Debbie McDonald and Christopher Hector talk about Grand Prix dressage, and what’s happening in the arena at the moment…
The other day, Nathalie zu Wittgenstein said to me that she was worried about the future of equestrian sport, she thought that dressage had lost its heart… that now every horse was for sale, she thinks that when she came on the scene, those top guys wouldn’t sell their horses no matter what…
“That’s very true, she has a very valid point there. When you find a horse that is of that quality, you just don’t let it go, but in today’s world, money talks and it is a lot more expensive to get into this sport than it used to be when Natalie and I were doing that. I would agree that it is definitely changing. I just keep hoping that the judges will try to keep it in a classical way of riding, and not just extremely extravagant.”
We just saw a Grand Prix here at Aachen, and I have no idea what the judges were looking for…
“There were a lot of different types in there, weren’t there?”
We had horses going croup high, we had horses that were jammed and tight in front. I thought we had that magic moment when Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin came out, and also Tina Sprehe, and Helen Langenhagenberg, then you brought out your beautiful girls, and you thought, oh fabulous, dressage has turned the corner, but now I am seeing more and more flashing tails, and hollow backs, and the false extravagant movement, are we slipping back again, Debbie?
Debbie competing for the USA at the 2002 WEG in Jerez
“I hope not, I mean, I still think the British riders give us all a riding lesson. I really do, they’re quiet, sometimes you can’t help the conformation of the horse, if it is a little short in the neck, that is not just a rider’s issue, a horse sometimes just doesn’t have a long neck. I think the Germans, you can’t deny an Isabell Werth, whether you love her style or not, she is a genius, she produces one after the other and they are all happy. Every one of her horses are happy, and I do see good riding, so I want to hold on to that.”
“I don’t want to think about the negative, and hope that we don’t lose that, because if we lose that, we are going to lose dressage. And you are right, with the issues out there right now, we all are concerned.”
Casey Perry-Glass and Dublet representing the USA
But there needs to be an agreement on what we are looking for, and what we are punishing, once when we had a head judge like Wolfgang Niggli, when we had Eric Lette, we had people who headed up the judges group and gave a direction and I don’t think we are getting that now.”
“I haven’t thought about that, but we definitely need to be careful. I don’t think the people who say we are being hard on our horses, understand the lives our horses have. Our horses have wonderful lives. They are treated better than we are, they get massages daily, I haven’t had one in a year. There’s a lot of great things, I think the critics need to see more of what happens behind the scenes with our horses. I think they are judging it on something they know nothing about. It concerns me because these horses are very well taken care of.”
But we can have another Games where we have two judges with one horse first, two with the next and one judge with the fifth horse winning…
“I do believe they are trying to work on it. I really want to give the judges the benefit of the doubt, my biggest concern is that they stay in a classical way. What is really good classical riding with horses happy looking. For me that’s my biggest concern, just that, I really do believe that judges try to do the right thing. I just hope, like you do, that we are not going to go in another direction.”
But I’ve never seen one of your American riders come into the ring with a horse with an angry protesting tail…
“I would hope not, my riders, no.”
Adrienne Lyle and Salvino
How can your riders do it without angry tails?
“Every horse will have a swish of the tail now and then, some horses are extremely sensitive so when you touch them with a leg they get a little tail flick but I do see happy horses around, and I don’t want to dwell on the negative in the sport, because I think there is a lot of negative going on as it is and I think the more we talk about the negative, the positive will go away. I do see good riding, I do see happy horses, and I hope the public can see that too.”
Do you have another crop of horses and riders coming in the United States?
“The young horses they have are maybe a year away, because as you know with the prices of horses in today’s world you have to start when they are very young and build them up. I would love to see more sponsorship in our country for the riders.”
Debbie, and long-term supporter of American dressage, Betsy Juliano
But you are lucky to have Betsy Juliano?
“Oh yes, absolutely but riders need more than one horse, so the riders themselves are buying young horses. If you want longevity in the sport you need more than one horse. It’s not the end of seeing Team USA good dressage but we are in a building year, there’s no doubt about that.”
Debbie and former team member and Medal Winners for the USA, Laura Graves and Verdades
And you are still working with Adrienne Lyle?
“Yes, I am still working with Adrienne, I mean I don’t hold her hand like the early early days, when she really worked for me. No, she’s a Mom to be, she’s got a thriving business, her clients love her, she does an amazing job with her students. I’m incredibly proud of her, she has done so well for herself, and I come when she wants me to come.”
And the young man, Christian Simonson who is riding here at Aachen, he’s one of hers?
“Yes, Adrienne just warmed him in via video. Yesterday I helped him and I think it was too much of a different voice. So I said, no you need your momma’s voice in your head. So I called Adrienne up and she was on that video warming him in from the United States, isn’t that amazing…pretty cool.”