A Truthful Discussion For Those Who Want To Know
The issue of Western riding instructors has been more widely discussed lately due to the pending UKCC (U.K. Coaching Certificate programme), the development of which has been ongoing for a couple of years. This programme will affect riding instructors in all disciplines (such as eventing and vaulting), but this article is concerned with Western riding instructors only. One of the most interesting points about the UKCC is that, although it will affect every Western riding instructor in Britain, it is ONLY British Reining (BR) who is involved—or even allowed to be involved—in the development of the Western sector of the programme.
Ostensibly this is because reining is the only FEI-recognised Western sport, and BR is the only Western member of the BEF (the U.K. organisation responding to the FEI). However, many other groups such as the BHS and the Pony Club, which are not FEI disciplines, belong to the BEF and are allowed to have input into the development of the UKCC, while Western equestrian groups with greater membership and more importance than BR, such as AQHA-UK, have no say whatsoever in the matter and must submit to what is proposed and carried out by the BR. This is especially ironic when one considers that, historically and worldwide, those who compete in reining are the least likely of those who perform the various Western disciplines to care about—or even know—what proper Western equitation is, and proper equitation is the cornerstone for proper riding and training of the Western horse (or any horse, for that matter).
Before I continue, it might be asked by what authority I make the foregoing and following statements. I am an American who has been riding, training, competing and winning in Western riding for over four decades. I have won a World Championship and countless National Championships in the U.S., Italy, and the U.K. in approved Quarter Horse and Appaloosa competition with many horses I have trained, as well as training a horse who has finished in the top ten in the world three years in a row in AQHA All-Around competition (and who has won 44 AQHA Open All-Around titles). Further, I am the ONLY Western coach/instructor in the U.K. who has been certified by a Western coaching programme recognised by the FEI (i.e., the Canadian Equestrian Federation). I have also been certified as an instructor for the Associazione Italiana Equitazione Western, the Western Equestrian Society (WES), and currently the BHS (having undergone the requisite CRB check and courses in first aid and child protection) and the International Association for Equestrian Qualifications. My students have themselves won National Championships, while in Italy I was the very first of more than 20 CEF-certified instructors to bring my students to the highest horsemanship level exam in the CEF programme, which all five of them passed. Two of those students shortly afterward went on to become CEF-recognised Western coaches themselves.
I also wish to emphasise before continuing that my intent is promote discussion of the current situation and the current development of a Western instructor’s programme in the U.K. in the hope of providing valuable input, better solutions, and beneficial results for all those who will be involved in the programme. My intent is not to offend or denigrate anyone or anything, but I must state the truth and the facts as I perceive them, which certain people in Britain take offence to. I apologise in advance if this occurs, but my passion for and interest in promoting the best possible image of Western riding and the best possible provision of correct Western riding instruction in Britain dictates that I do so.
So what is the current state of Western riding and instruction in the U.K. from my perspective? Western riding in Britain has long been—and continues to be—taught badly and erroneously by a large number of Western ‘instructors’. What is often being taught is a hybrid of English and Western techniques and practices, due in large part to the fact that most people who ride Western in the U.K. started out riding English. There would be nothing wrong with that in principle; I myself started out riding Western at the age of 3 and at the age of 14 began a very successful career in riding and showing Hunters and Jumpers. The problem lies in English riders deciding that they wish to ride Western and then either being self-taught or taking instruction from others who know very little about Western, despite what they claim. They do not learn from the beginning the great difference between the English and Western philosophy of training, which has total impact on the way one is supposed to ride Western; they therefore ride Western incorrectly, and then when they become recognised as instructors by whatever U.K. riding group, they pass on this erroneous methodology to everyone they teach. There are numerous well-known Western instructors in the U.K. who continue to produce students who have much too much rein contact, have heavy hands, harden their horses’ mouths, and compete in horse show classes going much too fast with their horses completely on the forehand and on the bit. (A few years back, for example, the WES magazine even put on its cover a photo of a so-called Western rider who, even at the standstill, had so much contact on the curb bit in her horse’s mouth that his mouth was pulled open.) These instructors are some of those who teach at the largest clinics and at the greatest number of clinics; therefore, a great number of persons new to Western riding are learning to ride the wrong way. What is more, a great number of these ‘instructors’ don’t appear to understand what proper Western dress and equipment is, or at least are not insisting that their students are properly dressed, equipped and turned out when they compete. For these two reasons, the image of Western riding in the U.K. continues to suffer, and who can blame accomplished riders, instructors and followers of other equestrian disciplines if they shun Western riding when they are confronted with this type of image?
What is more, after having lived and worked in the equestrian industry for many years in each of the U.S., Italy, and now Britain, I must honestly state that I have never encountered a greater lack of knowledge and discernment on the part of the populace when it comes to distinguishing and appreciating the genuinely competent and accomplished Western instructors/trainers as opposed to the charlatans and the incompetents. In Britain, self-proclaimed ‘horse whisperers’ are flocked to and regarded with awe by countless horse owners, without ever being asked for—or being able to provide—any proof whatsoever of their qualifications, abilities, or results, while the bonafide Western professional with years of successful production of quiet, well-mannered horses and important achievements in the show ring at the highest level which demonstrate his or her ability, is ignored or regarded with scepticism. I am also quite sure that if my cousin (who has never sat on a horse in her life) decided to sink a small fortune into a posh equestrian facility and then advertised for clients, she would be swamped with requests for riding lessons and horse training because of the paint job on the stable walls and the block paving on the driveway. And upon hearing that one is a professional Western trainer/instructor in Britain, the response from many people is something along the lines of, “Oh yes, there’s someone down the road who does/teaches Western”, who turns out to be someone never heard of who has no qualifications, no experience, no show record, has a cheap ill-fitting Western saddle and yet advertises him or herself as a Western expert.
It is due to this situation that I was most enthusiastic when I first learned about the institution of the UKCC and especially when I learned that the person managing the programme for BR, Richard Allan, was modelling the Western section of the UKCC after the Canadian Equestrian Federation programme. As soon as plans for the UKCC were made known to BR members and others who teach Western riding, I communicated to Mr. Allan my desire to assist with development of the programme in the Western sector, given my many years’ experience and involvement in the Canadian Equestrian Federation (CEF, now known as Equine Canada) as a coach and also as an evaluator/examiner, and I expressed my desire to become a Coach Educator in the UKCC (one who explains to the instructors seeking accreditation the methodology of coaching according to the UKCC programme, including certain subject material to be taught, the psychology of working with students, first aid and child protection requirements, etc.) I was turned down flatly, told that he and Bob Mayhew had the project in hand and that there were only two Coach Educator positions available, which had already been assigned (By whom? When?) to Bob Mayhew and David Deptford, and that I would be “kept informed”. When the Council that was then at the head of BR was replaced in November 2005 by a new Council, David Deptford was named as the Coaching Development Officer (CDO) heading the programme. As David is someone I respect and consider a good friend, I optimistically offered my assistance and involvement once again in developing the UKCC programme for the benefit of all Western instructors in Britain, and I repeatedly called David in this regard. Unfortunately, very little was done for many months on the part of BR with respect to the UKCC, due to David’s other overwhelming commitments which precluded him from even going to the UKCC meetings; and while this situation was understandable from the viewpoint of a friend such as myself, it meant that the Western sector was in serious danger of being left behind all the other disciplines. When David told me that he would have to give up the post as CDO, I immediately offered to take over the job and requested of both him and another long-time Council member, Bill Archer, if they would recommend me to the Chairman of BR for the post of CDO, which they both were happy to do.
When I next saw the Chairman shortly afterward in July 2006, I mentioned this; I was succinctly told that the post of CDO had been taken over by Pauline Brimson, wife of one of the Council members who is an Amateur reiner. This was rather surprising, given that Mrs. Brimson is quite new to Western riding, being a dressage judge, and although she has recently been recognised as a WES (Western Equestrian Society) instructor and judge (more on just what that means and doesn’t mean later in this article), her own experience in training and showing Western horses is very limited. Also, the question to ask once again was: Who appointed her as CDO for the UKCC? By what right or qualification did she automatically accede to the post just because she wanted to? Why was there no announcement that the post was vacant, nor requests for expressions of interest or for nominations or applications to be made? At any rate, I asked the BR Chairman to pass on my offer of assistance and desire for involvement in the UKCC to the CDO; after a couple of months passed without my hearing anything, I contacted Pauline herself and again expressed my interest. Her response seemed designed to discourage me, but after I continued to insist as to my qualifications (which she was apparently completely unaware of, and it was also obvious that the BR chairman had told her nothing about my interest in the UKCC), she agreed that I might be able to help. In fact, Pauline did, over the next month, ask that I review and offer input on two UKCC documents, which I was pleased to do; I offered what I considered to be necessary modifications in the Level 2 syllabus, and in regard to a long-term development plan which would involve youth riders, I offered to obtain information and materials from the Colorado 4-H programme, one of the most successful youth Western riding programmes in the U.S. Pauline said that she would pass this latter information on to Rosie Coles, who was supposedly working on a youth programme for BR. After which, I heard nothing more from Pauline (and nothing whatsoever from Rosie), and when I phoned Pauline to enquire what was happening, she told me that she had put herself and Susie Anderson forward as Coach Educators, and if there should be any possibility of more Coach Educator positions becoming available in future (which was not certain), anyone interested would have to pay to obtain the training themselves. And that was the end of it.
Thus, certain points have become very clear to me with regard to the Western riding section of the UKCC. First, the CDO of BR intends for the development of this programme to be her own, and only her own, project, to be shared (perhaps) only with certain members of the BR ‘inner circle’; those who are considered to be ‘outsiders’—no matter their membership in BR, their successful achievements in reining and in international Western competition, and their qualifications as a coach/instructor—need not bother to try to get involved. All interest and offers of help from those who may well have the most to offer as instructors/coaches and promoters of proper/high-level Western riding will be discouraged, disallowed involvement, and ignored if they are not part of this inner circle. Second, no Western coaches/instructors outside of BR will in any way be approached, consulted, involved, asked for input, or shown any regard whatsoever with respect to the UKCC; it is apparently the intention of BR and its CDO to present the programme as a fait accompli to the rest of the Western riding community and impose it by force on anyone wishing to coach/instruct Western riders within legal parameters in Britain.
This latter point could even be a positive development from some perspectives, IF the Western section of the UKCC were to follow the lead of the CEF/Equine Canada coaching programme with regard to two very important aspects: First, there IS a basic, correct method of teaching every element of Western riding, and even if slight variations on these basics are allowable because of differences in personal approaches held by different instructors/trainers (or used on different horses with different personalities), Western riding is NOT a DIY, do-your-own-thing form of equitation any more than dressage is. All British Western instructors should be informed of these basic, correct methods, if they don’t already know them and practice them, and should teach them to all students. They can then also inform their students of any personal variation in these methods which has proven to be advantageous in certain situations. The CEF programme was created by, and continues to be overseen by, a wide group of well-known, experienced, knowledgeable Western instructors, trainers, and top competitors who manage the programme by consensus as to what is accepted practice in teaching Western riding—should British Western instructors with much less collective knowledge and show-ring ability impose any of their own contradictory and controversial methods on the programme in the place of this vast accumulated and accepted knowledge integrated into the CEF programme?
Second, the CEF recognises, and is adamant about, the fact that ONE CANNOT TEACH WHAT ONE DOES NOT KNOW. Prospective coaches in the CEF programme are required to have passed the exam for all four Horsemanship levels, which involves the demonstration of the ability to perform all Western competition and schooling manoeuvres, and are then required to complete a coaching course involving a great deal of advanced riding as well as theory and teaching work. Candidates for the CEF coaching exam are expected to have significant experience in horsemanship and horse management and be able to perform at a high level of Western competition. Much of what is involved in and necessary to proper riding involves feeling, not thinking, and how can someone who has never experienced the feeling of doing something, especially at a level of near-perfection, explain or teach that sensation to a student? When the student is having problems achieving particular movements or manoeuvres, how can the instructor rectify the problem and help the student to progress if the instructor himself is unable to do so? If a student is unable to relate to or communicate with a variety of different equine personalities, how can the instructor help the student to do so if he himself does not have the experience or ability to do it himself?
It is on these two crucial points that the UKCC programme, Western and otherwise, looks as if it may well founder. On the first point—the uniformity of teaching what are accepted, collectively recognised Western methods of riding and schooling—there seems to be no trace of the intention to institute this in the UKCC Western programme. On the one hand, we have a dressage judge with very limited experience in riding and teaching Western who is deciding on the content of the programme; if she is consulting with others who have more experience in Western riding than she, then it is a very limited number and affiliation of such (BR only), and those with whom she is working within the BEF from other disciplines certainly are not qualified to decide what the horsemanship, equitation, and training content of the UKCC’s Western section should be. What is more, she has told me that the Coach Educators will only teach the instructors “how” to teach the UKCC programme, not “what” to teach. If that is so, then we will have the continuation of Western riding being taught badly and erroneously to a very large number of students.
On the second point, that of the fact that instructors/coaches should absolutely be able to demonstrate their own ability to do and achieve that which they propose to teach to others, it is unclear how BR/BEF intend to approach this matter. If they are not adamant about instituting this principle in the UKCC, as the CEF was and is, then the programme will be a sham. Riding a horse is not like playing tennis, shooting an arrow, or running the hurdles; in those sports the athlete must master himself in manipulating any object used in the sport, but he does not have to deal with another living being with its own mind and will, like a horse. What is even more important is that even well-trained horses deteriorate in their training if it is not regularly reinforced, especially when they are ridden by novices, as most students are. Horses also know who is riding them and what that person is/isn’t capable of making them do; most horses therefore perform inadequately or incorrectly for the novice who is riding the horse during a lesson. In both of these situations, the instructor must first be able to identify that there IS a problem, and exactly what that problem is, and then must be able to get on the horse and rectify it, which is often a regular necessity with both school horses and the horses belonging to novice riders. How can a person who is incapable of properly training a Western horse to a high level do this? Furthermore, how can an instructor/coach purport to be able to teach proper Western riding—which entails many elements of very advanced equitation/equestrianism—if he himself has never performed advanced elements of Western riding? How can he even know what is wrong with the way a horse or rider is performing when he himself has never experienced the sensation of doing it properly and perfectly? How can he communicate to the student what it should feel like to perform or achieve something in Western riding that he, the instructor, has never done and never felt? Instructors and coaches should be EXPERTS, not novice or mediocre performers.
Which brings me to another reservation about the Western section of the UKCC, given that those managing it are not seeking any input or advice from the one Western instructor in this country who has had experience with such a programme, as well as extensive experience with all aspects of Western riding: Who is going to evaluate us instructors? Who is going to evaluate someone like me—will it be someone who started as an English rider/got their assessment qualification as an English rider and very possibly rides and teaches Western riding badly or erroneously? David Deptford would be an acceptable candidate, as he has assessment experience and also has demonstrated unequivocally in the show ring that he knows how to ride and train Western correctly; Bob Mayhew and Doug Allen could be others as they have obtained their qualifications as AQHA judges who know how it is supposed to look/be performed. I can think of no one else in this country, besides these persons and myself, who possesses all the requisites and experience necessary to competently assess instructors in such a coaching programme, especially at the higher levels.
There are many persons in the Western community in Britain who are sceptical, disgruntled, upset, and opposed to the present development of the UKCC for some or all of the aforementioned issues. Included amongst these are those in the Western Equestrian Society (WES), which has its own list of instructors that it recognises, who are making noises about developing a Western instructors programme in lieu of the UKCC.
I’m sorry to say that the idea of an instructors/coaches programme operated by WES is completely unacceptable for several reasons. First, WES is not recognised by any international equestrian organisation; therefore, the qualification held by their instructors carries no weight with any other national or international body. Second, the criteria and standards for becoming a WES instructor are very low compared to an internationally recognised programme for Western riding like the CEF’s. The CEF has a thick manual for each of the four Horsemanship levels, all of which have to be passed with an adequate score before one can gain access to the Instructor’s course, which has an even more extensive manual. If one is accepted onto the Instructor’s course and completes it, this is no guarantee that one will pass the Instructor’s exam, which is an extremely rigorous two-day assessment made by several top-level instructors/trainers and which includes a long written exam (on all material relating to horse anatomy and soundness, horse health and care, stable management, equipment, equitation, training, competition, horse and rider psychology, teaching methods, etc.), a practical exam entailing grooming, handling, tacking up, and riding a pattern (which includes all gaits, speed control at the lope, sidepass, two-track, spins, turns on the forehand, changes of lead, precision, etc.), an oral exam, and a demonstration of coaching ability including health and safety, methodology of conducting a lesson, presentation of a particular topic given to the instructor at that moment, and knowledge of how the topic manoeuvre should be taught and achieved. Not all attendees of the Instructor’s course are deemed proficient enough to sit the exam (only 12 of 25 were admitted when I sat the exam), and often less than half of those who are allowed to sit it actually pass the exam, due to its difficulty and the necessity for near-perfection. On the other hand, the so-called syllabus for the WES instructor’s exam (which I passed when I first began residing in England) was one A5 (half sheet) piece of paper talking about a few things that the instructor had to demonstrate to be able to teach during a lesson, which would be assessed by two examiners from WES (which in my case was Roger Wells, whom I respect as a competent judge although he does not ride, and his teenage daughter whose qualifications to be an assessor were nil). There were also a few oral questions about the WES rulebook, and that is all. No written exam, no demonstration of ability to ride and train or correct a school horse, no demonstration of one’s experience, knowledge of horsemanship in all its aspects, or ability to handle horses. I am not being derogatory here; I am simply stating the facts.
It is also a fact that some WES instructors are not just novices at Western riding but quite frankly are so incapable of riding Western well that it is embarrassing to watch them compete. And the problem with this, of course, is that if THIS is the picture presented to non-Western horsemen and horsewomen by someone who should be a very competent expert because they have qualifications as an instructor, then what on earth must non-Western horse people think of Western riding? It is very true that several very competent, experienced, and able instructors/trainers have their WES instructor’s qualification, but this presents another problem (and is the reason why I did not renew my WES qualification): There is no distinction in the WES programme between someone with instructor’s qualifications who is a novice Western rider and is limited in what they can teach, and someone who is an accomplished rider and trainer at a national and/or international level who would be able to teach Western riding up to that same level, as long as they had the necessary requisites and ability as a teacher/instructor/coach. Finally, WES cannot pretend to organise a Western instructor’s programme that is worthy of respect and international recognition when the showing and judging aspect of WES so often ignores the safety of horses and competitors and does little to promote a serious, high-level image of Western riding. Perhaps this aspect has improved slightly in recent years, but the fact is that at too many WES shows, competitors are still allowed to participate and to continue in the class and even place despite their horses running off with the bit in their teeth, kicking at other horses, running into other horses, trying to bite horses who pass them, bucking, rearing, and disrupting the class.
What image of Western riding does this project? And why should those who care about the welfare of their horses—and who have put in the time and effort to prepare it adequately for the show so that it does not behave in such a manner—have to put up with this in order to compete at a WES show? Also, why should competitors be allowed to compete wearing non-acceptable clothing, including Australian hats, short-sleeved shirts, jodphur boots, stretch jeans that finish at their shins, etc.? The equivalent would not be allowed in a proper English riding competition, and people who do not wish to conform to proper dress regulations should consider how they damage the image of Western riding. (And one can very inexpensively purchase a proper Stetson-type 3X hat and economy Western boots, as well as being able to buy acceptable shirts, blouses, and jeans at the charity shop for £2 or £3.) The simple solution to these problems is to change the WES rule book and put all WES judges on notice that at the first instance of any misbehaviour from a competitor’s horse, including going so fast as to lap everyone else and/or having to be constrained constantly with tight reins, the competitor will be immediately disqualified and called to the centre of the arena.
Competitors wearing unacceptable clothing and equipment (which the rulebook should again be changed to specify) should not be allowed to enter the arena, and all competitors should be reminded in the show programme of the strict enforcement of both of these rules (even though they are already responsible for knowing their rulebook). All of the foregoing discussion should apply equally to the WHA (Western Horseman’s Association), although from what I’ve seen of their competitions, there is little hope of their adherence; I know that they just wanna have fun, and that’s their prerogative, but to hold classes where, for example, people pull on their horses’ mouths with all their might in the vain pursuit of a bovine (that the horse has never seen before) and call it Cutting, or dash around the arena and call it Western Pleasure, makes a buffoonery of Western riding for anyone who is spectating. There is no excuse for allowing unsafe, improper, or shoddy performance and appearance in Western shows in the name of encouraging participants; students and those who are self-taught should be strictly and emphatically informed by instructors and show organisers of what is correct/required in Western competition, THEN encouraged to participate once they have achieved those pre-requisites.
The other problem with the proposed substitution of the UKCC Western coaching programme by the WES instructor’s programme is the question, once again, of who is running/managing/deciding the content of this programme and creating it in his or her own image. From the initial comments that I received in a conversation with Bob, there is not going to be any general consultation amongst a group of proven, competent Western experts/trainers/instructors, so does that mean that all that the rest of us get is a choice between Pauline’s programme and Bob’s programme, with us being forced to accept one or the other upon its completion after having never been consulted or allowed input? I have battled tooth and nail against the hijack of the UKCC by Parelli, who stated in one of their newsletters their intention to force the Parelli programme into the syllabus as they have already managed to do in France; and the reason was because the teaching of Western Riding is NOT the domain of any one person or programme or dogma.
Western riding and the philosophy behind it is a collection of the vast wealth of experience and talent and knowledge held and shared by all those who have participated with the horse in the proper way (humanely, with care, attention to detail, and professionalism) in this exquisite form of equestrianism, and all of those who hold it dear and wish to see it shared with others in its PROPER form should fight to ensure that the UKCC programme takes that into account.
cc: Colin Wilson (BEF)
Suzanne Genery (BEF)
Pauline Brimson (BR)
Carol Gatt (BR)
David Deptford (BR)
David Lloyd (WES)
Bob Mayhew (WES)
Bill Archer
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