In my experience, dressage is a sport that is judged subjectively. We are taught to accept criticism knowing that we may strive for perfection, but that there will always be something we can improve upon. However, in today’s dressage world the criticism associated with our sport has taken on a new level of aggression, with chat forums and discussions ending in personal and even cruel attacks.
As a rider, we have to be able to accept advice and be humble enough to realise when we are in the wrong. We have to be able to look at a video or photo and say "yes, I can see what they are saying and I know that I can work hard to improve that aspect of my riding." But flat out attacks that have absolutely no productive value have no merit in any sporting forum.
I have once been told that I was cruel. There was a photo of Batialo when he was quite literally taking off and I pulled back on the reins. I was not being cruel, when your horse flies into a gallop your natural instinct says hold on. I love my horse, and I would never do anything to intentionally cause him discomfort. Yet, I was attacked, when quite clearly I was just trying not to fall off!
Comments like “your horse is too good for you” is one that I find completely unjustified. Your horse is your horse. If he is a good horse, then it is in part because of you, and even if he has not reached his full potential, if he is still a good horse then you have also not stuffed him up. It takes years to train a horse in the correct way, but just a few months or even less, to destroy a horse's spirit.
Besides this, your horse doesn’t know that you are not the best rider for him. Sure he may get frustrated with you at times for your lack of natural ability or that you sometimes muddle up the aids, things that a top rider may be more capable with.
I still get comments my horse is too good for me and I should let someone else compete on him. First of all, I love how in dressage everyone has an opinion about what you should do with your horse. Imagine if I went up to a mother and started telling her what school she should put her child in and what lesson she should be teaching him.
Secondly, for me and for many others like me, competition is not the thing that really drives us. It's the journey. I have been told that if I had given my horse to someone else he would be at Grand Prix, and for me I don’t care if I never get there, but if I do it will be because we got there together. Maybe I’m selfish, or maybe it’s my life, my horse, and a partnership.
You might have a great horse or you might have an average horse, and whatever your goal is together, it’s yours. Be humble enough to accept the faults in yourself, but wise enough to understand the difference between criticism and cruelty. I love a good dressage discussion and I have often used myself to show faults that I must overcome. However I reflect on my faults in a constructive way and understand the background and the circumstances surrounding it.
If a rider is shown riding badly, consider what else was happening. If a rider is continuously shown riding badly, with little respect for the horse and the horse's wellbeing, then by all means criticise, but in a way that might help to motivate awareness and discussion, and not in a way that simply puts down a rider without understanding them and their journey.
I love dressage, but today there is so much negativity surrounding the sport it’s almost depressing. We do something amazing, but something that is quite simply extremely difficult. Add a crowded arena and a heightened atmosphere, and it’s even more so. We must be judged, that is for sure. It’s part of our sport, but when judging we may still be kind and hopefully inject some more positive light into the sport that binds us all together.
by Sarah Warne - Photo © Rui Pedro Godinho