American Quarter Horses
Make the Dressage Ring Their Own
By Kelly Sanchez
For 30 years Teena Middleton has
been a regular at Quarter Horse
shows in North Carolina, doing
what she describes as “a little
bit of everything”—from classes
in Western Pleasure to
over-fences. The dressage arena,
however, remained untried. So
when Middleton learned that the
American Quarter Horse
Association was launching a
program on Jan. 1, 2010,
allowing registered Quarter
Horses to earn AQHA points at
USEF/USDF dressage shows, she
and her 9-year-old Quarter Horse
mare, Mysterious Detail (aka
Paris Hilton), took the plunge.
Their efforts paid off: After
just one year of training, they
were the high-point winners in
the Adult Amateur division at a
show last September in historic
Pinehurst, North Carolina. “Not
only did the Quarter Horses hold
their own against the big guys,”
she says proudly, “they stole
the show!”
The pair’s dressage scores—which
included 70 percent at Training
Level Test 4 and 66 at First
Level Test 1—were hard-won,
notes Middleton.
“I
never would have taken the step
without the AQHA program,”
Middleton adds. “I
didn’t know much about dressage,
but I saw that there was a
little something for everyone. I
said, ‘If there’s
something for beginners, I’ll
try it,’” she recalls.
Middleton is just one of a
growing number of riders across
the U.S. blazing the way for
Quarter Horses in the dressage
arena. With more than 5 million
horses registered worldwide, the
AQHA can easily claim the title
of the world’s largest breed
registry. Valerie Smith, the
AQHA’s secretary to the senior
director of shows and new
events, says that by the end of
2010, there were approximately
73 registered American Quarter
Horses participating in the AQHA
dressage program, which
encompasses Training Level
through Grand Prix. “That
doesn’t sound like a big
number,” she said, “but I get
phone calls about it every day.”
Warmbloods may represent the
ideal in dressage, but Quarter
Horses are making inroads with
their versatility and
trainability, as well as their
accessibility.
“It’s not unusual for Quarter
Horses to do a lot of different
things,” says Middleton, who
nevertheless admits that
dressage was something of a
“culture shock” for her horse.
“Paris was a hunt-seat horse,
and for her to learn to go into
that bridle was tough. Quarter
Horses have an amazing level of
self-carriage, but getting Paris
to learn to go into the contact
was a serious challenge. She had
to bring her head up and accept
the contact.” Middleton credits
her
trainer, Susan Wiedman of Encore
Sporthorse in North Carolina,
with their success. “Susie’s
been so patient with us. She’s
had some problems that she’s
never had with other horses! We
had to go back to square one,
but I think we’re doing pretty
well now.”
Marcy Bisson of San Juan
Capistrano, CA, showed Western
Pleasure with a Quarter Horse
mare in the 1980s and later
owned a Swedish Warmblood. Four
years ago, after searching for
an equine partner that was as
capable in the show ring as on
the trail, she purchased Jacs
Sliding Rocket (aka Hollywood),
a 10-year-old Quarter Horse
gelding. “Hollywood was bred and
raised for reining,” says
Bisson. “He’s not a big
horse—just 15.2 hands—and he may
not have the suspension of a
warmblood, but he has a good
mind. In gaits he won’t get 8s,
but in precision he clears the
path.”
Last summer Bisson’s trainer,
Victoria Rea of Rea Equisports,
showed Hollywood at Third Level
Test 1, where they earned a
64.872 percent in the Open
division. Bisson, Rea and
Hollywood regularly make the
trek several hours north to
train with well-known judge and
trainer Hilda Gurney, herself a
proponent of non-traditional
breeds in the dressage ring.
“Any horse without the fancy
gaits is going to have to have
an exceptional performance,” Rea
notes. “Hollywood’s not going to
get the big scores for gaits,
and I’ve got to make him think
about keeping the jump in his
canter. But he’s very talented
and athletic, and he’s changed
dramatically. He can do good
collection and some pretty
decent pirouettes.”
Rea points out that Bisson can
take the horse on a three-hour
trail ride and then load him
onto the trailer and show him in
a dressage test. “He’s just a
dandy horse,” she says. “The
AQHA program is a great
opportunity.”
Michelle Williams of Georgia is
another dressage
rider
who’s glad for the chance
to accrue AQHA points, qualify
for AQHA Incentive Fund earnings
and compete for year-end awards.
Inspired to try dressage after
attending the 1996 Summer
Olympics in Atlanta, she made
her Second Level debut last fall
on her 13-year-old Quarter Horse
gelding, A Cash Vantage (aka
Casey). “He was a wonderful
hunter, but he just blossomed in
dressage—this is the job he
likes,” says Williams. “Casey’s
out of a halter bloodline, so he
should really be standing at the
end of a lead shank in the
halter ring, not doing Second
Level dressage!”
Williams concedes that, for
many, warmbloods are still the
breed of choice in the dressage
arena. “But I found Amber Clark,
a trainer who liked Casey. Amber
told me, ‘A nice horse is a nice
horse. It doesn’t matter what
breed it is.’ And three people
came up to me after my ride at
the Region 3 Championships in
Georgia and said they were so
excited to finally see someone
out there competing and doing
well on a Quarter Horse. I call
them the golden retrievers of
horses,” she chuckles.
The AQHA program has prompted
her to seek out approved
dressage shows, Williams says.
“Knowing that Casey could
finally get points on his record
was a huge motivator.” High
scores in two shows earned him
an AQHA Register of Merit award
for the 2010 season. “He’s also
AQHA Incentive Fund-nominated,
so every point that I earn is
worth $30,” Williams adds. “My
goal for 2011 is to get my
Bronze Medal. Hopefully by late
summer/early fall we’ll be
moving into Third Level.”
Despite their enthusiasm for the
new program, some Quarter Horse
owners say they’ve had trouble
finding AQHA-approved dressage
shows to enter. Riders have
approached show secretaries and
offered to pay the $50 necessary
to get shows AQHA-sanctioned,
while others have stepped
forward to foot the cost of the
judges’ memberships to fulfill
the AQHA requirement that the
USEF/USDF-licensed judges
officiating these classes be
current AQHA members.
Renowned Quarter Horse trainer
and dressage rider Lynn Palm,
who worked for more than a
decade to help make dressage a
recognized discipline within the
AQHA, recognizes that the
program is still in its infancy.
“In Florida a few of us got
sponsors to pay the approval
fees and the judges’
memberships,” she explains. But
Palm says she’s also heard from
judges who’ve expressed concern
that joining one association and
not another could make them
appear to have a breed bias.
Alex Ross, the AQHA’s director
of judges, explains the
association’s rule regarding
judges: “It has been a longtime
policy that AQHA specialized
judges have to be AQHA members.
To be consistent with the
requirement of judges from other
disciplines, the AQHA Judges
Committee voted to require the
same from dressage judges.”
Some riders worry about the
program viability if the judge’s
membership requirement is not
dropped. The AQHA’s Valerie
Smith said the organization is
working “diligently” to work out
kinks in the program. “We’ve had
a lot of requests to drop the
judge’s fees,” she says, “but a
rule has to be in place for two
years before it can be changed.”
Proponents also express concern
that the AQHA isn’t doing enough
to promote the program. “They’ve
got to help it get some legs
these first few years, or it’s
just going to wither on the
vine,” Michelle Williams
contends. “I can’t imagine not
getting behind a program that my
members wanted, but maybe we’re
not big enough in numbers.”
“I’ll continue to show dressage
not matter what the AQHA does,
and I’ll continue to buy Quarter
Horses,” Williams adds. “I would
just love for my horse to be
recognized by the breed
association for his
accomplishment, especially
because there are so few horses
that have gotten up to the level
he’s gotten to.”
“It’s definitely still in its
baby stage,” Lynn Palm says of
the program, “but I see a great
marriage, an exciting marriage.”
Palm, who first began riding
Quarter Horses in the 1970s,
says she appreciates the breed
for a myriad of reasons: “As a
trainer, I like their
trainability and their
temperament, and as a
competitor, I find them easy and
docile. I’d like for them to
think ‘forward’ more,” she notes
with a laugh, “but they have
smooth gaits and are
hassle-free.”
“I think the Quarter Horse can
really grow in the dressage
world,” Palm adds. “A decade ago
I wouldn’t have seen this in the
industry, but now people are
accepting dressage as a
foundation for any breed of
horse and any riding
discipline,” she adds. “Dressage
is for all people and all
breeds.”
Now that she’s dipped her toe
into the dressage pond, Teena
Middleton isn’t turning back.
“I’m hooked now,” she says. “We’re
going to try a musical freestyle
this year. I’d like to do it at
the Quarter Horse shows as a
demonstration to try to get
people excited about dressage. I
hope this encourages the people
who are intimidated about
competing against the warmbloods
to go on and make that move up
to the USDF shows.”
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