Here, a rider from Region 1 tells us how she met her perfect dressage partner, and how she has prioritized rider fitness to help achieve her riding goals.
By Aleigh Hutzel
This story isn’t about overcoming odds with an unconventional dressage horse, or about how the horse was bought for a dollar. It doesn’t detail overcoming loss, sorrow, or hardship. This story is about how pure determination, focus, and fitness (both in and out of the saddle) contributed to this Adult Amateur’s Bronze Medal Achievement. Though this award bears the rider’s name, in this particular instance, it reflects the shared effort and resilience of both horse and rider working as a team.
When I set my long-term goal of achieving a Bronze Medal in 2021, I was new to dressage after a life of riding in the hunter/jumper world. Having just sold my young horse to pursue his preferred future path of eventing, I was in the market for a dressage horse that could check off all the boxes that everyone searches for: safe, sound, and affordable. Back in 2021, “affordable” had a whole different definition than horse shopping does today, and as an adult amateur on the more timid side, the “safe” factor was a big deal!
Player (“Now Playing HU,” a 2010 Hanoverian) was the first horse I sat on during this quest, and somehow, he was the “one” (Fun Fact: even as a purebred Hanoverian, Player actually has his USEF pony measurement card). He made me feel safe instantly, and he put down a stellar ride to demonstrate his willingness to both me and my trainer, Cindy Roesener. We went back a second time to try him again, just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, and that this sweet gelding really was a good egg. During my deep dive of online “research” (okay, you can call it online “creeping,” that’s fine), I discovered that Player was actually purchased as a yearling by my trainer’s trainer, and that we knew the girl who started, rode, and showed him as a young horse!
After a quick look at USDFScores.com, and a few texts with these individuals, we learned that – you guessed it – Player had a stellar reputation for being kind and patient. With my own dressage holding steady at Training Level, having found a horse who had shown through First Level and was schooling Second Level with a flying change seemed perfect for my Bronze Medal goal.
At Training and First Level, we consistently scored in the mid-to-upper 60s, and earned final placings in the upper to middle of the pack at the Great American/USDF Region 8 Championship. This is a respectable result considering the talented competition we were up against. Second Level is where we started to waver – connection needs to be consistent, bend needs to happen for the whole movement, and asking a horse who prefers changes to hold a counter canter serpentine was met with some less-than-stellar results.
Additionally, Second Level is where the horses develop collection and are expected to “move with uphill tendencies,” something very challenging for a potato that is built downhill. I told Player, “Look, we need to be at least proficient at Second Level, and then we can move to Third, and I promise I will ask for changes on purpose.” And so we endured for two years. Kudos to my trainer, Cindy, for her patience with us during this tedious, challenging time! (She has a gift for breaking things down in a way that helps me connect the dots – especially when I’m getting stuck.) Driven by determination, I refused to let any of my own mental or physical roadblocks get in the way of being a better rider for my horse. I found myself maintaining a riding journal after every ride to try to piece together where I could improve, as well as identify trends and exercises that seemed to be the most effective in accomplishing the goal that day for both of us. This was helpful, and it brought the discussion of rider fitness to fruition.
During our Second Level purgatory, I realized that the best way I could help us both in our rides was to improve my fitness level out of the saddle. Using my Apple Watch to track my rides (I highly recommend the “Equestrian” setting), I could see that I was putting out a fair amount of extra effort, despite being an already fit individual. For over a decade, I have been consistent with riding five days a week and working out in the gym five days a week as well; however, clearly something needed to change. My gym routine was just that: a routine, with the same weights and exercises.
I decided to up the ante in both cardio and weight training by tailoring my program to push me, instead of just going through the motions. My routine consists of a twenty-minute warmup of cardio to get my heart rate up to 130-150bpm, rotating throughout the week so that boredom doesn’t ensue. I will run on the treadmill, do the elliptical, climb the stair stepper, or use the rowing machine. After that, I lift weights in the following groupings for the five workouts a week: legs, shoulders, back, arms (biceps/triceps), and legs again. I avoid training legs the day before a lesson to ensure my muscles are fresh for a more effective ride.
After a few months of switching up my program, results started to yield. I wasn’t gasping for air if I had to do a longer canter tour (and remembered to breathe, since I wasn’t tensing all my muscles at the same time), and my average heart rate during rides came down. As I became more fit, it also became less challenging to send Player forward while maintaining our contact, and there were fewer moments of us hanging on one another. Player isn’t the type of horse that steps into connection easily, and I need the stamina to get through our essential warm-up.
Each ride begins with multiple transitions, lateral movement, frequent direction changes, and bending exercises. To find that suppleness and connection, I have to work through frequent gait/movement shifts every few strides. That means keeping up with the physical demands of asking for these exercises – without needing a walk break. Having a better level of rider fitness has helped exponentially with this challenge, and our warm-ups have become more efficient and less laborious, allowing us to start on our work for the day sooner.
This year, at Third Level, I am pleased that my fitness dedication has shown through with results for both myself and Player. I have a better semblance of balance, cardio stamina, and rely less on the strength aspect in the saddle. While we still have our current challenge areas (i.e., waiting until I actually give the aid to change leads, and preferably, a lead change without exuberance), our rides have come such a long way in all other aspects. We have found medium and extended gaits, consistent bend/connection throughout our movements, and that feeling of “uphill carriage.” Although, to the judge’s eye, we can always use more uphill. But that is okay, because the judge is just seeing us at a glance, and doesn’t realize that this “leveled” look actually is uphill for us. We will continue to pursue Third Level, with the goal of qualifying for the Great American/USDF Regional Championships next year, and our challenges now may not be the same as they will be in six months, as we continue to learn and develop.
Every single ride, I am thankful that I found Player as my partner. He has given me confidence and made me a more proficient rider over the last four years. I have learned to “let go and trust my horse,” to ask for movements correctly (not by shoving with my seat), and that finding the forward button will fix most any issue at that time. He is the right mix of lazy and forward, depending on which rider is on him, but truly excels at walking around on the buckle when you tell him he is done.
My favorite “Player is perfect” anecdote is when we were at the USDF Region 8 Championships in 2022. The temperature had dropped 20 degrees from the day before, and the wind gusts were up to 40 miles per hour – lucky me, especially being the second ride of the day at 7:48 AM. My anxiety was through the roof already for my championship ride, and combined with the cold morning… I was visibly shaking in my show clothes. I mounted up at the barn and began the trek to the warm-up ring, still trembling. Then there’s Player – calm, somewhat bored, almost rolling his eyes, and likely thinking, “Mom is having a meltdown up there, I’m just going to walk to my ring and let her figure it out.” The warmup ring was filled with spicy horses, electric energy, and the most perfect cherub, a.k.a. Player, who was acting like it was any other day. I was grateful (and always am at shows) that my horse is unfazed by his surroundings. I feel safe, and can concentrate on giving him the warm up he needs for our test.
Player truly is the best boy, and I often wish I could clone him in every height for my barnmates. Now, at fifteen years old, I find myself wondering how far we can still go together. He has the talent and movement to keep moving forward, but my original goal was to find a Bronze Medal horse, so anything he’s comfortable with beyond that is simply a bonus.
Our journey hasn’t been simple, but I don’t see that as a negative. Player makes sure I work hard enough to earn every step forward, and the results speak for themselves. I feel incredibly lucky to have found him.
