May 10, 2007
My friend Leslie Timmerman recently asked me a serious training question. We both have
three-year-old colts that we are bringing along and hoping to ride in materiale classes
later this year. When one of Leslie's friends expressed surprise that she was
riding her boy at such an early age, Leslie became concerned. Here's my response.
As you would expect there is the full range of opinions on this topic from 1) don’t do
anything until they’re four-year-olds to 2) ride them lightly at the end of the
two-year-old year and then get ‘em going at three. Typically, European breeders
and trainers believe the latter and Americans the former. Dr. Hillary Clayton,
who holds a chaired position to do research on the biomechanics of dressage at
the University of Michigan, recently reported that light stress (as in riding)
to two-year-olds builds stronger bones. Ekkehard Brysch, CEO of the ISR/Oldenburg
NA, says that a three year old horse is ready to go to work and that there is no
better time to begin developing your horse’s musculature and work ethic. Of course,
in Germany stallions routinely go to rigorous performance tests in the fall of their
third year. I think many Americans feel that the bones need to finish growing before
you stress them, but I can’t find any actual evidence that that’s true—and actually
a lot of evidence shows that warmblood horses continue to grow slowly until they are
seven or eight. It may be less clear what the effect is on the joints—and there
needs to be more good information more widely available. Still, what I know about
biology tells me that active, working cells and tissues are healthier than those
that are never stressed. It’s important to have rest and recovery time between
stress periods. But, the way I understand it, that cycle is what builds strength.
One of the charges in the debate is that Europeans just see horses as a business
and want to get them broke so they can sell them. The countercharge is that
Americans baby their horses and end up never getting them fully developed because
they don’t understand the importance of working them. The American model certainly
seems to be one that revolves more around backyard breeding of a small number of
foals, hand-raised, and sold, if at all, to a “good home” rather than for high dollars.
I’m not sure how to sort out these issues completely because there’s probably a
little truth in both. Put them in the hopper.
I started Finesse when she was three, and she’s fourteen now and still strong.
But I basically just played with her for the first year or two. I think of
the youngsters like teenage kids. A colt at three is like a nine- or ten-year-old
boy. If he sits around in a chair playing video games, what kind of athlete is he
going to be at 12? Like you, I think that we should play with them, teach them some
stuff, build some strength. Straight lines, short sessions, lots of praise—but
start building communication and skills. Of course every horse has its own
calendar—Skelly is six now and he’s just going training level. But he had a
lot of issues that had to be dealt with, both physical and psychological.
So, what about this materiale class? I have my own qualms about all the pressure
being put on babies to perform—actually I feel it on myself, as a rider and trainer.
The pressure has been increasing since the advent of the FEI Young Dressage Horse
World Championships for 5- and 6-year-olds. Now we have a national championship
for those tests AND for 4-year-olds. These “showcases” for 4-year-olds have put
more pressure on the babies (and their riders) to show huge gaits, and already
some FEI judges are saying be careful: Don’t reward riders who are presenting
these babies in a high-tension frame forcing big gaits. Reward the ones who are
riding their horses round and through in good rhythm. One reason we are seeing
this younger and younger age being tested is because the breeders and the breed
associations want to sell horses, which is easier to do if they are winning under
saddle. So yes, some of it is marketing. But it is up to every rider to make the
right judgments every day. Scott Hassler, USDF Young Horse Dressage Coach, in a
lecture he gave recently in Jaxsonville, reminded trainers that every horse has
its own clock, and he stressed that probably only a small percentage of young
horses are suited for these tests. It’s also a time to watch how the judges handle
this, because it is certainly an area where they are on the line, and some of them
are going to step up to the plate and say not so much power—concentrate on rhythm
and throughness. And those are the ones we want to champion.
I think as rider/trainers we just keep our heads straight by remembering that our
ethical duty is to the horse--not the breeder, the owner, the judge, or the dollar.
For you and me it’s not that hard, because we don’t want to sell anything! Our heads
can be where our hearts are. But, it’s a little bit hard if you have a talented
youngster because you want to develop them to their full potential. With Bayo,
I’m certainly aware that if he’s going to have a career as a stallion he needs
to be out there, doing well. But, on a more intimate level, he’s just my horse,
and I only want the best for him. So, I’m riding him because I think it’s time,
and because I know he likes the interaction, and he needs some light work to develop
him correctly.
As for the materiale class for 3-year-olds, it’s just 10 minutes of our lives.
We’ve already been taking these boys to the summer breed shows since they were
yearlings. Now they’re doing a little under-saddle work. So they go in the ring
for 10-15 minutes and play horse show under saddle. If it’s a good day and we’re
lucky, we win a ribbon. So what? It’s giving them a positive experience that
matters. That’s up to the rider. If I go in there and can’t get a right canter
lead that day—well, that’s one day in the life of a three-year-old. No reason to
make a big deal out of it. Hey, if you go in and come out still together, that’s
a good ride on a three-year-old, right? It’s up to the rider not to let the pressure
of winning classes make the decisions about when and how you ride. I send in my entry
fee with the full knowledge that I might warm him up that day and decide it’s not the
day to ride a class. I just pay to open the door. We can go there if we like. But
it’s also good to keep in mind that the format of a materiale class makes it easier
to actually school your horse as if you were at home. There is no point-to-point
pattern like in a dressage test. You might opt to ride a circle if you were having
trouble getting a lead on the straight-away, for instance, and I don’t think a good
judge would penalize you for doing that.
And one more point about shows: Actually, I think the stress of shows is all that time
the horse has to be in a stall! Being outside, trotting and cantering around, is more
what a horse is made to do than standing in a stall for hours on end.
Your question about whether the USDF would offer the class if they thought it in any
way harmful is an interesting one. Two points come to my mind: The USDF has acted
in the past to protect horses from undue pressure by placing certain limits on
participation, for example when they ruled that no horse under seven could compete
in the Grand Prix. (I think that was the age limit—it may have been eight—I’ll look
it up and let you know.) On the other hand, that’s not a whole lot of “protection.”
It still relies on riders, trainers and owners to make good decisions for the horses.
I mean, imagine thinking that every eight-year-old horse should be at Grand Prix,
simply because the USDF has ruled that they CAN compete at that age. So, holding
a materiale class for 3-year-olds has to be viewed in the same light I think. Elly
Schobel, who trains a lot of young horses very effectively and lovingly, recently
said the materiale and young-horse-dressage tests are just more tools, and I think
that’s a good way to look at ANY test.
I can’t say you should ignore your friend’s alarm, because she may have information
you would want to put in the hopper. But ask her more specifically what her information
is. See if she’s basing her ideas on anything substantial, or if it’s an attitude she’s
imbibed from some fairly vague associations. There should always be room to be wrong.
But a lot of evidence leads me to believe that healthy 3-year-olds are ready to start
playing under saddle—lightly, with a balanced, experienced rider. And, judging from
the pictures of you and Rave, I’d have to say Rave agrees.
Let me know if you have further thoughts on this question. I’m always interested
in thinking through issues of horsemanship with experienced, thoughtful trainers.
And, we both have our boys to look out for.
Cheers!
Sally