Dressage disappointment :(

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peaceandquiet1

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I have recently moved up to novice and elementary level. (unaffiliated). at a recent show the judge told me I should consider affiliating. She was a listed judge. My marks have ranged from 63 % to 67%, so i went to a competition at the weekend feeling reasonably confident. However I got 53% in the novice and 56 in the elementary, and came nowhere. The judge marked us right down for tension.

i was so disappointed! I thought I had improved! And I seem to have got worse! I ride a lovely Arab mare who does get a little tight at times but she is very accurate and can do all the movements quite easily.

The judge appears to be an instructor rather than a real judge but nevertheless she has really knocked my confidence!

Pointless rant really!
 
I feel your pain. However take heart, dressage is not an exact science and judging is subjective.

If it were an affiliated show it should have been a qualified judge for the level you were competing at. Just to warn you though, I work at a show that holds affiliated and unaffiliated shows regularly, often with the same judges. The marks in the unaffiliated are always higher so don't panic.

You can now look at improving your affiliated scores, plus if she was showing tension this will affect your marks more in affiliated competitions where accuracy is not all that is needed.

Chin up and relax, chances are as it was your first affiliated you were probably nervous and so was your horse :)
 
I think you did well- its a considerable step up and you still got over 50%- well done!

Something to work on for next time if it was easy we'd all be at Grand Prix level.
 
Yes, i regularly watch my friend compete at dressage (im not quit brave enough myself!). There is quite a difference in her marks from aff to unaff. Maybe consider sticking to novice for a bit, will give u feel for it and boast ur confidence!
 
Common problem with the "hot" breeds (TB's, Arabs, Spanish) as compared with the lollopy warmbloods their fire is always noted as tension. It's like comparing apples and oranges, so you either conform to the template (reproduce warmblood elasticity by changing your horses' naturally tight way of going), or rise above and accept that your scores will be lower. Depends how much you want to win I suppose.
 
Oh sorry didn't make myself clear, what I meant was that this judge thought we were good enough to affiliate, but I haven't, as of yet, the weekend thing was a riding club event with an unlisted judge.
 
Ha, even less to worry about! Chin up if she wasn't a qualified judge then I really wouldn't take much stock if you felt your horse went OK, I have had this numerous times. One who thought my 20 year old was an unbalanced 4 year old and needed to muscle up, him being eventing fit and all I laughed it off!
 
Ignore results if it is just a unqual judge at an unaff event. I get some of the most strangest marks competing at unaff. One time my horse went the best she had ever gone at the time and we got the lowest mark we had ever got and came pretty much last.
I have recently affiliated and been to my first few events and marks are so much more consistent. They still vary a little bit from judge to judge depending on what each judge is looking for.
Maybe try affiliated novices on a ticket and see how they go! I was so nervous about going affiliated but now way prefer it as classes are smaller and such an achievement when you qualify for areas/ regionals and we won prize money on just our second outing!
Compare this to the last unaff I did with my youngster and I was competing against 20 odd people and even though we scored pretty well (67%) we still only came 7th as class was so big!
 
Thanks all especially the reply about Arab's natural way of going. I have decided to rise above it as the judge was unlisted, the previous outings have been listed judges at unaffiliated events and their comments felt consistent with how it felt. My daughter took a few pics on her Blackberry and if I wasn't so technically incompetent I would have posted them, I am so proud of my little mare and chuffed that she can canter 10m circles and float in and out of medium paces, etc. all credit to my trainer.
 
I feel for you and sympathise with you. I don't think some of these judges realise how easy it is to knock our confidence with the comments and marks they give, i don't expect high marks as i know my horse does not go in a correct outline (we are working on it) but unless i score zero from every move then im sure they could find some positive things to say to encourage us to keep trying. What i find demoralizing is the inconstancy in the marks they give especially between favoured riders when you know that the performance has not been too different.

All you can do OP is evaluate your own performance and judge yourself by your own current standard. Good luck with any future comps.
 
I feel your pain :rolleyes: I compete bd and have had enormously varying scores, I will say tho if I have had under 60% something has gone wrong be it tension, spooking or an actual mistake, work on a good forward rhythm and nice transitions, keep your circles correct sizes and shapes and everything will fall into place x keep at it!

Btw not everything at bd is a warm blood, mines practically a cart horse, but a good correct test will always score well irrespective of what type of horse youre on. It will only affect you once you get up the levels.
 
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