competition,” Linda says. “I personally really strive to have the type of courses that are very challenging as far as the riders’ skills are concerned. The questions that the riders need to be able to answer come through the training with their horses. They should have very rideable horses and they need to be effective and smooth riders. If the horse is well ridden, it isn’t that difficult. And if not well ridden, it becomes much harder. The more you challenge riders in terms of having to answer the questions and find the solutions, the riders get better and better.” “A sophisticated course for higher levels of competition
is going to ask certain questions,” Anthony says. “Any course designer is going to ask to see horses extend well and collect well. Extend to wide oxers and collect to wide oxers. A course needs to ask a complete set of questions. They are going to be somewhat similar in the questions asked, but you ask them in different ways and different designs. No two courses that I do are alike.” He continues, “Every one of them has their own pattern, their own line or track, and every one of them varies slightly from day to day and competition to competi- tion. There’s a lot to be done on a day to day basis.”
Importance of the Experience It is critical to consider the horse’s level of—and need for—
experience on courses, Linda explains. “You’d like that a younger horse be able to get that experience without hav- ing a bad experience,” she emphasizes. “Today’s horses are pretty special individuals in terms of what they can do and if they’re a little short on mileage, it’s easy to break them. It’s easy to take the heart out of a naturally careful horse. And once you do they’re never going to be as good as had that not happened. Horses try very hard. A horse that has a lot of
try, a lot of heart, they’re the easiest ones to take the heart out of. The ones that are pretty brave and don’t worry too much and don’t care that much if they hit a rail, you won’t mess them up, however, they’ll never become the real su- perstar winners. The real winners in today’s sport are horses that are careful.” If the course is designed correctly for a particular level, it
can serve as a teacher for both horse and rider. “Sometimes riders will think their horse is further along than they actu- ally are and end up in a little bit too deep for what the horse can handle,” Linda says. So she tries not to overtax the horses in her designs. “You want the best horse to win but you also want all of the horses better for the experience, not worse,” she explains. “You build courses that are appropriate to the level of
competition,” Anthony adds. “For example, I always expect a high level of competition at Spruce Meadows. At a more re- gional show, I expect it to be more local and it’s not going to have the same level of competition, so my questions will be modified and simpler.”
Times Have Changed If the course is designed to meet the level of competition,
are the horse and rider equally prepared? “We do a better job with the rider,” Linda says. “There are more people teaching riders (how to jump) than we have teaching horses, young horses. Back in the old days most trainers with jumping hors- es were Thoroughbred horses off the track. They basically had to train the horse to jump.” She would like to see more trainers get involved in training young horses, as ready-made horses are in short supply. “We’re competing with a host of buyers including the Middle East that have seemingly un- limited money to buy proven winners. Even the top Europeans can’t really rely on buying made horses. They’re all bringing up green ones and seeing what turns out. They’ve got the long-term focus because it is close to impossible to pur- chase what it takes to win at the top. If the Europeans can’t buy them, it’s a little
Competitors walk the course at the Washington International Horse Show, held annually indoors in October.
Warmbloods Today 23
Rex Reed/Amberlea Photography
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