Eric Lette, former chair of the FEI Dressage Committee, remarks that Wansuela Suerte was in the comfort zone all the time at the Olympic Final. Jo Hinnemann thinks that Wansuela Suerte was the happiest, and many agree, but some also feel that she didn't produce the same degree of power as the two top horses.
The "search for happiness" exercise was, indeed, an interesting one. It is comforting to realize that Rudolf Zeilinger was right. Those horses that could most accurately be described as demonstrating the qualities of the training scale also were judged to be the happiest.
This article is excerpted from the longer article "2004 Global Dressage Forum: Training the Happy Athlete" in the February 2005 issue of Dressage Today magazine.
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