TV Review: America's next equestrian star

I wish I could have been in the show, America's Next Equestrian Star, but I'm too old, too plump, and started dressage too late in life.

So I received a press release about America's Next Equestrian Star--an Internet television show that's reality-TV-style show (obviously produced with commercial TV in mind, because it even has spaces for commercial breaks) about six young people who audition to take the place of Robert Dover's assistant. Dover, in case you're not familiar with his record, has been to six Olympic games (dressage), and the U.S. won the team bronze in four of those.
He's also known as loud, brash, and direct, no mincing of words. Call him the Simon Cowles of the dressage world. Since I watched him school horses and riders in Florida one winter, I could only imagine what he'd be like in a reality TV series. So I forked over my $20 bucks for my password and access to the show. Six young equestrians, ranging from 16 to 28 (although the press release says the cutoff was 24!) arrive at Dover's Romance Farms to begin their training. They all live in RVs right next to the dressage arena. It's refreshingly minus the malarkey of other reality TV shows—no inter-contestant arguing or back biting. In fact, we rarely see the participants interacting with each other at all. We see them doing the challenges and failing painfully, or succeeding, but never quite to Dover's standards. In all, there's some good riding, some pretty good teaching, and overall interesting content. I've still got a few more episodes to watch, but so far I've been fairly impressed. The young people are all good sports. What's fun about this show is that we can really empathize with both Dover and the participants. Like Dover, I'm really frustrated with the talented and lackadaisical Jamil, and mystified as to why the older, experienced, and poised JJ isn't doing better. It definitely spotlights what, by and large, good, caring people most horsepeople are.
Dover hasn't shown himself to be too much of a jerk *yet*--all his comments have been quite honest and true. You've got to respect him for not taking advantage of the camera time to wield his power wand. ANd he shows himself to be human--wanting the kids to succeed.
Anyway, I recommend the show if you've had enough of boring reality TV and would like to watch some beautiful horses and riders doing dressage.