2022 Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize Recipient: Emily Miles and Daily Show

Photo by John Borys Photography

It is with the most heartfelt gratitude that I write this report for TDF’s $25,000 Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize awarded to Daily Show and me. We used the generous grant money to travel to Ocala, Wellington, and Chicago to move up to and gain experience in the Developing Grand Prix Level. We learned many lessons along the way! It was on our way back from Wellington when I heard of the passing of Carol Lavell. I hope that we made her proud and hope we can give back in the same spirit as she exemplified. 

We learned we received the Lavell Prize shortly after Daily and I were Reserve Intermediate I Champions at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. My goal was to move Daily into the Developing Grand Prix arena but bigger shows were not really on our radar until receiving the Prize. It meant so much to me that people I respected and admired believed we belonged. I am also extremely fortunate to have two other horses, Java Dulce, and Sole Mio, competing at the Grand Prix level, and they came along for the ride!

We took our first jump by going to the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, FL, in November. This was a real test of the waters. I wondered, how would Daily handle his first time at this level in the arena. How would he cope with the 22-hour trip? How would he feel about this new venue? I knew Debbie McDonald would be there to give us guidance and valuable lessons. I was thankful that the trip was a success and smooth. I lost a little sleep (driving, worrying about the horses, etc.) but it was an amazing experience! The horses handled it all so well. Daily scored in the upper 60s for his first time in the Developing Grand Prix Level, and to top it off Java Dulce won his first CDI 3* Special.

With Ocala under our belts, we started making plans for a month in Wellington. Talk about intimidating! I am grateful for the network of people that came out to offer help, support, words of wisdom, and connections. I had a lot of questions! The big questions included how to balance my family at home, the farm, what to focus on, how to best set the horses up for success, and to manage expectations. However, the small questions mattered too: managing time, which types of hay the horses liked best, how to avoid traffic, and tricks for keeping loose shoes on. Luckily, in Wellington, you probably have neighbors who have advice for you!

I learned so much during my time in Wellington! Some of it was dressage related but a surprising amount was not.

One of my favorite nights was when a bunch of people who were originally from the Midwest or were visiting came to hang out in the barn aisle. Everyone was so supportive, and this taste of home reinvigorated me. The people and the friendships that these horses bring into our lives are truly what matters the most and that is probably the best lesson I learned.

Furthermore, I learned a lot about myself. I struggle with finding the balance between trusting myself and opening myself to learning experiences. I think as trainers we must be cognizant of how much change we can make and how much change our horses can make. What do I mean? I ride my horses 99.99% of the time and I have ridden all of them since their first centerline. I know I need to grow and make changes to my riding and training. I know I need to make a lot of improvements. I also know that when I change myself and my riding, it will take time and I can't expect my horses to adjust right along with me. They need time to learn the new language as well. That can lead to frustration between the trainer/coach and the horse/rider. Sometimes the lessons are learned months later, when you have been able to digest the new skills/approaches and when the horses have been able to make adjustments in their work. As the horse's advocate, we need to make sure we are bringing in new training ideas but in a way that doesn't compromise the confidence the horses have.

I also struggle with self-doubt and confidence. I think it is the nature of our sport. There is always so much left to learn. One day, you can have the best day, and the next day nothing seems to work. The amazing thing (and it was reiterated to me) was that this is all across our sport. The best horses and riders all have off days. Mistakes are made but you carry on and you are not alone! I had some amazing conversations with riders I respect. They were frank about the setbacks, able to laugh at their mistakes, and gave me such a feeling of camaraderie.

Emily and Java
Photo by Q2 Photography

Thanks to The Dressage Foundation, Daily and I achieved our goals of competing in the Lovsta Future Challenge. Furthermore, we earned qualifying scores for the Developing Grand Prix and are planning to compete at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. Sole Mio also benefited from these trips! He competed in the Lovsta Future Challenge, earned scores for the Developing Grand Prix, and some valuable experience in the Grand Prix. Java finished our Wellington trip with the amazing highlight of winning a CDI 3* Grand Prix. Which was simply amazing!

Now I want to spread the knowledge, experience, and lessons I learned. I think it is a strength to have so many dressage riders in such a concentration in Wellington. We can learn from this and try to bring a spirit of sharing ideas and knowledge to the rest of the country, like the Midwest. I hope to be able to have those same conversations with other trainers! We need to have open communication about training, how to balance life and family, how to approach nerves and failures, what problems have they encountered, and what ideas about food, fitness, and therapies we share. So much is learned from simply years of experience... so let's lend each other some years! I do not want a closed-door policy focused on hiding our flaws but rather an idea of helping and encouraging others because we know they are doing the same for us. I think this idea of "a rising tide raises all boats" is the cornerstone of The Dressage Foundation, and I couldn't agree more. My mother, Jana, and I recently opened our farm for our local community to gather, watch training, and share some ideas. We tried to encourage questions, share some of our ideas and demonstrate some of the things we found to be helpful. I hope in this way we can not only benefit from Carol Lavell as individuals but let it carry on to as many people as possible!

Thank you so much for providing these opportunities to our community and me and Daily Show. I am excited to push forward in our careers and know that Carol Lavell and this grant gave me a big leg up!

Sincerely,

Emily Miles