Perfect by Kim MacMillan
to include para-dressage and the competition was fierce, with U.S. riders winning their first-ever WEG indi- vidual medals and the highest team finish (fifth) in U.S. history against traditional para-dressage powerhouses Great Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark. About a decade ago, in addition to focusing heav- ily on the development of para-riders and coaches in this country, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the United States Para-Equestrian Associa- tion (USPEA) prioritized improving the quality of the dressage horses whom their para-riders were paired with. The U.S. team riders at the WEG, and most of the other countries’ riders as well, were all mounted on horses bred in Europe. The need for horses who have the “right stuff” to
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specialize as mounts for therapeutic riding and para- equestrian competition is an emerging market for North American breeders. Warmbloods Today asked several experts what particular traits they look for in these special horses.
The growth of para-dressage poses potential opportunities for breeders and trainers to produce the right kind of sport horse for these riders.
Above: A big hug from Kate Shoemaker to her Hanoverian gelding Solitaer 40 (Sandro Hit x De Niro) at the end of their Team Test at the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018. Two days later she earned her WEG freestyle bronze medal.
30 January/February 2019
Para-Dressage 101 To understand the horses needed for this sport, one has to have at least a rudimentary understanding of para-dressage. In para sports the word “para” is derived from “parallel,” meaning the para-athletes compete on the same stage as the able-bodied athletes in the same sports in parallel competitions. At the introduc- tory level, riding for the disabled is called therapeutic riding, but at the FEI (Fédération Équestre Internatio- nale) level riders with various disabilities are classified into “grades” based on their level of able-bodiedness and then called “para” riders. Riders only compete against other riders in the same grade. There are currently five grades of able-bodiedness in para-dres- sage, each designated by a Roman numeral with the lowest being assigned to the least able-bodied: I, II, III, IV and V. In the Paralympics and World Equestrian Games,
each rider does an individual test and a team test, then a smaller group of riders at the top of the leaderboard
he FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018 (WEG) were a “coming of age” for para-dres- sage as a sport. The 2018 games were the third
Allen MacMillan/MacMillan Photography
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