Pammy Hutton: ‘I'm getting excited about Badminton – but who will top the dressage?’

Pammy Hutton on the dressage at Badminton and whether different types of horse benefit from different styles of training

The excitement never fails to get to me as Mars Badminton Horse Trials draws near. I even love terrifying myself by walking the cross-country course. How wonderful horses are to gallop and jump it with, on the whole, pricked ears.

The dressage will likely be highly influential this year and results at many of the build-up events have been split by less than a mark.

Will Badminton’s top 10 move well enough to win any advanced medium in the country? How straight will the changes be? Will the judges spot every change that’s late or early behind? It happens in a split second, yet can make the difference between an eight or a three, or first or 10th after dressage.

With such substantial prize money and the prestige of a placing at stake… what a responsibility for the judges!

Right now, much polishing is being applied to tests. Whose trot has the most oomph? Which walks are true, really true? Yet it only takes one person standing up at the wrong time to catch a horse’s eye – and that’s it!

Will Badminton make use of the new FEI device for measuring noseband tightness? I have tried it and I like it. I have one in my pocket, ready to whip out at any given moment. For all the arguments, it’s a step in the right direction.

A worrying situation

While I was helping some competitors at a local dressage show, I was sad to see a lack of entries. This was despite excellent facilities, good judges and wall-to-wall sunshine.

With some of the classes having only one combination entered, I fear this highlights the current economic situation and how we are all feeling the effects of less money in our pockets.

I rode another inter I for fun and as a reminder to myself how tough riding down that centre line can be at the best of times – let alone when everyone has a camera in their pocket.

With dressage currently under the microscope – and broadcasts on social media freely and easily available to all – let’s hope low entries are not a reflection of some riders’ reluctance to be seen in public.

Misreading our warmbloods

Is a horse a horse? Or do different breeds need different approaches to their education?

Having been involved with transforming the winner of £120,000 on the track into a winner of retrained racehorse dressage competitions, my philosophy was that working with a thoroughbred would be poles apart from training a warmblood.

Focusing on tact, care, with no sharp kicks or hands, teaches us many improved skills. Most eventers need the gentle approach too. I think in the past we might have been misreading our best dressage friends, the warmbloods, by assuming they need more “kick and pull”.

Who should be teaching?

Now for a thorny question… Should competitors who have no coaching or teaching qualifications give lessons to other riders?

Personally, I think not. Just as I wouldn’t recommend a car driver, no matter how competent behind the wheel, to teach a learner. After all, training others is a skill in itself – one to be learnt and honed – regardless of the activity.

The trouble is, if there’s a gap in the market, there are always people willing to fill it.

Of course, it’s rightly argued that busy competitors don’t have time to follow the usual teaching qualifications route, yet they still have much to offer. Indeed, the British Horse Society (BHS) is working hard to accommodate competition riders who wish to coach.

But, please, let’s have more younger stars working their way towards the BHS Fellowship – that most coveted of professional qualifications.

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