Goncalo Carvahlo and Rubi: dressage brains, help a girl out

SusannaF

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My knowledge of dressage is distinctly "armchair" (plus one classical lesson) so I'd genuinely like to pick your brains to understand what's going on. I don't want to be controversial or even mention r***k**.

Can anyone tell me why this combination didn't get a higher mark? The German commentator on ZDF thought his piaffe was the best seen at the Olympics, and I didn't see any obvious gaffes (disclaimer about my dressage knowledge above). :)
 

kildalton

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My knowledge of dressage is distinctly "armchair" (plus one classical lesson) so I'd genuinely like to pick your brains to understand what's going on. I don't want to be controversial or even mention r***k**.

Can anyone tell me why this combination didn't get a higher mark? The German commentator on ZDF thought his piaffe was the best seen at the Olympics, and I didn't see any obvious gaffes (disclaimer about my dressage knowledge above). :)

I thought it was delightful, so free and a perfect example of harmony between horse and rider. Compare that with poor Parzival. I'm puzzled too.
 

Amazona

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I totally Agree
I thought it was delightful to watch .. a horse so soft and supple
..I am biase because I am a Lusitano lover but drives me mad when the commentator comments about Lusitanos not being as good at dressage as the warmbloods as they are not as powerful ... didnt know we were judged in dressage by breed... judgeing by the dissapointing marks were clearly are. I would prefer beauty and harmony vs power anyday
 

zandp

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Because Rubi's a Lusitano and not amusthavefordressage Warmblood ?

I don't know but that's the only possible explanation.
 

kildalton

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Because Rubi's a Lusitano and not amusthavefordressage Warmblood ?

I don't know but that's the only possible explanation.

I wanted to say that but refrained. Someone I know rides an Iberian horse, she did two tests on the same day, she finished last in one and won the other with not much difference in the two tests. I'm not biased against WB's either! That's what annoys me about dressage, and yes I know it is a sport judged subjectively.
 

imr

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he will have got excellent piaffe and pirouette scores and overall he got a very good mark, which will reflect a harmonious and accurate test . But, the marks will reflect the fact that in terms of basic paces his walk and canter are not great, and his extended walk was not great and his changes are a bit flat and not very expressive. It would be interesting to see mark by mark sheets. Fwiw I generally didn't love the way any of the dutch rode, but I thought the germans were fantastic as was valentina truppa, and team gb of course !!
 

SusannaF

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he will have got excellent piaffe and pirouette scores and overall he got a very good mark, which will reflect a harmonious and accurate test . But, the marks will reflect the fact that in terms of basic paces his walk and canter are not great, and his extended walk was not great and his changes are a bit flat and not very expressive. It would be interesting to see mark by mark sheets. Fwiw I generally didn't love the way any of the dutch rode, but I thought the germans were fantastic as was valentina truppa, and team gb of course !!

Aha! Thank you :) In layman's terms, his flying changes need to be more prance-y? And his walk and canter more...?
 

Marydoll

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he will have got excellent piaffe and pirouette scores and overall he got a very good mark, which will reflect a harmonious and accurate test . But, the marks will reflect the fact that in terms of basic paces his walk and canter are not great, and his extended walk was not great and his changes are a bit flat and not very expressive. It would be interesting to see mark by mark sheets. Fwiw I generally didn't love the way any of the dutch rode, but I thought the germans were fantastic as was valentina truppa, and team gb of course !!

I think we've got to caught up in looking for flashy movement over correct movement and also transitions that seem effortless and seamless are marked as less expressive, i wouldve put the portugese pairing much further up the ladder, but thats just my opinion
 

HashRouge

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I'm another one who adored Gonçalo Carvalho and Rubi, it was the test of the week for me! But then I think I valued the fact that it looked completely natural and harmonious, whereas some of the more "extravagant" tests looked awkward and stilted. I really hope he scores higher in his next test, as I'd love to see this pair in the individual.
 

rowy

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I love fuego but I thought rubi had a better piaffe and passage but fuego had a better extended trot. I didn't think rubi had that bad paces overall though. Obviously the walk could be better but didn't think the canter was bad???
I just thought the Spanish horses looked like they were doing the moves with such ease like the rider had to do little work when the warmblood looked like they were really struggling with piaffe and pirouettes and the riders looked like they had to do a lot to keep them together throughout the entire tests.
 

imr

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Rowy/susanna - yes, changes could be bigger and more off the floor. His walk is quite short striding and so the extended walk (which has a multiplier on it so is worth 2 scores) will not get a stand out score, and his canter is a little flat and short striding too which will show up in the collective marks and also some of the individual movements eg extended canter. I actually think the marking was pretty fair overall(and I watched every single test on telly I'm that sad) - I can understand wishing he had a higher placing, but he got a good mark and qualified easily for tuesday, the mark is in there with a lot of other good horses which are in the low 70s with not that much separating them, and the difference between each combination may just be a couple of marks overall. I also think there is a danger of generalising too much here - the three iberian horses in the team tests are actually all quite different from each other, and the warmbloods don't all conform to one type either.
 
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