A musing on dressage tests in bad weather conditions

[morrismob]

Maybe the films of Herbie the Beetle are real after all!!! While off topic, it is related in that it is about how competition horses react to different conditions and our expectations of them. In an F1 race a false start is the same for all the cars as they all have the same delay. In individual horse sports the luck of the draw comes into play. A rider can prepare mentally to be ready at x time and take whatever is thrown at him but a 10 min time delay means the horse gets tired muscles that then lose their elasticity. You are then going from F1 to banger racing.

But OV that is my whole point in motor sport it is a seconds delay and how the driver copes and then allows his vehicle to respond, sometimes it can't usually thru money but our sport has the advantage. As riders we should be able to cope with 10 mins delay, what happens when you are schooling and your horse just doesn't respond ? Please don't limit our sport and our problems other sports have problems but cope and we must do the same. IMO

 

[oldvic]

But it wasn't the weather that was the problem, it was the decision to delay the competition that affected just 2 riders (both strong individual medal contenders) which was the issue. They were told it wasn't safe to compete but it was safe for them to be riding in by the entrance to the arena. They weren't allowed to go in the indoor school even though it was empty as it was being kept for the dressage horses that day so they were left in the conditions that were considered too dangerous to perform in. In a car race, if there is a delay to the start or the weather changes then it affects everyone the same.

 

[morrismob]

Ok so 2 riders couldn't perform their test at the times given to them so one burst into tears and the other shouted from the rooftops it wasn't fair. How does that to the man on the street tell him how great and noble our sport is? When this is all at happening at Olympic level we must get over ourselves or we sadly will end up a small time sport with no TV coverage and therefore nowhere in the sports rankings. Don't give up on the horse so easliy.

I really want our sport to grow and harness what the general public saw at Greenwich. We competed at Firle soon after, I have NEVER EVER seen so many spectators. We must take this chance and run with it.

 

[TarrSteps]

Now we really are off topic.

The point is that the final, say ten or fifteen minutes of pre test preparation is critical and cannot be 'got back' for physiological reasons, not just mental ones. Same with a race - once the gun has fired there is no going back. Hence some of the more dramatic moments of the Games - and other 'end goal' events - when competitors launch protests, and refuse to leave the stage, and otherwise register their upset. (Motor racing is hardly a stranger to this! ) In that second, it is the athlete's whole world - their livelihood literally depends on it. It may not be admirable but it's understandable.

This isn't really the same as a random Prelim test or a rainy Friday at Tweseldown. No one is in a make or break situation and it is to be expected that there will be rain and mud and wind. If a rider does not feel conditions suit, then they can withdraw (not a viable option in a team competition in any sport!) and therefore a judge should make no allowances. (Even though, as CGHE points out, this isn't always how it works!)

 

[TarrSteps]

Btw, lots of spectators LOVED the episode where the fencing competitor refused to leave. Brilliant television! I don't think those elusive and much prized spectators are put off by shows of emotion (if we're defining success by popularity). Judging by pro sports, quite the opposite! In fact people have pointed out that's one of the problems with promoting horse sports - the players, all formally dressed and demonstrating their reserve, lack obvious personalities.

 

[kirstyhen]

I did my test last week in horizontal hail and got my best ever dressage mark. The judge wrote on the sheet how awful the weather was for me and what a shame it was. I'd like to think we did a worthy test despite conditions, but there were definitely a couple of blips ignored because of the weather.

In regards to complaining about your warm up being screwed up, it happens all the time in other sports. Not to mention at all levels in eventing, otherwise we wouldn't see posts complaining about the SJ warm up and pros pushing in.
It was the Olympics, AN was allowed to be fired up and going all out to win. Eventers seem to take issue with that kind of mentality, but not everyone is happy to just take part.

 

[kerilli]

Are you sure the complainer wasn't Andrew Nicholson in a heavy disguise?

That has to be the most illogical and uncalled-for comment I've ever seen on here, which really is saying something!
Your memory seems to be misfiring somewhat. As someone else has already said, his (very valid) complaint was that he was NOT allowed to keep going in the weather, whatever it threw at him... including perhaps lightning-bolts!

 

[Luci07]

Interesting debate..but just where would you draw the line? Miners Frolic had to deal with a flapping roof on the judges hut when going up the centre line and was marked accordingly. As for horses being perhaps marked a little more leniently at times in a heavy downpour with some things being overlooked....having been a writer for a judge in such conditions, I feel I do have to remind you guys that something's will be missed...due to the wind screen wipers!

I didn't realise the event riders were not allowed to go in the indoor arena and actually, when I heard about AN creating,simply put it down to him being a massively competitive man. As is anyone else who is successful at that level. And who can say that if Tina Cook had ridden in better weather that her mark would not have improved? or at Olympia when. I saw Nick Skelton lose a class on the last fence when a camera flashed as he was jumping causing his horse to drop a leg?

Oh and I always wondered where the story of AN came from too!! And why that got out so early!

 

[TarrSteps]

The argument at the time was they should have been allowed to KEEP going. If it was safe enough to have all the horses still outside, all the spectators there etc. then it was safe enough to run the competition.

I had that once at an event where a thunderstorm rolled through - they stopped the dressage (but not the xc) and yet we were all stood out in a big field anyway! I guess the worry was liability if someone got struck in the ring but still, it didn't make a lot of sense!

 

[Jo_x]

I thought the reason they stopped the dressage at the olympics was because the judges box roof was broken? presumably if it had broken off completely rather than flapping it could have caused injury?

 

[oldvic]

I thought the reason they stopped the dressage at the olympics was because the judges box roof was broken? presumably if it had broken off completely rather than flapping it could have caused injury?

No - when one of the other boxes broke during a Frenchman's test the Perspex overhang was removed quickly between tests. They could have done the same. I still can't believe that they had judges boxes that weren't weather proof at such a major competition. It wasn't like they hadn't had a chance to test them in rain and wind last summer. When they opened the windows they couldn't shut them again as they were so poorly constructed and who thought of using a bit of plastic as an overhang?!!
With regard to Minors Frolic, no concessions were made for him but, to his credit, he did a test that was quite possibly as good as he is capable of in spite of the rain.
In Kentucky they have dreadful thunderstorms that come in really quickly. The situation is monitored by having the Weather Channel on a computer with the radar showing where the storm is and what it is up to. If necessary the competition is stopped at a suitable time and restarted once the all clear is given, with riders given time to warm up. At the Olympics, there was warning that there was a storm - it was right over the cycle race (which continued) most of the morning. They could have seen it coming.

 

[daisycrazy]

All I can say is that if I'd been in AN's position, I'd have been furious. Of course a well trained horse will still go in and produce a good test, possibly even an excellent test - but if you are trying to get them to produce the test of their lives then plainly disrupting their direct preparation is going to foil that. It is not something to be flippant or laid back about.

Similarly, it makes me very angry indeed when loose dogs start chasing horses round XC courses. No horse or rider should have to put up with it.

All the time, effort, dedication and money that is put into producing a horse to top level means that such avoidable interferences should not happen. It is not the same as a machine. You cannot, for starters, fix horses using spare parts. There is not always another day. Nonetheless, in any sport it is wholly unfair to disadvantage competitors where such disadvantage is avoidable.