Canada Has A Formula That Works

It may be a surprise to some that the Canadian riders were able to win so many medals despite facing such stressful obstacles. But it seems to be no surprise to Albrecht Heidemann or to Tina Irwin. That Canada does so well when it has such a smaller population than other countries in the Championships, especially the U.S., could be considered rather astounding. Canada has far fewer young dressage riders than the U.S. from which to make a team, but what it does have, said Heidemann and Irwin, is a strong young riders program.

“Dressage is not that huge in Canada,” Irwin said. “At the most, we might have maybe 10 grand prix horses. But we’ve got good juniors and young riders coming up the ranks and they really are the future of our sport. In addition, the quality of the coaching has really gone up.”

Albrecht Heidemann has been coach of Canada’s young riders program for the past seven years and he’s got three more years to go on his current contract and it will most likely be renewed after that. He travels to Canada at least every other month. But when there, it is not just the riders with whom he works. The program is designed to be a truly team effort. The riders, their coaches, and Heidemann all come together and work as a unit.

“He works alongside the riders and their regular coaches so that everyone is working together and consistent,” Irwin said. “It’s the team effort that makes it so good – the right coaches, trainers, horses all coming together.”

“This is a true collaborative effort. We all work together. My job is to put the home coaches on the right path and they have done an amazing job of moving riders forward,” Heidemann said. “I want it made very clear that I oversee this program, but it is the home coaches who are responsible for the development and strengthening of both horses and riders. They are the ones who do the day-to-day training.”