I'm
reporting a much shortened version of "L"
program, covering topics that I think are most interesting
to the dressage enthusiasts. I omitted some of the very
specific topics that apply only to dressage judges.
I encourage dressage enthusiasts to audit USDF
"L" dressage judge training program for the
full scoop.
Day 1
1. First day an international Judge and GP rider and
trainer Jeff Moore gave us a lecture about dressage judging
and dressage Biomechanics. Dressage in US is fairly new,
USDF was formed only 33 years ago and USDF “L”
Judging program was formed 15 years ago to create better
US dressage judges. Dressage judging in the US is constantly
evolving and changing for the better. US judges continue
to debate what is the best for the future of the US dressage.
One of those hot topics is the “Decimal thinking”
in judging. Most of the performances will fall in to the
range of “5” to “7” scores. A
score “6” can be a “strong 6”
and a “weak 6” (6.1 and 6.9 – a difference
of a full 10% of the final score), but judges have no
way of showing this distinction to the rider. If one “whole-number”
judge will give 5 for all of the movements that were 5.5
and another “whole-number” judge will give
6 for all of the movements that were 5.5 – those
judges will end up with the final scores of 50% and 60%
- a 10% difference for the same ride. Current judges are
forced to come up with different systems of “manipulating”
the scores to be able to show the decimal thinking to
riders and even up the final scores. For example if one
pirouette was a 5.8 and another was a 6.2, instead of
giving a 6 for both, judge can wait to see both pirouettes
and give a score of 5 for the first one and 7 for the
second one to show the difference to the rider, but the
scores will even themselves up to be 6 in the end. However,
obviously it’s not the perfect way of judging and
helping riders, so dressage is in need of more sophisticated
judging system, a “decimal judging system.”
2. Big emphasis was put on the standardized wording of
judging comments and avoiding “dressage babble”
or “dressage “code,” words that sound
dressagy, but have no clear meaning, instead they just
add to further confusion of the rider. The methodology
used in judging has a specific system. It is that system
which separates the dilettante from the expert. It is
that system which separates critic from the judge. Dressage
critics can express their personal opinions and use meaningless
comments, but a judge must be bound by standard rules,
standard method, and standard glossary of dressage judging.
Judges are not allowed to use words that are not helpful
such as: “I liked it because…” or words
and phrases that can not be explained thought the horse’s
biomechanics, aka “dressage babble”. For example:
“not over the back”, “more from behind”,
“in front of your seat”, “through the
neck”. Judges are not allowed to write meaningless
comments such as “cute horse”, “clear
rhythm”, “needs more”, “nice circle”.
Dressage judges are encouraged to use the official USDF
Glossary of Judging Terms. You can read and print your
own free copy of USDF Glossary of Judging Terms from here
http://www.usdf.org/competition/guidelines/docs/AppD.pdf
3. The next important point for the dressage judge is
a clear understanding between correct dressage and “poodle
dressage” or “tick dressage.” This is
where knowledge of biomechanics, anatomy of the horse
and rider plays an important role. In dressage training
one thing leads to another (linked together). For example,
a bulging under-neck muscle is a sign of resistance. If
the horse is wide behind the ears and narrow in front
of the withers, that’s another sign of incorrect
dressage training. One of the main goals of correct dressage
training is relaxation. If the neck and top line muscles
are not correctly developed, that points to the conclusion
that neck muscles are tight and resistant during the training,
then head and jaw muscles are tight, rigid as well, then
horse can’t accept the bit. (Try to tighten your
neck and talk at the same time, you’ll see that
you can’t relax your jaw and lips) Thus, even if
the horse is in the dressage frame, his incorrect muscle
development shows that the horse resists the bit. Incorrect
muscle development of the horse, particularly of the neck
and top line, will help to pinpoint “poodle dressage”.
The same principal applies for the use of biomechanics
for the dressage judging. For example, collection starts
at 2nd level and continues to improve through GP level.
Although there are many different levels of collection,
lowering of the inside hip is a must for any level of
collection, that is one of the requirements that dressage
judge will look for.
Jeff Moore showed us several drawings and charts demonstrating
how to recognize a horse that is above the bit with his
poll reaching forward and the horse that is above the
bit and his topline retracted (“poodle dressage”).
Horses that are behind the vertical with a low neck and
horses that are behind the vertical with a broken neck-line
in the 3rd vertebra, which shows the evasion from the
bit - the worst fault and must be scored the lowest.
4. Purity and correctness of the gaits is the essence
of the correct dressage training. Common faults are lateral
canter, four beat canter, pacing walk, walking the rope,
broken diagonal, lack of suspension, asymmetrical trot,
rocking canter, not parallel of the line of travel, no
bend, counter bend, no flexion, counter flexion, no difference
between working and collected trot, no difference between
medium and extended canter, no difference between working
trot and stretching trot.
Jeff Moore explained and demonstrated with illustrations
(and volunteers from the audience) many common dressage
misconceptions. For example a misconception that when
the horse is on the forehand, the horse puts too much
of its weight on the front legs. That is not bio-mechanically
correct. Truth is that “a horse that is on the forehand
keeps its feet on the ground too long after the body weight
passes over them – not freeing a landing place for
the advancing hind foot to touch down. The horse “rolls
over” its feet. The forelegs do not push sufficiently
against the ground at the right moment of the stance phase
to push the trunk upward/backward.”
Day 2
In the second day we all went to the Riverside
Equestrian Center for a demonstration
from 12 dressage riders from Intro Level to 2nd Level.
Jeff Moore gave judging comments and was teaching us what
to look at and what to look for. All of the 12 participants
and 25 auditors practiced judging along with Jeff Moore.
I’d like to thank the 12 very brave dressage riders
from Riverside Equestrian Center who put themselves under
the microscope of Jeff Moore and 37 dressage enthusiasts.
Each of you put on an incredibly helpful dressage demonstration.
Thank you for your time and effort.
All of 12 horses that we saw this day were judged with
the same system and the same approach in incredible detail.
I’ll give a very condensed version below so you
can look at one of your videos and try to judge yourself
and your horse.
Overall impression of physical and muscular development,
coordination and attitude:
Walk: clear V of two legs on same side
in the walk? Even reach from both hind legs? Even footfalls?
Do the hind legs over-track?
Trot: is it regular? Even footfalls?
Even reach from both hind legs? Lines of travel (look
at the hoof, knee, shoulder): evenly arced in front and
behind the vertical? Is the triangle for the line of travel
bigger in front of the vertical? Is the triangle for the
line of travel bigger behind the vertical? Where hind
legs strike: behind the vertical or in front of the vertical
on the footfall? Front legs swing parallel? Hind legs
swing parallel? Do they swing the same or differently
from one another? Do they swing inside or outside? Does
the horse lean inside of the circle or inside of the corners?
(tip: If it does, then the saddle is always tilting out).
Falling on the inside shoulder? Popping outside shoulder?
Outside leg stepping outward? Wide behind?
Canter: is it a 3 beat canter? Even
footfalls, strides? Do the outside legs have a good reach?
Where does the leading hind leg strike: behind the vertical
or in front of the vertical on the footfall? Does the
horse “roll over” (on the forehand) itself?
Lack jump? Does the horse lean inside of the circle or
inside of the corners? Haunches swinging out or in?
Horse:
Neck: correct muscular condition? Concave
under neck? Bulging under neck? Concave top-line? Length
of the jugular groove. Length of the complexus muscle.
Behind the vertical: Above the bit? Frozen headset? Open
throatlatch?
Ears: pinned, alert, attentive? Ears level (head tilting?)?
Outside ear in advance of inside ear (good bend).
Tail: arched carriage? Clamped tail or moving rhythmically?
Tail is a part of the back.
Tongue: sticking out or licking?
Mouth: dry or foamy? Clamped or grinding teeth? Quiet?
Rider: is rider against the mechanics
of the walk, trot, and canter? Does the rider seesaw with
her hands? Is the rider sitting centered? Straight spine?
Straight line from elbow to bit? Does the rider carry
her own hands/arms? Correct vertical line through ear,
shoulder, hip and heel? Wobbly waist?
Critics use personal taste to critique dressage performance,
but dressage judges use methodology and a systematic approach.
Dressage judges reach their final score for each dressage
movement using this formula:
BASICS+CONFIGURATION -/+
MODIFIERS = FINAL SCORE
***BASICS
are: the purity and quality of the gaits, sufficient
impulsion, and sufficient submission. The very first thing
that judges look at are those “basic” qualities.
If a horse doesn't have a sufficient impulsion for example,
then the score can not be high, no matter how nice the
“movement” itself was. Another example if
there was no bend (BASICS) in the circle or the horse
was on the forehand (BASICS). During the trot to canter
transition the horse was above the bit (BASICS)
***CONFIGURATION
is the required movement (circle). If the horse fulfilled
the issue of CONFIGURATION, it means he “did the
trick.” For example if a horse did a circle was
the circle too large, too small, or egg shaped? Another
example is a transition from trot to canter, was the transition
done on the letter? Angle of shoulder-in?
***MODIFIERS
can be negative: spooking, shying, inaccuracies that decrease
the difficulty of the movement (e.g. angled 3 loop serpentine
or canter depart in the corner instead of “H”
on the long side) or positive: number of steps in the
rein back, seconds standing in halt, good corners in general
and accurate nonessential parts of the movements (turn
at C and …). For example our horse spooked (MODIFIER)
in the second half of the circle. Our horse did a transition
from trot to canter, then broke (MODIFIER) into trot and
the rider had to pick up the canter again. Rider straightened
the horse from shoulder-In before the corner – positive
modifier.
If you ever had comments like “needs more forward”
or “not on the bit” and said to yourself that
you still did the correct geometry movement, why did I
get only a 5? Now you know the answer: judges have to
start judging from BASICS. Correct BASICS (like impulsion
and submission) is more important than CONFIGURATION (a
trick).
Without the BASICS, horse/rider is doing only a trick
(CONFIGURATION ) also called a “poodle dressage”.
USDF “L” Judging faculty hopes that the next
generation of dressage judges will be open minded to the
new concepts from biomechanics and ever developing science
about horse and rider. They write: “Stephen J. Gould,
the evolutionary biologist and Harvard professor said,
in reference to science, some words that apply very much
to our situation in dressage: “So much of our conventional
thinking must be tweaked, if not reversed.”
Throughout the whole weekend Jeff Moore urged the next
generations of dressage judges to continue to learn and
understand dressage from the scientific side of biomechanics.
He urged us to make dressage wording more understandable
and stop using the misleading “dressage code”
and “dressage babble”. One of his favorite
quotes comes from Albert Einstein: “The most important
thing is not to stop questioning.”
This was a fascinating experience for me. I encourage
dressage enthusiasts to audit this highly educational
program, USDF "L" dressage judge training program.
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