International trainer and competitor Pammy Hutton FBHS on being written off by younger riders and toxic visa issues facing those coming to Britain for training
Many moons ago, I hung over a fence alongside a very good-looking man as we watched a prix st georges test. “I’m nervous,” I told the handsome stranger, who admitted he was too. We were both about to attempt our first test at this level.
Later, I asked around to put a name to this kind and reassuring person. It was David Hunt.
Today, David is president of British Dressage and the International Dressage Trainers’ Club. His glittering riding career includes winning three international classes at Rotterdam in 1988 and producing four horses long-listed for various Olympics.
Back then, I would watch the international horses and riders longingly. Somehow, a year or two later, I became one of them. Now I’m watching again, wondering “how?” How beautiful they look – and how far they are beyond the hope of most.
At times like this, I’m reminded just how specialist our sport can be and how hard it is to climb over to the other side of that fence.
Nowadays, I’m back on the “wrong” side. Deemed too old to bother with. I’ve been cut dead by a good current international young rider.
Just today, someone asked if I still rode “at your age” and if I really still train international riders? Yes, actually…
Framing older age as the underdog is not good for our sport. There’s so much to lose by dismissing those from a generation less likely to trumpet their achievements. Their knowledge and successes are no less for that.
Regionals entries
Much homework was needed to work out how I would fit championship qualifiers around my horse’s eventing commitments. The good news is that qualifying for gold classes at regionals appears so much easier these days. With no hope of winning a class to secure direct entry, two sheets at 64%-plus should do it.
This division used to regularly have 45 or 50 entries. Yet this winter has seen barely 12 in some classes. I’m assured that overall numbers are not down, just regionals – except at the brilliantly run Wellington Riding.
But why? It can’t all be due to the economy, although the soaring diesel prices certainly won’t help. No, it’s thanks to the introduction of silver regionals and generally spreading the numbers across so many options with classes for everyone.
Nonetheless, I still enjoy the challenge of the gold ranks. Otherwise, there’s always veterans!
A toxic issue
In the current political climate, this is a sensitive one, but it must be said. Work visas are potentially a toxic issue in the horse world.
Firstly, there are job applicants coming over without work visas, so do check when you employ.
Then there are those coming into the UK on visas to receive exam training. It’s my understanding that they can only career-train at an accredited college or riding school, Talland being the only such riding school in Britain. The British Racing School is also accredited.
A holiday visa permits someone to fly in for a day to take an assessment. But if you are physically training in the UK, for example, towards a British Horse Society (BHS) assessment, be careful. While there are certain caveats, in many cases it’s illegal. Someone once sent us £16,000 for fees and got into the country on a student visa, never to be seen again. Of course, we reported them to the Home Office – and put the money to good use.
Surely information about visas should be sent to all riding schools and equestrian centres in the country, starting with the BHS contacting all affiliated riding schools.
In other news, research ahead of a lecture on equine conformation turned into a case study of Google versus experience. Naturally, I stay updated on modern learnings and science, but nothing replaces life lessons.
In fact, if horses needed to pass a five-star vetting to compete at the Olympics or Badminton, how many could enter? And yet how many come home flying, ears pricked? So how good is their conformation? Yes, I stuck with the practical.
● How do you think dressage should balance welcoming the next generation with preserving the knowledge of its most experienced figures? We’d love to hear from you at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your views published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine
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