I guess I'll go first! my thoughts on stewards

Although there have been many visitors here since I put up yesterday's post, there have been no comments, which has surprised, and I admit, disappointed me.

But today is a new day, and I invite you once again to join in. If you prefer that your comment stay in the comment section only, say that. I'll respect your wishes.

On with a few things I've been pondering.

I went back just now and reviewed the FEI's announcement about the newly-formed working group:

The composition of the FEI working group tasked with expanding current guidelines for Stewards to facilitate clear implementation of the policy on warm-up techniques following on from last week’s round-table conference on hyperflexion/Rollkur has been finalised today.

As announced after last week’s conference in Lausanne, the working group will be chaired by Dressage Committee Chair Frank Kemperman. Group members are Richard Davison (GBR), Rider/Trainer; John P. Roche (IRL), FEI Director Jumping/Stewarding; Jacques Van Daele (BEL), FEI Honorary Dressage Steward General/Judge; Wolfram Wittig (GER), Trainer; and Trond Asmyr (NOR), FEI Dressage Director/Judge. The working group will also draw on the expertise of a number of other specialists, including but not limited to the participants of the round-table conference*. The working group aims to have the guidelines completed by the end of March 2010.

The guidelines produced by the group will be communicated directly to Stewards and also to riders and trainers. The working group is expected to put forward further proposals for the education of Stewards to ensure that FEI rules are strictly adhered to and that the welfare of the horse is maintained at all times.


Since the group aims to expand the current guidelines for stewards, and to facilitate clear implementation of the policies by stewards, I feel we should see at least a few regular stewards in the group. The actual front line personnel who will need to understand and implement these new guidelines.

The use of specialists is key, but we need the actual front line stewards in the room in order to make this truly useful and relevant.

The input of these people would, in my opinion, be invaluable to the working group. They will have real stories to tell about what it's like to steward, including the problems they face in dealing with upper level riders and trainers, who may not be amenable to intervention from staff they see as peripheral and unimportant.

In order to empower the stewards, we have to hear what they have to say. What better way than putting them in the working group?

It's also a necessary way to insure that the clarification of guidelines is indeed clear. As the guidelines are developed, and the actual language put into place, the working stewards will be right there to say "yes, that's very useful," or "that's confusing - how do I apply that?"

Or "that is clear but it won't work in action and here's why."

I haven't served as a dressage steward, but have volunteered as a cross country jump judge, and have personally dealt with a rider who I needed to flag to stop the course. The rider ignored me and kept galloping on, creating a potentially dangerous situation, as there was a horse down two jumps further in. Guess who got chastised for not stopping the rider? ME. I was out flagging as hard as I could, and there was no way the rider didn't see me. There was no penalty to the rider for ignoring my flag.

Bear in mind this was a recognized event, but nothing like the upper levels of the sport. The standards should be implemented from the lower levels and remain consistent all the way up. That way riders learn the ropes early on, and one of the most important "ropes" to learn is that one has to respect the stewards and judges.

In my opinion, the stewards' directions should be considered law, and if a rider or that rider's trainer ignores or argues with the steward, there should be automatic disqualification.

If the rider and/or trainer want to file a complaint, let it be done in writing, to the head of the show/venue.

The stewards won't stand up to riders and their trainers if they know they will be argued with, intimidated, and then not backed up by the judges.

Imagine the impact on the world of dressage if the steward in the warm-up arena had been empowered to approach Kittel and say UNACCEPTABLE.

And empowered to disqualify him from competition if he did not get off Scandic, examine his tongue and the bridle, correct the noseband, and release him from the rollkur position for the rest of the warm-up.

Epona TV would have captured that on video and we would have all been cheering instead of outraged.

Actually, that's what I hope to see in 2010. Someone capturing an empowered steward on videotape and sharing it with the world. The guidelines in action, successfully implemented, and the welfare of the horse being put before the rider's competition goals and the trainer's ego.

To me, that's a perfect example of the FEI in action, doing its job.

I welcome comments on anything I've written today, as well as any other thoughts you have.

Malina stopped by several times yesterday and has already been by this morning. She is listening. Do we have anything to say?

Let's talk with the FEI, across the virtual table, all week long

For one week, I'm going to transform camera-obscura into an open forum for communicating with the FEI, trusting that while Malina may not be able to respond to every comment, she will be reading and absorbing what we have to say.

For anyone who doesn't know, Malina is Malina Gueorguiev, Communications Manager for the FEI and she has been a regular visitor here for a number of months.

WHAT TO DO: If you'd like to communicate with the FEI in a slightly less formal way than letter or email, this is your chance. Put your message in a comment. It will be remain in the comment section as usual, but what I plan to do, depending how many comments there are, is post some or all of the comments throughout this week as the next day's new blog post, to make the comments more visible and allow for further discussion.

This is a work in progress, so bear with me if I change the structure to accommodate what actually plays out.

IMPORTANT: Please honor my guidelines: genuine and respectful communication. No one will come back to a table to talk or listen if they are treated rudely. I will not approve comments that are blatantly rude in a way that is personal to Malina or the FEI staff.

We are communicating about the use of rollkur, hyperflexion, and LDR (low deep and round), and the FEI's role in governing the use of these methods in warm-up and competition.

I especially welcome suggestions, ideas, and brainstorming with reference to creating the kind of competition atmosphere we could embrace as riders, trainers, and spectators. I'll be adding my own comment at some point this week.

Right now I'm thinking about the kind of upper level competition I would love to see and experience as a spectator. I'm thinking about the quality of life of competition horses. I'm also thinking about all the information I've read about the use of the above methods and the resulting physical and emotional/psychological damage to the horses. And I'm thinking about movement and classical dressage and dressage at its essence as a discipline that creates harmony between horse and rider, as well as healthy animals who live long, productive lives.

Between us, I am betting we come up with a good spectrum of thoughts and ideas.

I wrote last week:

It's possible to channel passion and strong belief in ideals into engaging discussion that has the potential to create change. And remember, change is a spectrum. It's a path made of small stepping stones. If every time you speak, you put one stone into a solid place on the path, you've succeeded.

Last night, as I go through the TV series West Wing for the second time, I happened to watch one of my favorite episodes, title Two Cathedrals. It's the episode where Jed Bartlet makes an important announcement to the press and the nation, loses someone important to him, and ultimately decides to run for his second term as President. There's a sequence near the end where he leaves the White House with his entourage, in the pouring rain and wind of a tropical storm, to get to the site of the press conference. Dire Straits' song Brothers In Arms is the soundtrack, and Bartlet is thinking of all the work he's done during the first term, how difficult it's going to be if he decides to run for a second term, and how much work there is left to do, work that he feels must be done.

It's an incredibly inspiring and poignant sequence, and it immediately made me think of this issue with rollkur and hyperflexion and LDR and the hearts and minds and bodies of the horses we love.

Thanks to the incredible technology at our disposal today, not only can I embed the sequence from West Wing via YouTube (you will get the overall impact but to get all the amazing subtle nuance of the sequence watch the entire episode!):



I can embed this, the video that started this latest outpouring of debate, discussion, and outrage against a training method that so dishonors the mind, body, and spirit of not only dressage, but the magnificent horse:



However hard the work of advocating, however pointless it can seem, there is good reason to continue, if only to keep the issue alive for the next generation.

I think we can do more than that. Let's talk about how.

party postponed and a moment of silence

I realized this weekend that we have two more February birthdays to celebrate, and I decided to combine the party next weekend. Redford had a special birthday tub on Friday, lots of hugs and play, and he is quite happy to be 2 years old.

The weekend was gorgeous and I spent most of it dragging, mulching, trimming tree branches, gathering and burning fallen wood, and moving stones. The front field is now on official hiatus so the spring grass can grow unimpeded by equine hooves and teeth. Tomorrow's rain is perfectly timed - now that the field is all cleaned up it needs a little rain to settle it.

*******

Linda at 7MSN and all her animal family lost Skippa Little Lyle this weekend. We here at November Hill love reading about all the 7MSN adventures and reading about Lyle brought me to tears and made me realize just how much we can come to care about animals we have never met but feel we know almost as well as the ones we live with.

All our sympathies and healing wishes are with Linda and her family in this very difficult time.

there is a birthday boy in the building

(okay, not exactly IN the building)

I have not forgotten the young donkey whose very name invokes fame and presence and whose personality matches that perfectly!

His name is Redford and he is affectionately known (by me) as Redbug. Compared to the serious and quite thoughtful Rafer Johnson, Redford is a firecracker. A spitfire. And we knew this the first day he arrived when he sailed not once, not twice, but three times over a stall wall to be with his brother-in-arms Rafer, sporting a leg cast and needing the company of another young donkey.

The party will be on Sunday, so stay tuned for photos and celebration!

Meanwhile, happy birthday, Redford. Two years old! And at least two million smiles you have brought to us since your arrival at November Hill.

and the FEI responds, personally

This morning I woke up and found this in my inbox:

Hi Billie,

Malina here, from FEI Communications.

Thank you for your positive feedback.

I was very humbled by the fact that you posted my previous comment in such a prominent way.

I would like to say we not only welcome but need the dialogue with all those involved in the sport, be they top riders and trainers or the millions of horse lovers who care about their horses and without whom the sport wouldn't exist.

Now thanks to social media this is possible.

Congratulations on the quality of your blog which is always interesting to read.

All the best,
Malina



Malina, thank you for continuing to read and respond.

Given that I am not an upper level rider or trainer, but someone who has come back to riding at middle life and chosen dressage as a discipline to study, along with my horses, I appreciate very much that anyone in the FEI cares what I think. I do feel my opinions and those of my readers are informed and many of my readers have far more experience riding and training than do I, so I learn here every day.

If I can offer anything in this ongoing debate, it's my experience as a psychotherapist trained early on from the perspective of social work, which prides itself on the philosophy that all work begins where the client IS. Not where we want him/her to be.

We are where we are, wrt the current situation in competitive dressage, and I know from long years working on child welfare issues that polarizing and refusing to talk to one another will gain us exactly nothing.

Change begins when there is genuine communication, and I personally feel that has happened since the blue tongue video hit the internet.

Plenty of people will work hard and then quit because the FEI didn't give them exactly what they wanted.

But there are many dedicated and knowledgeable horse people who will continue advocating for the horse, while at the same time realizing that it is a longer-term endeavor, and that finding common ground and developing respectful communication is the way to move forward.

While I will never compete at the FEI level, I want to watch dressage in the Olympics and feel both pride and inspiration in what I see there. And I want to see happy, healthy horses who have freedom to move and breathe and show off their unique skills.

I don't doubt this is what the FEI wants as well. The work is how to get there in a way that honors the horse and sets clear standards for the rider.

Thank you for your part in this journey!


I'm planning a special blog post that will go up on Monday, Feb. 22nd. I hope everyone will participate and tell anyone you know who might be interested to come by and join in.

For one week, I'm going to transform camera-obscura into an open forum for communicating with the FEI, trusting that while Malina may not be able to respond to every comment, she will be reading and absorbing what we have to say.

I'll explain more on Monday, but be thinking about what you'd like to say, and remember my guidelines: genuine and respectful communication. No one will come back to a table to talk or listen if they are treated rudely.

It's possible to channel passion and strong belief in ideals into engaging discussion that has the potential to create change. And remember, change is a spectrum. It's a path made of small stepping stones. If every time you speak, you put one stone into a solid place on the path, you've succeeded.