Emma Hindle

Date of birth: 19 May 1975.

Lives: Erbach, Germany.

Major achievements: As an under-21, Emma was on the team for the Junior European Championships in 1989 and 1990 and the Young Rider European Championships in 1992, 1993 and 1996.

As a senior, Emma was a member of the British bronze medal-winning team at the 2003 European Championships at Hickstead with Wie Weltmeyer. She has been a member of the British team every year since and achieved the best British placing, seventh overall in the individual competition, at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Current competition horses:

•Lancet, a 16.2hh German-bred brown stallion by Wenzel I out of Stella, born 1993 and owned by Emma Hindle.

•Diamond Hit, a 16.1hh German-bred brown stallion by Don Schufro out of Loretta, born 1997 and owned by the Brookhouse Stud.

•Fürstenreich, a 17hh bay stallion by Floristan I out of Maibel, born 1998 and owned by the Brookhouse Stud.

•Chequille Z, a 17.1hh bay stallion by Caretano Z out of Hauterive, born 1999 and owned by the Brookhouse stud.

First competitive experience: “A lead rein class on a pony called Woody at a show near Liverpool when I was five. My uncle David was leading and we finished second.”

Trainer: Richard White.

Superstitions: “I am extremely superstitious about wearing my two bracelets and I wear ‘lucky socks’ from nanny, basically because they are the most comfortable with my competition outfit. I broke my superstition with the bracelets in 2003 in Berlin. I took them off because I get a rash otherwise, put them down and someone stole one, but I won anyway. I replaced the stolen one and now only need to wear one, but always wear both anyway.”

Most admired riders: “Holland’s Anky van Grunsven and the German riders Ulla Salzgeber, Hubertus Schmidt and Kathrin Meyer zu Strohen, who has won lots of young horse classes at Germany’s Bundeschampionats. She is a clever lady.”

Qualities looked for in a dressage horse: “There is no perfect dressage horse. I like them to be active behind from nature and to have good self-carriage, three good paces and to be willing to work. There are always exceptions. I’m riding a young horse at the moment who wants to learn so much that it makes up for a lot of deficiencies in other areas.”

Favourite dressage venues: “Nothing compares to Goodwood, which sadly is no more. Wiesbaden in Germany is a great show and I love competing in Sweden – the Swedish get really excited about dressage, even more so than the Germans.”

What other career would you have chosen: “I don’t think I can ride for the rest of my life and, in the long-term, my plan is to run my family business, which is property developing.”

dressage photos

Dressage Saddles – Which One to Choose

Dressage saddles are arguably the tool of the highest value for riders. Performance and comfort are greatly affected by the kind of horse saddle you decide to use. This does not necessarily mean purchasing the dearest item available, rather you should be well informed on the choice before you begin browsing and commit. For more advice on getting the right horse dressage product, read on.

Firstly, reaffirm to yourself that horse dressage is right for you, financially. This is not an inexpensive discipline.

Measure Up

If you have decided that horse dressage is what you want to do, you will need your horse’s measurements. Take the height from the hoof up to the withers, as well as the measurement from withers to the croup. This will assist you in making your horse saddle shopping far less troublesome.

Research

Find out about all the different types, brands and costs beforehand. The internet is a great tool for this. You may find that shopping online will be cheaper. Try the sizes out in the stores, and then you can purchase the right one online if it is less expensive.

Shop Around

Take a trip to as many local tack shops as you can and test out a number of different dressage saddles. These shops should have saddle stands that can be adjusted to fit your horse’s measurements, and will demonstrate the feel of them to you.

Forward Thinking

Remember to take into account any size changes you or your horse might go through in the future. Getting a cheaper priced horse saddle for kids will work out better as they outgrow them rapidly. For use on different horses, a gel pad will be worth getting so that the necessary adjustments can be made on each individual.

Check Fit

Put the dressage saddle you bought with no saddle pad onto the horse. Check there is about 3 – 5 inches of space between the withers and gullet. The gullet channel should be spread nicely on top of the horse’s spine, with no abnormal spacing. If for some reason, the dressage saddle does not fit, return it and try other sizes

HORSE DIGNITY NOT INCLUDED - DRESSAGE

Dressage angers me for a number of reasons, which I’m far too pissed off to bother actually forming in to some sort of coherent order.  So I won’t even try.  I will simply convey the situation as best as I can through the mist of horse based rage.

I’ve never been that keen on horses at all if I’m to be honest.  I have nothing against them as such, I just never felt the lure toward them that everyone else seems to have.  I’ve never ridden one and I never intend to.  I’m aware that this is narrow minded of me, but if I’m going to ride anything, other then a sexual partner, I expect that thing to be utterly controllable and at my behest via the workings of mechanics.  I don’t desire that emotion, bonding, chance or any other none predictive variable be involved.

If my death hinders on the fact that my method of transport may decide – for whatever reason – to have an opinion on the situation, then it can fuck right off.

If a horse fails to do what I tell it to do, apparently that can be attributed to it’s mood, and thats just how it goes.  This is unacceptable to me.  This is not a predictable means of transportation.  It seems comparable to going to work on the back of some angst, or at the behest of a whim.  Not practical.

However, I totally understand why some people would be interested in riding horses.  They are magnificent creatures, I don’t think any rational human could dispute this.  And to be at ease with them enough to thunder across a country side, leaping over fences like a steroid fueled hurdle Olympiad is not without it’s appeal.  I just know in reality it would end up with me being bucked off at some stage like it was ridding itself of a bacterial infection.

I have the utmost respect for people who have the ability to master these creatures.  So it strikes me as more then a little bizarre that having achieved mastery of these animals, your instinct would be to make it ponce about the paddock like someone with learning difficulties trying to master the skipping rope.

It robs the creature of all of it’s considerable ingrained nobility to have it striking poses that infer it is in the clutches of a series of humiliating seizures.  It’s as if a nation of Pokemon watching children had somehow manifested itself in the form of an animal competition.

JUST LOOKING AT THIS FUCKING STUPID PICTURE MAKES ME TOO ANGRY TO COME UP WITH A WITTY CAPTION

I struggle with the moral arguments of including any animals in human sports endeavors.  The notion of utilizing animals for our entertainment invokes feelings of exploitation in my oh so righteous frame of mind.  The fact that I’m typing this clothed in all manner of animal skin manifestations is neither here nor there.  If I want to bemoan the exploitation of animals whilst encasing my feet in conditioned animal hide, then I will and hypocrisy be bollocksed.  To me, it is a far more dignified outcome for an animal to have ended up as a pair of shoes then to have it be paraded around the arena sporting forty generations of inbreeding on its back.

But what is even more bewildering about this sport – and I use the term so loosely I can’t even touch the sides – is the fact that anyone wants to watch it.  Competitions!  Fucking people travel to watch this display of fucktwattery repeatedly over the course of a day.

What is it these people are expecting to witness?  The scope of the possible routine elements is so ridiculously limiting as to render the whole exercise one of futile repetition. I haven’t watched much Dressage, given that the limited exposure that I have had to it has made me feel physically sick.  But what I have seen appears to be very limited.  It looks like the infant school sports day, like a pack of overly enthusiastic parents cheering on their children as they stand on one foot for an ill deserved certificate or ribbon.

It seems to involve the horse performing some exaggerated, unnatural looking prance around the arena, intermittently pulling some convoluted pose who’s only goal seems to be to combat millions of years of evolved perfection.  An animals natural inclination to do anything derives from a perceived requirement from it’s environment.  At no stage in a horses evolutionary lifecycle did it need the ability to cock it’s hoof to emulate the effects of being exposed to thalidomide.

And yet people flock to witness this spectacle.  So much so that it is an Olympic event.  An Olympic event.   Utterly ridiculous.  If, by some sort of freakish coincidence I had somehow won an Olympic medal in Dressage, not only would I refuse to accept it out of principal, but I would verbally abuse the presenter of said medal until they were weeping blood uncontrollably from their arse by way of a spontaneous defense mechanism.  And then I would beat them to death with the medal. And then shoot their lifeless husk, and the horse that I rode on (on the grounds that it would be beyond redemption).

If it has to be an Olympic event, they should rename it Cuntage.

Para Equestrian Dressage

Every Monday night I spend four hours working with riders with mental and physical disabilities. I see firsthand the exceptional relationship they have with their horses, as both horses and riders develop their wings, so-to-speak. The riders can communicate with their horses, sometimes in ways they can’t with other people. And the horses are attuned to their every need, providing not only physical stimulation but extra special protection and love.

My experience with therapeutic riding lessons made it all the more exciting when I discovered a while ago that para equestrian was an international sport! Riders with disabilities  not only compete locally and nationally, but they are included in the Paralympics and the upcoming World Equestrian Games.

Here’s the rundown:

Para Equestrian History

Para Equestrian has been developing as an international sport over the last 25 years, with events held in both dressage and driving. The first dressage competitions for disabled riders were held in Great Britain and Scandinavia in the 1970s. 1987, the first world championships were held in sweden.

Para equestrian was first recognized by the International Paralympic Committee in 1991 and run by the International Paralympic Equestrian Committee before coming under the governship of the FEI (International Equestrian Federation) in 2006. Para Equestrian then joined jumping, eventing, dressage, driving, vaulting, endurance, and reining to become the 8th FEI discipline.

The first Para-Equestrian World Driving Championships was held under the governance of the FEI in 2006, as well as the first ever Combined FEI Dressage and Para Dressage competition in Moorsele, Belgium. Para Dressage has been included in the Paralympics since 1996, and will be in the World Equestrian Games for the first time in 2010.

Para Dressage Riders & Classification

Riders who qualify to compete in Para Dressage must have a measurable physical or visual impairment. They are rated according to their disability profile and classification, receiving a “Grade,” and then are judged against other riders who have been given the same Grade. The Grades are Ia, Ib, II, II, IV with Ia being the most seriously impaired and Grade IV the least. The athlete’s condition can be caused by illness or accident, and common conditions include multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, amputation, paralysis and blindness.

Riders with similar levels of impairment compete against one another. The competition within each Grade is then judged on the skill of that rider on the horse regardless of the rider’s impairment. Due to the lack of change in most disabilities, riders tend to stay in the same grade throughout their riding career, although on occasion athlete’s conditions can improve or deteriorate, thus their grade changes.

Riders who are physically impaired are allowed to carry or wear formally documented and approved compensating aids to compete, while riders who are visually impaired or blind can make use of authorized audio aids.

Rider Classification

Riders who compete in para dressage are classified by their physical disability, not their riding skill. Here’s how classification works according to the FEI:

The competitor’s mobility, strength and coordination are assessed in order to establish their Profile. People with Profiles of similar functional ability level are grouped into four competition Grades. The competition test for each Grade is compatible with the functional ability of people with the same potential.

All equestrian competitors should be classified within six to twelve months before competing. Once a rider’s Profile and Grade are assigned, no change may be made to their classification unless there are significant changes in their impairment.

Visit the FEI site for details on para equestrian classification and grades or download this PDF of thepara-eq-classification-manual.

Para Dressage Tests

Para dressage riders are classified into groups Grades 1-4, with 1 being the most disabled (typically wheelchair-bound, and 4 being the least). Test for Grades 1-2 are walk and trot only, though Grade 2 riders may canter a 2-meter circle in their freestyle. Grade 3 is walk, trot, canter and may perform shoulder in, half pass, and one flying change during the freestyle. Grade 4 can go as high as using Prix St. George movements.

Para Dressage at the 2010 World Equestrian Games

Para Dressage is included for the first time in the World Equestrian Games coming up in Lexington, Kentucky in 2010.

Qualifications for the World Equestrian Games Para Dressage vary by country, but the FEI requires that rider must receive a score of 60% or better at one three star competition. Beyond that, countries have their own qualification rules by which riders are short-listed and then chosen for the team by a selection committee.

Riders competing at the World Equestrian Games have the opportunity to earn individual and team medals. Riders who compete on national teams and as individuals will ride three total tests, while those who are competing individually ride in two. There is a team test round, an individual test round, and a freestyle round.

If the teams at WEG are organized like the teams for the 2008 Paralymics in Hong Kong, they will consist of 3-4 members, one of which must be a Grade 1 or 2.

Carl Hester

Date of birth: 29 June 1967.

Major achievements: Carl won the 1985 National Young Rider Championship just 18 months after taking up dressage, was a Talent Spotting finalist in 1986 and a member of the British Young Rider team in 1988.

In his competition career as a senior, Carl has amassed a record 44 national dressage titles and has been British Dressage (BD) National Champion five times. He has competed in three Olympics, one World Equestrian Games, four European Championships and has reached one World Cup Dressage Final.

Carl and Escapado were the highest-placed British combination at the 2004 Athens Olympics as well as the 2005 European Championships, where they finished sixth with a personal record-score. He was selected for the 2007 European Championships with Lecantos, but had to withdraw due to his ride injuring himself a couple of weeks before the competition.

In 2008, Carl’s bad luck continued. He had two horses in contention for the Olympics, Dolendo and Lecantos, but both ended up out of the running due to injuries.

2009 continues with great success in the UK for Carl, his new recent ride of Uthopia has achieved results of 76.11% at Premier League PSG and CDI Inter 1 winning with 76.66%.

TMovistar also continues to impress in 2009 with a recent win at the Saumur CDI Inter 1 with 77.55%.

In 1996, Carl won the Dressage Trainer of the Year and, in 1997, he was awarded the Spillers Equestrian Personality of the Year. He is a sought-after trainer; his former pupil Vaughn Jefferis became the 1994 individual three-day event world champion and Carl was the dressage trainer for the New Zealand three-day event team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Qualities looked for in a dressage horse:“I look for willingness to work as well as an ability to lengthen and shorten with a desire to go forwards rather a lot.”

Favourite dressage venues: “Hickstead, as we always have stonking good weather, the arena surfaces are great and there is a party atmosphere. Abroad, I love the Sunshine Tour, which takes place on three consecutive weekends in Spain in March, from the point of view that it is the most relaxed atmosphere to start a horse’s international competition career.”

What other career would you have chosen: “Something in the hotel trade as I come from an island geared to tourism and worked in bars and hotels in my early years.”

DreamCatcher is a breathtaking and super pretty young horse. He is by outstanding stallion Dancing Dynamite. The dark brown, true-to-type, strongly moving stallion, from Don Bedo and Fidermark, charms with his expressive performance in the arena and his perfect temperament. Now eight years-old he is mastering the St. George. Dancing Dynamite was 2003 Champion Stallion at the NRW Main Licensing in Münster-Handorf and he completed the 30-Day Test with top marks (twice awarded 10.0 and six times 9.0). He also won the 2004 Westfalia Crest for three-year olds and in 2006 took part in the National Championships for five-year old dressage horses. He qualified as a reserve for the 2006 World Championship for Young Horses and in 2007 was in the final qualifying round of the National Championships. Dancing Dynamite passes down his positive attitude towards work, his swing, movement and character to his progeny – as well as his ridability and rhythm in all basic gaits. His sire Don Bedo I, State stud stallion in Warendorf and Champion Stallion at the 1998 NRW Main Licensing, sired the Rhine Champion mare Dornröschen in 2003 and the National Champion Don Pescatore in 2004. His dam, the State Premium Mare, Florin was a final round contender at the Westfalian Mare Show in 1999 and took part in the National Championships and also gave birth to Dancing Dynamite’s full brother Dannemann. His grandmother, the State Premium Mare, Wonne, won a series of Riding Tests. Her dam, the State Premium Mare Fichte was a 1a-premium DLG Exhibition Mare and participant in a number of National Mare Shows. The dam side also gave birth to the Warendorf State stud horse FIANO and PRINZ MUTHAGEN and to the Holstein horse Sandro. The German Breeding Ranking 2008 puts Dancing Dynamite 6th amongst all of the breeding stallions assessed, with a breeding figure of 169 and 80 % reliability. This means that he is now in 2nd place amongst all the Westphalian dressage stallions. In the NRW progeny prize money ranking Dancing Dynamite is the clear winner in group 1 with his premiere offspring (3 year old youngsters). The German breeding ranking 2009 puts Dancing Dynamite in 6th place (3870 breeding stallions assessed) with an outstanding breeding figure of 168 and 86 % reliability. This means that Dancing Dynamite is again in 2nd place amongst all the Westphalian dressage stallions in 2009.

Thorowgood T6 Cob Dressage

ok....I had to try it to see if it would work since my horse likes his Thorowgood Maxim. It fits me, but not him...just confirming the hoop tree is what is best for him. I found a used BC Eden to go with. (good thing too, because I ended up putting $1000 into my Jeep for repairs-there went the rest of the saddle money for a new one) 

Anyways....I thought i'd share pics of it since I have shared my other saddle adventures. 

 



 

 

ultimate dressage

Why is Portugal the ultimate dressage destination?

Classical riding techniques and dressage, as made famous by Vienna’s Spanish Riding School, have existed since at least 400 BC. Ever since their revival by King Dom Duarte I in the 14th century they have formed an integral part of Portuguese culture.

Classical dressage in Portugal the 'Escola Portuguesa D’Arte Equestre' and Lusitano horses were developed in part for the cavalry and bull fighting leading to an emphasis on horses that were agile and instantly responsive. This tradition is continued today throughout Portugal often on pure bred Lusitano stallions and at beautiful, historic locations.

Search for your ultimate dressage holiday

Classical dressage lessons are suitable not only for dressage enthusiasts but for all competent riders. The focus is on teaching students to ride in harmony with the horse, improving their balance and aids in order to get the most from their mounts.

So why not contact one of these specialised riding centres?

You can combine a relaxing, even luxurious, holiday with the chance to learn this art on fit, supple and exquisitely trained horses.

After all your horse will thank-you for it!

dressage dvd

The Art of Classical Dressage with Arthur Kottas (8 parts):
Item #ACD

Part 1: Basics - Lungeing The HorseCorrect equipment, use of whip and lunge lines. Use of two rein lungeing to control the hindquarters. Lungeing alone or with a helper.

Part 2: Baiscs - Lungeing The Rider
Lungeing the junior rider, young rider and advanced rider. Loosening and gymnastic exercises designed to improve the rider's balance.

Part 3: From Novice/Elementary (First Level) via Medium (Second Level) to Advanced Medium (Third Level). From Snaffle to Double Bridle
Systematic training exercises, from Novice level thorugh to Grand Prix, designed to develop the horse in the shortest possible time without overfacing him.

Part 4: From Advanced Medium (Third Level) via Prix St. Geoges to Grand Prix
Exercises and movements for the advanced horse designed to encourage correct loosening and rounding the back, including work on a loose rein, over cavaletti and hacking out.

Part 5: Work In Hand
Correct equipment, use of whip and lunge lines when working alone and with a helper. Correct use of the whip to develop piaffe and passage. Work in hand with a mounted rider.

Part 6: Correct Corrections - The Most Common Faults In Horse And Rider
Basic faults with the seat and position of most riders and ways to improve this. Faulty application of hte aids - cause and improvement. Causes of the horse not accepting the bit and exercises to remedy this. Problems with rythm and impulsion - exercises to correct this. Temperament problems in the competition horse.

Part 7: Live Seminar
Training the horses and riders of all levels, immediate corrections and improvements. Edited from a 3-day dressage seminar.

Part 8: The Quality Of Basic Paces
Dissolvention, fact, drive and perviousment with relaxed, swinging dorsal muscles and lightly, regulary connection. The judgements are explained, way for success are demonstrated.