‘All for one and one for all’  -  Displays of solidarity are not commonplace among competitive dressage riders, especially at selection time. 
However, in recent weeks they demonstrated they were as unified as any old Musketeer – well for a while at least.
They were unhappy about the EFA’s selection process of their new coach, feeling he was not worthy. He had insufficient points on the international board so they drew up a petition which said so.  Ralf Isselhorst’s National Dressage Clinic would be boycotted. 
This four day school was to be held from 27 to 30 June at Emma Weinert’s splendid facility in Glenorie, NSW – so who was going to attend?  In the end almost everybody; invited combinations and National Squad members except for Heath Ryan, who is yet to sign his Rider’s Agreement, and not Glennis Barrey, who will leave with Classico in August to train with ‘Bimbo’ Peilcke. 
Glennis had ridden at the first clinic given in Sydney by Isselhorst 17 years ago.
As reported by The Horse Magazine (reported indeed by Suzy Jarratt – we’ll pop that original article up on the website, www.horsemagazine.com for you to read), riders at that clinic were uniformly pleased with Isselhort’s methods and the results they achieved. At that time Glennis was quoted as saying ‘my work with Ralf basically dealt with riding forward and collection.  He collected Leo and Livius far more than I’d ever done before and neither horse was hassled by it’.
That article stated Isselhorst was to return the next year but it was not to be. Soon after this 1991 clinic Glennis left for Germany.  She was associated with Isselhorst during her time away but there were differences of opinion and everything went pear-shaped.  She was not going to retract her signature from the petition.
Dressage Riders’ Representative on the National Dressage Riders committee, Brett Parbery, explained that the selection process should have included the riders.  
“There’s a feeling that if you do include the riders in the process there has to be a unanimous decision – that is not the case.  And the confidentiality can be handled in such a way that you canvass the riders with a few names.”
“It was felt Ralf wasn’t the best choice and after a few meetings we took a stand together. I did think ‘let’s have a look at this guy’ but I went with the other riders. If we can get some cohesion in our thinking and work together it might produce better results. Anyway, after signing the petition, we all talked some more and decided we would give him a go.”

Brett Parbery and Victory Salute

Brett was delighted to report that the clinic had worked out positively. And also that the riders and the High Performance manager, Brett Mace, were now more the wiser.
Mace felt that Isselhorst was a suitable candidate as he was prepared to come to Australia on a regular basis.
“Ideally this would be four times a year. We could probably get anyone we wanted in January and February but through the European summer the top trainers are busy with clients.”
“We received favourable reports about him when he was warming up our riders who were competing overseas. He is sound technically and very personable and he has stressed he wants the riders’ trainers there with him – it’s a team thing.  On the evening of the second day of this clinic he sat for four hours assessing videos on a one-on-one basis with each rider and trainer.”
“Our agreement with him is similar to the one we had with the showjumping coach, Gilbert Böckmann. We have the Olympic qualifier coming up in October, we don’t have time to bring out one person, then another and then another. So we decided to put together three clinics leading up to October and then we’ll ask the riders what they think.”
And what about Heath Ryan and his unsigned Rider’s Agreement?
“This agreement specifies that a rider has certain undertakings.  The Sports Commission has funded us over 1.5 million dollars and we have obligations.  Heath came back with a list of four changes – we’ve accepted three and the other we’re working on.  His wife (Rozzie) has signed the agreement.”
“There are people at this clinic who haven’t signed but they are here for assessment and are only getting limited lessons - e.g. Rachael Sanna (Jaybee Alabaster), Christine Crawford (Northern Simba), Nichollas Fyffe (Rhodes), Linda Foster (Mauritius). These invited riders get two single lessons and a shared lesson, the national squad riders get a lesson every day.”
“The agreement is standard for a lot of sports, sailing has one. We’re getting to the stage where four riders will be chosen to go to Europe to compete in the selection phase over there. Each will be given assistance of between $20 – $25,000 (the amount has yet to be confirmed).”
“But just because Heath doesn’t sign a National Squad agreement doesn’t mean he won’t be selected for teams – that’s a different issue.  If he’s good enough to be selected for a team he will be. It’s necessary to sign a Team Agreement but I believe he doesn’t have an issue with that.”
Away from paperwork and politics and into the arena.  Are riders benefiting from Isselhorst’s lessons? It would seem so.
Carolyn Lieutenant, trainer, judge and owner of Victory Salute, ridden by Brett Parbery, was very pleased.
”Ralf is doing the basic things, stretching down long and low or what I call down and round – loose in the back with even flexion on both sides. The old thing of putting the horse from the inside leg to the outside rein but doing it properly, truly with the correct inside flexion maintained.”
Isn’t that how she teaches?
“Yes, but when an overseas person comes out it’s a little different. It’s a matter of reinforcing the things that the riders have either forgotten or that their trainers have given up telling them because it sometimes goes in one ear and out the other.”
“On the first day he assessed the horses and on the second day the riders were to do a test of their choice. Brett rode a Grand Prix. On the third day the work was very concentrated. I asked Ralf if he could help with the horse staying more on the spot during the piaffe. He carried the whip as encouragement, he didn’t hit the horse, and asked that the rider make the horse react quickly while holding him with his seat. When Brett applied half halts at the correct time and then gave both the reins the horse was really sitting.  The horse stayed sitting and then went on to do some excellent work.”
Parbery added: “It was the best piaffe/passage I’ve ever done, the best pirouettes and the best connection from the hindlegs to the hand. Ralf is very classical and his system fits the Australian way. He doesn’t like the approach taken by Anky, Isabell or Ulla who put their horses in frames which he regards as being very non-classical.”
Rozzie Ryan was happy to be at Glenorie although was hoping to have an opportunity to be coached by someone with huge international clout.
“I thought we needed someone who could also get on the horse – maybe that’s too much.  I found today’s lesson helpful with collection, Donna Carrera did some good piaffe, which has been my Achilles heel. I do find clinics stimulating. We haven’t had one with all the G.P. riders for quite a while. It’s much needed. When you’re training at home there are always outside things happening – there’s a fence broken, a horse has done something to itself, a kid has lost her wallet. This is a time when you can focus completely on what you’re doing. It’s a luxury. None of us is so arrogant to thing that we can’t learn from very many people.
“We can’t use our geographic location as an excuse for not performing, after all the British live next door to Germany, France and Belgium and only in the last few years has it been getting its act into gear. As Ralf is a judge who sees horses working towards top level competition he can give us an insight into what is required.”
And what is not.  For many years now Isselhorst has been frustrated and disillusioned by judging standards and ‘circus trick’ performances. 
“Dressage needs more riders like her,” he said pointing at Ingrid Klimke on the front cover of The Horse Magazine.  “She is a super rider and she loves eventing, but we need her to do more dressage to demonstrate real classical riding.”
For 17 years, until 1988, Isselhorst, 47, worked with Ingrid’s father, the late Dr Reiner Klimke. He went on to be awarded the golden rider’s medal, became an S-level judge, trained the Korean Dressage team for the Seoul Olympics and successfully coached junior and young riders whilst also competing himself at European dressage championships.
Alan King and Pip Longworth were instrumental in his coming to Australia for the ’91 clinic at their Dural equestrian centre. Most of the riders it attracted have now retired from the sport, except for Matthew Dowsley, Janice Usherwood and the aforementioned Glennis. 
Isselhorst, based in Münster, has also been busy working in America, Canada and Luxembourg and spends a lot of time finding suitable mounts for people to buy. Plus there are his children.
“My wife and I have a 10-year-old son and two daughters 17 and 19.  The younger girl has been competing at international shows with her pony and the older one riding Prix St Georges in the junior tour. I’ve been spending a lot of time working with them.”

Mary Hanna and Port Said

And, it would seem, he has been meeting many Australians. The Ralf Isselhorst website boasts his new Australian appointment and also features pix of him with various O.S.-based riders.
So how did he hear about the coaching position?
“Pip and Alan asked if it would be interesting for me to do this. They get to see many trainers when they are in Europe and thought I would be suitable. Pip told Brett Mace to look up my website. Many cannot come as they have big stables.  I don’t. I have an arena close to the front door, people come but I don’t have thirty horses to train.”
The EFA permitted media to view Day 3 of the Glenorie clinic and it was apparent Isselhorst was working hard, treating each horse and rider individually and attempting to communicate with each combination.  He speaks excellent English and was clearly understood.
“I don’t want to just say ‘ja, ja, more, more, good, good’ and then go home.
It is very important to work with the coaches here. My philosophy is that I may have some new ideas. If necessary and if asked I will ride the horses when I’m here although 99 per cent of the time I’m able to see what problems exist. When I’m away the riders’ coaches train in that direction. Everyone does their homework and when I return we again work together and again work out the problems.”
“Today there are so many riding styles, no-one knows what is right and what is wrong especially when tension and circus riding get high scores. I am always fighting with judges about this. How can it be that a horse that is unable to halt and not able to walk or canter in a clear beat can win? The first rule ‘rhythm’ in two gaits is not there. How can that be?  And then in the award ceremony it bolts out of control!”
“In L.A. in ’84, when Ahlerich won, Dr Klimke, with one hand, did 100 one-time changes. This was a sensitive horse but he was trained in the classical way, even when stressed the horse stayed with the rider and followed the aids.”
“So often these days tension is used for spectacular piaffe/passage. It’s not relaxed, but fancy, so the judges say 9,9, 8,9 and when the walk is not there they still give it a 6 when it should be a 4.”
He has been disillusioned by much of what he has seen in the last twenty years.
“Judging has been going in the absolute wrong direction.  It’s crappy, with ‘names’ being awarded high marks which they don’t deserve.”
And what is his response to the Australian riders who wanted their new coach to be internationally competing at Grand Prix.
“They had one of those – her name was Ulla,” he said pointedly.
And does he know Ms Salzgeber?
“I know them all, I see them at shows. I have been to Ulla’s stable looking at horses which have been for sale.”
Does he think perhaps she was a bit over-zealous with her teaching methods here because she was keen to make an impression and get results?
“She’s just the same at home – poor horses.  A lot of horses need to be in those kinds of stables as only a few make it to competitions. But that applies to ninety percent of the top dressage people in Germany.”
After only the third day can he say what is needed to help lift our riders’ game?
“The problem they have is a universal one. They ride at home and everything is good but at a show it is different.  When they’re at home they don’t ride as if they’re at a show. They don’t say ‘my starting time is in 20 minutes, then I go in and I have one chance’. Instead they start the test when they’re at home and after the tenth attempt they do the one-times and say ‘I can do one-times’. No, that rider can only say he or she can do the one-times when they’re done properly the first time.”
“The riders need ring experience and it has to be overseas, otherwise you have no chance.”

Kate Taylor-Wheat and Oscar B

Nadia Coghlan has done a lot of work overseas having trained for three years with Kristy Oatley-Nist. 
“I signed the petition and Kristy rang and told me I was stupid.  She thinks he’s great, and he is.”
During her lesson on Northern Campion Isselhorst would continually talk to her:
‘Use the short side to prepare for the next exercise’
‘Use the corner to re-establish self carriage’
‘Rein back, now piaffe and give and retake the rein’
‘Sit, be light, give and re-take the rein’
‘If you give and he runs out then he’s not on your seat’
‘Many many little half halts’
‘Ask all the time for the hindlegs to come under more’
‘Not left right, left right, left right – half halt and rise the forehand’
‘Don’t push him out, let him out’
‘The seat dominates everything’
 But day two for Nadia had not been a great success. 
“He asked for a more active trot; he wanted me to fire him up but my horse dug his head down and said ‘no’. He was very strong. During the video analysis that evening I asked if I could warm him up in the way he was used to. He’s never been easy. I can’t physically fire him up and keep him soft, I have to do it calmly. I did that and lots of half halts and the lesson today went very well. It’s good that Ralf is willing to work with us. We know our horses and then he adds what he thinks, he made it really work today.”
When Nadia first returned to Australia she entered the Nationals and won the Grand Prix.
“I just wanted to go in, mistake free, and get my piaffe/passage tour and I did. From that time I’ve been entering events saying ‘you must do it again’. I think I’ve been trying too hard and making too many mistakes in the arena. At the moment it’s not really happening in the ring, I’m freezing and he’s a bit ‘looky’. It’s disappointing. I’ve never spoken to a sports psychologist but I think I’m going to.”
Hopefully it won’t take too many counselling sessions to unfreeze Nadia, she and Northern Campion are a great combination capable of doing some excellent work, her one-times demonstrated on day three were worthy of an 8 maybe even a 9. Isselhorst should also be able to assist in her defrosting.
Mary Hanna was very frosty upon hearing about the appointment of the new dressage coach – she, too signed the petition.
“I think we would have had a better attitude if we’d had more information in the beginning - who were the choices, who was available. And if it had been explained to me earlier that we are all quite at liberty to be coached by whoever we choose. I understand now, when we’re in Germany, that Ralf will come around, see how everyone is going and, if there’s a competition, to help warm us up in necessary. And he can be there as a mediator – in that capacity it all could work out really well.
“After I signed the petition I spoke to Maree Tomkinson who said he’d helped her at several German competitions. Because she was so positive about him I decided I’d come to this clinic.”
“When I return to Europe I’ll be going to Hubertus Schmidt and it’s not inconvenient for Ralf to come to his stable as it’s only an hour or so away.”
“For me, when you have a trainer overseas you are happy with you don’t change, for me to do so at this point in time would be ridiculous.”
Mary, who had brought both Tango and Port Said up from Melbourne, was happy with the lessons.
“He’s a classical German trainer and I like the way he stretches the horses as the beginning of a ride which is exactly what Hubertus does. Ralf’s been particularly helpful with the technique of riding a test and he got both my horses better engaged.  This afternoon Port Said was crooked, particularly on the left rein, and he told me to ride renvers.  Clemens told me exactly the same thing two weeks ago, but I guess, because it’s from someone new, you pay more attention.”
Clemens Dierks closely watched many of the lessons given during this clinic.
“He is giving good, basic instruction,” said the former national coach. 
“Technically it is the German system and it is clear he’s able to quickly identify problems. For thirty years I’ve been teaching different people, sometimes the same ones for ten years and it all becomes too familiar, you need someone else to come in. The riders will learn and benefit, and he is definitely better than Ulla”.
Maybe the next time a petition is drawn up it will concern a matter of international importance instead of one opposed to a person perceived as having too little.

Take a look at Suzzie Jarretts 1991 Article on Ralf Isselhorst

This article first appeared in the August 2007 Horse Magazine