I got schooled today! The inimitable Christilot Boylen joined me in the media seats today after Anton was finished and back in the barn. The six-time Olympian, who has trained Belinda for 23 years and Megan for the last 2 ½, gave a master class on dressage that was super informative and VERY entertaining. I think dressage would attract more TV viewers if the audience had the benefit of her insights. Hearing her stream-of-consciousness thoughts and then being able to refer to the movement scores to discuss any irregularities advanced my knowledge considerably.
Among our many discussions, was the evolution of judging, which seems to be in the midst of transition. Whereas judges used to prefer extravagant performances that were also stiff and tense, they are now rewarding classical training with more fluid movement. Christilot was particularly impressed with the quality of horses that have the breeding to produce naturally flashy movements. Isabell’s mare, Weihebold OLD, for example, is already the dam of a champion Swedish stallion by Totilas as a result of an embryo transfer.
We also had a discussion about how the judges are now more willing to give out 9s and 10s. There was some discussion after the 2008 Olympics about how an Olympic champion could have only scored 78% (Anky won individual gold with 78.8605). Surely the pinnacle of the sport was worth more than a B+. Now that judges are willing to give out higher marks, we are seeing more exciting high scores. Now if only the judges would award some of those to us!
Of course, we had a discussion about Belinda’s test which she was very pleased with, as was Belinda. “I was generally really pleased with him; he went in there and did a good job,” said Trussell. “I had a mistake with the ones [tempi-changes] on the centerline which was a bit costly, so that brought us down a notch. But in general I’m proud of Anton.”
I reviewed the movement scores with Christilot, and she agreed with most, though there were a few marks that raised an eyebrow. Her general sentiment was that it was a matter of convincing the judges that instead of awarding 7 and 7.5s they need to award 7.5 and 8s. We saw several examples over the course of the day of riders that earned higher scores for movements that Belinda and Anton clearly did better. Christilot explained that a judge’s general impression of a horse being good at other elements has a tendency to carry over into other marks, which is what makes it so hard to judge accurately. In the end, it all tends to even out, and that’s why there are the 7 judges to create a decent average
As I spent the afternoon absorbing her knowledge I took notes to share with you.
Sonke Rothenberger & Cosmo – A really nice 9yo DWB. This pair is young and inexperienced but were chosen for the team based on results which left a seasoned professional at home, but it was the right decision. The test had some errors including a lead change at the end of a beautiful extended canter. He had earned a 77.329% in the GP, but today’s mistakes earned him a lower score.
Wilton Spencer & Super Nova II – The Brits are doing a good breeding job. This horse is registered to the British Hanoverian Horse Society as a descendent of Deniro. The pair were late behind in the flying lead changes which resulted in scores of 4s and 5s. The gelding got tired towards the end and a bit anxious.
Kasey Kerry-Glass & Dublet – Had a lovely test with some really nice movements. She pushed him too hard in the extended trot and he broke to canter.
Showtime is perfectly balanced in front and behind.
Dorothee Schneider & Showtime FRH – She’s a professional who rides all kinds of horses at different levels and is known to ride the Bundeschampionate with the top 5 and 6 years olds. Showtime shows beautiful expression without being overdone. Piaffes were perfectly balanced, back and front. Her contact is light. Showtime spun a bit coming out of the pirouette – maybe he spooked? The coefficient of that movement made the mistake particularly costly.
Fiona Bigwood & Orthilia – Just a quarter of the way into their test the scores showed a marked difference between her and Dorothee. At the same point, Dorothee was leading by 84% while Fiona was at 79%. Their passage is not close to Showtime’s. The walk doesn’t have as much step over as some of the best horses. The piaffe was a bit backwards and forwards, which scored 3s and 5s and dropped their score to 72.9%. There is a delicate balance between the “Pi” (piaffe) and the “Paw” (passage) and it’s easy to pull the horses off balance. Some more mistakes in the flying changes. This is not the same horse we saw during the Grand Prix; there is a difference in days – “day form. They are not machines.” Passages were perfectly lovely, but several mistakes dropped her score significantly.
Steffen Peters & Legolas 92 – Early on did some canter steps instead of collected trot. Legolas did not want to go into the piaffe from the walk and Stephen really had to get him going to make it happen and lost marks. Legolas was short at the canter. Looked like a tough ride.
Kristina Broring-Sprehe & Desperado FRH – The most successful descendent of Deniro. He has a great extended trot. Pirouettes were wonderful and the highlights of the test. Lovely test, better than the GP.
Carl Hester & Nip Tuck – Very careful extended trot. A 9 from Stephen Clark for collected trot… 7.5 – 8 from the rest… This test was a good example of the “halo” effect. He changed leads at the end of second pirouette. A conservative test to preserve the team score and the horse seemed a little tense all around the short side of the ring.
Laura Graves & Verdades – He’s doing it all and very elastic but there are more elegant types. They’ve done a really good job with him and a lot of work has gone into his improvement. There was a mistake in the last stride of out the pirouette which was caught by Stephen Clarke and Peter Holler, but none of the other judges.
Isabell Werth & Weihegold OLD – Totally correct walk, not extravagant and nice head carriage. Nice and eager to get into the piaffe. A fairly young mare and she’s done a super job. She did not make one mistake and that’s why they put her in the anchor position.
Charlotte Dujardin & Valegro – This horse looks like he’s on gliders, he’s so smooth. Multiple errors in the collected trot when he mistook her outside leg for a canter departure, a classic mistake in this test. They did some one-tempis in the first set of flying changes. Overall, he lived up to his reputation but had some unusual slips today. We didn’t see him at Aachen and other shows, maybe they are questioning whether they gave him enough prep?
Our final discussion was around the future of dressage in Canada. Christilot is concerned that we don’t have a program in place to identify and further our young talent, which is what Germany and the US are doing, which is clearly working. We do have some young riders, but there is no structure around their programs, to our detriment. One idea that Christilot had that I really liked was for all shortlisted riders to mentor a young rider for a week. This is an inexpensive solution that would give aspiring riders important exposure.
With any luck Christilot will stick around for the Freestyle and share some more insights, but I know she’s anxious to get home to ride her own horses.
Jumper training starts tomorrow at 10am. This just gives the riders a chance to show the horses the ring and doesn’t count toward any scores.
