WEG Dressage freestyle starts 12-30 (BBC online)

I thought Nip N Tuc was a bit tired today - understandable as it's quite a lot to ask of a young horse but nonetheless lacking sparkle and this was reflected in the marks. I think the difference will be more apparent when the 'big guns' come out in the second half.

Half Moon Delphi is a very talented horse with more to come, but for me she's too tight in the neck and still curling. Eilberg rode her very sympathetically and always tried to correct the problem, but it's ironic that if this was Anky or Cornelissen there would be a rollkur outcry.

I agree PolarSky the music is just boring!

I agree that Nip Tuck was lacking a bit of sparkle - but he's relatively young and very big so still has some maturing to do - I still think he did an amazing test given his lack of experience at this level.

I don't agree with you wrt HMD . . . she is very cresty, but I didn't see her curling or ducking BTV - I think she is a cracking, athletic mare with the potential to go much further - and I love the way Michael Eilberg rides . . . very soft and quiet.

But, yes, I do think the quality will jump up in this second half . . . but then these are much more established horses at this level.

FWIW, I think in two years time both Barney and HMD will be challenging horses like Valegro and his established GP counterparts.

P
 
For those with Sky I've just discovered that you can record the red button on channel 980. As I have to go out tomorrow (family stuff ....) I've already set it to record the xc
 
I thought Nip N Tuc was a bit tired today - understandable as it's quite a lot to ask of a young horse but nonetheless lacking sparkle and this was reflected in the marks. I think the difference will be more apparent when the 'big guns' come out in the second half.

Half Moon Delphi is a very talented horse with more to come, but for me she's too tight in the neck and still curling. Eilberg rode her very sympathetically and always tried to correct the problem, but it's ironic that if this was Anky or Cornelissen there would be a rollkur outcry.

I agree PolarSky the music is just boring!

Yes Np Tuck looked a little tired, his concentration was just a teeny bit down from where it has been, but ridden very well by Carl not to push him for more than he can naturally give at his age.

HMD could be ridden by Anky or Adelinde and would not lead me to cry rollkur because that's a focus just on the front end. The whole of her body was working really very well for her age and experience at this level...certainly not a case of all that up front with no action behind. I agree she was a bit tense through the jaw and neck for some of the test, but I'd expect nothing less at this stage for a mare with such movement.
 
HMD could be ridden by Anky or Adelinde and would not lead me to cry rollkur because that's a focus just on the front end. The whole of her body was working really very well for her age and experience at this level...certainly not a case of all that up front with no action behind. I agree she was a bit tense through the jaw and neck for some of the test, but I'd expect nothing less at this stage for a mare with such movement.

Thank you for articulating this better than I . . . agree that to go to the rollkur argument would only have been appropriate if her overall movement was lacking - and it wasn't/isn't.

I love her.

P
 
Thank you for articulating this better than I . . . agree that to go to the rollkur argument would only have been appropriate if her overall movement was lacking - and it wasn't/isn't.

I love her.

P

I would happily edit horses heads out of videos if it meant people started judging a horse and the training/riding of it based on the correctness or lack thereof in the rest of the body.
 
Ohh I like Desperados more than Damon Hill!!! Purely subjective but the music and artistic interpretation had more sparkle for me. I expect Damon Hill will get a better score though, it's a very technical floor plan.
 
Yep, I thought it said 0 seconds on the clock! Hope she hasn't cut it too fine!

(My internet is playing up, so far every horse has looked lame as a dog! :))
 
That looked faultless to me as well...still enjoyed Desperados more. I don't think Desperados should win, but for artistic interpretation and flair I think he was more fun. It's a bit like that with ice skating, sometimes the top athletes concentrate so much on the technical difficulty that some of the fun is a bit overshadowed.
 
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