We were welcomed to the Global Dressage Forum at the end of October by our host Dr. Joep Bartels, Chairman of the programme committee. Monty Roberts was also invited to make an opening speech, he delivered the diversity of philosophy welcomed at the Forum which aspires to stretch the boundaries of the dressage world. The message was clear from both speakers, that respect for each others viewpoints must be a priority throughout the Forum.

The programme was purposefully designed to be provocative and
controversial in the hope of promoting lively debate stimulating exchange of ideas and disciplines.This is what encourages the leaders of the dressage community to travel from all over the world to participate.

The focus for 2007 was training methods, scientific results on learned helplessness, the marketing of dressage and the evaluation of judging. The main goal being an open discussion with representatives of
trainers, judges, horse owners, organisers and media representatives.

However Monty Roberts kept our feet on the ground and asked us to remember the old adage that in the end "A horse is a horse is a horse"..... and when you see the prices that top dressage horses are fetching at the performance sales its worth remembering that!

The programme was impressive, with some of the greatest and most respected trainers showcasing their methodology. Some readers may also remember that a delegation of Portuguese riders gave a presentation on Lusitanos in 2004 .

I had started by writing a resume of each of the presentations at this years Forum but realised that this was going to become far to lengthy so this article will concentrate on two presentations.

The opening presentation was given by Kyra Kyrkland and Franke Slothaak.

They posed the following questions:

1. Should young dressage horses jump fences?

2. What about riding round and deep from a show jumpers viewpoint?

3. Would young dressage riders have better balance by show jumping?

Several months ago Kyra Kirkland and ex show jumping world
champion Franke Sloothaak met while giving clinics in Austria. Both impressed by the performance of each other concluded there were some interesting parallels between the two disciplines

Kyra Kirkland began with a quotation “The hand must neither be held so tightly as to restrain the horse nor so loosely that the horse does not feel the hand" - as relevant and inspirational now as it was 2000 years ago when Xenaphon wrote it!”

Kyra spoke of the army being the major sponsor of equitation for many hundreds of years until the invention of tanks, officers rode for
intellectual furtherment while the ranks needed effectively trained
horses that would last, it was not economical to have a high percentage of wastage. Following the cessation of horses being used by the forces the discipline of dressage was taken up by individuals and has quickly became commerce driven.

Kyra's thoughts are that possibly young horses are required to
specialise too soon at the expense of a more rounded education for both horse and rider which might introduce more athleticism, variation and a more open mind. Kyra pointed out that in dressage training the consequences are not the same as those when show jumping if there is a lack of commitment in a movement.

We forget that there is not a lion behind or a wide ditch in front and if there was then the obedience/responsiveness of the horse within the moment would be very different. The horse must concentrate
completely, you cannot show jump safely without effective half halts.
Possibly, she said, there are to many young riders today afraid to take their bottoms out of the saddle and ride off their knees.

So the message is not to be blinkered in training young horses and
riders. Real horsemen are interested in real horses and all that they can do.

Franke Sloothak

Balance is fundamental. Balance in riding and Balance in life. It is an essential prerequisite to how we approach the task of training and what we bring of ourselves to the task. Whether we wish to train for dressage or for show jumping balance is fundamental.

We must also remember that we must risk making mistakes as it is only through realising mistakes that we learn to move forward.

Gymnastic work is essential in show jumping in order to offer the horse a longer working life, it is critical that the horse is given a strong and safe balance to carry a rider, by interfering with this balance by force then the future of both horse and rider is challenged.

Franke gave a demonstration on his world class show jumper which was ridden really quite low in front and on a very light contact yet the pirouettes and the speed at which the horse could react were
remarkable.

Kyra also rode, showing how easily the horse adapted to another rider and his response to gymnastic work.

Arthur Kottas concurred with all that had been said and reminded us of another old adage. " A horse without a rider is still a horse but a rider without a horse is no longer a rider!"

The evening presentation was given by Wibi Soerjadi and Imke Schellekens-Bartels.

During the European Championships in Turin Imke and Hunter Douglas Sunrise succeeded in contributing to a gold team medal for the Netherlands. They also won two individual bronze medals. The kur to music, was played and composed by piano celebrity Wibi Soerjadi,
successfully translating the harmony between horse and rider into an imposing horse ballet.

Wibi Soerjadi is one of the very best concert pianists in the world today.
Listening to Wibi create a musical dialogue was one of the highlights of the forum and listening to how he built layers of rhythms unique to Hunter Douglas Sunrise with the layers of emotions he felt they
generated was an extraordinary revelation.

This endearing and extremely talented musician had the audience spellbound with his lively and enthusiastic interpretations. Especially as the merging of other live artistic disciplines with equitation is one of my
special interests.

Wibi gave a detailed analysis of how the composition was created was given on his own Bosenderfer grand piano, transported to Hooge Mierde for the occasion, the presentation ended with a moving display by Imke on her very talented mare.

I felt that this energising presentation particularly reflected the very thoughtful, rounded and inspirational programming that is a hallmark of the Global Forum.

One of the great features of the Forum is the panel who lead questions and discussions after the presentations, usually a mixture of trainers
riders scientists and journalists. Also the question corner which allows all members of the audience to corner the presenters during the breaks. Richard Davidson was also an asset as the moderator, having a real gift for not avoiding the awkward questions while remaining good natured and charming enough to soothe troubled waters afterwards, he was
brilliant through out!

Other presentations that stood out and which I would like to write about in the future were given by Andrew McLean on learned helplessness, Jean Bemelmans on flexible training and Johann Hinnemann van Baalen on the development from pony rider to Grand Prix.

Jane lloyd Francis

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