German dressage report

G

GermanyJo

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 March 2008
Messages
901
Location
Germany
Visit site
For Millipops 😀
Decided to stop lurking and post now I actually have something to post about!
Bit of background on my CP / AA Asphodel, bought him in Ireland as a more or less untouched 3 year old ( Cortez and conniegirl you may remember our PMs) , broke him in myself, due to work and private stuff did not get much done with him last year (when he was 4) managed to get consistently working him in May this year.
Decided we needed to get out and about so entered a few dressage competitions at the German novice level. Is a bit different here, very official, you need to be a member of a club and then do various exams to be able to move up the grades, very little unaffiliated comps. For the dressage from preliminary to novice you do your test with a group of 3 to 4 people, which can make the test quite interesting!
We did our first one last week, first test was OK, he warmed up nicely, just decided to do some freestyle in the first canter so mark was 5,7(57% in English money)
Next day did our next test, much better, I thought ( and my instructor thought the same) that they were a bit stingy with a 6,0 (60%) but I was very happy with him....had a tit of a horse in front of me but he ignored it and considering we had no real canter transition 3 weeks ago he managed really well 😀
Will try to add a video, we are the little grey in the middle ( second in the group)
Happy for critique, I know I need to keep my bloody legs quieter and he goes a bit deep at times

https://youtu.be/6Bpob6FFwfc
 
Good to see you back! Am I right in thinking you had an awful shoulder injury a few years back (sorry if I'm mixing you up with someone else!).

The test looked very sweet, what a lovely horse you have there! And well done for coping with the horse in front titting around. I quite like the format, it could save a lot of time for judges as well as making early competitions a bit less scary for youngsters.

What are your plans with Asphodel?
 
Great report, thank you, it's fascinating to see other countries competitions!

Thought you did a great job, especially considering the spooky horse at the front :), think my horse would quite like the group idea of a test but would definitely be the one titting about lol.
 
Wow that's fascinating. How do they judge it, do you get a scoresheet for each movement like we do here? I just wonder how the judge manages to scrutinise each horse the same. Is it a drawn order? How is the order you ride in determined?

More details please!

I think I've found Kira's calling - she'd love to do follow-my-leader dressage, that would totally solve all her stage fright problems :D
 
J1ffy, not shoulder, badly broken humerus,... Impressed with your memory :-)... Took a year before I could ride again and the doctors refused to remove the metal work.
Would like to do a bit of Eventing with him, but not sure how good my nerves will be, such a long time since I was jumping properly, so we will just see how things go
 
Wheels, thanks, he was supposed to be a project to sell - bought a foal in Ireland to bring on once he was sold - he is now 2 and coming over to Germany next month and Asphodel is still here!! The plan wasn't to have 2 but can't bring myself to sell Asphodel ;-)

Millipops - you get one score for the whole test...is Not great as if you have a bad first movement, or they make a mistake you are normally buggered, and I get the impression they don't really look at you anymore....My Motivation to try to get out at L (Elementary) next year to avoid this group stuff.
As far as the order goes, the class is sorted by horses initial then they decide the letter to start from and split the list into groups of 4 or 3, if you are lucky you are at the front - so the first name in your group, if not you can ask others in your group to change positions, but this often gets a bit catty!!, in the video I was supposed to be last, but I saw how slow the other grey was and was lucky, she was nice and let me go in the middle.
I must say though, for young horses, it is not bad that they can do a test with some friends the first few times, just I find the judging is rather hit and miss, and you definately can't afford any mistakes. You get a scrap of paper with a few comments written down
 
Wow, I was a little skeptical when you mentioned the format on the other thread but I actually really like it for young horses. Not sure I could take to the scoring though :D

Your horse looks lovely - good luck with getting swiftly out of elementary. Look forward to more reports!
 
How fascinating, I think George would have loved this as going into the arena on our own was always the scariest thing about dressage! Your horse is beautiful and I think they were stingy with their marking too.
 
Thanks Jennbags / Dabdab, we are supposed to be competing again on Sunday, but had a jumping lesson last night and he was coughing a bit :-(... Will have to see how he is tonight, hoping the next report won't be in vet forum...Horses...got to love them
 
Really interesting thank for posting. Would have been interesting on mine as a 4yo though as she hated other horses behind her. I can see how it would work for some, but it is a shame that you only get 1 mark. At least a mark for each pace would be nice
 
Ooh how interesting. Can def see how it could help with nervous rider or horse, although not easy to manage if the one in front is being naughty! Your horse looks lovely and you both handle it so well. The grey at the end made me chuckle, that is slow, good job you didn't get stuck behind them! Shame the marking and scores aren't that helpful though.
 
I've been thinking about this marking system, and I wonder if our way of marking focuses the rider's attention on the individual movements too much, and less of the picture as a whole. At prelim or novice, pretty much most horses should be able to execute the movements quite capably so I'm beginning to think the German way of scoring the whole might be better to get the rider to focus on working their horse properly through the test.
 
Thanks mule :-)
Jennbags - there are definately pros as well as cons to the system, can be a bit demoralising though if you have a run of bad luck with the person in front of you... Difficult to show good work if you are stuck behind a slow or nappy one, bit luck of the draw
 
Really interesing report, and glad you are out and about again! Despite being German, I've never competed in Germany. First time I took my mare to a quadrille fun day, she was too busy spooking at the other horses to go anywhere near them (quadrille looked a little odd as a result); suspect a group test at A would be a bit interesting! Are there also solo tests from A level? I thought I read that on the pferd.de forum.
 
JennBags said:
I've been thinking about this marking system, and I wonder if our way of marking focuses the rider's attention on the individual movements too much, and less of the picture as a whole. At prelim or novice, pretty much most horses should be able to execute the movements quite capably so I'm beginning to think the German way of scoring the whole might be better to get the rider to focus on working their horse properly through the test.
Click to expand...

I was actually having exactly the same thought. I think that prelim and novice in the UK is generally judged more on overall impression than specifically on the execution of the movements anyway....acknowledging that might give a better focus for competitors (I think it would for me)
 
HI
there are 2 tests which can be ridden individually.. but is very difficult to find any competitions that chose those tests for the show ... most use the test which can be ridden in a group. All tests tend to be ridden on surface and in our area there are very few (if any ) competitions where they have multiple arenas , so I suppose it is the only way to reasonably get everyone through .. if they did all individual, then they would be busy all day with one class
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top