Understand the Young Horse Game
USEF Young Horse Coach Scott Hassler gives an update on the progress of the Young Horse program.

        Scott Hassler has been an integral part of the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF) Young Horse Program since 2005. As the young horse coach, he oversees the education of those showing in USEF 4-year-old and FEI 5- and 6-year old classes. As with any developing program, he admits there are growing pains but, through education, he believes problems can be overcome and the issues better understood so everyone can enjoy the process. He spoke with Dressage Today’s Jessica McTaggart on his roll as coach, the paths available for showing young horses and how to better understand the judging.

JM
What is your role as the USEF National Young Horse Coach? Specifically, what events are you involved with?

SH
The USEF contracts me for “X” amount of days per year. Currently, I do three national training sessions—one in Florida, one in Illinois and one in California. They are two or three days in length. Participants for these sessions are chosen from applications sent to the USEF. Then, I attend the three selection trials for the Young Horse World Championships, which are in Raleigh, North Carolina, Lamplight Equestrian Center [Illinois], and Flintridge in California. While there, I give guidance to the riders, represent the program and help with issues or problems. I’m not just training horses; I’m representing the program. My main role is to help the top tier of horses and be an advocate for the program. I’m on call and the phone rings constantly, as I’m always helping with questions, such as “I don’t understand what the judge meant by that” or “I don’t understand the rule.” I’m on call for USEF, and my advice is free for the riders.

JM
While acting as the USEF Young Horse Coach at these trials, will you help any person showing a young horse?

SH
People sign up with the show secretary if they want the help. But, even if it’s just two minutes and they ask, “Hey, Scott, can you watch?” Absolutely, I can take a look. My main job is to observe the horse/rider combinations that could be going to Europe and get to know them and their coaches. Then, as coach, I go to Verden [for the Young Horse World Championships], where I’m gone about seven days in August. The second weekend in September, I’m at the National Championships for USEF.

Shannon Peters of San Diego, California, rides the 2008 National Young Horse Reserve Champion, Weltino’s Magic, a 6-year-old Westfalen gelding owned by Jen and Bruce Hlavacek. Hassler says this harmonious combination maintains the uphill carriage, lightness and impulsion necessary for success.

JM
Now that you have been the Young Horse Coach for three years, would you say the program has progressed the way you had hoped?

SH
I definitely feel the program is growing and, with this, there are still some growing pains. There is, for example, an education level that is not always met regarding which horses are suited for these classes.

JM
How can people decide whether to take their young horse into the Young Horse classes versus doing Training or First Level tests?

SH
You should know the goal you are trying to achieve. Take the initiative to watch the Young Horse classes. For example, watch the National Young Horse Championships. That’s education right there. Go to the bigger Young Horse classes, such as the selection trials where we choose horses to go to Verden. Dressage at Devon classes are often quite large, too. The riders have that responsibility. I don’t think our governing bodies and judges are always the ones that should feel they are providing this education. I think the national bodies are trying to come out with ways to help, but people need to take some responsibility to learn. As in all riding, competitors have to understand the game they want to play. It’s not just the judges. Everyone has a role in this to be positive, and we all have to be better at it.

Kassie Barteau rides Aliko, her 5-year-old Hanoverian gelding, at Dressage at Devon. Hassler says that this is an elegant and harmonious pair. The horse is correctly supple and maintains a happy expression.

Riders need to do their homework and research whether the Young Horse classes are a good fit for their horses. A similar example includes deciding whether to enroll your horse in a clinic. Let’s say, you hear that so and so is giving a clinic, and you’ve been told that this clinician is a good rider. Should you enter your horse solely on the advice of someone else, or should you audit that clinic to see if that person fits your style? My advice is to audit a clinic before participating in one. Some people fit certain styles of learning and riding, but others don’t. This is similar to making a decision about entering your horse into a Young Horse class. I think that taking this extra step could save a lot of emotion.

JM
Are you finding that some people are entering the Young Horse classes with horses that aren’t quite suited and getting upset at the comments they hear over the loudspeaker?

SH
To be very open about it, yes. When riders come out from a class with a low score, they view the comments as less positive than they expected. That adds a lot of emotion, and I think that’s the costly side of the Young Horse program. I would rather look at it as an education from many sides. Horse owners, breeders and riders have to be strongly encouraged to seek advice as to whether they should go into the Young Horse classes.

For example, let’s say a person has a horse that is 4 years old, but he isn’t really swinging though his back, he isn’t in good self-carriage, the contact isn’t quite established, he’s strung out or he has one really good gait but two weaker gaits. That young horse doesn’t quite have the package of harmony that is required to be successful in the Young Horse classes. The person thinks, I have a nice 4-year-old, so I’m going to do this class. Then, they don’t get a great score. Maybe that horse could have been more competitive at Training Level and, even if he weren’t more competitive, the feed- back from the judge would have been on the score sheet versus hearing it over a loudspeaker.

I get the venting from competitors who have done the classes and are not happy. That’s one of the growing pains and, as coach, I’m sometimes in the middle. I’m helping to design the program, and it can be an awkward spot. But, the program should be viewed with the understanding that everyone has a responsibility.

One of these responsibilities lies with the judges. They may need to ask themselves, “Are we coming across the way we intend to?” I say that with the utmost diplomacy. The last thing I want to do is fault the judges. I want to bring awareness that judges need to be sensitive any time they’re talking over the loudspeaker to ensure that comments come across as the truth, yet in a sensitive way. I think recognizing this need is part of the growing curve of the program.

Now that we’ve opened up this can of worms—rider responsibility and tactful judging—we all need to work together to make it a great situation for everyone.

JM
Please give an example of a comment that a judge has said to a rider over the loudspeaker and how the rider can take the comment in a constructive way, rather than a negative way.

SH
The judge may say, “I thought you were too restrictive.” Such rider-related comments are highly sensitive. If the rider ever feels, from the comment, that he or she caused the problem in the horse, the response from the rider is often negative. Commenting specifically about the rider can tread a fine line of diplomacy. I think something can be said to address an issue without it having to be directly the rider’s fault.

Certain comments about the horse can have a negative impact on the participant. The term “lateral” is a sensitive term, as in “the horse has a lateral walk” or “a tendency toward a lateral walk.” Sometimes, young horses get tired in their backs, but the judges have to comment on what they see. Riders, owners and breeders take this negatively because it’s a major fault. Some people say this term labels their horses for life, which affects marketing and publicity or promotion. This is where it gets challenging. I don’t have all the answers, but I do think that a comment can be made without saying “lateral.” For example: “Unfortunately, today the walk rhythm wasn’t quite clear, and we have to be careful with the walk. We give the walk a 6.8.” The word “lateral” was never used, but the message was still clear. Let’s remember that young horses really do change and to label them in one ride with the word “lateral” is a sensitive issue.

On the other hand, a lot of judges give positive comments that come across beautifully and people love them. In general, the commenting is getting better. We need to understand what our sensitive terms are and how we want to come across for the purpose of the program. It is meant to be a fun avenue to compete young horses. I think you can say all the things you want to say in a positive way without being falsely positive. That takes diplomacy, and some judges are more gifted at that than others.

Mikala Gunderson rides the 4-year-old Hanoverian gelding Pikko Del Rio, owned by Horses Unlimited. They make a beautiful combination, Hassler says. Pikko Del Rio demonstrates a wonderful uphill canter with a content expression.

Nicole Bellah rides her National Young Horse 5-year-old Champion, Winsor, a Dutch Warmblood stallion. Hassler notes that Winsor shows beautiful balance and self-carriage, making the job look effortless.

JM
What programs have you created outside of USEF?

SH
For Hassler Dressage, I hold private clinics and symposiums, and we maintain our own training and breeding business.

An annual event we do with Harmony Sporthorses is the Young Dressage Horse Trainers Symposium. It was created because we felt there was a need. It’s fun, and we’ve been holding it annually for the past four years. This symposium is for professional trainers whose business is competing young horses and who have been in the business for a long time. It’s not for someone who wants to learn how to go about it with one horse. It’s for people who are in business and want to help as many horses as possible.

This year, there was only room for 10 new participants, but there were 60 total. We try to stay under 65 trainers. People are invited back because everyone involved enjoys continuous education, which includes sharing stories through- out the years. It’s educational, and I think it’s made a huge impact on trainers. The application is on our Web site, hasslerdressage.com. We keep these seminars private—no auditors or press—because we want people to be comfortable and open them- judged. selves up. They don’t want to subject themselves to not being perfect or not having the right answers. We’re trying to create a learning environment in which people feel comfortable and are not being judged. Then, they come out of their shells, and we get a lot of good answers.

The only down side is that it’s hard to say no to eager applicants. We would like to do some open, public things at home to help more people.