[Grade 3 Para Dressage rider] Charlotte does not have use of her legs at all, so we have to train and teach the horses with other aids: weight, voice and balance are an integral part of this. And the horse has to be open minded, a super mover and generous to learn an entire new set of aids.
Ruth Hogan-Poulsen
Grade 3 Para Dressage rider Charlotte Merle-Smith and her horse, Guata (Gigi), commute from their Ocala, Florida, home to fine-tune their training with Ruth Hogan-Poulsen at Bespoke Farm during the winter season.
Horses were always a part of Charlotte’s life, and she’d always dreamed of representing her country on the U.S. Equestrian Team (USET).
“However, in October 2007 I had to make some goal modifications after an ATV accident left me with spinal cord and brain injuries. My life is different now, and my riding discipline has change from Eventing to Para Dressage, but my desire to ride for my country at the Olympics and World Games remains a primary focus.”
Coaching a Para Dressage Rider
“I have been working with Charlotte for 8-10 years now… Time flies!” exclaimed Ruth recently.
A fellow native Vermonter, Charlotte knew of Ruth when she was living in Charlotte, Vermont, but they didn’t meet until 2012, after her accident. Charlotte said that Ruth worked hard to understand what the requirements and challenges are for the Grade 3 Para Dressage rider.
“Ruth wants to learn about it [coaching a para athlete] and wants to be involved. It makes me realize how great of a person she is because, no matter how wild her schedule is, she’ll make a spot for me.”
Charlotte Merle-Smith
Ruth looks back at her time coaching Charlotte and all she has learned through the years working with Charlotte and her horses.
“Charlotte does not have use of her legs at all, so we have to train and teach the horses with other aids: weight, voice and balance are an integral part of this,” said Ruth, as she described the requirements of a Para dressage horse. “And the horse has to be open minded, a super mover and generous to learn an entire new set of aids.
As for coaching Charlotte and her equine partners in Para dressage, Ruth has enjoyed the creativity that these new challenges have inspired in her.
“I was up for the challenge and have loved every minute of having to be creative in teaching the horse new aids and yet still present the horse in a classical dressage frame and balance with power. I’m so proud and humbled to be a part of this team. I also have created all her competition freestyles. That also made me happy – and I always cry when she rides her freestyle in public 😊”
Training a Team Para Dressage Horse
In the early days, Ruth started working with Charlotte and her horse Ben, who had been her young rider eventing horse, and they have been on the journey together to find Charlotte the right equine partner for Para Dressage since then.
“It takes a very special horse to be a Team Para dressage horse,” explained Ruth. “That has been Charlotte’s goal from the beginning: to represent the USA in Para Dressage. Many trials and sale horses later, GiGi entered our lives. A blessing of a mare!”
This summer, Charlotte and Gigi, an eleven-year-old KWPN, took a major step closer to achieving this goal as they were selected as a reserve horse and rider for the Tokyo Paralympics.
“As a reserve pair, Gigi and I will travel to Aachen, Germany to quarantine and train with the team in preparation for Tokyo,” Charlotte described. “I will potentially be called up to compete should a team member be unable.”
To fulfill her commitment to the Team, Charlotte recently launched a GoFundMe to cover the costs beyond travel, board and lodging expenses for Gigi and her (which are covered by USET.)
“There are countless costs that are not covered, including: day fees for my critical support crew and our travel to and from team points of departure and arrival, horse shipping expenses prior to team departure and after return to the U.S., and increased training and therapeutic expenses related competing at the Olympic level—the list is long and costly!”
The U.S. Para Dressage Team is currently #1 in world rankings, so to be a reserve combination is a huge honor and accomplishment. Charlotte asks for help to fund her Team goal and the successful competitive partnership that she and Gigi have already proven.
Charlotte, her mom Susan and Ruth will leave for the PEQ quarantine and horse acclimation in Aachen, Germany on August 6. As the traveling reserve, they will travel and train with the team and step up to fulfill any position that is necessary.
Thanks for everyone’s support!
Update: Spring 2022
Ruth was clear about what she wanted Gigi and I to accomplish over the [2021-22] winter. My mare is a bit long-backed and flat through her croup and she needed to be shown a different way of going to better develop the muscles in her hind end. I needed to be shown how to ask for that, and then how to ride what was created.
Ruth taught me a lot about the anatomy of a horse and what it looks and feels like when a horse is using themself correctly. We worked on teaching Gigi how to use her bum and activate her thoracic sling to open her shoulder movement. I learned to watch how her scapula moved, both from the ground and in the tack.
A tricky movement in my Grade 3 para tests is the turn on the haunches. If a hind foot sticks, even briefly, it can knock the score for that movement to a 4. We worked on these a lot!
I have never been so happy and grateful to get as sweaty and dirty as I did this last winter. When I was hurt, my life as an event rider and barn manager in Middleburg, Va. was literally ripped out from under me. Since my accident, I have been riding regularly and I have been spending plenty of time in the barn but not to this extent that I was at Bespoke Farm [this winter.]
After much debate and planning, Gigi and I are back in Ocala until our mandatory outing at Tryon in mid-June. We decided it was best for Gigi if we did not go up to Vermont with Team Poulsen just to head back south so soon after we went north. I was thrilled when Lisa Hellmer agreed to help me train in our lead-up to Tryon. Lisa has recently been named the U.S. Para Dressage Development Coach by the USEF, and she is currently coaching three other para riders. Lisa has a wonderful eye and is a great teacher. She and Ruth have very similar teaching styles as both emphasize the importance of doing things correctly, even if it takes longer.
The U.S. Para Dressage Team for the World Championships, to be held this summer in Denmark, will be named shortly after Tryon. My goal for the summer is to be named to the Team, or alternately, compete at the Festival of Champions in Illinois. Either way, Gigi and I, with Ruth and Lisa’s help, will be prepared to be as competitive as possible.
Interested in an training with Ruth Hogan-Poulsen? Ruth in-person and remote occasionally has slots become available. Read more about training with Ruth! Read more success stories!
