Last year’s silver medallist moved up the ranks to take gold at the FEI World Breeding Dressage Championships in Verden.  Uno Donna Unique (s.Don Schufro), ridden by Denmark’s Andreas Helgstrand, was the undisputed World Champion of the 6 year old division at the German fixture in which Danish horses excelled.

The new five year old World Champion however comes from Holland – Astrix (s.Obelisk) helped Emmelie Scholtens to win her second consecutive title.

The points for Uno Donna Unique, awarded by Dr Wojciech Markowski, Elisabeth Max-Theurer, Jennie Loriston-Clarke and Angelika Frömming were spectacular – a total of 9.46.  Equally spectacular was the way the judges had to mark down Helgstrand’s other horse, last year’s gold medallist Hönnerups Driver (s. Blue Hors Romanov). Due to ‘exaggerated movements’, ‘passage-like trot’ and problems with the contact, Driver this time only earned in 12th place with a score of 7.80.

The new World Champion Uno Donna Unique has grown stronger and more stable, showing three superb basic gaits, and the judging panel were highly impressed.

ONE RIDER, TWO MEDALS

One lady rider took both silver and bronze. Aboard the powerful Hanoverian Soliere (s.Sandro Hit), Eva Möller from Germany earned 8.66, only slightly more than the result of her other ride Blickpunkt (v.Belissimo M), who gained his second consecutive bronze medal with a mark of 8.54.  Again Blickpunkt excelled in trot, while Soliere showed the better canter.

“Winning silver and bronze makes the whole thing complete for me”, said Möller who was third with Blickpunkt last year and who won the Bundeschampionat in Germany in 2009 with the Belissimo M offspring. “My husband Ulf bought both horses when they were foals, so this really is special to us.”

Fourth place went to another Don Schufro offspring, Rebelle, ridden by Maria Andersen from Denmark (8.42). Don Schufro is also the dam sire of the fifth placed horse Skovens Rafael, ridden by Denmark’s Lotte Skaerbek. This approved son of Blue Hors Romanov showed tremendous potential for Grand Prix (8.38).

EMMELLE AGAIN

In the 5 year old division Holland’s Emmelie Scholtens emulated her success in the 6 year old section at the previous Championships.  In 2009 she took gold with Westpoint, this time she rode Astrix – also a KWPN bred stallion – to take the 5 year old honours.

“This time was a lot more relaxed”, said Emmelie after the prize giving ceremony. “Last year was my first time, there was a lot of pressure. This time I just had a lovely ride. Obviously, after Thursday, when he won the qualifier, there was a bit of pressure, but I had a great time on him anyway. He is such a nice character! Anyone can perform the test I had with Astrix today!”

Three very good basic gaits, a beautiful dressage model, a golden temperament and very good rideability – Astrix (Obelisk out of an Olivi dam) has it all.

The winning horse achieved a score of 9.18 points while second placed Lissaro van de Helle (Lissabon x Matcho A) was awarded 9.08 as Claudia Ruscher claimed both silver and bronze.  This was a superb result for the German rider who was competing in her very first World Championships at Verden.  The Hanoverian bred and approved Lissaro van de Helle equalled the quality of the gold-medal-winning Astrix in walk and canter, but had to give way in trot.

POWERFUL GAITS

Bronze went to Ruscher and Stedinger’s son Schumacher (8.76), who made a huge impression with his powerful gaits. “Lissaro is a very quiet stallion”, said Rüscher, comparing her two rides. “He’s bothered by nothing, he just does his job. Schumacher is a little more delicate, but he has a great mentality.”

Fourth place went to one of the greatest dressage talents in the field: Damon Jerome H, by the former double World Champion Damon Hill.  Ridden by Uta Gräf from Germany this stallion missed the bronze medal by only 0.02 points.  Two Danish horses, second generation offspring of Sandro Hit, were placed fifth and sixth, the light-footed Grevens Sa Va (s.Soprano), ridden by Camilla Ahlers Pedersen finishing ahead of the expressive Törveslettens Stamina (s.Stedinger), ridden by fellow-Dane, Andreas Helgstrand.

Riders from the British para-equestrian dressage team are to train just outside Norwich for three days before going for gold at the World Equestrian games this autumn.

The visit to Easton College at the start of September will include a special evening event where hundreds of spectators have snapped up free seats to watch the team perform its dressage-to-music routine at the college’s £5m indoor arena which opened last year.

Hilary Francois, the college’s equestrian centre and events manager, said: “It’s a real honour for Easton College that the team are to train here and we’re excited that so many people will have a unique opportunity to see them in action.

“It is also a great boost to our ambitions to open up the new centre to everyone and my personal goal to promote para-riding across the region.

“Norfolk’s top international para-equestrian rider Susi Rogers-Hartley works closely with us and is a great supporter of the centre, and we want to help even more of these courageous people pursue riding and particularly dressage opportunities. All they have to do is get in touch.”

Ms Rogers-Hartley prefers to focus on showjumping, but also trains in dressage at Easton.

Mrs Francois said the British squad had chosen Easton because of the quality of the new equestrian centre and the college’s close links with David Hunter, the Norfolk-based performance manager for GB para-equestrian dressage who is also clerk to the course at Fakenham Racecourse, and coach Michel Assouline.

Members of the British team will be training at Easton College on the first few days of September and the public event will be on Friday, September 3, from 7pm. With the support of the British Equestrian Federation, around 400 free seats were made available – and the event is already a sell-out.

Mrs Francois said: “Everyone benefits as the aim is to create a lively competition atmosphere for the riders as a flavour of the real thing.”

The British para-equestrian dressage squad is widely regarded as the best in the world after bringing home 10 medals from the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games and seven golds from the European Championships in Kristiansand, Norway last year.

Now the squad is preparing to join Team GBR competing at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky this autumn. The para-dressage phase will run from October 5-9.

Easton College has bid for a place to host an Olympic equestrian team for the London 2012 games, as its indoor arena was only recently completed and by then the deadline for bids had passed.

How many medals targeted by Team GB?

Team GB are aiming to get medals in all the disciplines; eventing, dressage and show jumping and Paralympic dressage.

Where are the chances?

Team GB are best placed to succeed in eventing where we have medalled at every Olympics bar one since 1972. In dressage, Britain has European team silver behind it from 2009. Show jumping is going through a rebuilding phase but new team manager Rob Hoekstra is using this autumn’s world championships to trial riders for 2012 rather than focus on immediate medals.

Key issue internationally?

One of the key issues in the sport internationally is the continuous debate over the welfare of the horses and what is reasonable to be asked of the animals, and the levels of medication that are acceptable.

Biggest challenge domestically?

An issue affecting Britain’s equestrian team is ‘horsepower’. Britain needs to keep hold of its best horses, but they are not bound by nationality and can be traded and purchased all over the globe. This makes funding an extremely important part of equestrianism.

Three names to watch?

British riders to look out for Laura Bechtolscheimer, in dressage, and Ben Maher in show jumping. In eventing there is Beijing Olympic bronze medallist and reigning European champion Tina Cook, and Pippa Funnell – absent from top level since 2005 – has returned as a true 2012 prospect.

Biggest international rivals?

Stiff competition is expected from Germany across the board, France and the United States in the show jumping, the Dutch in dressage and Australia in eventing. Dutchman Edward Gal and Moorlands Totilas have been unbeatable in dressage freestyle since 2009.

1. A good rider lives on the small number of good steps and he builds on them. He forgets about the bad things. Inexperienced riders think mostly about the bad things.

2. There are many roads to the top of the mountain, but the view is the same from the top.

3. With transitions, horses find their balance by themselves.

4. A horse has a memory shorter than a dog-which might be three seconds. You must reward immediately.

5. In a proper pirouette, there is no suspension and it is bound to be four beat.

6. Even a foal can do one-tempi changes.

7. I have had to work to get flying changes because I didn’t have a schoolmaster when I was learning. I count the steps: 1, 2, 3. Here is what I do:

• I check that my horse is listening to me by doing a big half halt. If he is not listening I don’t ask for the change until he is sharper.
• I take my new outside leg back.
• I ask for the change.

8. A horse only works for 45 minutes. He can carry us for that 45 minutes.

9. Never work a horse until he is sour … especially young horses in the arena.

10. Don’t bother with shoulder-in or any other movements if you are not able to influence the length of the horse’s steps. There is no hope in hell until you can.

11. When you train at home, do one thing at a time-pirouette one day and half pass another, so you have time to do each thing with quality. You might choose canter work on one day and trot work on another.

12. Using the Fillis method of holding the reins of a double bridle, you take the bridoon as if you were driving. It will make the muscles of the lower arm soft and it is easier to use each bit separately.

13. Horse-and rider-combinations are a bit like a marriage. You have to find the horse you can work with. I like energetic, hot horses for myself.

14. In training you have to be very honest. You cannot lie to your horse or your trainer or the dressage judges. If you only can do something one out of 10 times at home, then you know you have to be lucky at the show–and we know we’re not always dead lucky.

15. There are two ways of riding. At home you have to be very aware of your problems but you can’t be too picky at the show. 16. If I don’t have control in walk I won’t get it in trot or canter either.

17. At shows, we see many poor pirouettes in Fourth Level and Prix St. Georges. The collection in pirouette must be as great as it is in piaffe. For that reason, I teach the piaffe first [even though the pirouette appears much earlier in the tests.]

18. Many horses and riders get stuck at Prix St. Georges. You can still carry a horse around in Prix St. Georges, but when you start Intermediaire II and Grand Prix, the horse must carry himself.

19. Every time the rider uses a hand or a leg aid, the horse must respond. Even a bad response is better than no response at all.

20. Keep the good things good and don’t nag about the bad things but don’t ignore them either.

21. Work on the more difficult things on a basic level so the horse feels that he has succeeded.

22. For some horses, I am as happy with a score of 6 as I would be for a 10 on another horse. Continue with a strong 6 until the judges start to give a small 7 for it-instead of trying to overpower the horse to improve the movement and end up getting a 4. If you go from a strong 6 to a weak 7 in every movement you have gone from a 60 percent to a 70 percent. 23. When you have had a good ride, be sure to find time to write down some notes about how it felt. Often after you have won, everyone wants to have a champagne and there’s no time to remember how it felt. When you do poorly, no one wants to come talk to you and there’s plenty of time to reflect upon how it felt.

24. If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got. If you are not happy with what you are getting, you have to change what you are doing.

For any equestrian lover, a potential career as a horse groom seems on the surface the dream job. And it can be a hugely rewarding profession – provided you’re willing to put the hard work in. The job can be both physically and mentally draining, so if you’re not prepared for long hours and sometimes testing conditions, it’s not the right career move for you.

The benefits of this kind of role are endless; constant daily interaction with different horses will help you learn everything you need to know about equine behaviour and, with permission from owners, sometimes you’ll even have the chance to ride them. It’s not hard to see why horse groom jobs are instantly attractive for those with a love for the animal. But before you submit an application form for a role in this area, you’ll also have to weigh up some of the obvious cons – these include early mornings, battling the elements when the seasons change, and the extensive learning process that you’ll need to undertake to improve your knowledge of equine health and routine.

Anybody looking for work as a horse groom needs to go in for the job with an open mind, with versatility the key attribute for any new recruit. You’ll be assigned a variety of tasks, so it’s essential to be a quick learner. Common morning tasks will include mucking out, feeding and watering. Remember, the requirements of individual horses may differ so keep this in mind as you do your rounds.

Of course, as the job title suggests, it’s the grooming process where you will really be given the chance to shine. The owner will want the horse looking in prime condition for when they leave the riding stables, so it’ll be up to you to carry out essential grooming duties. These will include brushing, dressing, trimming and tacking up. Try and find out which horses are required for exercise first each day to give you time to prepare them in the correct order.

Once the horses are ready for action, collect any used tack and clean it thoroughly – if you neglect this part of your duties, you’ll have to replace accessories more regularly. After all the horses are in for the day, finish off any final grooming or feeding before mucking out again just before you leave.

Finally, seize the opportunity. Hard work tends to bring its own rewards, so showing dedication and enthusiasm could lead to extra opportunities to ride your favourite horses or even promotion to a position of higher responsibility.

If you have the land to spare, a dressage arena could prove a good long-term use for the space – after all the horse can only benefit further from extra dressage work even when the test is consigned to the history books. You can use a dressage arena to teach sensible training techniques that will keep the horse disciplined and encourage good riding practice.

Although the prospect of building a dressage arena might give you sleepless nights worrying about finance, there’s no need to make cost an issue, as a dressage arena can be as simple in design as you like – you don’t even to physically build anything if you don’t want to.

First of all, mark out an appropriate ‘zone’ in which to build your dressage arena. Ask the organiser of the local dressage competition about the size of the arena being used for the test and try and replicate these conditions so the horse does not become overwhelmed on the day of the competition. Generally, the arena should be roughly 20-40m in length and 20m wide – these are the standard measurements for most horse dressage arenas.

Obviously, when you are practicing with your horse, you’ll need to have full awareness of the arena’s perimeter. Mark this out clearly as you map the design out – special grass spray paints and poles can help replicate the shape of a dressage arena. Another condition of the dressage test that needs to be mirrored in the arena is the lettering that indicates a new skill demonstration. Specialist supply shops may sell dummy test letters, but it’s probably just as simple to provide your own versions. Search around your house and garage for items such as old tyres or other harmless markers that can substitute as letters. Study the layout of the dressage arena in test conditions so you can practice separate manoeuvres in the appropriate part of the arena.

After you have seen your dressage arena transformed from a dream into a reality, it’s important not to rest on your laurels. The arena will need regular maintenance for it to be suitable for regular, disciplined training. Re-spray the perimeter every couple of weeks and keep ground conditions at a sensible level. Although your horse dressage arena might not quite live up to the real thing, it can be an extremely useful tool in ensuring you pass with flying colours on test day.

At which level should I start competing?
The level you compete at is restricted by the number of points your horse has won. If your horse has no points, you do not have to start competing at the lower levels, but to compete in a prix st georges class, you must have scored 60% or above in an advanced test.

Do I need to plait my horse when I compete in affiliated classes?
There are no rules to say you must plait your horse, but most people do.

Can my horse wear boots and bandages?

They are allowed while warming-up, but not during a test.

Can my trainer warm up my horse?
Yes, except in winter, summer, music regionals and championships when no-one other than the competitor may school the horse from the saddle for the duration of the show, except for disabled classes grade I and II.

Do I have to leave the arena at A at the end of a test?
No, you may leave the arena on a long rein where appropriate.

Is rising trot allowed?
You can do sitting or rising trot during all tests up to and including elementary level.