POINT OF VIEW
This past March Clayton Fredericks won the CIC** at Red Hills International placing first after dressage riding FE Bowman, a Württemberger gelding by Balloon.
chances of moving up the ranks are better. Out east, where the competition is fiercer with more entries in a division, the pressure is greater since the odds of moving up are smaller. And then weather and footing conditions can play a part in making it more or less difficult in the cross country and show jumping. We take the dressage training seriously since we also
Gina Miles competing Irish Sporthorse McKinlaugh at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where the pair won the individual sil- ver medal.
CF: The standards of the tests have vastly improved, and
so have the horses. Back then all you needed to do was get through the test by completing the movements without fault and you’d score well. Since then flying changes were added to the tests, which are not so easy for a highly fit event horse to perform with obedience and relaxation. Over time the judging and the education of the riders
have also improved, requiring the horses to have more en- gagement from behind and throughness, as well as forward- ness between the rider’s leg and hands.
What kind of pressure do you feel to come out near the top of the leaderboard after dressage? GM: Well that depends on where you are competing and
the conditions at the show. Theoretically, the higher the lev- el, the higher the possibility that the scores will change af- ter cross-country and show jumping. Out west, the divisions tend to be smaller, so with a pool of fewer competitors, your
38 May/June 2016
compete our horses at recognized dressage shows with the goal to qualify for USDF regional and CDS (California Dres- sage Society) championships. CF: I don’t necessarily think of it as pressure, but instead
a frustration of having to catch up in the cross-country and jumping later on. If you’re serious about competing at the four-star level and coming out on top, your horse needs to be obedient and move well. The horse naturally has to have a very good walk and a good canter, which of course is im- portant for the jumping too. A trot can be of lesser quality— however in the gait you must be able to show a difference back and forth from collection to extension.
On a weekly basis, how much emphasis and focus do you put on your dressage training of your event horses? GM: We train dressage about four days per week. We usu-
ally do two days of dressage followed by a day of jumping or galloping, and then repeat that again. Some days we might school dressage in the a.m. and then lightly do some jump- ing in the afternoon. CF: When you train in eventing, you never seem to have enough time to train for all three phases! We’ll ride the dres- sage at least three or four times a week. We might do a short
Shannon Brinkman
Shannon Brinkman
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