Commentary on the stallion presentation in Marbach

There were doubts in the run-up to the event that a stallion show could be an appropriate start to the Xenophon anniversary weekend. It was said that many a stallion show was above all a great spectacle. The reality was different this weekend in Marbach.

Instead of “made kicks” and lots of ballyhoo in the spotlight, the dressage stallions were presented in their natural gaits and at their age-appropriate level of training. There were no hyper-cautious, violent jumpers among the jumping stallions, but highly motivated athletes who made many a dressage fan wonder whether a jumping stallion might not also suit a mare.

The right path must be the goal

It was an evening that showed that finely ridden horses are so much more beautiful in their natural elegance than the artificial rompers that are so often acclaimed. No, not everything was perfect in Marbach either. But the way it was handled was. A young horse that is not yet confident in the contact? No problem, just offer a soft hand and try to ride on tactfully. A stallion that doesn’t want to relax in the atmosphere? Stay calm, try to distract him carefully and sensitively with familiar lessons instead of turning the rage into passage. The way they reacted to problems made all the difference – and made the evening so valuable.

The former head rider of the Spanish Riding School, Arthur Kottas, has been coming to Marbach once a month for a while now to help the riders with their horses. “Now please do a traversal” – who wouldn’t want to be taught with a Viennese accent and refined politeness? But above all, his training seems to be effective. You don’t often see such a supple seat and such sensitive rein control as most of the Marbach riders. One of Kottas’ valuable sentences that evening: “The hind leg stabilizes the horse.” The riders rode accordingly – from back to front, following the hand and not the other way around.

A new error culture

That doesn’t always look great. A four-year-old sometimes goes over the reins, sometimes behind the reins and sometimes makes a beat mistake. Completely normal with young horses – or even with trained horses in an unfamiliar atmosphere, as we have seen. So what?

Very few horses that have not been “brought into shape” through rider influence move in a balanced and secure manner at the age of four. There may be exceptions. But that doesn’t make them the worse horses. They just take longer. The unpleasant truth is: Breeding may have made progress, but there is still no shortcut on the way to a correctly trained riding horse. There is no “riding light” concept that does not come at the expense of the horses. Because even if it was people who wrote down the scale of training, the horses themselves dictated the content. Riders who think they know a better way are going against the horse’s nature. And everyone is talking about horse welfare.

This is not just a fancy buzzword. A whole army of charlatans and saviors live off the results of poor “training” and false promises. And they do quite well. Their suppliers fuel the criticism of opponents of equestrian sport. That could be stopped quickly. Riding properly is enough – even if it doesn’t work straight away.

Preservation of the horse as a cultural asset

We must celebrate when a horse has reached that level of training where it can balance itself under the rider and carry itself in self-carriage. In this case, the recognition is not only for the horse, but also for the trainer in the saddle. This requires horse lovers who recognize and reward when the path is the right one, even though the goal has not yet been reached. Whether these are the judges at the judging table, the customers when buying a horse or the breeders at the stallion presentation.

One can only hope that visitors to the sold-out stallion show in Marbach appreciated and know that State Stable Manager Dr. Astrid von Velsen-Zerweck and her team have the patience to take the classic route. They also have the courage and size to accept that things can sometimes go wrong, even though they are likely to receive the occasional dirty look.

Because if the horse industry is thinking about social license, you can only say to everyone involved: Do as Marbach does – stop just talking about horse welfare, start thinking and acting again in terms of tact, suppleness, contact, impulsion, straightness and collection; give top marks to horses that have enjoyed solid basic training; buy and sell horses where these points can be ticked off; breed with stallions where you are sure you will be shown their natural potential and not what man has made of them.