Should Riders Develop Young Horses For The Olympics, Or Buy Made Horses?

Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about whether we like our top riders to develop their own horses or buy ones already made. In those discussions, some have suggested the ideal scenario is that our future Olympic horses are bred domestically, then trained up through the levels by American riders who eventually are picked for the team. 

Reading that reminded me of the feelings I had when I watched past Miss American Pageants when contestants would say they want world peace. Everyone smiles and agrees, but knows this girl has absolutely no clue about world affairs or how things really work in keeping wars from starting. So it is on social media, where everyone can be an expert and say things that make them feel good. 

So what do we tell Miss (or Mr) Dressage America when they say riders should buy domestically bred horses and ride/train them themselves? OK, this is two subjects: Developing or training a team horse, and domestic vs. imported horses. I’ll discuss the issue of training in this article, and handle the topic of domestic vs imported in another post. 

So, should our Olympic dressage horses be developed or purchased?

The purist in each one of us says “yes,” top riders should make their own horses. I know first-hand that many top riders prefer to make their own horses, giving them a foundation in their system of training. Some have compared remaking a horse that has been trained in a different dressage system as having to unbutton a shirt before you can button it up again. You lose time in the horse’s career and sometimes it never really works out in the end. Think about Totalis. 

The sportsman in each one of us also says “yes,” they should have trained the horse themselves. After all, who wants our sport to become even more exclusive than it already is? Do we want our Olympic team to be made up of people who bought their way there?

Of course, we all want to think “I too could stand on that podium and receive that medal,” and “the only reason I’m not there is because someone didn’t buy an expensive horse for me.” OK, I’m calling BS on that line of thought. I’ve lived long enough to see many very wealthy people never make the team, even after spending millions. 

If you haven’t noticed, riding is extremely difficult. Competing at Grand Prix takes more than a trained horse. Winning at Grand Prix in International competitions is an experience that will only come to a very elite, talented few riders, rich or poor. It is naive to think our team will only be made up of wealthy people in the future. It takes a lot of talent, a lot of discipline, and a lot of luck no matter how you look at it. 

And, buying a horse that has already beaten all the odds and has proven talent for International level Grand Prix, is sound, and can compete with the top horses in the world, young enough to have a future - well it sounds good to me! I’ll take two please.

If a sponsor steps up and purchases one for any of our talented riders, one of these very rare (and very expensive) horses, I say an enormous and deeply heartfelt thank you to them for supporting our sport and our country in that way. May many others follow in that sponsor’s footsteps! Yes, I’m a bit jealous. But, I’ll get over it and cheer for other riders and wave my American flag!

But seriously, aside from a bit of jealousy, I’m happy if any talented, hard-working American dressage rider is fortunate enough to partner with a fantastic dressage horse. I know first hand how difficult it is to win a Grand Prix when against other top riders. 

Last month, I watched Isabel Werth have a brilliant ride in Rotterdam on her new (made) horse, Wendy. I had seen the pair before, and wasn’t overwhelmed. But Werth had made this talented mare more like her partner over the past months and the result was so beautiful and so inspiring to watch. I can’t imagine any scenario where a top rider is given a top horse and the rider doesn’t have to bring that horse into his/her system and become a partner. Sometimes it never works and it looks really bad for the new rider/trainer. Regardless of where a horse is in its training, it takes a brilliant dressage athlete to sync with a horse and produce a winning score on the world stage of dressage. 

If anyone thinks a horse is like a motorcycle, a commodity that one can just buy and ride to the Olympics, they are very naive. 

Do I like the idea of riders developing their own horses? Frankly, I don’t care. Some brilliant Grand Prix trainers I’ve known over the years didn’t like riding younger horses. When accustomed to riding at high levels of collection, a trainer can inadvertently expect too much too soon from a young horse without intending to. It can be frustrating for the horse and the trainer. 

Other Grand Prix riders I’ve known are somehow able to dumb down their expectations for a young horse, and enjoy riding horses at lower levels, patiently bringing them along. I guess some college professors can enjoy teaching first grade too. It would drive me crazy. Who are we to judge? 

When I was an FEI level trainer, I didn’t enjoy riding 3, 4, and 5-year-olds. Practically speaking, I didn’t like the risk to my safety that goes along with riding a young horse. If I got hurt, it would be devastating to me and my family that depended on me financially. I appreciated a horse with good basics, but I had others who rode under me that enjoyed putting the foundation into younger horses. It just wasn't my thing.

From a business standpoint let’s look at real odds; many promising young horses don’t go the distance and become team horses. Statistically, most don’t make it. So, to beat those odds, how many young horses does a top FEI rider have to start with, spend years riding in order for one to be an Olympic hopeful when it's nine? More than is practical.

A top International level rider bringing along one young horse is not a realistic plan and neither is that top rider riding 5+ four-year-olds a day on top of their other teaching and training. Yes, there are anecdotes where that one horse worked out. I mean, I sold Verdades to Laura Graves who worked really, really hard and got lucky too! But success isn’t made up of a plan that involves catching lightning in a bottle. 

So what is a good plan? 

Or maybe the better question is, “Among the very short list of riders who show up with top horses year-after-year, what are they doing right? How have top trainers managed to have horses for the Olympics again and again? This question sounds like another blog post! But I'll give you a hint - most riders who show up year after year have many options in the queue (of developing young horses) and they don't leave it to chance. They are always working hard on that aspect of their careers.

Conversely, in my observation, most of our (USA) professionals need to put more of their focus on building possibilities for future horses, and that can mean many different pathways. But riders who are successful on one horse after another have plans in place, engage the right resources, and devote a portion of their time to making sure they have more than one option for a team horse always coming along.

Meanwhile, for riders who simply had a sponsor step in and buy them a ready-to-go Grand Prix competitor - well, good for you!

I want to go on record saying these riders should still receive our full support and yes, also our full respect - and go team USA!

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This post is the opinion of Steven Wolgemuth at the time of publication. If you have ideas you'd like to contribute to this article, a question, or even a disagreement, please share them with Steve. Together we make one another better.

This post is copyright by the author 2024. No reproduction of any part is permitted without expressed permission.