By Mary Moon
Dressage4Kids™ kicked off 2024 by presenting a panel discussion about “Coaching and Preparing for Competition and How Riders Prefer to be Coached” on the evening of January 15, 2024, at Wellington National Golf Course (Wellington, FL). Tuny Page and Stillpoint Farm (Wellington, FL) graciously sponsored the in-person event that was part of D4K’s Training4Teaching (T4T) program.
In its twenty-fifth year, D4K is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization incorporated for the express purpose of providing educational and competitive opportunities for youth riders and the adults who support them. In 2020, D4K started T4T to support young riders, adult amateurs, and more experienced professionals who are interested in careers in the horse industry.
Lendon Gray welcomed the audience and told them that she founded D4K to allow as many kids as possible to be involved in dressage as well as encourage “old kids” to support them. She initiated T4T after she discovered, “Teaching is not the same as riding.” In addition, D4K offers scholarships to instructors and coaches to encourage them to take a day off from their normal duties to attend a clinic or symposium and learn fresh approaches and new exercises.
Gray moderated the Coaching and Preparing for Competitions panel discussion presented by four professional dressage coaches and trainers: Jennifer Baumert, Ashley Holzer, Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Marsha Lewis.
All four panelists told the audience that they do most of their coaching and training at home. They use a team approach to give each horse and rider the support they need for their best performance. Team members can include a sports psychologist, veterinarian, and blacksmith. A second coach or working student can provide input when the primary coach is unavailable, or a second set of eyes can be helpful. Cooperation among team members is essential.
At shows, their primary coaching role is to reduce stress and anxiety and enable their riders to have positive experiences. They rely on detailed timetables of activities and ride times on whiteboards, coach their riders as they warm up their horses and coordinate riders’ families, food and all the bits and pieces that are part of showing horses.
The panelists also shared suggestions for working with dressage riders in specific age groups and levels of competition and preparing their riders (and themselves) to ride down centerline.
FEI Adult Riders
Ashley Holzer primarily coaches FEI-level riders. She revealed, “They get super nervous. Feelings of pressure and stress are their greatest impediment.” Extensive planning, meetings and discussions with her riders are parts of her strategy. Holzer noted that it’s particularly important to manage the expectations of FEI-level riders because “There are peaks and valleys in training horses at this level.”
Holzer develops a plan for each horse and rider at the start of each show season. She encourages her students to always train their horses in a kind manner with appropriate expectations.
Additional planning typically begins between four and six weeks in advance of each show and ends when the rider enters the show ring.
Holzer meets with each rider and gathers information about how the horse and rider are doing. She looks for opportunities to improve their score in a specific test by focusing on their strongest (not their weakest) movements. Ashley explained that it is often easier for the pair to train to raise a movement from 7.0 to 7.5 or 8.0 than try to improve one that consistently scores in the 6.0 range.
Her next step is to coach the rider to improve their strong movements. At home, Ashley has her student practice their warm-up with extra effort to polish their strong movements and then ride their test. Holzer observes and checks whether the quality of the strong movements reached their target.
Warm-ups are an important part of Holzer’s coaching strategy. She recommends that everyone practice at home to develop a warm-up routine to get the best possible test at a specific show. Between one and four weeks before a show, Holzer experiments with different times (duration), specific exercises and preparations for showing under conditions such as heat and humidity. She keeps records to map the progress of the horse and rider.
Two days before a show, she checks all the preparations and makes sure “all the simple stuff is buttoned up and ready to go.” She emphasized, “The trainer really cannot assume anything. Go over all the details with the rider. Think about all the possibilities, from changes in the weather to a noseband that can break in the warm-up ring.”
At the show, Holzer focuses on helping her riders maintain their composure (nerves)! As a rider warms up, she directs her to practice groups of movements in the sequence that they will be ridden in the test. Some FEI-level riders tend to concentrate intently and ride “on auto-pilot” in the show ring, she noted, and practicing the correct sequence in the warm-up ring prepares them to stay on course during the test.
Immediately before her riders enter the ring, she gives them a quick reminder, such as “Ralph-Lauren-Lauren,” for a sequence of right-left-left turns at the start of their test.
“The best competitors are eager and hungry for more information,” according to Holzer. She urges her riders to always have a video taken as they ride each test and then watch it several times to learn about their performance.
FEI Young Riders
Olivia LaGoy-Weltz coaches riders who compete at the FEI levels designated for young people:
- Children, from the year they reach the age of 12 until the end of the year they reach the age of 14,
- Pony Rider, from the year in which they reach the age of 12 until the end of the year they reach the age of 16,
- Junior, from the year they reach the age of 14 until the end of the year they reach the age of 18,
- Young Rider, from the beginning of the year they reach the age of 16 until the end of the year they reach the age of 21, and
- Under 25, from the beginning of the year in which they reach the age of 16 until the end of the year they reach the age of 25.
LaGoy-Weltz told the audience that she feels it is important to “teach riders in these age brackets to develop understanding and ownership, not just ride tests.” This includes teaching riders to bridle, saddle and lead, as well as train their horses.
She emphasized that when she teaches her students, “They need to tell me if they don’t understand something. I keep asking them for feedback.”
When practicing tests at home, she has her students use the whole ring and work their horses as they ride the arena between movements. She wants her students to be able to easily recall their test, and she has them practice until they can recite it quickly. This prepares them to maintain their composure and make a correction if they lose their way and ride off-course in the show ring.
Before a show, she checks to make sure each student’s horse is truly sound. When she prepares her riders for FEI-level competitions, LaGoy-Weltz teaches them about FEI regulations, jogging their horse for the vet check and drawing their ride times.
Most importantly, LaGoy-Weltz makes a special effort to help her students and their parents manage their expectations. She encourages them to have a realistic view about how they will be judged at a CDI and be happy with their own personal journey as a rider and competitor.
LaGoy-Weltz explained the importance of developing a healthy relationship with all her riders. She reminded the audience, “Remember what life was like when you were their age? That’s what life is like for them now. They’re going through a lot of changes.” She recommended that trainers and coaches encourage their riders in these age groups to lead a balanced life. “Try to understand what may be going on in their life,” she recommended.
She also discussed how she takes an individual approach to each junior or young rider. “I try to figure out the ‘tone’ and energy level of each student. I learn a little about what a rider is thinking about or experiencing in her life, which might be different from what it may appear.”
Above all, LaGoy-Weltz told the audience, “I respect juniors and young riders and treat them like adults, and I expect them to respond accordingly. I hold them to high standards of riding and behavior balanced with encouragement and fun.”
For example, she coaches her riders to develop “shark eyes” and ride with laser-like focus and confidence “in the zone.”
Social media is of particular importance for these age groups. LaGoy-Weltz insists that it is critical for coaches to talk with their students about social media. She explained that social media can be “really caustic or encouraging and uplifting,” and she advises her students not to allow themselves to be distracted.
She reminds her students who are competing at FEI levels, “You’re a role model now, and you’re a steward for the sport, whether you like it or not.” She tells them, “No posts with any of the 3Bs (booze, butts, beer) on social media,” and “Be positive in your posts, especially posts about other people.” She also discusses social media with her riders’ parents.
Adult Amateur and FEI Para Riders
Photos from US Equestrian and USDF archives.
Jennifer Baumert takes an individual approach when she coaches her adult amateur and Para riders.
“I know my AA and Para students and what motivates each one,” she explained. Baumert noted that AA riders, in particular, work hard at home on the frame and connection with their horse and keeping their horse in front of their leg. “But things can fall apart during a test at a show,” she observed.
Before going to a show, Baumert talks with each rider and checks whether they know their tests and ride times and what to do if they go off course. Her coaching priorities include preparation at home before a show and competing at an appropriate level. She teaches her riders to use visualization to practice their tests, including how they will ride each movement and prepare for the next one.
To help her AA students gain experience in the show ring, she takes them to schooling shows, especially those that allow competitors to wear headphones and listen to coaching as they ride their tests. “Coaching my riders at this type of schooling show is a super-valuable tool,” she said.
Baumert reminded the audience about the five levels of competition for Para riders, from Grade I (least able-bodied, compete by riding a test at the walk in a small ring) through Grade V (most able-bodied, compete by riding a test comparable to Third or Fourth Level in a large ring).
She explained that some Para riders have typical show nerves plus anxiety about how they may feel on the day of the show. Also, when Para riders participate in team selection trials at CPDIs, they are only permitted to school their horses when observed by the selectors. There is pressure to be “show-ring ready” at all times, which can be psychologically stressful.
To ensure that her Para riders have all the support they need, Baumert explained, “I show up early because these riders need to be able to count on me, and I help manage their stress.”
National Junior Riders
Marsha Lewis coaches riders who compete at the national (USEF) levels of dressage designated for young people:
- Junior, until the end of the calendar year in which they reach the age of 18, and
- Young Rider, from the beginning of the calendar year in which they reach the age of 16 until the end of the calendar year in which they reach the age of 21.
Lewis noted, “Even when kids are riding at lower levels, and some may be as young as seven or eight years old, I have high expectations for them.”
She explained that when working with these riders, “There are a lot of ‘firsts,’ first schooling show, first recognized show, and first test at each level.” She considers it important to help her students have positive experiences that are transferable to other sports.
When Lewis starts to coach a new student, she begins by getting to know her and what motivates her. Most training and preparation for showing are done at home and include practicing warm-ups, riding in groups and etiquette in the ring.
Marsha likes to alternate her teaching responsibilities with her working students. She treats this as a good opportunity to learn more about ways to effectively communicate with and train each student.
For example, some riders like a coaching dialogue during their warm-up, while for other riders, the less said, the better.
Teamwork is a priority at Lewis’s barn, and she encourages her riders to do things together. For example, her riders take turns practicing their tests on foot while other students watch. This is a learning opportunity for everyone. “I try to support kids so they can do the best they can and develop through teamwork,” Lewis explained.
“I’m proactive at shows. I arrive early so students and their parents can count on me. I help them in many little ways, like answering all their questions about showing and judging. Sometimes, it’s helpful to explain the difference between anxiety and excitement. I tell my riders that it’s normal to feel excited and help them channel their excitement into positive energy.”
At shows, Lewis does not teach her riders anything new when they are warming up. She has each student ride her horse more forward or relax her horse, depending on which is appropriate, and then practice a few movements from their test before they go in the show ring.
At shows and her barn, Lewis finds that many parents are eager to have something to do. Lewis offers suggestions to parents about bringing snacks, polishing boots, rolling leg wraps and helping with specific tasks around the barn.
“Remember,” Lewis told the audience, “you’re coaching the parents as well as the kids. I try to help parents and their kids focus on defining realistic goals and appreciate successes. It’s important for them to recognize that each student is on her own journey, not competing with other riders.”
“I also tell parents that a horse show is a great place for their kids to learn life lessons. It’s much more than a competition, it’s an opportunity for their rider to evolve. A rider is allowed to make mistakes and even fail, but she can always continue to learn,” Lewis concluded.
Special Preparations
One or two panelists mentioned that some of their riders benefitted from working with sports psychologists and sports performance coaches, such as Laura King, a professional who works in the areas of self-improvement and positive behavior modification, hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming.
Members of the audience asked the panelists about ways that they prepare themselves before competing. The panelists’ responses ranged from getting enough sleep, good nutrition and hydration to visualization, listening to relaxing or uplifting music and enjoying favorite snacks.
The evening before she competes, Holzer watches videos that show excellent performance and gets plenty of sleep so that she is well rested. The next day, Holzer makes sure that she is prepared to ride and dressed in her show attire two hours before she’s scheduled to compete. She sits in a quiet place, watches the videos again and then tries to sleep for thirty minutes. Afterward, she mounts her horse and proceeds to the warm-up ring. Holzer bases her routine on the results of scientific research about the human brain. She explained that research has shown that when someone watches something done in a perfect way many times and then goes to bed and sleeps well, their brain is in a state of learning, can process recent information and teach itself to help the body perform as shown in the video. To learn more, she recommended a book, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, by Matthew Wilder, PhD (Scribner, 2017).
