ONTARIO — It is commonly referred to as ballet on horseback and it can take a lifetime to master.
Ontario High School graduate Emily Wright is well on her way.
The 22-year-old Wright competed in the U.S. Dressage finals at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. last month. Wright and her horse, Florestano, placed 17th in the Intermediate I Championship Open division.
“It wasn’t our best ride,” said Wright, a senior animal sciences major at The Ohio State University who will graduate later this month. “We were both a little nervous. It was our first time (competing at the national level) and we were the youngest in our class. “Everyone else we competed against rides for a living.”
The 2009 Ontario product may soon get that chance, too. She has been invited to train with renowned instructor Conrad Schumacher in Florida. Schumacher guided the Dutch Olympic dressage team to silver medals in Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.
“He’s very well known internationally,” Wright’s father, Keith, said. “He is regarded as one of the top instructors.”
Dressage (a French term which translates loosely to “training”) is a riding discipline originally developed as a way to improve the maneuverability and obedience of military horses, according to the United State Equestrian Federation, the sport’s national governing body. Dressage can trace its roots to ancient Greece and grew in popularity during the European Renaissance. The sport made its Olympic debut in the 1912 Stockholm games.
Contestants are scored on a series of required movements by up to seven judges, depending on the level of competition. Movements include the piaffe (an elevated trot in place), extended and collected gaits and the half-pass, where the horse moves forward and laterally at the same time.
“It takes a lot of practice to compete at the highest level,” Wright said. “I’m at the barn five or six days a week and I ride between 45 minutes and an hour, depending on how intense the training session is. It’s very challenging, but I like the challenge.”
The oldest of Keith and Mary Beth Wright’s three children, Emily started riding when she was 7. She began competing in dressage tests when she was 11.
“It appealed to me because the horse and rider have to work together as one,” Wright said. “You aren’t allowed to use voice commands. All of the communication is through the legs and feet and body.
“The horse is an extension of the rider.”
Florestano is a 15-year-old Westfalen. The family traveled to Germany in search of a new mount in 2004.
“Emily probably rode 30 horses in a week,” Keith Wright said. “When she first got on Florestano, they just clicked.”
No matter how well horse and rider work together, watching his daughter sit atop a 1,200-pound animal can fray the nerves.
“Dressage is all flat work — there is no jumping — but it can still be dangerous. She’s still on a big, powerful animal,” Keith said. “It can be a little frightening.”
The Wrights other children, Ben and Chad, are both athletes. Ben played football and wrestled in high school and Chad, a junior at Ontario, has qualified for the swimming and diving state tournament as a freshman and a sophomore.
“Watching Emily is a whole different dynamic,” Keith said. “Some people question whether riders are athletes. I’ve seen her go to the barn when it’s 10 degrees outside and come out covered in perspiration. They are definitely athletes.”
Like any athlete, Emily’s ultimate goal is to compete in the Olympics. The 2016 games in Rio are likely out of the question, though.
“Most riders are in their 30s and 40s,” she said. “It takes a while to build up to that level.”
The four riders who competed for the United States in dressage at the 2012 London games had a mean age of 45. The youngest was 27-year-old Adrienne Lyle and the oldest was Jan Ebeling, who was 53 year young when he qualified for his first Olympics.
“It takes time to develop your reputation,” Keith Wright said. “That is why going to Florida is such a good opportunity for Emily. A lot of the top riders train there year-round.”
Like elite race horses, most top-tier dressage horses are owned by a syndicate. Ebeling made news in the months leading up to the London games because his mount, Rafalca, was owned by a group that included Ann Romney, wife of then Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
“Most Olympic horses are seven-figure horses,” Keith Wright said. “The ownership group will seek out riders who have established themselves over the years. That is why most of the Olympic competitors are a little older.”
The 2020 Olympics will be staged in Tokyo. Could Team USA feature a pair of Wrights? Chad has his sights set on a spot on the national swim team.
“We’ve actually talked about it,” Emily said. “It would be amazing.”
Dressage made its Olympic debut in the 1912 Stockholm games with Sweden’s Carl Bonde, aboard Emperor, winning the first individual gold medal. The first team gold went to Germany in the 1928 Amsterdam games. The United State has enjoyed moderate success in the discipline. Team USA’s best showing came in the 1948 London games, winning silver. The United States brought home the bronze in 1932 (Los Angeles), ’76 (Montreal), ’92 (Barcelona), ’96 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney) and ’04 (Athens). Hiram Tuttle is America’s lone individual medalist in the event, winning bronze in L.A. in 1932.
Source: olympic.org
