The key ingredients needed for an elite para dressage horse *H&H Plus*

Para dressage

The standard of para dressage is rising every year – and with it the quality of the championship horses. Lucy Elder asks para stars what key ingredients are needed for an elite campaigner

Rare as diamonds, top para horses have a specific set of qualities that make them stand out among performance horses.

In the same way the very best showjumpers, eventers, racehorses and Valegros of the performance horse world have their own set of ingredients and magic, para horses have a recipe all of their own. But what are the essential qualities for a good para horse and how tricky are they to track down?

“Para horses are very difficult to find,” says Mette Assouline, who has been involved in matching many top dressage and para dressage combinations.

“When I started out, horses had to be a good standard but really I think that now the sport has moved away from riding loan horses to competing their own, and that has pushed up the standard of horses in para dressage.”

Lucy Elder

H&H senior news writer

Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.