Ep 18: There will always be riders with bigger trucks and more expensive horses

From performanceriders.com this is the Pabri podcast. I'm Nat Foxen and each episode I challenge World equestrian Games top 10 dressage writer Brett Parbury to explain and discuss what I call a Parburyism. That's a pearl of wisdom I've written down over the years of working together in our performance writers programs. Brett doesn't know what today's Pabraism is. Let's get into it. Brett, remember a few episodes ago we used a pabiarism that it turned out you confessed was stolen from Patrick Kittle. Remember that one?

Yeah, I do. Yep.

Today I've got another stolen Parburyism. This one is stolen from Ulla Salzgeber, who is an incredible German Olympic dressage medalist. And the Parbury ism stolen potism is. I'm going to butcher this so you can correct me afterwards. Right. It's something along the lines of there will always be riders with bigger trucks and more expensive horses. And you can correct me and fill in the blanks. Brett, what is this one?

Yeah, so then, then she went on to say but it doesn't matter when you go in the gate, which means, you know, down the center line. So none of that matters when you go in the competition arena. And, and that's one of that comment that Ola said to me and she probably just said it as a passing comment, but it really hidden a note with me that yes, we are in a sport where there will be more expensive horses, bigger trucks, more famous coaches, people with more support around them, but what really matters the most is what you do from the moment you go in the gay today. And I guess you can draw a comparison into all sporting environments there that don't get, don't get distracted by the outside, only focus on the job that needs to be done. And Ula had a big influence on me when it came to my competition attitude and the way that I approach competitions. And that comment alone really hit a note with me and I've just always remembered that.

Can you take me back to what was happening when Ula said this to you? Where were you? When was it? Tell me the story.

It was fairly early in my career where I just managed to make it into a. A training squad. So all the souls gave. It was brought on by the administration of Australian dressage around about 2005 in, in the lead up for the lead up for the 2006 World Equestrian Games, which were in Arken and Ula was brought on and had agreed to become the Australian coach and it was it she Said this to me in one of those early clinics and we had some really good clinics with her and, and not only her, but just the way in which the clinics were conducted was really good. We all would go to one place, we'd stable there, we would often stay there the whole day. We'd eat together, we'd do video review sessions together and it was really good. I think one of the highlights of sort of my early career and I just can't remember the exact time she said that, whether it was in Australia or whether it was when I went over and worked for her in Germany. But whenever it was, I think what she was saying to me is, look, you know, you, you're young, you're, you're, you're in a country where you're going to, you know, have a career and just remember this and probably knew that I was doing it from, you know, not a lot of backing and knew that I'd probably come up against things on the way through and I just, just really hit a good note with me that no matter what happened, whether I was being supported by really, you know, with lots of support from, you know, wealthy financially secure sponsorships or support or whether I was just writing for someone and you know, down the road, it only matters when you go in the gate and, and everything you do in your training and in your warmups and in your arena familiarization and all of your pre competition planning has to be focused that when you go through the gate you're ready to score points. So that's what she was trying to say to me and, and she probably didn't realize the impact that it had on me at the time.

Yeah, we should have her on the podcast and, and tell her how much of an impact that had. She'd probably love that.

She would have a lot more of those to be honest. She, because all of was a, a person who managed to rise to the top of Germany, which is difficult as we know, but she also did it from, from the opposite end of the country to where the action is happening. So all of the action in Germany is happening towards the north, you know, the middle and the north and, and OLO came from down in Munich, so she was down the bottom. So she was doing it from a remote location in terms of Germany and able to compete at the world class level that she got to and, and to dominate the way she did. So I'm sure she has a very, very good outlook and a lot of, you know, of those little one liners and mental approach that she could offer to all of us.

So there'd be lots of people listen to this podcast who are quite new to your world actually and perhaps don't know that much about you or your background. How do you personally relate to this Pablo ism? Because people might think, well, it's okay for you, Brett. You, you've got the big truck and you've got the expensive horses and you've had the famous coaches. So what? How does that relate to you personally?

Look, it, it relates. And I find myself saying this to my son. None of that matters. Like that, that, that's lovely. And it's all nice to, to have that and have that information and have that cutting edge information from a really knowledgeable coach or be able to take your horses there in a nice truck. But at the end of the day it does none of it matters. What matters is how you perform in the test. So all of that that we just spoke about has to be put into the right places so that you can perform. So if you are getting lessons from the, the, you know, the world's best coach, for example, is that information the coach is telling me going through to my writing, is it translatable into the arena or transferable? Is it something that I really have control of to be able to do in the arena? Am I fine tuning these skills? They're the questions that get asked. Because it's one thing to have the lessons from the top coach and have the top coach helping you, but at the end of the day you've got to be able to go in the test and do it yourself. So I guess the saying that Ola said to me really makes you accountable for going down the center line and doing what you've trained and, and riding the way you're, you've prepared. Yeah. And I think that's, that's it. Like at the end of the day, that's where the honesty happens is in that arena by yourself, in front of the judges, in your, you know, six minute time slot. That's where it all comes out. And yeah, of course you can fake it a bit, but as you go up the levels, as we know, the opportunity to fake it is much harder and, and the, the little shortcomings and mistakes will get revealed. Yeah, and that's where I think all it was also saying that you make sure that when you, when it's your time to go down that center line, you are fully prepared and that's where it counts.

We might dig into that idea a little bit more in a second about how you really can't fake it as it goes up the levels. It really comes down to the quality of your training. I think also maybe a bit of subtext to this particular stall in Pabraism is that there are no excuses. Right? Is it something that you've ever been caught up with in thinking to yourself or saying to a coach, well, you know, I don't have this opportunity, I don't have that opportunity. Or do you see that in others a little bit that it's a distraction from what we, we really want to be focusing on?

Yeah, I do see it. I mean, I probably have been guilty of it at some point. I guess what the. One of the reasons why that also hit home to me too is, is the mentorship that I grew up with with my father. He always said that, you know, unless you're getting the maximum out of your horse and you really can honest that you are, you can always improve. So. So until you're getting that, stop looking over the fence, like, stop looking at other people and just focus on you. So I guess all his comment on top of that philosophy just made me always think, well, you know, at the end of the day, my job's just to get the most out of this horse that I can. So that's where I'm going to put my energy. So as much as sometimes it is human nature to, to wish and aspire and look over and see someone doing really well and wish you were that person, you go, well, hang on, what am I actually doing to make myself better? And that sobers you up very quickly and makes you realize, well, you know, am I doing the most? Possibly not, and what can I do? So, yeah, that's probably the time. But I do notice that behavior in some writers. And, you know, I think the saying that I've only learned recently, which I love, is, and I actually have said this a few times to myself and to other people, is that the, the someone who's successful and has a really good mindset for being, you know, for trying to achieve their best will always find a way. Whereas if you don't have that mindset, but you're still competing and, and, but you're not really of that mindset, you'll tend to always want to find an excuse. And so that's the big thing for me is if I've got the right mindset, if I make myself have the right mindset, I'll just keep trying to find a way. But if my mindset is not right, I'll be finding excuses. And if I'm finding excuses. It's pretty much a sign to say to me, hey, your mindset's not right. You've got to fix that. And that's where it starts. It all starts with me. To have the right mindset, the right attitude towards training and competing. And it all starts with me.

Just a quick message from us. If any of the ideas discussed today resonate with you and you'd love to dive deeper, head over to performanceriders.com there's a bunch of free content for you and there's loads of opportunities as well to work with us by enrolling in one of our training or mentoring programs. Performanceriders.com. So the Paris and we're talking about today was stolen from famous dressage rider Ula Sals Gaba. And it's there will always be riders with bigger trucks, more expensive horses, more famous coaches, and none of it matters as soon as you enter the arena. It's a level playing field.

And can we probably call it borrowed? Because stolen makes me.

I like stolen. It's more dramatic.

It is true.

Can you tell us a story about a horse that you've competed, maybe some of us will be familiar with, with the horse that you choose to talk about that was perhaps not the most sort of expensive or glamorous or very fancy and over the top sort of horse that of course it, when it becomes famous at Grand Prix with you, then we all know about and we think, wow, what an incredible horse. But in fact, maybe it wasn't always that horse and that came out through the development of the sport. Can you think of one to give us an example of?

Yeah, I mean, I've got to be careful because you don't want to say someone had a bad horse. But, but to be totally honest, the, the fancy flashy horse really only appeals to someone who's not that educated when it comes to dressage. Like what the educated eye will always be attracted to is the correctness of something. So the correctness of training, the correctness of posture, the correctness of a half halt, the flashy stuff, the fancy flashy, obvious things that generally just appeals to those probably without the education, without the educated eye. So I'll go on to say there that my two most successful horses that I've had in through my stable that have taken me the furthest have were both Australian bred and they were both owned by their breeders all the way through their career. And they weren't fancy, flashy imported superstars. You know, of course I've ridden plenty of those. I've had Lots of those horses that have come through the stables. But it just so happens that the two most successful horses I've had were both born in Australia, bred in Australia from, from European bloodlines. So not Australian bloodlines, but born and bred here and owned by their breeder all the way through. So what that tells you is they weren't bought because they were fancy. They were bred. And we all know for those of us who have bred horses, I mean, I've bred horses. I couldn't have bred worse horses if I tried.

So that's for another podcast episode.

Yeah, breeding is a lucky dip in itself. But it just so happened that these two, two owners, so Susie Duddy and Carolyn Lieutenant, all the Duddies and Maheens and, and then also Carol and Lieutenant with another horse, they bred the horse and they followed those horses right through their career and they believed in them and as did I. You know, we, but we all believed in them. And yes, they, those horses had. I mean, they were amazing horses. When they got to the, to the, to Grand Prix, they were very good. You know, as we know, Victory Sloot ended up in the top 10 in the world and Welt Miser was in the top 30. He was 32nd in the world at the World Equestrian Games. So, you know, we're talking about horses that really excelled at a good level, international level, but they weren't fancy, flashy horses. And like I said, they, they, that, that that fancy, flashy stuff really only appeals to the uneducated. The actual, proper, correct stuff appeals to those who have good eye. And that's, that's what those horses could do. So I would say that they were fancy horses, that they were great horses because they were correct. As opposed to what the obvious, see, which is knees up and fancy stuff.

Yeah, yeah, love that. It's, I think it's, they're great stories for us to hear because it's so inspiring. And we know the horses and we know the finished product and it's great to know that, you know, those horses weren't necessarily winning World Young Horse Championships. You know, they were produced over time in the sport.

And of course there's always going to be horses that are fancy and flashy and very successful young horses that do become very famous Grand Prix horses. But it's not completely essential that that's your starting point. And there are probably more instances of horses that haven't been fancy, flashy young horses or very, you know, let's call it, you know, famous young horses that, that there's probably more Horses that have come through the levels of training and become famous than the other way around.

Yeah. So earlier you mentioned about how as you go up the levels, the, the results of the evidence of your training, the quality of your training comes out more and more. What do you mean by that?

Well, that's, that's where I mean, as we know with dressage, it's, it's, you know, I hate saying this, this term, but you need a horse that's, that's man made and it. And I don't. And when I say that, well, I'm not, not trying to say that you've got to hold and push them together, but there's no horse that's born that actually knows the Grand Prix stuff. They can do it in the paddock, but to do it on our cues, they don't know it. So we have to then install the aids and install the training and install the, the development and the balance and all those things and the understanding of what we're asking. So, you know, to use the term man made or rider made or whatever call it, they all have to be that because you can't get them to do it all the Grand Prix by themselves. So, you know, the fact that one horse might have a big, scopey, springy elastic trot, where one has a little short, choppy trot, well, they've got to, those horses have got to learn the full spectrum of the trots to get through the Grand Prix test. And, and that's where the training matters. So identifying, you know, that starts right from the start of identifying what is my horse and what, or what is this horse and what is, what are the strong points and what are the weak points and how am I going to construct a training system that fits around these weaknesses and with the long term view in mind and with that comes a system and a process that you've just got to go through time after time and not really get that distracted on the way through. Of course, going through the levels and going up the levels, there are going to be plenty of distractions. But if you kind of keep in the back of your mind the whole way, like this is the horse I'm dealing with and this is the strengths and this is the weaknesses. And I'm, I'm staying on this path of trying to understand the, what he need, what this hors needs at the end, which is a full spectrum of, of trots or cander or whatever, then you're more likely to get there to Grand Prix than you are. You know, you're definitely putting the odds in your favor of getting there. And. But if you do get a bit distracted, like through the horse's career and start really pushing for the. For stuff that the horse already does well and you don't attend to some of these weaknesses, you will end up with some shortfalls in your training later on. And the Grand Prix test, it's. It's there to reveal your weaknesses. That's, that's just. That's. It's a marvelous test. Like, it's a wonderful test. Whoever dreamt this up in the early days, they were smart because they know exactly where everybody's weaknesses are and they will be revealed. If you haven't attended to this, to it early enough in the horse's training.

Absolutely love that great sort of philosophical chat and of course, talking about the finished product Grand Prix horse. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the size of the truck, how famous the coach is or how expensive the horse was. Wrapping it, wrapping it up and circling back to our original stolen or borrowed Fabrism from Ullr.

And don't get me wrong, all of that can help, but it's certainly not the what makes it happen. What makes the success happen.

Yeah, great chat. Thank you very much.

Thank you.