DIRE DRESSAGE! What score would you give this test?...

Chloe_GHE

Chloe_GHE

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ok can we play the 'what score would you give this test' game?...

This is my test from yesterday (prelim 19) so no internet snooping to look up my score ;) having watched the video what score would you give the test?....

Once a few people have given their thoughts I'll then update you with a key bit of info, and see if you would amend your mark ;).....

apologies for the poor quality of the vid. If you can't quite see on the first canter strike off we get the wrong leg so there's that error to take into account for your score.

I felt that this was quite a sweet test considering we had been warming up in torrential rain and were both soaked :( With a bit more warm up I think he would have been less tense over his back but we made the best of a horrid situation in yesterday's weather!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7ZnJ8iq1E8
 
I'll have a go and apologies if I get it completely wrong.

I can't imagine what the key piece of information might be but this doesn't look dire to me at all. A lovely, willing horse, quietly ridden. You will have lost marks for the canter transitions and, I'll say this tentatively as I am not a judge or expert by a long shot, but for me the contact in the trot is unsteady which will have pushed all the trot marks down, the canter is not quite forward enough and the walk could track up more. So overall the back end could be working more...then again it is a prelim...so having dithered one way and another I would say...63% Anywhere near?????
 
Ok I can't score stressage for toffee but happy to give my opinion.
A very sweet, generally pleasing test - one I'd be happy with anyway! He mostly keeps a lovely rhythm & he's got a fab movement! There are a few times he gets a little unbalanced but nothing drastic.
I love his free walk. When he's a bit more relaxed I expect it will have much more purpose.
There was a little bit of tension & a couple of times he hollowed (usually in downward transitions)

If I'd ridden this test I would've been disappointed if the score was below 63%
 
Booboos said:
I'll have a go and apologies if I get it completely wrong.

I can't imagine what the key piece of information might be but this doesn't look dire to me at all. A lovely, willing horse, quietly ridden. You will have lost marks for the canter transitions and, I'll say this tentatively as I am not a judge or expert by a long shot, but for me the contact in the trot is unsteady which will have pushed all the trot marks down, the canter is not quite forward enough and the walk could track up more. So overall the back end could be working more...then again it is a prelim...so having dithered one way and another I would say...63% Anywhere near?????
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Agree with Booboos, but would add horse looked quite tense until second canter which was nice, there looked to be some resistance in some transitions and the walk wasn't engaged. Lovely square halt. Not sure - depends whether aff or unaff so could range from 58-60?

Am no expert either so will look with interest as to whether those who really do know their 'stuff' see something completely different!
 
Booboos said:
I'll have a go and apologies if I get it completely wrong.

I can't imagine what the key piece of information might be but this doesn't look dire to me at all. A lovely, willing horse, quietly ridden. You will have lost marks for the canter transitions and, I'll say this tentatively as I am not a judge or expert by a long shot, but for me the contact in the trot is unsteady which will have pushed all the trot marks down, the canter is not quite forward enough and the walk could track up more. So overall the back end could be working more...then again it is a prelim...so having dithered one way and another I would say...63% Anywhere near?????
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that's fair I'd say, with 20mins more warm up in slightly more desirable conditions I would have hoped to get him more fwd and through, and I have a bad habit of letting my reins lengthen
 
I can see why you would be pleased, he is a lovely moving horse that focused well throughout, apart from the first strike off but I can see why you may have got a very low mark assuming you did.
Looking from a critical viewpoint he is slightly behind the vertical in almost all his work, some judges will be really tough on this and give 5s for any work they considered to be behind, because of that he bobs a bit in some of his trot work not really regular in his action or rhythm and he has lost marks there, his first canter is stilted the second shows promise of what is to come. If you got a score around 50% it would be disappointing but with a harsh judge picking up on the behind the vertical that would be what I would expect, he will get marked down by some.

That said he is so nice without much being changed his marks will go up significantly and some judges will not be so harsh with him as he is.
 
Is that sparsholt?

I would say your trot/canter transitions are an area to work on, and the canter is very stiff but I would not say it was a bad test!!

It's only the beginning of summer, lots of time to work on your dressage. To be honest you could do the same test another day with another judge could get a much higher score.

If you were happy with it then who cares! :)
 
glamourpuss said:
Ok I can't score stressage for toffee but happy to give my opinion.
A very sweet, generally pleasing test - one I'd be happy with anyway! He mostly keeps a lovely rhythm & he's got a fab movement! There are a few times he gets a little unbalanced but nothing drastic.
I love his free walk. When he's a bit more relaxed I expect it will have much more purpose.
There was a little bit of tension & a couple of times he hollowed (usually in downward transitions)

If I'd ridden this test I would've been disappointed if the score was below 63%
Click to expand...

interesting, yes I'd say you are spot on with your comments about him, when he's tense/not had the best warm up his default is to be a bit tense and as a result a little unbalanced and varying tempo
 
Nicnac said:
Agree with Booboos, but would add horse looked quite tense until second canter which was nice, there looked to be some resistance in some transitions and the walk wasn't engaged. Lovely square halt. Not sure - depends whether aff or unaff so could range from 58-60?

Am no expert either so will look with interest as to whether those who really do know their 'stuff' see something completely different!
Click to expand...

it was BD in the reg section
 
be positive said:
I can see why you would be pleased, he is a lovely moving horse that focused well throughout, apart from the first strike off but I can see why you may have got a very low mark assuming you did.
Looking from a critical viewpoint he is slightly behind the vertical in almost all his work, some judges will be really tough on this and give 5s for any work they considered to be behind, because of that he bobs a bit in some of his trot work not really regular in his action or rhythm and he has lost marks there, his first canter is stilted the second shows promise of what is to come. If you got a score around 50% it would be disappointing but with a harsh judge picking up on the behind the vertical that would be what I would expect, he will get marked down by some.

That said he is so nice without much being changed his marks will go up significantly and some judges will not be so harsh with him as he is.
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no specific comments from the judge re:being behind the verticle, but she did mention a few head bobs, as a result of unsteady contact
 
lpeacock said:
Is that sparsholt?

I would say your trot/canter transitions are an area to work on, and the canter is very stiff but I would not say it was a bad test!!

It's only the beginning of summer, lots of time to work on your dressage. To be honest you could do the same test another day with another judge could get a much higher score.

If you were happy with it then who cares! :)
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I can't tell you the venue that's cheating ;) ahahaha

yes trans we deffo need to work on 50% of the time at home we get them really nicely but that percentage gets narrower when you throw in competition excitement/distractions etc

the beginning of summer you say?... I'm looking out my window and it's snowing!!!! ;)
 
He's such a lovely boy. Plus points are he is wiling and forward. Not so plus points are he is unsteady in the contact giving the impression that he's not through or there is resistance somewhere. He gives a 'bridle lame' impression to me, due the head bobbing. He's a little behind the vertical too and some judges will hammer the marks down for that. He's hugely improved though and I think that you'll do fantastically well with him. As for marks, I'll go with 58% but definitely worth 60%+. You ride him very quietly and sympathetically, so got to get good marks for that! :D
 
Chloe_GHE said:
I can't tell you the venue that's cheating ;) ahahaha

yes trans we deffo need to work on 50% of the time at home we get them really nicely but that percentage gets narrower when you throw in competition excitement/distractions etc

the beginning of summer you say?... I'm looking out my window and it's snowing!!!! ;)
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When writing that I was looking out of the window at the torrential rain! I might see you at that 'undisclosed location' as my boy is away being broken. I will be the one on the rearing idiot. :D
 
Wilbur_Force said:
He's such a lovely boy. Plus points are he is wiling and forward. Not so plus points are he is unsteady in the contact giving the impression that he's not through or there is resistance somewhere. He gives a 'bridle lame' impression to me, due the head bobbing. He's a little behind the vertical too and some judges will hammer the marks down for that. D
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^^ this. I think he needs to come off from the shoulders and needs to come from behind.
I think you would be better off having him infront of the vertical and more forward happy to move. Otherwise nicely ridden!
 
Wilbur_Force said:
He's such a lovely boy. Plus points are he is wiling and forward. Not so plus points are he is unsteady in the contact giving the impression that he's not through or there is resistance somewhere. He gives a 'bridle lame' impression to me, due the head bobbing. He's a little behind the vertical too and some judges will hammer the marks down for that. He's hugely improved though and I think that you'll do fantastically well with him. As for marks, I'll go with 58% but definitely worth 60%+. You ride him very quietly and sympathetically, so got to get good marks for that! :D
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SPOT ON! 58% which I thought seemed a little harsh, but it's nice to get other's feedback and not just the few comments on the sheet. The score is making more sense to me now given everyone's input.

The undisclosed factor is that I forgot to give him his handful of gumbits just prior to going in (dumb blonde moment) hence the unsteady contact and throughout the whole test he made an awful GRINDING noise with his teeth, and the judge had her window open which resulted in a very telling comment 'horse needs to develop a quieter acceptance of the bit'

Usually he has a few gumbits before I bridle him and before a test and they eliminate any grinding and keep him happy in the contact. Not something I will forget again!

I was super pleased with how receptive and focussed he was given the appalling warm up conditions and the fact that he hasn't been out to dressage since October, but he does seem to be very varied in the scores we get. He can get anything from 68-58%, which for me is a little baffling because prior to him i had a very consistent horse who pretty much averaged 65% each time out.

I am hoping that a few small tweaks will improve the overall picture and marks accordingly
 
lpeacock said:
When writing that I was looking out of the window at the torrential rain! I might see you at that 'undisclosed location' as my boy is away being broken. I will be the one on the rearing idiot. :D
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I will be the one trying to avoid you then ;) hahahah only joking, look for a red ribbon and then you'll spot me ;)
 
Kikke said:
^^ this. I think he needs to come off from the shoulders and needs to come from behind.
I think you would be better off having him infront of the vertical and more forward happy to move. Otherwise nicely ridden!
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yes he's naturally built fairly downhill and having raced he is prone to being down in the shoulder. He works better and more uphill than this in normal circumstances, but his previous 'racing history' really comes to the forefront when the situation is less than ideal.

more homework needed :)
 
Ah that's really interesting about the gumbits/tension thing.

I wouldn't be disheartened at that score though, I think he's super will really produce a smart test when you've tidied everything up.

Bizarrely I have an ex-racer & the first thing everyone says about him is 'wow isn't he uphill'. Supposedly that was why he was such a rubbish racer (raced twice 'out of touch' both times) his paces are so up they didn't cover the ground enough :D
Obviously the upshot of having this wonderful uphill frame is he has a tendency to hold himself in quite a tight frame & he has all this power coming from behind which he can't harness so his rhythm suffers :(
 
glamourpuss said:
Ah that's really interesting about the gumbits/tension thing.

I wouldn't be disheartened at that score though, I think he's super will really produce a smart test when you've tidied everything up.

Bizarrely I have an ex-racer & the first thing everyone says about him is 'wow isn't he uphill'. Supposedly that was why he was such a rubbish racer (raced twice 'out of touch' both times) his paces are so up they didn't cover the ground enough :D
Obviously the upshot of having this wonderful uphill frame is he has a tendency to hold himself in quite a tight frame & he has all this power coming from behind which he can't harness so his rhythm suffers :(
Click to expand...

It's hard though, to not get a bit deflated by a mark like that. I know the areas that need to improve and I'm so pleased with how far he has come already but there's something about the final mark that always lingers in your mind.

That's very unusual for a racer to be uphill, lucky you, I'm am trying to work on him up-hill-ness and we're getting flashes of good stuff (esp in the canter) just need to join them all together ;)
 
Ok honest opinion as not seen you yet so don't know your score and I know him and you better than most and also been good and not read the replies so far. ;)

I think you got slated in the canter as he is tight behind the saddle which is clearest to me as he is not stepping through behind as he does normally. Also I think he looks rather tight in the trot as well. Knowing what I knew about him I think he may have been playing silly ******s again and is tight through his hamstrings/quads, it looks pretty even but there is the odd stride where I am going 'is he?'
 
Santa_Claus said:
Ok honest opinion as not seen you yet so don't know your score and I know him and you better than most and also been good and not read the replies so far. ;)

I think you got slated in the canter as he is tight behind the saddle which is clearest to me as he is not stepping through behind as he does normally. Also I think he looks rather tight in the trot as well. Knowing what I knew about him I think he may have been playing silly ******s again and is tight through his hamstrings/quads, it looks pretty even but there is the odd stride where I am going 'is he?'
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Yeah I know what you mean, the tightness caused by tension just has such a huge impact on his movement. It's like he can be a 5 or a 9 within the space of one long side he's so varied within each pace.

I think it was probably a good thing we went because although the warm up was hideous, and we never got going well, it was a valuable exercise in 'behaving and doing whatever the weather'

you know that at home he normally gets lots of long and low first to get him loose and through, but that sadly wasn't an option yesterday, and it's clear how much that affects him.

Still that's a positive too in a way...being able to identify the right warm up from him in order to get the best from him, I think our warm up plan from now on should try to be....

10mins walking and trotting on the stretch
10mins canter, going fwds and free
10 mins transition work
then a quick run through of any specific elements and into the test
 
If you didn't get your stretchy stretchy (listen to me ha!!) yes can see that being the cause. He can and does go an awful lot better than that video and I think you're right to chalk it up to experience. Think you will have to join me working in the rain a bit more often as well ;) :p hahaha
 
Santa_Claus said:
If you didn't get your stretchy stretchy (listen to me ha!!) yes can see that being the cause. He can and does go an awful lot better than that video and I think you're right to chalk it up to experience. Think you will have to join me working in the rain a bit more often as well ;) :p hahaha
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well if this weather continues riding in the rain won't be a choice it will be the norm! :(
 
Hi,
Well...for me....you are certainly going in the right direction:)
If you actually look at your test from a judgly perspective...and take away the teeth grinding....you can appreciate the overall look is one of slightly downhill, behind the vertical at times and a little tense. Remember the judge doesn't know you had a pants warm up and can only judge what is in front of them on the day.
I personally think you have a great deal to look forward to with your horse, you have obviously taken huge steps forward since the racing days....
Might I suggest you do one thousand and one transitions to get your horse off his front end.

Best of luck for the future.
Bryndu
 
Chloe_GHE said:
I will be the one trying to avoid you then ;) hahahah only joking, look for a red ribbon and then you'll spot me ;)
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He will definitely have a green ribbion and if h can't behave a white one! Hehe looking forward to getting him out to walk/trot tests, he definitely won't be at your level!
 
I'm no expert and it isn'teasy to see but while it looks very nice, and horse is calm forward and straight(ish) but I suspect if you lost marks it would be on accuracy. Circles didn't look like circles, they appeared to have corners in them, transitions were pretty much early and your finish didn't look as though it was on the centre line.
I always had it drummed into me that even if your horse was tense and not moving that well, you lose more marks from not being accurate than any subjective opinion of how he s going and how you are riding.
I reckon if you concentrate on that your marks will be very respectable. I could be totally wrong though ;)
 
The trot you had on the last circle where he takes the contact down through your hands is of the quality you want throughout the test so make sure your contact is elastic enough to allow him to step through. This would help your canter and strike offs too. For this level the balance isn't so much of an issue if he was a little longer and more open in front. The grinding shouldn't be slated as he doesn't look angry or upset. There is also a slight issue with the medium walk before the free rein walk. The rhythm is not a really true 4 beat. His walk itself is not a problem - the free rein is fairly good/good so it is a connection problem. Maybe don't try so hard in the medium.
In summary he is going in a 60+% way but with the mistake and reduced paces (rhythm/sequence), impulsion (suppleness and engagement) and submission (mistake, transitions and contact) marks on this occasion it would drop him down. With the lower submission, the rider mark also has to be lower. He looks easily capable of higher marks on a different occasion.
 
Bryndu said:
Hi,
Well...for me....you are certainly going in the right direction:)
If you actually look at your test from a judgly perspective...and take away the teeth grinding....you can appreciate the overall look is one of slightly downhill, behind the vertical at times and a little tense. Remember the judge doesn't know you had a pants warm up and can only judge what is in front of them on the day.
I personally think you have a great deal to look forward to with your horse, you have obviously taken huge steps forward since the racing days....
Might I suggest you do one thousand and one transitions to get your horse off his front end.

Best of luck for the future.
Bryndu
Click to expand...

yes 1001 transitions will be our mantra for the next few weeks!
 
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