Temperament is key for a successful dressage partnerships

By Lyn Skillington
Morgan Dressage Association

Two dressage riders - one who earned the first AMHA Gold Medallion given in dressage, the other the most recent winner - emphasized the advantages of the Morgan temperament for dressage during two workshops at the AMHA Convention in Atlanta.

Mona Gaudet and Cathy Echternach said their Morgans - Big Bend Doc Davis and Whippoorwill Ebony - had many qualities that allowed them to reach Grand Prix, but the most important is temperament. "(Ebony) has allowed me to make a lot of the common mistakes, come back and be successful despite my errors," Cathy said. "With many horses if you make a lot of mistakes they can't be brought back. He has been a truly self-less horse." Ebony (shown as Black Tie) is the first horse that Cathy has trained to Grand Prix, and is the most successful Morgan competing in the sport, ranked 21st in the United States against all horses competing at Intermediare II in 1999. She is now competing at both Intermediare II and Grand Prix.

Big Bend Doc Davis, Mona's late stallion, was the first Morgan to reach Grand Prix. She attributed his success to his "incredible intelligence and patience." Mona and Davey learned dressage together after successful careers in the traditional Morgan show ring. "In retrospect, if you understand how little I knew, you can appreciate what a wonderful horse he was and how talented he was that he was able to accomplish so much."

Both riders praised their horses' patience, intelligence, willingness to work and their presence and love of competing and performing. "When you take (Ebony) to a competition he adores it. He puts on a terrific show. It's a definite asset and has been true of every Morgan that I have worked with. They all seem to really enjoy getting out and performing."

It's important to evaluate intelligence and willingness when looking for any dressage prospect, the riders said. "If they don't want to work for you, I don't care how talented they are, you won't move forward," Mona said. "Dressage horses have to be compliant," Cathy explained. "There aren't a lot of opportunities for a dressage horse to express his opinions. We want a horse to enjoy going into the ring and showing off, but who is very willing to be a partner. You don't look for a horse that wants to be cued for everything and then left alone to do his job. The dressage horse must want to respond to you and enjoy having his work change from day-to-day."

The riders listed other qualities to evaluate when searching for a dressage prospect:

Generally sound conformation. A horse with good balance, nice flow overall. "Before you take a horse apart, look at the overall horse," Cathy said.
A horse with general uphill balance, that looks like it will move uphill. In Morgans you need to separate an upheaded horse from one that also has uphill balance. "Some of the horses that are successful in the show disciplines are upheaded, but not necessarily uphill," Cathy explained.
A horse with medium coupling, because a horse with extremely short coupling is more difficult to move laterally and engage at the upper levels.
A sloping shoulder because a horse with a straight shoulder may have action, but will not move forward.
A hind-end that is well-filled and hocks set under the body.
A horse with three good gaits. "A horse with an extremely flashy trot catches our eye, but it's very important to have a clean walk and a good, three-beat canter," Cathy said.

Mona noted that it's most important for riders to evaluate their own goals, experiences and skills before looking for a dressage prospect. "Make a list about yourself -- something I call a rider evaluation list," she advised. "That list will include items such as your age - a 25 year-old will have different needs than someone who is 65. Your lifestyle: do you ride everyday, once a week, once a month? Will you have your horse with a trainer? What is your experience? Look at your abilities - and be honest. How good a rider are you? Are you timid or secure about what you do? Are you going to need a trainer or instructor to do riding for you? What are your goals? Look at your finances - how much can you afford to pay, and don't forget the cost of having the horse vetted.

Once you've developed the list, get the advice of a trainer, instructor or knowledgeable friend to decide what kind of horse you need. Be careful to have the horse's training evaluated by a knowledgeable rider. "A horse that has been poorly trained, regardless of level, can take a long time and a lot of money to fix," Mona said. When evaluating youngsters, look to see how the youngster presents himself. "Is he bold or shy, attentive or spacey?" Evaluate movement -- first quietly to see the natural gaits and then "aired up to see what's in there," and always look for temperament.

For older horses, she said "you may have to look at what I call retreads - horses trained in another discipline." She said these horses can be challenging, displaying training issues such as being crooked, one-sided, tense -- lacking forward movement, locked in a headset, dead to the leg. "The only way to evaluate a horse like this is to ride it or have someone who is very knowledgeable ride it a couple of times to determine if the horse has the temperament to want to change," Mona said. "Also, consider the financial implications if the horse has be sent off for extensive retraining."

When requesting videos on horses, Mona said to ask to see the horse standing still, square and viewed from all sides, and moving at the walk and trot from the side and to and away from the camera and then free-schooled. And of course, it's important to see a horse doing anything he's trained to do.

"But I would never recommend buying a horse from a video," Mona said. "You have to go see the horse. A dressage horse is your partner and friend and you're going to be dealing with this horse everyday for hopefully a very long time. You need to be comfortable around the horse, trust him, and like him not just for the way he moves. The bottom line for me is that I want a horse that I like. I have to enjoy feeding him in the morning, and that all comes back to temperament and personality - the most critical elements for any equine-human partnership, but especially for dressage."

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Cathy Echternach and Mona Gaudet are charter members of the Board of Directors for the Morgan Dressage Association, which sponsored their workshops in Atlanta. To learn more about the MDA's convention project, including seeing photos and biographies of the speakers, click here.