COSTS AND CRISIS HITTING GRASSROOTS DRESSAGE RIDERS
The news that Hickstead will no longer hold dressage competitions because of the ‘exorbitant’ costs involved brought both dismay and disappointment this week. It also triggered a resigned acceptance from grassroots riders who believe it’s indicative of the way the sport is heading – and it’s no longer for them.
With the general cost of living on the rise, and the recent negativity surrounding top level dressage, many riders are feeling the pinch both financially and morally.
Seasoned rider, Sarah Harrison, told MumsHaynet: “I think we've had the best of it.
“Talk to anybody and they'll all say the same thing; it's becoming an elitist sport. You've got to have money to do it. And it's really true.
“I was talking to somebody the other day and she said to me, ‘When people ask what I do with my horse? I say, ‘Oh, I do a bit of training with them’. I don't want to say that I do dressage because the first thing they say is, ‘Do you beat your horse?’.
“Sadly, dressage has had some very bad publicity this year, making it difficult for dressage riders, but we do need to stand up for what we believe in to keep the sport alive and evolving.”
Warmbloods
For trainer and former Grand Prix rider Andrew Murphy, both the costs and the crisis of ethics currently haunting competition dressage have the potential to derail the discipline if changes don’t happen.
“If you're going to pursue dressage, it’s all about buying in the gaits these days rather than doing the correct training to achieve amplification of the gaits,” he explained.
“So, people buy these huge moving warmbloods, put a double bridle on them, have it on the bit, teach it the movements and then go and compete. But not everyone can afford a huge moving warmblood.
“Then, if you do decide to compete, and you can afford to do so, you're not going to do well because judges tend to give the marks to the bigger moving horses.
“Now, I'm not saying that if a horse is active and connected, it shouldn't get reasonable marks, but if a horse is subtle and through, then it should get the same marks.”
While the majority of riders can only dream of riding Grand Prix – with or without a huge moving warmblood – it is clear that rising costs for little reward are sucking the enjoyment out of the experience for many.
Affiliated dressage competitions in the UK are organised by British Dressage (BD) or an affiliated club, and the competitions follow BD’s official rules and guidelines.
The competitions are open to BD members only, and riders must have their horses registered with BD.
This means an annual payment of £98 for full competing membership and £82 for full horse registration.
And that’s just for starters.
“For a novice class, these days, you're looking at an entry fee of £25 pounds,” says Sarah. “Typically, you are likely to do two classes. So, that's at least £50. Plus, you have to pay a £1.50 booking fee.
“I live in Devon and a lot of the venues are at least an hour away, so that’s going to be £45 in diesel both ways. So, another £90 pounds.
“Then you will probably want to have a lesson or a warm up session with your instructor before you go and present yourself in public. So, that will be another £40. Add on something for lunch while you’re there and you’ve spent around £150. And that’s without even adding on costs for stabling if you have to overnight, which tends to be about £60 and you have to bring your own hay and bedding and then muck out before you leave.
“Right now, we're in a tough economic climate and unless BD do something about this, they're going to lose all their grassroots riders.”
Following the Hickstead article in Horse and Hound, a number of comments on Facebook echoed Sarah’s concerns.
“To be honest, I think all equestrian sports need to look at their costings,” said one rider. “It's inaccessible for many people. If we want the sport to grow, thrive and attract more participants, pricing people and venues out is not the answer.”
Another post lamented: “Commitment to BD dressage is an expensive hobby. Unfortunately, I’ve decided not to continue riding. I’m working class with a well-paid job, I absolutely adore dressage, but it’s a sport now well out of my means. Travelling, entry fees, lessons, as well as day-to-day running costs. Unfortunately, I feel it’s now an elite sport well out of my budget.”
Sarah, aged 64, has competed for more than 25 years, mainly in eventing until age made her reconsider her life choices and settle on the more sedate discipline of dressage.
Although a forthcoming knee replacement has largely stopped her competing this year, she thinks she only has another year left in her for affiliated dressage competitions.
“I'm sort of out of it for the minute, but next year I will come back, but I'll probably make it my last season. I've only been out three times this year because I just can't afford it. I'm retired.
“It’s heartbreaking because all of us grassroot riders love the sport and we love our horses, but we are being squeezed financially by the cost of living and the cost of competing. Something has to give.
“I also think that without the grassroots people supporting British Dressage, their foundation is just going to fall apart.
“They need to look at the whole picture, not just at those who are at the top, the elite riders, because right now there's no great incentive for grassroots riders to keep on going.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by trainer Andrew, who gave up competing more than two decades ago following the death of his mother.
He said: “It was about a year after my mum had died and I don’t know whether it was that experience of having other priorities or whatever, but I just woke up one morning, and I had booked into my first Grand Prix of the season, and I thought I've got to travel three-and-a-half hours to the show venue, I’ve got to pay for diesel and deal with all the tension of competing at that level against other riders and most of the top riders, and I thought, I can't be bothered anymore.
“It wasn’t a problem with competition as such, but I had got to a stage where I felt I'd done enough of it, and I'd done it successfully. I looked at the situation and thought it's too expensive, time wise, financially, and emotionally in terms of the commitment, and I just realised I'd gone past that point, and I've never regretted that decision.”
Tension
Of course, that’s not to say that Andrew doesn’t have some regrets about competitive dressage today.
He said: “I don't teach full competition, but I'll train horses and riders if competition is part of their enjoyment because that's absolutely lovely. But personally, I'd rather focus on the classical tradition combined with biomechanics which differs from what we see now in top line competition.
“What we saw at the Olympics recently was just tension everywhere, and the handful of riders that did test in a way that I would approve of, in terms of the horse’s way of going, were marked down very severely for mistakes and not necessarily marked up for the way they were going, whereas the tense, fire-breathing upper echelons of the sport don't get marked down for the tension.
“That's where I sort of disagree with the way judges mark.”
