Typical Mistakes Dressage Trainers Make When Horse Shopping

When I decided to devote myself full-time to helping dressage riders find special horses in Europe, I imagined my clientele would be amateurs. But to my surprise, it soon became a service for other dressage professionals.

I loved working with good riders, helping them find great horses. It was inspiring to observe the talent that some of these riders had but also alarming how bad most were at making purchase decisions.

I’ve been out of the show world, being CEO of a digital marketing company for 17 years. A few years ago, when we bought a winter home near Wellington, and started investing in horses overseas, I began attending dressage shows again, Dressage at Devon which is close to my farm in PA, and Wellington, close to our winter home. 

It was fun to see people that I used to teach, now riding Grand Prix and judging shows! But it was disheartening to see how many talented USA riders are still competing on horses that they shouldn’t be wasting time on - horses that are holding back their careers. At one show in particular, we had guests from Europe with us. Frankly, we were embarrassed. 

Since then, I’ve been in many conversations with other dressage professionals who are involved in horse sales. We all agree; dressage professionals tend to be quite bad at picking horses for themselves. 

Looking back over the years when I used to travel to Europe with dressage trainers, helping them navigate their horse search/buying process, I saw some predictable patterns in how dressage professionals make bad horse choices. 

Dressage Riders Tend To Buy Projects

It’s not uncommon for dressage riders to be wowed by a horse with a freakish talent, like an extreme extended trot or a passage with great expression, while also having a bad canter or an impossible piaffe. Trainers tend to have way too much confidence in their ability to fix things. I swear, dressage trainers have an unhealthy attraction to “project” horses. Maybe it’s the pride of training a horse that no one else could have trained. 

Years ago, I was competing a horse at Devon. Another local trainer was telling me about how horrible, difficult, and dangerous her horse was when she first got it. She was so proud that she trained it and now, here she was showing it at Devon! I listened affirmingly, but inside was thinking, “Yes, here she was, not winning at Devon in front of potential students, sponsors, and friends."

I remember thinking, “Who even cares where you started with this horse or how little you paid for it?”

I had just won the class where she didn’t even get a ribbon. My name was just etched on another one of Devon's prestigious perpetual trophies. Meanwhile, no one (but her) will even remember she ever showed there.

People only care how your horse finishes, not how bad it was when you started or how cheap it was before it was trained.  

Do you think anyone (except her) is impressed that she trained a horse she had no business riding or that she has just wasted precious years of her fleeting career? You might argue, yes, but if that’s what she enjoys…” I’d say, in the end, no one enjoys being unsuccessful as a professional, not getting sponsors, or even getting injured. 

I know some would argue that it was all she could afford. But, I had just won the class on a homebred Hanoverian cross I paid less then 10K for unbroken because it was all I could afford. Admittedly, my horse wasn't a top International horse (which is what I should have been riding). I just made sure to not buy a project.

Dressage Trainers Believe They Can Fix Horses

We all know at least one woman who picks one bad husband after another because she thinks she can fix them. I swear, dressage professionals have that same gene; so many dressage riders have an irrational attraction to “projects.” When they see a horse with a 9.5 trot and a 5 canter, they are sure they can fix the canter. 

Years later, they’re still working on the tempi’s and the horse is 14 years old and getting arthritis. The horse is still standing on its hind legs instead of going down the center line, not finding the right connection to the bit, or going lateral in the walk. These riders watch the awards ceremony from the sidelines and see other riders who were more careful which horse they chose.

Smart riders who actually care about their careers don’t let the ego/hero/rescue thing cloud their judgment, and won’t give the time of day to a horse that isn’t a good career partner. Successful dressage trainers spend their precious years in the saddle on a horse that wants to do dressage, likes to show, and has the talent to win. Yes, some of these can still be challenging and even difficult at times - but they are horses that, in the end, can go the distance. When riders choose horses that aren’t compatible with their career ambitions, eventually they are tempted to be too tough on those horses. It’s a fool’s errand for the rider and often unfair to the horse.

Dressage Riders Try To Be Good At Riding Every Different Type of Horse

Successful dressage professionals not only avoid “projects,” they are also careful to pick horses that fit into their program. My wife rode a fantastic Contango son that another country’s team rider had owned and then sold. The horse’s former rider said, “he just wasn’t my type of horse.” 

Smart dressage professionals say that. They know that they won’t be brilliant on every type of horse, and they make sure to train horses that align with their preferred feel and fit into their training system. No one cares if a trainer can ride anything. They don’t give Olympic medals to riders because they can ride every type of horse. Medals are earned by smart riders that choose a compatible partner that goes the distance with them.

Dressage Professionals Think Their Only Problem Is Their Lack of Money 

There has recently been a lot of discussion online about solving horse ownership problems with money, saying, “We need more sponsors to buy better horses for our riders,” but I don’t agree. Yes, money is a problem, but money is not the singular solution.

I know enough very wealthy riders, and those who have money behind them that have never been long-listed. It takes talent, and it also takes a skill that is not talked about nearly enough in our industry; developing a great eye for a horse, having a strong network for finding horses, and developing the skill set for picking horses. It’s not as easy as most professionals think it is, and the younger the horse, the more often you’re wrong. A fool and his money are easily parted.

Many professionals may be a bit naive about their ability to know a good horse when they see one. I know I was. That pretty much cost me my riding career and I see it happening to too many other professionals. It makes me sad seeing so many talented riders showing up at CDI’s with (expensive) horses that are just not the total package. I suspect some of those riders wish for a better horse, but feel stuck with what they have because of financial reasons. 

Dressage Professionals Don't Get Help From More Experienced Buyers and Agents

Just as being a dressage judge requires a separate skill from teaching and training, so is evaluating dressage prospects. Just sourcing good prospects is a time-consuming activity. Most successful professionals in Europe have a trusted network of people they rely on to help them. Far too many USA dressage professionals feel qualified to pick their next horse, and that one time when they do have a sponsor, they pick out the wrong horse for themselves. It is so common and it makes me very sad.

Today, we're seeing more successful USA competitors engaging the help of agents (often quietly, and behind the scenes) to find and pre-qualify their future horses. Because I’m involved in dressage horse sourcing world-wide, I know first-hand the back-story of quite a few of the horses selected for world competitions. More top riders are realizing how much value a talented agent can be to their future success. 

Recently while on a hike, I serendipitously ran into a recruiter for the Philadelphia 76'ers. It reminded me about how sports teams find top talent. In dressage, it's even more difficult as we are looking for top riding talent, top equine talent, and a great compatibility. In my opinion, our country has relied on random luck that a team will just magically come together year after year, while other country's riders are much better at sourcing great horses.

If the USA teams are going to consistently take home Olympic medals, we need more of our riders with better approaches for having top horses at their disposal, and that includes working with talent scouts for International horses.

I am grateful that years back I was able to fill the gap for professionals using the network I built in Europe together with the experience I had worked so hard to gain. We weren't always successful. No one is. But overall, we hit our share of home-runs, and I’m quite sure I saved a lot of professionals from making some bad horse choices. 

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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.