CHIO Aachen 2010 to Host Dressage Pilot Project

The 2010 CHIO held in Aachen will test the new dressage pilot project for a revised Olympic format.

After the Olympic Games 2008, the FEI established a “Dressage Task Force”. Show director of the CHIO Aachen, Frank Kemperman, was appointed chairman of the Task Force that reviewed proposals for the advancement of dressage sport. “We want to make the sport more entertaining and more comprehensible”, said Kemperman. The FEI’s General Assembly in Copenhagen already approved the ideas in November.

Aside to detailed proposals regarding the improvement of the judging system, the Task Force has worked out a concept for a changed competition format for Olympic Games. The team competition will now be decided in the Grand Prix Spécial. The teams start in reverse order of their Grand Prix results. “Thus, the Nations’ Cup will upgraded now, the competition will be more exciting”, explained Kemperman.

According to this, the new format for the CHIO Aachen 2010 will be as follows:

• Thursday: Grand Prix (1st rating competition for both individual and team classification)

• Saturday: Grand Prix Spécial (2nd rating competition individual classification and Final of the Lambertz Nations’ Cup)

• Sunday: Grand Prix Freestyle to Music (Final individual classification)

Also the “3+1“ team format will already be applied by the upcoming CHIO Aachen. This format allows each country to bring four riders, but only three of them will officially start for the team – there will be no more drop score.

Also with regards to the judging system, new ideas will be tested. “We want to make the sport more fair and transparent with this”, describes Frank Kemperman.

The most important innovations are:

• More judges: In the course of selected competitions, seven instead of five judges will be appointed

• Half mark: Instead of full marks, judges will in the future also be able to give half marks

• Freestyle to music: The judges assume different tasks. While one judge is responsible for the rating of the technical performance, another will judge solely the artistic performance

• Supervisory Panel: Also the judges’ work is supervised, the Panel’s members will test if the possibility to correct single judge marks should be implemented in the future

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