Competition Coach Specialist Dressage

What is Long Term Equestrian Development?

LTED in Alberta Canada

Long Term Equestrian Development (LTED) is the equestrian model for maximizing an athlete’s potential at critical stages of cognitive, affective and psycho-motor skill set acquisition.

More simply, it’s providing the right coaching environment to facilitate learning throughout the active lifetime of the athlete. The model is practical, designed to direct programming needs of youthful beginners to seasoned competitors and includes needs of adult amateurs. The LTED or in other sports, the Long Term Athlete Development model is a cornerstone program that has been adopted by most, if not all, sports governing organizations in Canada.

Each demographic in every sport discipline has an optimum time frame for skill acquisition, physical and mental training, and competitive mileage. In equestrian sport, our equine partners are subject to the same considerations as human athletes. All groups of athletes, human and equine benefit from setting and achieving attainable goals within a coach supervised training plan. Using the LTED as a guideline for riding coaches encourages the implementation of sport science as it relates to the equestrian athlete.

The LTED Committee of the Alberta Equestrian Federation initiated, conferred and published a Long Term Equestrian Development booklet in 2016. Committee members began the process to align the the LTED model with services and programs offered through the AEF and Equestrian Canada. As a member of the committee and certified coach, I’m excited to see the possibilities of having a developmental model for coaches, instructors, riders and officials in Alberta.

More information on the LTED in Alberta can be found at http://www.albertaequestrian.com/programs

Long Term Athlete Development — LTED, Riding for the Long Term

Calgary Dressage.com – The Princess Principle

Dressage, from the French verb, dressager, “to train” has a reputation for elitism. After all, the sport is based on highly trained cavalry manouvers shown at court before kings and queens.
The “princess principle” embodies the entilted few who have the means to compete a made horse, sometimes observed showing at a level above capacity. These riders as seen with an entourage of support personel rivaled only by minor celebrities and reality T.V. stars.

I stand firm in my conviction that those of us who tirelessly train our own horses in the classical style, manage their health, feed and turnout sacrifice as warriors of our sport. We save enough to buy a young prospect then fight to accumulate funds supporting years of training, boarding and care before we can step into the show ring.

Dressage warriors are their own grooms, personal managers, stable hands, veterinary technicians, tackers and cool out riders. Those with the embedded “princess principle” will never know the sacrifice and joy the rest of us experience. Warriors are absolutely willing to take on all of these roles and responsibilities. That’s how tough it is to get to Grand Prix. The difference between the warrior and the princess is the personal cost, the self sacrifice and what riders must give up to gain in the years it takes to train a Dressage horse. There is pride in being a warrior rather than a princess.

So not a princess

Kim Cox – Competition Coach Specialist Dressage

Kim Cox is awarded her Competition Coach Specialist Dressage through Equine Canada — Kim Cox is awarded her Competition Coach Specialist Dressage accreditation through Equine Canada

I am the first candidate in the province of Alberta, Canada to achieve my Competition Coach Specialist Dressage accreditation. This certification is backed by Equine Canada, the Coaching Association of Canada and administered by the Alberta Equestrian Federation.
The process involves reaching or exceeding all 7 certification outcomes to be mastered. Some of these outcomes are theory based and others are evaluated in person by expert evaluators chosen by Equine Canada. I was evaluated by Dale Irwin and Maureen Walters, both hailing from British Columbia.
My evaluators observed my preparation of a Fourth Level student at the recent CA/ADA Mardi Gras gold show to ride her test. The warm up evaluation includes both the horse and rider. The goal of the warm-up is to achieve suppleness and harmony in both. Some riders need to be pushed in the warm up and some need to be kept calm. Horses need to be ready and in a mind set to listen to the rider’s aids without distraction in a new and sometimes scary environment. The competition coach‘s job is to bring all the training and expertise together to maximize the performance. The coach takes care of all the logistics, making sure the rider is kept free of pre-test distractions and can offer 100% attention on the task at hand. Keeping tabs on contingencies, hydration breaks, medications (asthma), timing of the warm-up and checking with the ring-steward for the order of go are all part of the pre-performance requirements. This is all part of outcome 6, “Supporting the Competitive Experience”.
Hopefully all the pre-test warm-up and training has led to a successful test. I was so very pleased with my student and her horse. This was her debut at Fourth Level and as one of the evaluators exclaimed, “She has launched”. That being said, even a less stellar test has its merits from a learning perspective. This leads to the coach being able to logically debrief the athlete and comment knowledgeably and complete Outcome 3 – Analyze Performance.
After the competition piece of my evaluation, we reconvened the same evening at the facility where I coach. The evaluators were to view Outcome 2 – Support Athletes in Training. I prepared and taught 4 different lessons to 4 horse/rider combinations on topics chosen from the Competition Coach Specialist Dressage protocol. One lesson involves correctly and safely teaching a student to improve the horse through lunging. The other lessons topics I chose were improving the half halt, exercises to improve the half-pass and riding 10m circles.
The evaluators asked me to switch my lesson focus in situ, to improve a rider’s equitation. A good coach can think on her feet, and the evaluators were asking me to show adaptive management. This happens in training lessons frequently. A coach may have a plan, but a horse and rider can enter into a training session with some issue that needs to be addressed before moving forward.
Planning for all training of horses and riders in my care are part of Outcomes 4 and 5, Designing and Managing an Equestrian Sports Program. All equine and human athletes are on a time line of progress. The riders are classified as to their LTED (Long Term Equestrian Development) level and the horses are progressing along the Scale of Training. Improvement in dressage is not linear, nor constant. Coaching identifies areas in both athletes that need remediation and develops exercises that benefits both. YTP (Year Training Plan) is a flexible model that accommodates strengths and weaknesses in athletes. It also includes augmented training, such as weight training, Pilates, yoga and other modalities to improve rider fitness. Horses are also on a competition program of enhanced equine health, including dental and veterinary care, massage, chiropractic adjustments, saddle fit and farriery. The YTP is a time line divided into phases in the competition year, with attention to rest and recovery cycles for both horse and rider. The YTP is part of the written work submitted to the evaluators before the practical examination.
I feel my tenure as a Physical Education Teacher and High School Coach helped me formulate successful year training plans for riders. As an athlete, I can appreciate the importance of planning for progress, and as an equestrian I know what it takes to bring a horse along in training. The end result is a harmonious relationship between horse and rider.