the main principle, communication, active involvement of each person not only as an individual but as part of the community, solidarity, and respect.

It’s important to act more cohesively; this will help develop in the right direction and also enable us to act faster in times of crisis.