At the Press Conference at the European Eventing Championships 2021, after the Germans were beaten into silver by the British Team,  Germany’s Ingrid Klimke said with a laugh,  “I have one thing to say to the Brits – they stole our trainer!”, referring to Britain’s Eventing High Performance coach Chris Bartle who helped her country to many successes in previous years. “But I’m very happy for them, they did a wonderful job!”, she added.

Christopher Bartle and Ingrid Klimke walk the cross country course when Christopher was German Team coach

How does he do it?!?”

What has set Christopher Bartle out from most of the eventing ‘experts’ is his belief that great cross country goes with – and flows from – great dressage. For a while it was fashionable to warn riders – “too much dressage and you will take away the horse’s initiative cross country”, the trouble was that what passed for ‘dressage’ in the hands of these experts was not dressage in the form of the progressive, gymnastic development following the classical training scale, but something like military manvoeuvres, drilling the poor beast hour after hour on the movements of the test.

Of course Christopher had the best possible start, his mother Nicole Bartle translated some of the great French works of dressage literature, and made sure that Christopher’s early education came from Swedish Olympian – in BOTH dressage and eventing – Hans von Blixen-Finecke.

Christopher a winner with Wily Trout, and Word Perfect

That the two disciplines were in harmony, rather than opposition, was doubly reinforced when Christopher placed sixth in the Dressage at the Olympic Games:

“It probably was an accident. Wily Trout was an eventer, and quite successful, then four weeks before he was to go to Burghley, he tweaked a tendon, and in the nine months it took to get him back, and in the process of bringing him back, I got bored with doing normal work, and decided, why can’t he do what the dressage horses do? I worked on his flying changes, he seemed to have a talent for piaffe, with the guidance of Hans von Blixen-Finecke in particular, and his motivation we started to get there. It was also going to Goodwood one time and seeing Reiner Klimke on Mehmed, and being inspired by what Reiner did, but also thinking I can do what the other ones are doing. For a horse that wasn’t bred to be a dressage horse in those days, horses were just horses, they weren’t born to be dressage horses or showjumpers, or eventers – Wily Trout did really well. Sixth at the LA Games  in 1984…”

The eventer turned Olympic Grand Prix competitor – Wily Trout

In those days were you an eventer having fun doing dressage, or seriously a dressage rider…
“The thing about dressage is that it is only fun to win, so it was a challenge to get to the top of the mountain, and getting Wily Trout there was quite an achievement , but I was frustrated I hadn’t got to the top of the mountain on the eventing side. The next mountain was Badminton…”

And sure enough, Christopher climbed that mountain, winning the world’s toughest Three Day Event – Badminton.

Christopher on his way to winning Badminton with Word Perfect in 1998…

Christopher missed selection for the 2000 Games in Sydney and when approached by Christoph Hess, he accepted the position as German Team coach in 2001, holding the position for fifteen hugely successful years before returning to Britain as National Eventing Coach.

What are the principles that have seen him so successful? Christopher outlines his philosophy:

“The problem is not too much dressage. It is a misunderstanding of what is good or appropriate dressage. I write dressage not Dressage because what is often either misunderstood or not often enough stated, is that the word originates from the French word ‘dresser’ – ‘to train’.”

“There is a particularly 21st century trend towards ‘compartmentalising’. Children say that they are Dressage riders or Show Jumpers or Eventers. Eventers go to their Dressage trainer or their Show Jumping trainer as though the disciplines were not related. But nobody told the horse! The Dressage trainer often concentrates on more impressive paces. The Show Jumping trainer often concentrates on being able to count strides and ‘see a stride’ on flat even ground. But neither are relevant to riding across the country, twisting and turning, uphill and downhill, with variable ground and frequent surprises. The breeders try to breed better movers, better jumpers, faster racehorses. But the Event horse is, and always will be, an all-round athlete. He will never win the Derby, the Grand Prix Show Jumping or Dressage. The Champion Event horse will always be a product of the training and the partnership.”

“Successful training should develop self-carriage, and yet retain initiative on the part of the horse. It should develop the horse’s ability to look after himself in critical situations. It should also lead to the horse’s obedience in staying on the line and in accepting the regulation of speed through adjustment of the length of stride. Then he should be allowed to concentrate on his job when he gets to the fence. Only the Rider has walked the course. The Horse only gets a split second sometimes to assess the situation. At that point the Rider’s ability to stay in balance and not upset the horse’s balance, coordination and reflexes, is critical. Also the Rider’s ability to keep the partnership intact when the horse makes a mistake.”

“I agree that the sustained extreme Collection required of a High School Dressage horse, is not appropriate for a horse that is also required to gallop and jump across country. On the other hand, the ability to collect for short periods in order to shorten the stride with impulsion, is an essential part of what we require. That is not to take away the horse’s initiative, it is to give him the enhanced ability to look after himself at the point of the jump.”

An equally important part of dressage is the physical development of the horse in order to promote better balance and coordination. This is all the more important at the end of a long course of big jumping efforts and mental concentration. When a car runs out of petrol it eventually slows down and stops. When a horse runs out of petrol, he is likely to lose control of his balance and coordination and is more likely to make mistakes. This dressage should not just be done in the Dressage arena but also on undulating ground and at variable speeds i.e. Length of strides.”

The success of the German Team under Christopher, and now the Brits, should ensure that future generations of riders and trainers are well aware that dressage and cross country are friends, not enemies…

It was an all-British celebration on the individual podium at the FEI Eventing European Championships 2021 in Avenches, Switzerland today – L to R – Sarah Bullimore (bronze), Nicola Wilson (gold) and Piggy March (silver). (FEI/Richard Juilliart)