Moving Too Fast

HUNTER & SPORT HORSE

Are We Moving Too Fast?
Klaus Balkenhol Talks
About Training Young Dressage Horses
September / October, 2001
page 10
by Kyra Beth Houston & Gay Walker
Photos by Kyra Beth Houston, Susan Sexton & Heike Wahl

Continued from page 1

Klaus Balkenhol & Goldstern Team Gold Medal
1996, Atlanta Olympics
Photo by Susan Sexton

Far worse is a horse who has been pushed too fast mentally and may never again trust his rider. Faults in basic training are very difficult to overcome, because, in most cases, the trainer remains the same and continues to make the same mistakes. A single lifetime isn't long enough to ride every horse or learn to solve every problem. Young trainers should start with a thorough education followed by apprenticeship under an experienced horseman. The trainer who is too vain to be told what his problems are doesn't deserve to be called a horseman. Each horse is unique and will present different problems. What is easy for one horse may be very difficult for another. Trainers should always be willing to advise other trainers.

Why Trainers Push Horses Too Fast

Klaus explains, "Although breeders have created a better horse, the market has created a demand for a stronger, healthier, more powerful horse. It's easier to sell a horse that looks like a carefully developed 8 year old and not like a three or four year old just beginning his career. If you force it, you can get a three year old to physically look like a developed 8 year old. Too many colts remain stallions which, if approved, promise breeders higher prices as three year olds. Now 250 to 300 young stallions are presented each year when only 40 or 50 will be approved. Few breeders have the sense to geld the yearling stallions and leave them on the pasture to mature naturally. Instead, the yearling stallions are brought into a stall, fed too much grain and supplements, and at three, look like six or seven year olds. They have muscle mass but not enough bone structure to support it. They look mature from the outside, but aren't, and when started to work, degeneration sets in.

Competitions can also create pressure to push horses too fast. In the past, competitions in Europe would end when winter set in, allowing the horses a needed rest from showing. Now, competitions are scheduled throughout the year without any breaks. In 1999, at Del Mar, many observers impressed by Brentina competing at Prix St. George thought she would lead the US team to Sydney. But, Brentina wasn't yet ready for piaffe or passage; when asked, she became nervous and anxious, losing rhythm and relaxation. Fortunately, both her trainer/rider Debbie McDonald, and her owners, Peggy and Parry Thomas, value Brentina over a too early Olympic appearance. They took Brentina back to movements she could do easily and with joy, building her mental confidence and physical strength over many months. When she was both physically and mentally ready for piaffe and passage, these movements came easily and beautifully for her. Winning the Festival of Champions at Gladstone this June and earning the highest Grand Prix score ever for an American horse prove the correctness of their decision to not push this lovely horse too fast.

Trainers who always adhere to the classical basics of the consecutive training scale will consistently produce horses that are a pleasure to ride, responsive to the rider's aids, ready to learn upper level movements.

Continued on page 3

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