CENTERLINE

Hello Everyone,

  I think spring has finally arrived, as well as, our show season. There are a couple of new things that are happening with our shows. First is the venue. All IDS shows will be held at the Hoosier Horse Park in Edinburgh, IN. Most of you are familiar with the horse park but for those of you who are not, it is a very nice facility with excellent “outdoor” stabling, camping grounds with electrical hook-ups and a permanent building with bathrooms and a restaurant. They also have grandstand seating overlooking the two full size dressage arenas. Come and check it out, cheer on your fellow riders or volunteer to help work the show.

Secondly, some changes have been made to our championship classes. The Intro through 4th level championship classes, will be divided into Adult Amateur, Junior and Open divisions with each awarded as a separate class. FEI classes will not be divided into divisions at this time.

IDS now has a book club! What a great way to catch up with fellow riders and horse enthusiasts. Our first meeting was a lot of fun, with quite a bit of discussion about the Lipizzaner stallions featured in the book Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart. What a history lesson! Coincidently, PBS just aired a documentary called the Legendary White Stallions; if you missed it you can watch the full episode online, www.pbs.org/wnet/nature.  Come join us on June 9^th for our next meeting. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is the book we are reading.

We also have a Facebook page! Stay in touch with upcoming clinics and news about our dressage community. 

Hope to see you all very soon at shows and clinics!

Best,

Vicki Bye,

President, IDS

WHAT I KNOW NOW.......and wish I'd known years ago

 By Robert Dover (October 1998 for Dressage & CT)

 Permission to reprint granted by Robert Dover

As I go through the years, I realize more and more that the basics, especially the half halt, are the doorway to all the movements, all the possibilities, everything that encompasses dressage.  Theoretical discussions about whether a horse should be made "deep" or kept "up" in his frame, or how to stretch and in which direction lose importance if one remembers that ADJUSTABILITY is the key.

If the horse is adjustable at the will of the rider, if he is willing to change his frame or his pace or stretch when we ask him to, that is the key to success in dressage.

Another thing I've learned is that all arenas are basically just different sandboxes with the same dimensions, the same letters, and the same judges' boxes.  If you concentrate on riding the same from one arena to the next, without fixating on which sandbox you're in, you should get the same results.

Two philosophical maxims stick with me.  One, which I first heard from Colonel Benjt Ljungquist, is "Art ends where violence begins".  The other is "The gates to brilliance are surrounded by sweat and tears".  Both maxims always seem to apply to dressage.

Experience has also taught me that we should be more empathetic with other riders and trainers.  No one gets up in the morning wishing to go out and do a bad job, or to be hurtful to his or her horse.  Most of us love our horses and our sport and try to do the best we can every day, given what we know, what we've been told, and the tools at our disposal.  We could advance our sport more quickly if the people on the sidelines were more generous. If instead of being critical (which is easy), they tried to be more understanding of the good the rider is trying to accomplish.

Finally, I've learned that, as a country, we should give ourselves more credit.  We're the third best in the world in our sport, yet we keep thinking we're inferior to the Europeans.  You see as much bad riding in Europe as you do in the U.S. but because the numbers of riders are much greater, you also see more good.  Just because someone has an accent doesn't make him or her a master.  There are great riders in every country, including our own.