We have the riding and coaching talent in para dressage to take on the world at Herning and Paris – the next step is to find horses to match.

I was extremely fortunate to return from my second Paralympic Games in Tokyo last year and have now had time to truly process and appreciate the wonderful trip that it was. I have been doing a lot of thinking and believe this is a good time to discuss the standard of para dressage in Australia, and the new world standard of para dressage on a larger scale.

Firstly, the wonderful coverage of the Paralympic Games last year thanks to Channel 7 was incredible and made the Paralympics so much more accessible to the general public. This inclusion also provided equestrian audiences – who are perhaps not particularly closely involved in the para dressage scene – the ability to view what it is we do. It also meant everyone was able to see the standard and quality of both horses and riders at this elite level – an opportunity that has not always been so readily available.

If I look back and reflect on my experiences from my first Games in Rio 2016, I believe the level has already been lifted. In order to be remotely close to medal contention at this world class level, the horses need to be of exceptional quality – this includes them having incredible movement and natural ability, elasticity in the paces, consistency and also the “wow factor”. In addition, riders need to ride a practically perfect, completely mistake-free test in order to get close to the podium (as should be expected at this level).

So, when we relate this back to para dressage standards in Australia, what can we learn? Firstly, thanks to the wonderful support from Equestrian Australia, and also from a number of programs such as Equine Pathways Australia, we have some amazing talent, and even more up-and-coming riders, which is extremely exciting for the sport.

SOURCING ELITE HORSES

However – and this is a big however – we seriously need to look at horsepower in Australia. We lack the quality of horses in para dressage that we require in order to come anywhere close to competitive when overseas. It’s all well and good to score a mid-60s test on home soil with little to no pressure around these tests. But if we compare this to the standard you see on the world stage, we shouldn’t even be considering these combinations for selection on international teams!

In my opinion, I believe we have the riders here in Australia to make up Games and World Championship teams, and what’s more, we have incredible access to world class coaching, so this isn’t where our problem is. It all comes back to the lack of elite level horses that we need in order to be of world standard.

How do we fix this problem? That’s the difficult question, isn’t it! What if we could set up programs within the High Performance program of Equestrian Australia that could put together syndicates to partly fund horses for the top riders in Australia? This is difficult and could be considered controversial, but how else do we get the horses we require? Julia Battams of Equine Pathways Australia has also floated the idea of syndications, and it would be amazing to see it come to fruition.

I believe we have access to the right people who can source such horses overseas – for example, para team coach and Danish Olympian, Lone Joergensen. So again, finding these horses is no doubt a difficult task, but the bigger issue is obviously finding the funds to buy these horses. It is my opinion that we need to find support to get more combinations sitting in competitive positions here in Australia before we send them overseas on teams.

TYRANNY OF DISTANCE

The next challenge we have to look at is what I would consider a “weakness” of Australian para dressage, and that is geography. This always has and always will remain an obstacle, but one we have to consider nonetheless. The fact that we have such a great distance between us and other countries can make campaigning from home soil difficult – this is obviously not news to anyone.

What this distance means is that other competitors are regularly competing against one another, and are constantly fighting for positions on the podium, whereas in Australia we are only competing against our own riders and are unable to compare where we are sitting against other competitors on a global scale. This has obviously always been a difficulty with being based in Australia and is perhaps something less easily resolved.

I do believe it’s very possible to produce the results we need internationally whilst campaigning from Australia, however, it is something that needs to be looked at and closely considered. Even if this is only mentally acknowledged and processed by athletes, that could be enough to make the slightest difference in mindset when competing on the world stage, and add to those scores that we all so desperately aim for.

In summation, how do I believe Australian paras are currently positioned leading up to the World Championships in Herning this year? We have some great talent in our riders, that’s for sure, and we currently have a few promising combinations; however, I think overall we need to seriously access greater horsepower and get our best riders on more competitive mounts, otherwise we’re not going to get close to the medals.

TIME TO FIX WEAKNESSES

If we look at the bigger picture, which is the Paralympics in Paris 2024, I truly believe we have time to resolve this area of weakness that we find ourselves in. If we can find the right people to provide athletes with better horses, then we will seriously start to close the gap between our scores and those of the other countries. We need to continue to grow para dressage as an elite level sport and promote our riders who could seriously benefit from owners assisting them by providing horses.

My agenda behind writing this article is to start the conversation. I believe this could be a starting point to improve the standard of our sport in Australia – talking about the problem on this platform and trying to come up with resolutions. I don’t write this to be controversial, but if we don’t discuss weaknesses, we never grow or develop as a sport.

There are owners providing horses for our elite able-bodied dressage riders in Australia, so why not include para riders in this same category? We have had some riders lucky enough to gain the rides on “owned” horses, but I think we need this to be more of the norm, not the rarity. So, if you want to help grow this sport, gain medals overseas and ultimately bring more funding to our High Performance team, let’s work together to get some elite horses underneath our amazing Australian athletes! EQ

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