Cornelissen and Parzival takes a Fifth Victory at the 2011 CDI-W ‘s Hertogenbosch

The Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival secured their fifth victory of the season when coming out on top at the last qualifying leg of the 2010/2011 World Cup Western European League at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands this afternoon. They now look sure-fire favourites to scoop the title at the final which takes place in Leipzig, Germany from 27 April to 1 May, and the Dutch rider said today – “yes, we’re in pretty good shape!”. Germany’s Isabell Werth and Warum Nicht produced a wonderful test, but still had to settle for runner-up spot ahead of Dutchman Hans Peter Minderhoud whose mare, Nadine, was really on her toes. And fourth place went to Germany’s Helen Langehanenberg and Responsible whose star has been steadily rising throughout the current season. SET THE STANDARD Catherine Haddad led the way at the halfway stage having set the standard with a score of 74.10 from the flashy chestnut Winymaro who seems to thrive in front of an audience. And the American rider was smiling broadly as she left the arena to the strains of the crowd singing “Happy Birthday” in celebration of her 47th year. Her score was immediately overtaken as the action re-started however, although Great Britain’s Richard Davison had to work hard for his mark of 77.025. His 12-year old gelding Hiscox Artemis decided some of the greenery surrounding the arena was extremely suspicious and never fully settled throughout his test. Nathalie zoo Saeyn-Wittgenstein on Digby The Netherlands’ Marlies Van Baalen presented no great threat when putting 73.925 on the board with Phoebe, but defending champion Edward Gal then forged a new lead with Next One who produced some sparkling piaffe for a score of 78.875, and this marked the beginning of the real battle for supremacy. Denmark’s Princess Nathalie zu Sayn Wittgenstein and Digby scored 77.825 to slot temporarily into second before Werth and Warum Nicht got into their stride and produced a polished, determined and quality performance that took them out in front. “He was so super!” the double FEI World Cup Dressage champion said afterwards. “This was one of his very best tests, and I can’t believe it – we had no mistakes in the changes!” she added. So now the remaining three were chasing her mark of 82.050. GROANED The home crowd groaned with disappointment when Hans Peter Minderhoud’s efforts left him trailing Werth by more than two points. His mare was on fire from the outset and her rider, never a man for taking half-measures, took all the risks as he produced lovely trot extensions and the fearlessly forward extended canter that has now become Minderhoud’s trade-mark. Helen Langehanenberg on Responsible It was his team-mate, Cornelissen, however who knocked Werth off her perch with another stunning performance from Parzival who was simply oozing confidence. “We did make one small mistake when he did a flying change after the extended canter but otherwise he was fantastic” she commented. And the Ground Jury thought so too as they posted a massive 87.900 on the board. Last in, Helen Langehanenberg was never going to beat that, but her partnership with Responsible is something special to watch and the 12 year old mare’s charming test was good enough to secure 79.125 and fourth place in this world-class field. SO RELAXED “Yesterday Parzival was so relaxed and today he felt really good again” said Cornelissen who, remarkably, has claimed the honours at half of the 10 Western European qualifying rounds this season. She believes her horse’s confidence has been reinforced by his training routine which includes doing a lot of things that other dressage horses may never get to do. Isabell Werth and Warum Nicht FRH “He goes out in the field, I take him for rides in the woods and we go cantering on a racetrack quite a lot – that’s what makes him happy. In training its about controlling him all the time, but its great to just go out and have fun together too – its all been about building up trust and he’s learned to really enjoy himself now” she explained. And she added, “that’s why I don’t take him into the prize-giving anymore – I don’t want to lose that trust because it really worries him”. She has no plans to compete Parzival ahead of the final, the line-up for which is expected to be confirmed soon. In accordance with the rules, the permitted distribution of starting places is as follows: Western European League 9 places, Central European League 2 places, Pacific League 1 place, North American League 2 places, South American League 1 place, the title defender (The Netherlands’ Edward Gal), and 2 FEI starting places. Only three riders per country can compete, and this includes the host nation. FACTS AND FIGURES: Today’s competition at ‘s-Hertogenbosch was the tenth and final qualifying leg in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Western European League series. Jeroen Devroe on Apollo van het Vijverhof It was announced this week that the Brabanthalle at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, has been selected for two FEI World Cup™ finals next year – the 2011/2012 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage and 2011/2012Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping finals. The youngest horses in today’s competition was the 11 year old gelding Winymaro ridden by America’s Catherine Haddad and the 11 year old gelding Apollo Van Het Vijverhof ridden by Jeroen Devroe from Belgium. The oldest horse in the competition was the 19 year old Krawall, competed by The Netherlands’ Jenny Schreven. Today’s Ground Jury consisted of : At E, Dr Wojtek Markowski (POL); At M, Mr Peter Holler (GER); At C, Mr Wim Ernes NED; At M, Mrs Mariette Sanders-van Gansewinkel (NED); At B, Mr Andrew Gardner (GBR). Today’s victory has brought Adelinde Cornelissen’s victory-run to five out of the ten qualifying rounds in the Western European League series. QUOTES: Adelinde Cornelissen when asked about her ambitions with Parzival – “its not my dream to win Championships and Olympic Games, its my dream to become better and better with Parzival – that’s all I every think of” Isabell Werth, when asked which horse she will take to the World Cup™ Dressage final in Leipzig – “I’d love to take Satchmo, he’s 17 now and I think he deserves it and it will be a highlight of his career”. Hans Peter Minderhoud, talking about Nadine – “I’m very happy with her, she’s very eager at the moment and in great shape. I’d like to take her to the final but I will talk with my owners before the decision is made”. Wim Ernes, President of the Ground Jury – “the judges were very pleased today, yesterday we had a good group to judge but the standard was even higher today”. Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2010/2011 – Standings after tenth and final qualifying leg of Western European League at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands: 1. Adelinde Cornelissen NED – 80 2. Ulla Salzgeber GER – 77 3. Isabell Werth GER – 74 4. Hans Peter Minderhoud NED – 63 5. Catherine Haddad USA – 58 6. Patrik Kittel SWE – 57 6. Richard Davison GBR – 57 8. Helen Langehanenberg GER – 56 9. Tinne Wilhelmson-Silfven SWE – 55 10. Christa Laarakkers NED – 53 10. Nathalie Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein DEN- 53 12. Jeroen Devroe BEL – 44 13. Nina Hofmann SWE – 37 14. Matthias Alexander Rath GER – 35 15. Mikaele Lindh FIN – 33 16. Sune Hansen DEN – 29 17. Aat Van Essen NED – 26 18. Stefan Van Ingelgem BEL – 25 19. Charlotte Haid-Bongergaard SWE – 24 19. Lilann Jebsen NOR – 24 19. Ulrike Prunthaller AUT – 24

 

 

British Bred Woodlander Farouche Dominates Young Horse Classes

British Bred Woodlander Farouche (Furst Heinrich x Dimaggio x Caprimond) dominated both of her classes at the CDI in Vidauban this week winning the 5 year old preliminary class with a score of 94.2%, a clear 18.4% ahead of second place. She then went on to win again with rider Michael Eilberg in the 5 year old class, matching her score of 94.2%, second went to another talented Woodlander youngster , the breeding stallion Wavavoom (Weltregent x Longchamp x Davignon) , finishing with an impressive score of 77.8% with Maria Eilberg. Woodlander Farouche performance potential first shone through as a two year old in the BEF Futurity series, she scored a Higher First premium and then went on to claim Overall BEF Futurity 2008 Dressage Champion at the Futurity final later that same year. Evaluators at the final, Carl Hester and Lesley Peyton-Gilbert were won over by her ultra modern type and expressive paces, pinning her as a star of the future. The Futurity series is an initiative in the UK that helps to identify talented young sport horses and ponies, as well as collecting breed data so that British breeders can make use of that information for future breeding decisions, it also provides feedback to participants on the suitability of the horse they have bred for its intended discipline and the market for which it has been bred. In the Futurity, sport horses and ponies from foals to three year olds are evaluated for performance potential in their chosen discipline by a vet and a team of up to four evaluators at a number of regional venues around the country during July and August. Over 900 horses will be evaluated this year throughout the UK to assess their performance potential as an indicator for the future. BEF Head of Equine Development, Jan Rogers said, “Farouche was one of the highest scoring Futurity dressage youngsters in her year and it is thrilling to see how well she is doing in competition. It is the combination of considered breeding and careful production that have resulted in her success, we hope to see many more futurity graduates follow in her footsteps “. Lynne Crowden, Breeder of Woodlander Farouche spoke about this fantastic mare, “ She is selected for the World Breeding Championships in Verden this summer and won, in 2010, The Badminton Young Dressage Horse Four Year Old, (Wavavoom was reserve) and Supreme; the Shearwater National 4 year old; the Shearwater International 4 year old and the Shearwater International Supreme. She finds everything easy but it is sometimes perhaps difficult to know just how much to ask for. The Eilberg training is very careful and considered from this perspective…very little “flashing” about. She has matured a lot since last summer when she was a “size 4 supermodel” and now looks like a mature woman capable of going Grand Prix. Her 2010 ET foal (by Woodlander Wesuvio) looks just like her but we shall see how she moves when she is turned out in April.” We are set to see more from this talented mother line, which descends from the dam line of the great Florestan, as Farouche’s dam, British Bred Dornroeschen , who is currently out competing with Michael Eilberg at Inter I, has an Embryo transfer foal due this year by the talented young stallion For Compliment. Farouche is also expecting another foal this season (via ET) by Woodlander Wavavoom. “We will do at least one ET with them both this year again,” said Lynne.

 

 

NRPS Stallion Sandreo Sold to France

The KWPN and NRPS licensed breeding stallion Sandreo has been sold to Haras du Feuillard in Vidai, France. The 10-year old Dutch warmblood stallion is by Sandro Hit x Flemmingh.

Sandreo made his climb to fame by first becoming the reserve licensing of the NRPS stallion licensing in 2003. Under Hans Peter Minderhoud the bay stallion won the 4-year old division at the 2004 Pavo Cup Finals and won the KWPN/KNHS Stallion Competition at L-level in 2004-2005. After the young horse classes, Sandreo disappeared from the show scene.

Sandreo’s offspring, however, made their mark at a few breed shows. Sandreo was especially liked in France, where the stallion sired the two national foal champions of 2006: Shenandoah and Sambejah.

Sandreo is approved the the KWPN, NRPS, Oldenburg, Hanoverian, Westfalian and Selle Francais society. He sired several licensed sons, including Adamo, Climas, Springsteen, Sunliner and Superboy.

“French breeders will get the opportunity to discover Sandreo at shows in France under Maxime Collard,” Haras du Feuillard announced.

 

 

 

Inshallah de Muze takes top spot

Inshallah de Muze has been proclaimed champion of the 2011 Belgian warmblood stallion licensing following the third and final phase of the approval at equestrian centre De Warre in Neeroeteren, Belgium, 17 – 19 March 2011.

Twelve young stallions in total received a green card for breeding for the BWP studbook and on the first day of the licensing two older stallions were accepted as well. The are the thoroughbred Esteban xx (by Prince Mab xx x Tumble Wind xx) and the Selle Français Ernest (by Jalisco B x Galoubet).

The third phase including an in-hand presentation as well as an under-saddle presentation by the stallions’ steady riders as well as guest judge riders. The chestnut show jumper Inshallah de Muze (by Nabab de Reve x For Pleasure x Darco) stood out with his scope and potential and was proclaimed champion of the licensing. The proud breeder of this stallion is Bart Van Poucke. I’m Special de Muze (by Emerald van’t Ruytershof x Nabab de Reve x Chin Chin) was named reserve champion. He is bred by Joris De Brabander.

“In the dressage area we didn’t have a very good year,” the BWP press officer admitted as only one of three presented stallions was approved. It concerns the Rhinelander branded Special Agent Amour (by San Amour x Polidiktus van de Helle x Feo). The black stallion is “a dressage horse with a lot of potential that can be a great catch for the studbook,” according to the BWP. The colt is bred and owned by Belgian Grand Prix rider Philippe Jorissen.

 

Older Stallions with New Bloodlines Approved at 2011 Danish Warmblood Stallion Licensing

Several of the older stallions licensed in Herning this year represent relatively new and rare bloodlines; not least the champion of the refinement stallions, the black Arabian “Zonyx”. Champion stallion “Zonyx” was described as an elegant and well-proportioned stallion with a lot to offer the warmblood breeding. In the group of older dressage stallions the 9-year-old Dutch son of Jazz “Johnson” took the champion title. He is well-recognized abroad in sport as well as in breeding. 5-year-old “Toulouse” became the champion among the older jumping stallions. He carries interesting Belgian and French bloodlines and was described as the prototype of the future jumping horse. The judges selected “Bøgegårdens Boney M” as champion of the 4-year-old dressage stallions. Boney M is a very supple and well-functioning horse. The Aage Ravn Challenge Cup is awarded the best Danish bred 4- or 5-year-old dressage stallion with an approved performance test and this prize went to “Tailormade Rush” which was also awarded Danish Warmblood’s breeder medal in bronze. He is a large-framed and masculine stallion with very good gaits. “Heart-Ache BS” became 4-year-old jumping champion stallion. He was awarded Danish Warmblood’s breeder medal in silver and also got the prestigious Elvin Rasmussen Challenge Cup as the best Danish bred 4- or 5-year-old jumping stallion with an approved performance test. “Heart-Ache BS” was praised for his supple and powerful jumping with great capacity. 4-year-old jumping champion stallion and awarded the Elvin Rasmussen Challenge Cup Heart-Ache BS by Heartbeat/Candillo Breeder: Søren Bøgested, 6650 Bøgested Owner: Stald Cajus, 6510 Gram 4-year-old dressage champion stallion Bøgegårdens Boney M by Belissimo M/Worldly Breeder: Hartwig Bulle, Tyskland Owner: Stina & Jørgen Schmidt, 6392 Bolderslev Awarded the Aage Ravn Challenge Cup Tailormade Rush by Blue Hors Rush Hour/Akinos Breeder: Jytte og Poul-Erik Simonsen, 4500 Nykøbing Sj. Owner: Tailormade Horses, 7900 Nykøbing Mors Jumping champion stallion among 5-year-olds and older Toulouse by Toulon/Padarco Breeder: Gestüt Lewitz, Tyskland Owner: Schou & Skouboe, 6560 Sommersted Dressage champion stallion among 5-year-olds and older Johnson by Jazz/Flemmingh Breeder: Holland Owner: Team Nijhof, Holland Champion refinement stallion Zonyx ox by Enzo ox/CG Balih El Jamaal ox Breeder: Browning, California Ejer: Kirk Arabians, Martofte

Eurodressage

 

Reem Acra FEI World Cup 2011

 

Neumayer strikes a win in the Grand Prix Special at 2011 Sunshine Tour

The Austrian Astrid Neumayer piloted her 11-year old Holsteiner gelding Everglade to victory in the Grand Prix Special on Sunday 6 March 2011 during the first week of competition at the Sunshine Tour CDI in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain. Set in beautiful sunny weather with a cool breeze sweeping over the Andalucian hills, the Sunday morning class featured the top 15 riders of the Grand Prix. Neumayer and her bright bay Everglade worked their magic in the ring and scored highpoints with their passage and harmonious silhouette. The piaffe was a bit mediocre with the horse becoming wide behind. The one tempi’s were super, the two’s could have been straighter. The judges’ panel, consisting of Maribel Alonso (MEX), Freddy Leyman (BEL), Peter Holler (GER), Francisco Guerra Diaz (ESP) and Peter Engel (GER), was quite unanimous and scored the test a winning 69,942 per cent. “What a day,” Neumayer commented. “I was very happy with Gladdy’s Special. The test was faulfree and had highlights like in the Grand Prix, but when I heard the score, 69,94%, it blew me out of my socks! I was in the lead.” Lauro Aguilo and his eye catching grey stallion @Hierro (by Ferro x Biguero) finished second with a strong score of 69,396%. They beautiful stallion has a quick, active hind leg but showed hardly any willingness to go forward. Like in the Grand Prix the horse was distracted, impressed by the surroundings, and the 41-year old rider was not so discrete in kicking his horse to action. Despite the fact that the passage is absolutely fantastic, the loss of impulsion led to a mediocre pirouette right and a mistake in the one tempi’s. This cost them the victory. Albeit, Hierro is one to watch for the future.

 

Judy Reynolds on Remember

Kildare born but German based Irish Judy Reynoldsranked third on her Dutch Warmblood gelding Remember (by Careful). The bay gelding was a bit stiff in the back in the trot work which caused him to have less ground cover in trot. The half passes were nice, but Remember came behind the vertical. The piaffe work was safe and especially the final piaffe at X was gorgeous even though the horse slightly travelled forward. The one tempi’s on the diagonal were gorgeous but a mistake crept into the tempi’s on the centerline. The pirouettes were small. Reynolds posted a score of 68.979%   The winner of the Grand Prix, Jose Antonio Garcia Mena, had to be content with a fourth place and 68.479% score after a fault ridden test. Garcia Mena and Lovera’s PRE stallion Norte started out well with beautiful, ground covering trot extensions. The horse was searching for the rhythm a bit in the first piaffe but was comfortable with the second. The errors crept into the canter work starting out with mistakes in the two tempi’s and the rider seemingly losing count in the one’s on the diagonal. Mena apparently lost his focus and hicupped as well in the one’s on the centerline. The horse changed lead in canter after the pirouette right. The final piaffe-passage centerline was lovely though.

 

Nora Motwurf on Milan

Two riders tied for fifth place with a score of 68.396%. Austrian Nora Motwurfwas a class act with a correctly ridden, clean Special though the horse is a bit straight in his front leg and could take the weight more on the hindlegs in piaffe. Juan Manuel Vidal Testal and the black Gachino showed a wondeful trot half pass left, super passage and trot extensions but executed not enough steps in the second piaffe.   Text and Photos © Astrid Appels Back to the 2011 Sunshine Tour index

 

Minderhoud wins the 2011 Dutch Indoor Dressage Championships

Hans Peter Minderhoud and Lynne Maas grabbed the national title at the 2011 Dutch Indoor Dressage Championships held at the KNHS head quarters in Ermelo, The Netherlands, on 4 – 6 March 2011. Minderhoud became Grand Prix champion on his rising GP-horse Tango, while Maas reconquered her 2008 Indoor Small Tour’s champions title with Salo.

Hans Peter Minderhoud and Tango (by Jazz x Contango) left little doubt of who the champion would be. The talented chestnut licensed stallions, however, was quite a handfull as he was spooky of the shadows on the footing. The combination scored 72.41% in the Grand Prix and 76.75% in the Kur to Music. With an average of 74.58% the combination left all competition behind them.

“I rode him through the shadows a couple of times and thought he was used to them,” Minderhoud explained, “but in the test he still surprised me twice. Fortunately I’ve got some experience and I kept on riding. It wasn’t an easy championships because Tango knows he’s a stallion. After me there were two mares and when I left the warm up ring he wasn’t completely focused on me. On Saturday I lost a lot of energy in the warm up on this and his tank was almost empty when the competition started.”

Judge at C, Jan Peeters, complimented Minderhoud on his trot work and the passage, which earned him nines. “In canter though the horse should have been rounder and covered more ground,” Peeters commented. Minderhoud was happy with the victory nonetheless. “I’m very pleased though I have to admit that Tango has done better freestyles than the one today. In canter we still need to make progress. Our next show will be Indoor Brabant. I’ll ride Nadine in the World Cup qualifier and Tango in the CDI tour. Only after that I’ll decided whether I’ll take Nadine or Tango to the World Cup Finals in Leipzig.”

In the small tour Lynne Maas and her eye-catching black gelding Salo (by Ferro) prevailed. The pair won the first round, the Prix St Georges, with 70.53%, placed second in the intermediaire I with 71.14% and dominated the kur with 78.83%, totalling an average of 73.50%. “Lynne Maas and Salo rode a strong freestyle,” judge at C Mara van Hoey-Smith commented. “Her horse was always uphill, the flying changes were straight and high. Really top level.”

After the award ceremony, Maas confessed that she was extremely nervous. “Salo has much power and I need to learn to manage that better,” she admitted. “That’s why in the extensions he ran off a bit too much. And also the shadows were a nuisance. They caused all these spots on the footing and my horse was a bit spooky because of that.”

The 2011 Dutch Indoor Championships also hosted two finals at Fourth level. At ZZ-Licht level, Laurens van Lieren claimed the blue aboard the bay stallion Wonderboy (by Ramon). “In 2005, 2006 and 2006 I was part of the Dutch Dressahge Team and after that, there was just silence. I hope that I can be poart of the Dutch top again with this stallion in two years,” he explained.

Madeleine Witte-Vrees and the KWPN licensed stallion Wynton (by Jazz) were the winners of the ZZ-zwaar tour.”We won all three rounds and that makes this title even more special,” said Madeleine. “This championships is a confirmation of Wynton’s qualities. He still needs to turn 8 so I had the feeling that he was a bit tired in the kur. But the talent is definitely there.”

Results 2011 Dutch Indoor Championships

Big Tour
Rider – Horse – Grand Prix – Kur to Music — Overall

• 1. Hans Peter Minderhoud – Tango – 72.41 % – 76.75 % — 74.58%
• 2. Marlies van Baalen – Phoebe – 70.00 % – 73.08 % — 71.54%
• 3. Theo Hanzon – Spargo – 69.43 % – 73.42 % — 71.42%
• 4. Diederik van Silfhout – Ruby – 70.07 % – 72.50 % — 71.29%
• 5. Aat van Essen – Sebastiaan – 67.52 % – 68.00 % — 67.76%
• 6. Yessin Rahmouni – Only Society – 66.17 % – 68.42 % — 67.29%
• 7. Wilma Wernsen – Oklarette – 64.82 % – 67.92 % — 66.37%
• 8. Remy Bastings – Riverdance – 65.25 % – 63.92 % — 64.58%

Small Tour
Rider – Horse – Prix St Georges – Inter I – Inter I Kur to Music — Overall

• 1. Lynne Maas – Salo – 70.53 % – 71.14 % – 78.83 % — 73.50%
• 2. Angela Krooswijk – Flash – 66.93 % – 71.40 % – 73.92 % — 70.75%
• 3. Adelinde Cornelissen – Ulissa – 68.33 % – 67.72 % – 74.92 % — 70.32%
• 4. Joyce Heuitink – Wup – 67.19 % – 69.30 % – 72.08 % — 69.52%
• 5. Diederik van Silfhout – Trappel – 65.26 % – 68.07 % – 73.50 % — 68.94%
• 6. Johan Rockx – Verdi de la Fazenda – 64.91 % – 66.58 % – 72.08 % — 67.86%
• 7. Marjolein Cho Chia Yuen – Pepper – 64.91 % – 67.37 % – 70.75 % — 67.68%
• 8. Mirelle van Kemenade-Witlox – Dreamcatcher – 64.74 % – 67.02 % – 69.67 % — 67.14%

 

 

Totilas to be seen again by the world

Germany’s new hope, the 11 year old stallion Totilas and his rider Matthias Alexander Rath (Kronberg), will present themselves first time at the “Horses & Dreams” dressage arena in Hagen a.T.W. from 4th till 8th May 2011. “I’m excited about the first competition with Totilas in public. He is a fascinating and great partner and the last few months were very emotional for both of us. Hagen aTW. will be the first touchstone at our way to Olympia 2012,” says Matthias Rath. Since beginning of the year Rath exercises intensively with the exceptional horse under the eyes of Klaus-Martin Rath, the coach and father of Matthias Rath: “The last weeks we decided to start the outdoor season already in Hagen aTW. There we have an excellent infrastructure and best conditions for the first start”, explains Klaus-Martin Rath. Till then the whole team will prepare precisely and work intensively on lessons within the remaining weeks. “We all are excited how it will be in Hagen aTW. One for sure: the whole team is really looking forward” acts the 26 year old team bronze medalist of the world equestrian championship cool. Rath knows that a lot of media and dressage fans from all over the world will come and look at him. Press enquiries from Australia, USA, Spain, France, Netherland, Sweden, Japan, England and other countries reached the PR-agency of Matthias Rath last week and showed already international interest.

 

Diaz set hearts aflame

Spanish WEG Grand Prix dressage star Diaz set hearts aflame during a 3-day clinic at the stallion station Rocas do Vouga near Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 28 – 30 January 2011. Tribuna Lusitana, an online TV company promoting Lusitano breeding, invited Munoz Diaz to travel to Brazil and train some of the country’s Grand Prix riders for the first time. The clinic was a huge success.

The initiative for the clinic arose when Tribuna Lusitana first visited Munoz Diaz in Spain for a video interview. The company invited Spain’s number one GP rider to come to Brazil and inspect the level of breeding and training in the country, which will host the 2016 Olympic Games.

“Juan Manuel praised the quality of the Brazilian breed of Lusitanos horses and the Brazilian riders,” Tribuna Lusitana’s Andrea Gomes told Eurodressage. “He was very satisfied and said with humility that “to me the important thing is having contributed with something, something from the world of equitation that might have been useful for the horse riders in order to improve their equitation.”

Participants at the clinic included riders such as Rogério Clementino, Luiza Almeida, Luciano Pereira Alves, Ndzinji Pontes, João Paulo, Manuel Almeida, Luiza Magalhães, Pedro Almeida, Thaisa Almeida, Paulo César, Edneu José Senhorini, and Edgar José Alvares. Officials, trainers and breeders also attended the event.

Lifting the Level of Dressage in Brazil

 

Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz

Luiz Roberto Giugni, president of the Brazilian Equestrian Federation, was full of praise. “The initiatives the Lusitanian world have presented  in the last few years have all been fantastic,” Giugni commented. “There have been loads of good horse riders, great horsemen from Brazil and that is what makes the difference for our horse nowadays. I usually say that we have great horse riders but we need skill, we need people who can teach us something and it was exactly that what I saw during these days here at the clinic given by Juan Manuel.”

 

Giugni admitted that in order to push the sport forward experienced trainers and riders from abroad have to be teaching in Brazil. “We are developing a project for all disciplines, not only for dressage but for all disciplines, which is something that has been a bit forgotten in the past,” Giugni confessed. “The old directors would only take care of the jumping but the equestrian sport has seven disciplines. The work that we are developing involves bringing experts from other countries. The new trainers we have are all with a lot of experience in all discplines. It is exactly that that we are looking for, that exchange of information, that way of learning how to do it better, having a better quality and we will only get that if we exchange information.”

Pélé in Dressage

 

Munoz Diaz on Thor

Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz’ claim to fame sky-rocketed when he thrilled the audiences aboard his PRE stallion Fuego XII with his kur to music at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, triggering more applause from the crowds than gold medal winning Totilas. The promotion of Iberian horse breeding, which resulted from this World Equestrian Games’ performance, is unlimted.

 

“He is the Pélé in Dressage,” Manuel Tavares de Almeida Filho, owner of stud farm Rocas do Vouga, said of Munoz Diaz. “For us it is an honor to have a rider like him here. What we saw him do in Kentucky made us very proud. First because his horse is closely related to ours  and that gave us a lot of honor in seeing such success. Secondly, what impressed me was the way in which the whole world saw how he left Totilas behind him. He did his test right before Totilas and I have always seen Totilas extremely applauded at all shows but for the first time I saw more than half the public sitting down because the feeling of emotions wasn’t the same as Fuego’s. I think this made us realise that we could do a lot better than we dared imagine.”

Luiza Almeida, the youngest Olympic dressage rider in history, concurred with Manuel and added that, “no one was able to do what he did for the Iberian horse. I think that all of us need to be thankful for what he did and for his great work.”

Enlightening Brazil

 

Juan Manuel training Paulo Cesar dos Santos on Arioso Sasa JE

Ndzinji Pontes, a Portuguese dressage rider based in Brazil, praised Munoz Diaz for his sharp eye. “His work methods are amazing, he is a fine person,” said Pontes. “In work terms he is a direct and objective and he can easily spot the faults and defects in each horse.”

 

Thereza Almeida, who co-owns Rocas do Vouga with her husband added that, “I think this is the moment for the Iberian horse and the Spanish  and Portuguese riders to form a large front together with this marvelous horse that we all love so much.”

 

 

Stepping toward half marks used by all judges

After the use of half marks based on the scoring at the 2011 CDI-W Neumunster sparked quite some reaction from the FEI and several judges. Two months after the instalment of the half-mark system, only few judges seem to have added half-marks to their scale of scores.

One week after the publication of “Half Way There” the use of half marks increased slightly at the 2011 CDI-W Gothenburg and it was noticeable that certain judges make a bigger effort at using them than others. Compared to his colleagues especially Dutch O-judge Wim Ernes stood out with his frequent use of half marks.

The band of judges seems to be divided into different camps: those in favour of half-marks (they are now actively using them) and those who struggle to see the benefits of the new system and refrain from applying them. However there also seems to be a grey area filled with judges who are willing to experiment with the half mark system through trial and error or who play the waiting game before fully coming to terms with the change. One also has to keep in mind that the reluctance to switch to the half-point system could also be because it is much harder to keep a running score in one’s head if one has to use half-points as well. So no more calculating scores…

Eurodressage interviewed a few dressage officials on their opinion of the half-mark system and explored what the future might hold.

In response to “Half Way There” FEI Dressage Director Trond Asmyr issued the following statement:

“The possibility of using half marks in the judging was introduced on 1 January this year. The intention is to give judges an additional tool to allow them be even more accurate in their judging,” Asmyr explained. “From time to time all judges have the view that a movement is “better than a six, but not quite a seven”. Now they have the possibility to give 6.5 in these circumstances, and hence be more accurate. A further effect is that the rider will get more accurate feedback as to what the movement is really worth. Of course it will take some time for all the judges to get used to using this system. Human beings are, by nature, all different when it comes to how fast we adapt to change. It is therefore only natural that we will see a similar development in this case.”

 

Trond Asmyr

Asmyr stressed that the half marks are “meant to be used as an additional tool to what the judges have had in the past. The FEI will not push the judges into using half marks, and the judges will not be evaluated based on this, as might be understood from the article. We are fully confident that over time the judges will use this system to its full potential, and in those cases where it is correct to do so.”

American O-judge Gary Rockwell, who gave zero half marks at the CDI-W Neumunster, also reacted to the editorial.

“The possibility to use half-marks has been in place for about 7 weeks, so many judges have not even had a chance to practice with them,” he explained. “Most judge more national shows than international ones and until now nations have not changed their systems.  In Neumunster, in fact, there were national and international classes, so I don’t believe anyone is FULLY accustomed to thinking in half points – using them in perhaps two classes out of three or one horse show out of four.”

Rockwell stressed, however, that judges are “accustomed to making a decision.”  In case of uncertainty between two whole marks, Rockwell will use the half mark. “When a shoulder-in at first appears in its positioning to be between a “6” and a “7”, consideration of the quality of the gait plus all the factors of the training scale and the direction of the Handbook guides us to a decision,” he said. “If I remain absolutely split between the two scores and can find no other deciding factor,  I give a half-point.”

 

Gary Rockwell

Rockwell finished his argument by pointing out that few national show organizers are not yet logistically adapted to the new system, preventing the judges from putting the half-mark system to use. “One early CDI management was unaware of the change themselves, so the scribes were in disbelief and the computers did not allow half-points to be entered.  We could use them on the test sheets, but so many changes from the electronic scoreboard may have confused the riders and spectators,” he explained.

Rockwell believes that whole marks will continue to be used more than half marks. “It will take some time to fully develop this methodology and implement it consistently, and I’m certain that in the end, full marks will remain in the majority.  Of course, our primary concern is the horse in front of us TODAY, and to use our best judgement in making an evaluation.”

O-judge and former FEI Dressage Committee chair Mariette Withages referred to a five-star judges seminar held in Warendorf at the end of January 2011, where the use of half-marks was thoroughly discussed.

“Of course there were proponents and detractors of the system,” Withages told Eurodressage. “Everything has its pro’s and con’s but half marks should only be used in case of doubt between two scores. Like one used to say in the past: ‘a big six and a small 7’ would now be a 6.5. Statistics have proven that less experienced judges use the half-mark system more eagerly. The more experienced judges don’t need the 0.5.”

 

Mariette Withages cuddling with Donnerball

Withages believes that the new half-mark system is less advantageous for the riders. “I have nothing against the half marks and I will use them when I see fit, but I think it’s a pity that we have moved away from the old system which was an advantage to the rider. This means that in case of doubt between two scores one should go for the highest mark. So when one doubts between a 6 and a 7 it used to be a 7 and now it is only a 6.5. Another disadvantage is the fact that there are clear criteria about each movement (e.g. Dressage Handbook). These are ranked from 10 to 0. During judging courses we have clarify very clearly what a 4 and a 5 is, what an 8 and a 9 is and which criteria one has to fulfil. How are they going to describe a 4.5 or an 8.5?”

To Withages the new half-mark system is a step backwards instead of forwards in the development of a more accurate and correct judging system.  “In the late 1950s, early 1960s they were judging with half marks. Then Colonel Gustav Nyblaeus (SWE) came as new chair of the FEI Dressage Committee and he abolished the half-mark system because he thought that judges should speak a clear language. We’re back to start, just like on the goose game board.”

Wayne Channon, secretary-general of the International Dressage Riders Club and major advocate of the half-mark system, shared the following with Eurodressage. “We need to call a spade a spade,” he stated. “The use of half marks is about increasing accuracy.  It removes the rounding up and down and that makes it more accurate. I don’t buy the “we reach for the higher mark.” Judging psychology is not about taking risks and it should not be.  It shoud be about giving the correct mark only! Gary Rockwell is absolutely right, judges have to get in the mind-set of thinking they have an additional tool and then get into the habit of using it.  It will be really hard! The more experienced a judge is with full marks, the harder it will be. I don’t think we should be criticising any judge for not using them. It takes time.”

David Stickland, a mathematical analyst who has been hired by the FEI to make scientifically controlled statistics of scoring patterns, confirmed to Eurodressage that there is no real analysis on the half-mark system available at this time except for those of the expirement carried out at the Judging System Trials in Aachen in September 2009.

“These are very early days for half-points so surely everyone is feeling their way around the possibilities,” Stickland told Eurodressage. “Clearly any statistical analysis will require a year or so of results to be meaningful, I have seen anecdotal analyses of one or two events that of course cannot prove or disprove anything. In a normal year there are about 3,500 CDI starts, if judges used half points in even 10% of them then with a whole year’s data we would start to be able to see differences between judges at the 15-20% level. Until we have that much data there is nothing meaningful that statistics can add to this discussion. Clearly some judges are more comfortable and some judges are less comfortable with using half-points. There is absolutely no statistically meaningful evidence that more experienced judges do not need them and less experienced ones do, there could be no such evidence at this time. In fact as I understood the goal was to discover if judges can do better if they have access to such changes in the system.”

 

David Stickland

Stickland emphasized that it takes time for judges to get adapted to a new system. “My impression was that the Dressage Task Force, and then the Dressage Committee, proposed using them so that all judges could be more precise in the note they wanted to give,” said David. “Clearly there will be a learning curve as judges come to understand where it can be useful and where they prefer to stick to whole numbers.”

The use of half-marks will enable judges to more precise and accurate in their assessment of each test. “As long as judges are willing to use words like: “big 6”, “small 8″, etc, then that means they could give a more precise score for this figure than the whole numbers allow, and that is exactly what they have been given the opportunity to do,” Stickland explained. “Many judges in the past have carried over terms like “big 7″ and then pushed up or down a later note on the same type of figure. Some senior O-judges teach that technique in their training seminars. They were using half-points anyway, but now they can do it without that carry-over from figure to figure which should allow them to get closer to the ideal of judging each figure on its own merits.”

Stickland referred back to the major analyses he carried out for the FEI proving that the old judging system is at the end of its capacity. “I have shown at the Global Dressage Forum this year that most judges are judging at about the limits of the current system,” David explained. “If they want to do better then we have to try expanding that system in some way and this looks a promising possibility.”

 

Cornelissen sweeps to fourth victory

Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival recorded their fourth victory of the 2010/2011 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage season at Gothenburg, Sweden tonight and jumped to the top of the Western European League leaderboard ahead of the final qualifier on their home turf at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands in three weeks’ time.

The 32 year old rider and her 14 year old horse produced a more harmonious test than ever before, and Cornelissen declared herself delighted with the result.  Sweden’s Patrik Kittel finished a close second however with a personal-best result from his stallion Watermill Scandic HBC while Germany’s Isabell Werth and Warum Nicht FRH had to settle for third.

In a competition that was very much “a game of two halves”, many of the early riders produced low scores. Ground Jury President, The Netherlands’ Wim Ernes, said “tonight we saw some bad tests….but the top riders did a good job”.  He added “we saw today in the first group, a lot of riders who did not have enough impulsion and so made a lot of mistakes”.

BREAK THE BARRIER
Sweden’s Rose Mathisen and Bocelli, fifth to go of the 15 starters, were the first to break the 70% barrier with a score of 70.225 which still held the lead at the halfway stage.  And, as the competition resumed, they remained out in front when Belgium’s Marc Peter Spahn and his Friesian stallion put 68.450 on the board.  Next in was Denmark’s Andreas Helgstrand however, who raised the bar with a score of 72.525 riding the nine year old mare Polka Hit Nexen.  This partnership impressed the Ground Jury – “this is a young horse and there were problems with temperament but there were also some real highlights – the scores ranged from 9’s to low marks as a result” Wim Ernes explained.

Two horses later, Cornelissen and Parzival brought a whole new dimension to the competition with a score of 82.875.  Despite the close proximity of the spectators, the big chestnut gelding who has so often been fazed by the crowds remained focused and free-moving to produce sparkling piaffe and pirouettes that were perfectly balanced and light.  This was a test that oozed confidence, and as they executed their final movements you could hear the intake of breath from the audience who knew they were watching something special.

SURPRISED
Kittel then put 81.025 on the board with a performance that surprised even himself.  “I got a score of over 80.00 – it’s something I’ve only ever dreamed about, and it’s just amazing to do my personal best here in Gothenburg!” he said with a big smile.  “The atmosphere was very intense and he was on his toes but I was super-happy with a lot of his stuff!” he added.

Dutch rider Jenny Schreven followed him into the arena for a mark of 72.900 and this proved good enough for fourth place in the final analysis.  Wim Ernes was most impressed with the work the 25 year old produced from the veteran, Krawall.  “This is an old horse – I believe he is 19, and it’s amazing that he can still perform like this – I think he is enjoying a second youth, and she (Jenny Schreven) is a real talent.  She’s young and its very nice to see her ride like this – she did a good job yesterday and today” he pointed out.

FOURTH WIN
America’s Catherine Haddad and Winyamaro scored 70.650 when second-last to go and now only Werth and Warum Nicht stood between Cornelissen and her fourth win of the season.  Punished for some mistakes however, the German duo’s mark of 79.775 would not present a major threat.  Werth didn’t seem disappointed afterwards.

“I was quite satisfied.  We did better canter-work and my horse was more relaxed but we did have a little mistake in the half-pass” she pointed out.  Cornelissen explained that her biggest battle tonight was with her own health because she had been feeling ill since winning Friday night’s Grand Prix.  She said however that she was disappointed with the points she received for tonight’s test – “at the Europeans I scored 86.000 yet this was a better test and I only got 82.000 – maybe the judge can explain?” she said looking at Mr Ernes.  He replied that she had done “a very good test” but that “sometimes the horse was a little short in the neck – but it was a good total picture” he explained.

Cornelissen now heads for the last qualifier in the 10-leg Western European League season at ‘s-Hertogenbosch at the end of March but is under no pressure ahead of the final in Leipzig, Germany having proven her form by adding the Gothenburg trophy to the ones she claimed earlier in the season at Stockholm, London and Amsterdam.   She now tops the Western European League table with a three-point advantage over Germany’s Ulla Salzgeber in second and has a six-point lead over third-placed Werth.

For further information on the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage qualifier at Goteborg, Sweden check out website www.goteborghorseshow.se or contact Press Officer Mayvor Thorin at Email mayvor.thorin@gotevent.se / Tel: +46 705 828 420.  The next leg takes place at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, 24-27 March 2011.  For all information on the Dutch fixture go to website www.indoorbrabant.com or contact Press Officer Denise van der Net at Emaildenisevandernet@ziggo.nl or Tel: T: +31 (0)499.391687

RESULT:  1, Jerich Parzival (Adelinde Cornelissen) NED 82.875; 2, Watermill Scandic HBC (Patrik Kittel) SWE 81.025; 3, Warum Nicht FRH (Isabell Werth) GER 79.775; 4, Krawall (Jenny Schreven) NED 72.900; 5, Polka Hit Nexen (Andreas Helgstrand) DEN 72.525; 6, Divoza Horseworld Ovation (Christa Laarakkers) NED 72.125; 7, Lydianus (Charlotte Haid Bondergaard) SWE 71.025; 8, Winyamaro (Catherine Haddad) USA 70.650; 9, Bocelli (Rose Mathisen) SWE 70.225; 10, Pro-Set (Lillann Jebsen) NOR 69.000; 11, Fryso Huys Cas (Marc Peter Spahn) BEL 68.450; 12, Richelle (Ulla Hakanson) SWE 67.425; 13, Le Beau (Philippe Jorissen) BEL 67.350; 14, Horsebo Smarties (Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein) DEN 67.075; 15, Lomumba Havdal (Per Sandgaard) SWE 66.850.  Full result at www.goteborghorseshow.com

FACTS AND FIGURES:
Today’s competition at Gothenburg, Sweden was the ninth qualifying leg in the 2010/2011 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Western European League series.
Just one further qualifier will take place, at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands from 25-27 March, before the final in Leipzig, Germany 27 April to 1 May.
This was the fourth victory in the current series for The Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival.
They now head the Western European League table with 80 points ahead of Germany’s Ulla Salzgeber (77) in second and Isabell Werth (74) in third.
The Ground Jury for today’s competition consisted of the following members : At E – Mrs Maria Colliander FIN; At H, Dr Wojtek Markowski POL; At C, Mr Wim Ernes NED; At M – Mr Gustaf Svalling SWE; At B, Mrs Annette Fransen-Jacobaeus SWE.
The oldest horse in today’s competition was the 19 year old Krawall ridden by The Netherlands’ Jenny Schreven.  Krawall finished fourth for the Dutch rider in Friday’s Grand Prix which was won by The Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival.
The youngest horse in today’s competition was the 9 year old bay mare Polka Hit Nexen, competed by Denmark’s Andreas Helgstrand.
The oldest rider in today’s competition was 74 year old Ulla Hakanson from Sweden while the youngest rider was Norwegian 23 year old Lillann Jebsen – an age difference of 51 years between the two ladies!
On Friday, the FEI announced the creation of sa lead judging post, entitle Dressage Judge General, to ensure greater consistency and accuracy of judging at all levels of Dressage competition and Ghislain Fouarge (NED) became the first appointee.
The first term of office for the Dressage Judge General will be two years, and the position will always be filled by a 5* judge.
The FEI has also appointed Eric Lette (SWE), David Hunt (GBR) and Dieter Schuele (GER) to the Judges Supervisory Panel (JSP).

QUOTES:
Adelinde Cornelissen – “Parzival is getting much more relaxed in the arena – now he likes the audience and the applause and the attention so the whole picture is getting better”.
Wim Ernes – “It is important at Grand Prix level that a horse carries himself”.
Patrick Kittel, when asked if he thought he could improve his performance enough to beat Adelinde Cornellisen – “you never think like that, you just think about getting better, what you can change and what you can do better”
Patrick Kittel, when asked if he would be attending the last qualifying leg at ‘s-Hertogenbosch – “my wife’s sister is getting married in Australia at that time so I won’t be going”.

Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2010/2011 – Standings after Round 9 in Gothenburg, Sweden:
1.    Adelinde Cornelissen NED                –    80
2.    Ulla Salzgeber GER                        –    77
3.    Isabell Werth GER                        –    74
4.    Hans Peter Minderhoud NED                –    60
5.    Catherine Haddad USA                    –    57
Patrik Kittel SWE                        –    57
Richard Davison GBR                    –    57
8.    Helen Langehanenberg GER                 –    55
9.    Christa Larakkers NED                    –    53
10.    Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein DEN            –    44
11.    Jeroen Devroe SWE                    –    42
12.    Nina Hofmann SWE                        –    37
13.    Matthias Alexander Rath GER                –    35
Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven SWE                –    35
15.    Mikaela Lindh FIN                        –    31
16.    Sune Hansen DEN                        –    29
17.    Aat Van Essen NED                        –    26
18.    Stefan Van Ingelgem BEL                –    25
19.    Charlotte Haid-Bondergaard SWE            –    24
Ulrike Prunthall

 

Six Dressage Stallions Approved for Selle Francais Breeding

Following a licensing on Wednesday 16 February 2011, the French Selle Francais breed society accepted 23 show jumping stallions and six dressage stallions for breeding.

Like the Belgian Warmblood society, the Selle Français studbook is extremely focused on show jumping breeding and needs to rely on a small group of devoted dressage breeders to boost the dressage influx within the breed.

Two dressage colts were approved for the SF studbook. They are Nicolet van Lierop’s former 19-year old Grand Prix stallion Ferrolan (by Ferro x Ramiro x Abgar xx) and the German bred Lord Sunshine (by Lord Loxley x Enim Pascha/T).

Four stallions were accepted for the special SF dressage breeding program in partnership with France Dressage. They are:

• Little Charly (by Lord Loxley x Florestan)
• Sirtaki (by Sir Donnerhall x Painter’s Row xx)
• Dr. Jackson (by Dream of Glory x Rubinstein)
• Lingh (by Flemmingh x Columbus)

 

 

Half mark introduction

Since 1 January 2011 the use of half marks has officially come into effect. As of that date all judges have the option to use half marks for both movements and collectives. Two months after its introduction and with several national and CDI’s shows already down the belt (CDI Zwolle, CDI-W Amsterdam, CDI Dortmund, CDI-W West Palm Beach, etc.), our prestigious and highly esteemed judges’ panel so far seems to be half way there.

The excellent score service provided by the German company Hippo Data brought to light that barely any of the judges are applying the half marks while scoring at World Cup Qualifier in Neumunster, Germany, last weekend. The sparse use of this more refined scoring system raises questions.

The FEI objective of the half point system is for the panel to give more accurate and consistent results and allow more flexibility for the judges. In principle scores will become more accurate and commensurate with the performance of the riders. The use of half marks was extensively tested in 2010 and apparently the experience has been that “judges did not need any additional training to introduce the use of the half marks, many finding it allowed a finer ranking in the collective marks,” as explained by the Australian Equestrian Federation.

So what happened in Neumunster?

A closer look at the Grand Prix class in Neumunster scores brought to light that only German judge Katrina Wüst has been consistently using half marks. The numbers are absolutely shocking if you lay them out statistically.

18 Grand Prix riders each get marked on 37 movements (including collectives) by five judges. This means that each judge (and the panel consisted of Tornblad (DEN), Withages (BEL), Wust (GER), Rockwell (USA) and Holler (GER)), gives a total of 666 scores for the 18 riders in the Neumunster Grand Prix. All judges together gave 3330 scores in that Grand Prix class.

But let’s mainly keep in mind that each rider gets a total of 185 marks from all five judges together for their one ride. Four riders did not receive a single half mark (Salzgeber, Langehanenberg, Hofmann, Koppelmann); all the others received either one (Minderhoud, Lindh, Bondergaard) or up to 10 half marks in total in their test (Zu Saeyn-Wittgenstein). Judge Kathrine Wüst tapped in the most half marks, giving 50 in total out of her 666 marks. This means that 7,5% of all her scores were half marks.

To summarize it:

Withages: 0 half marks out of 666 scores given
Rockwell: 0 half marks out of 666 scores given
Holler: 3 half marks out of 666 scores given
Tornblad: 4 half marks out of 666 scores given
Wust: 50 half marks out of 666 scores given

A Judge’s Point of View

In a pursuit of knowledge we got in touch with judges Leif Tornblad and Peter Holler to ask what happened in Munster. The fact that the logistics were not in place needs pointing out. “In the beginning in Neümünster the computer did not accept half marks (small tour),” Tornblad explained. “The national German classes could not be judged with half marks (so we were told) because rules are not yet changed in Germany yet.”

Tornblad clarified his low use of half marks as following: “I did use half marks in the Grand Prix and in the freestyle, also on the technical side. In the Grand Prix only on a few horses and movements which I felt were very much a little more than six but not really a 7. When marks are lower because of mistakes, etc.  I prefer to use only full marks and the same goes for very good movements. It is more gratifying to give a 9 than a 8 ½ or an 8 instead of a 7 ½ I feel. There were not so many competitors in each class in Neümünster and maybe in bigger classes with more than 20 riders it will be even more useful with half marks.”

We asked Mr Holler if it is possible that the judges are just “not used” to giving half marks and have to adapt themselves to this new method of scoring. “The use of half marks is new this year but it was tested several times last year. I was also involved in these tests and actually I did not find it very difficult to get used to the idea of half marks. It is just a matter of concentration and practical experience.” Holler explained. “So in the test competitions I gave a lot of half marks just in order to try and find out whether it would be useful to do so or not. For myself I noticed that I can judge in about ninety percent of the cases very easily without the half marks. Ten marks are in most cases enough to judge the movements and excecises properly. Especially as the use of full marks leads to very clear decisions.

It strikes that the two judges we spoke to are no major fans of the new modus operandi. “I belong to the group of judges who really do not think it is an improvement with half marks and I have never asked for it,” Tornblad admitted. “I was involved in the test in Aachen last year and I have not seen any real advantage of using half marks. This does not mean that I will not use it, now it has become a rule, but I will limit the use to when I am in doubt whether to give a lower or higher mark. Maybe in the future  judging becomes so sophisticated that I can start using a 20 scale to graduate each movement, but I think the 10-scale causes enough difficulties as it is.”

Despite Holler’s low use of half marks in Neumunster, he emphasized the system’s advantage for more precision in the scores. “In about ten percent of the cases the half marks are useful in order to make the judging even more precise. In my opinion this is especially the case for marks between five and six and also for marks above seven. A good example is the mark for the rider’s seat. If you think the rider sits really well for example so that you would give him an 8 for his position but you also think his aids in parts of the test or for a certain movement were not always efficient enough you could for example give him 7.5 to point out the deficit. I also think that half marks can help to make the judgement even better for some technically very difficult movements like pirouettes, zig-zag-half passes or also piaffe and passage.”

However, there seems to be a catch-22 attached to the new system. Especially young, inexperienced judges are timid to use the full scale of scores and half marks might even stimulate this sitting-on-a-fence even futher. “Less experienced or weaker judges can be tempted to avoid a clear decision by using them,” said Holler. “I am pretty sure that they will be used more and more as time goes by but also in future the majority of the marks will probably be full marks,” he added.

“The Majority of the Marks will Probably be Full Marks”

Holler’s diatribe might be indicative of a trend we are going to witness in scoring in the future., but judge Wust raised hope that an effort can be made at being more accurate and precise. One has to keep in mind that our five-star judges have had years of training to give whole marks and it might be more difficult for some to move away from this learned behaviour.

“Judges of all levels need further training in being more accurate, but there might be some gentle reluctance especially from those who don’t believe in the necessity,” said Wayne Channon, secretary-general of the International Dressage Riders Club and major proponent of the half-mark system. “Some are not experienced enough judges to be able to differentiate to that level. Maybe it should be part of the test to become a 5-star that they can judge to that level of accuracy,” Channon suggested.

Having been trained for years in rounding up and down scores, some judges might face slight resistance to break the habit. By instating the half mark system the Rubicon has been crossed. There’s no turning back as this systemic change is an improvement to judging. It allows for greater accuracy, which was missing. Let’s give our judges some time to get adapted to these subtle scores but stay vigilant as well to ensure their effective use will be propagated and stimulated.

 

 

Reem Acra FEI World Cup 2011 – Neumenster