Aachen - Day 4
Today was the day off for the CDIO combinations from competing so we trained our
Canadian horses this morning and they looked great! I can’t wait for tomorrow and the 2nd leg of the Team Championships.
At 1:00pm we held a joint meeting of the International Dressage Trainers Club and the International Dressage Riders Club which I am very happy to say was extremely well attended witheven some prominent judges. Actually, we way underestimated the number of people who would attend and the room was way too small and not air conditioned so a bit warm, but all in all I was very happy with the turnout. David Hunt did a very good job of covering the situation with the Stewarding which simply needs to be re-written to say that “any abuse in which a horse in in undue pain or bewilderment will not be tolerated”. Get rid of all that other stuff about 10 minutes in a frame as well as the wording about sweating andthe rest of that nonsense! With the wording which I just put in quotes, we leave it up to the trained expert stewards to know what we all truly know when we see a horse suffering, I believe. And we take back our sport from being so strongly influenced by the public and the media, and this is extremely important.
We then went on to discuss the Olympic Format which is in place at Aachen as I write this. I wish so much that the IOC would have allowed the FEI to increase the number of horses for Dressage at the Games, but they absolutely refused to either give us more spots or reduce the numbers a bit from the other 2 disciplines so as to allow some more from ours. we are stuck with no more than 50 horses and that’s that. As you all know, we were only allowed 3 starters per Team in Hong Kong and the poor Reserves hadto go half way around the world to sit on their butts for a month not only not to be allowed to start but also to get no medal if their team was lucky enough to win one. This, our Dressage Task Force last year, said was just not fair, so with great pressure still to keep the teams of only 3 riders, we came up with the idea to allow the 4th combination to start as an individual with the ability to either be put into the team should anything go wrong with one of the combinations up to one hour before each of the classes, GP and GPS, or to go for an individual medal. To be sure this is much better than not being able to start the 4th at all, eh? Which brings me to the problem of the draw for the 2nd leg of the Team Competition. So, if you’ve been reading my blog, you will have read that medals are decided by the compilation of the scores from the top 8 teams at the Olympics where there will be probably 11 Teams. ( Here in Aachen there were 9 teams) At the last minute I decided not to go back to the hotel last night but rather to wait withGina Smith, Canadian Chef, to go with her to the draw for the Special. As we sat there, they began to draw out the class such that the bottom 6 individuals were drawn out into the first 6 positions in the order to start. Next the best 6 individuals were drawn out into the first 6 positions after the break. Then they took the lower ranked 3 teams and drew them out into the remaining spots before the break such that our Canadian riders would have gone one after the other as would have the Spanish and presumably even the top teams if I had not finally not been able to stand it any longer and threw up my hand to “politely” complain. At first, everyone just sort of looked at me like I was nuts, but the minute I said that this was an impossible situation for any Coach, even of the very best teams, since they could not be outside at the first warm-up arena as well as with their rider who was in the final 10 minute ring awaiting their ride time any moment, the rest began to agree withme. Even the head of the Ground Jury, Dieter Schulle, understood the problem and called Frank Kemperman in to help figure this mess out. In the end, it was an error in the way it had been written into the program and Frank explained that they should have done the individuals as they did but then drawn the 3 lowest place countries as opposed to drawing out the riders form them. So it went Spain, Canada and then Belgium andthen the riders for those countries were put into their times by how they did in the Grand Prix with one from each nation every 4th ride. This, therefore, gives just enough time for the coaches to train all their riders if that is their responsibility as it is mine, though I will not be able to go to the ring andwatch them compete since my next one will already be at the warm-up. When there are more nations it will be easier, but I would have rather liked to simply draw out the class exactly as they did the Grand Prix, with the individuals all being drawn out first and then the teams the same as well. After all, the Special is truly only the 2nd leg of the Team Medal competition - not the Individual Championships. I understand Frank saying that the TV loves to see the best all toward the end and therefore wants the top teams at the end of the class. However, as is the case here, some of the riders on those top teams were way below the scores of some on the lower placed teams and this is what will be shown on TV. Sorry, but this makes no real sense either and it seems not in the spirit of fair play. For the individual championships, I am on board with such a reverse order of draw within groups, but not in the Nations Cup. Further, the arguement that this is the way the jumpers do it does not hold water considering anything can happen when it is about rails staying up or falling down. A nations Cup in which the top teams get to go at the end practically seals the deal that the lower placed teams from the Grand Prix will only be allowed to juggle around within their group but most certainly not be able to make a great comeback to win the day, as is still possible for the jumpers. So do I totally understand wanting to “sell the sport” with this idea? Absolutely! But do I agree with this formula and believe that it represents fair play for all? Sorry but NO WAY!
And finally to the Prix St. George this afternoon in Aachen. What can I tell you other than, for the greatest show in the world, this was one of the worst cases of judging incompetence I have seen ( and trust me, I’ve witnessed a lot!) in years. I won’t even speak to Ashley Holzer’s scores for her test which were all over the board. Let’s just take, for example, Christoph Koschel, who two judges had in last place while two more had him in third and the remaining 3 were all over the rest of the map. Sorry again but this is just plain ridiculous when we are talking about supposedly the very best judges of the world, and 7 of them at that! Needless to say, I heard that there was a meeting directy after the class with the Judges and the members of the Supervisory Panel. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that one! Of course, I am sure the SP was very kind by comparison to what I would have said to them. Left up to me, at least a few would have probably been ejected from their Judges seats, I’m afraid. This kind of stuff has simply been going on for way too long, especially when you consider the enormous cost of our horses and the sport for the riders, owners and sponsors these days. We are owed better than this and I say again that the Supervisory Panel must be given the authority to correct poor judging beyond just “simple counting errors” if we are ever to change the sport for the better. I cannot believe that seeing the difference between 8 percentage points in some riders’ scores, that the SP does not have the power to correct such injustice before the final points are counted, thereby resolving the problem before it becomes what could only be termed today as a “scandalous outcome”. Enough said.
On to tomorrow and the Grand Prix Special where our Canadian Team will come back fighting to move up in the ranking, despite the way in which the draw occurred. I wish them as well as the American riders and truly all the competitors the very best of luck!
Cheers!
RD
Karen — July 16, 2010 @ 4:15 pm
Well said!
lita dove — July 16, 2010 @ 4:21 pm
Can only shudder at what could have happened at the Special if you did not speak up, Robert.
It is a bit sad that this is AACHEN and still, the show was only one voice-of-reason away from an enormous snafu.
Yes, the PSG judging was…strange. Imke/Toots won the class but one judge had them last/10th.
And this was not a case of decimal points separating all the competitors, as you well know.
I think it is the Supervisory Panel making the judges nervous.
AND I THINK THAT IS JUST GREAT!
Great judges like Mechlem and Clarke and Gurney–no SP or anything else is going to shake their confidence in what they know they see.
Should be interesting if Europe ever decides to follow the US lead and PAY their judges rather than giving the honorariums,etc…can only wonder how this will affect the pool of talent that might want to become a judge.