Today might have been the official day off from Dressage at the WEG’s but it was hardly a day off for me and most of the others.  We we out early to loosen up Pop Art with Ashley and exercize the other horses on the Canadian Team.  Right after that, the Team and I did an hour of autograph signing at the Equine Canada booth in the Trade Show area.  And then we raced back to the Marriott for a meeting of the FEI Dressage Committee and all Stakeholder groups.

Naturally, the first big issue which produced the most volatile conversation was the matter of how to produce better judging in our sport.  The overnight press was, with excellent reason, very harsh regarding the judging of the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special over the past 3 days.  Frank Kemperman, the Chair of the Dressage Committee, explained all the things being done to raise the quality of judging, including the use of new methods such as 7 judges at major championships to reduce the effect from each on the overall score by over 5%, the use of half marks, and most importantly, the creation of a Supervisory Panel who would oversee the judging and determine both the need to change scores when necessary up or down as well as to keep track of how well or not judges were officiating throughout the year and recommend promoting or demoting certain ones to the DC.

The biggest  thing we all need is better educational processes in place and Trond Asmyr, Director of Dressage for the FEI, did a wonderful job of outlining everything they were doing to assure better training of judges going forward. Thanks to him for these details!

I also said that a creation of an expedited “fast-track’ for top international riders and trainers to become O judges is vital to best populate this most important group with the very best people possible. We will likely have many amazing judges who would never think of doing it if they had to go through a decade or more of work to become even a Candidate.  I believe that proper and very stringent examinations to prove such a retired rider/trainer was truly good also as a judge could be done inside of one year.

Finally, I think that a new form should be created which both the IDRC and IDTC would have representatives take together to every major championship competition and have all riders fill out to ascertain if they feel that each judge officiating at that show should be used again at that level or not. Were they Nationalistic?  Did they show they truly know what they are doing?  Did they simply miss too much or not connect the dots, so to speak?  If a horse does not do a movement like piaffe at all, than how is it possible to give a 6 on the transitions in and out of it?  I believe such a form given out and then handed back in to the DC by the two club representatives at the end of the competition would be extremely illuminating to the committee and help riders to lead the sport forward to a more healthy outcome.

And now I have to go back to school Ashley under the lights to prepare for the big night of the Grand Prix Freestyle after her placing 11th in the world in the Special!  She has such a great Kur so I can’t wait!  I have a feeling also that we may see more records broke and I know it’s going to be amazing sport!

Cheers!

RD

Today saw another amazing day of Dressage sport here at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY. Canada had 2 combinations qualified so I was up before sunrise to watch Belinda and then Ashley do a short “loosening up” ride with their horses.

Belinda and Anton are a wonderful pair and today the 10 year old gelding showed great class. As it is many time with young Grand Prix horses, the line between positive tension and negative tension is a very fine line. A couple of tiny errors in the warm-up were just enough to rattle Anton a bit and cause a mistake in the test in the one-tempi’s. I love this horse and Belinda is a wonderful rider! I feel absolutely confident that this next year will produce an evolution of this combination into that of “super-stardom!”

I stayed down at the arena and got to watch both Tina Konyot and Katherine Bateson Chandler warm up for their tests. Both these riders were making their debut performances on the American Team and each did excellent jobs and should be incredibly proud! I know I am very proud of them both!

As I arrived at the upper warm-up to begin with Ashley, I was informed that Pop Art, scared by something, had gotten loose and went trotting down the path. Fortunately, our Team Vet and a couple of his students created a human barrier and caught Poppy very quickly. Thank God! And then Ashley went on to have a fantastic ride, earning 71.708% and 11th place in the World! Ashley is the whole package- a great rider, trainer, and person and Poppy was as beautiful as I have seen him! I can’t wait to see them perform in the Freestyle on Friday evening and know it will be great!

At the very top of the class there were totally awesome rides! The Spanish Stallion, Fuego, is perhaps the finest specimen of his breed ever seen in Dressage sport. He had a very clean and impressive test and earned every point to bring Juan Manuel Munios Diaz his 4th place finish!

Steffen Peters brought everyone to their feet with a gorgeous ride that made history again by producing the 1st Individual Medal ever for the U.S. at a WEG. I felt so proud of Steffen and his fabulous Ravel and congratulate him, the owners, the Yamazaki’s, and everyone with Team Peters and Team USA! Awesome!

Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris were simply fantastic! The amazing power and elasticity of the big chestnut gelding and the great relationship between horse and rider produced an outstanding ride earning 81.708%. I loved watching this pair all summer but they have truly grown into Super Stars!

And then their is Moorlands Totilas, the undisputed World Champion and to my mind, the finest horse ever born into the sport of Dressage! Piloted perfectly by Edward Gal, Totilas is for me the same as looking at the finest work of art, hearing the finest singer or watching the finest dancer. It honestly brings tears to my eyes and I feel honoured to be able to watch this horse go around the arena. Hi. 85.708% speaks to just how close to perfect a horse can be! And that is truly exactly what he is - the closest thing to perfect we may ever see! FYI, the rumour that Totilas has been sold to America is totally Totilas FALSE! Enough said!   On the other hand, I am pretty sure there are a couple of Judges which could be sold cheap to another country right about now! :)  ( more on that subject tomorrow)

Cheers!

RD

Nothing can ever be taken completely for granted in our sport of Dressage, and this was evident this morning when Parzival with Adelinde Cornelissenwere eliminated after the halt and rein-back when blood was spotted on his mouth.  I must say that I feel very sorry for her because something like that can happen to anyone and I know that this pair would have certainly been in the very top group.

You know, Championships such as these unfold with a great deal of drama no matter how much we think we can predict the results.  I felt confident that Holland would win the Gold and they did this despite the loss of Parzival, showing their depth as well as what having what I still say is the finest horse ever born into the sport in Moorlands Totilas, ridden gorgeously by Edward Gal.  I cried two times in the past 24 hours; the first when Katherine Bateson Chandler entered the main arena and the second while watching Totilas go through his test.  For me, it is like listening to the finest singer sing or dancer dance. Aesthetic ecstasy!

I did not get to see any of the British rides because Canada went directly after them, but not only did they prove again that they have what it takes to be Silver medal winners, their star combination of Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris produced a new personal best right at the most important moment, just as did their other team members.  A big CONGRAT’S to them!

Who would have thought that we would see the day when the German Team was thrilled and relieved just to receive a Bronze medal, but that is exactly what occurred today.  You have to hand it to their star anchor, Isabel Werth, who, as always, fearlessly pilots every horse she rides to exceed all expectations and received amazing scores. She is just plain amazing!  One also must remember that this, like the American Team, had members who are representing their country for their very first time.  I think they did a great job.

Steffen Peters rode a fantastic ride and did everything he possibly could to reach the 81% needed to drive the U.S. into the Bronze position.  Placing 3rd with 78.60, I was standing with the Americans thinking to myself, ” How weird is it that we are feeling bad as the running average was hovering around a 77-78%!  In any normal situation we would have been just plain jumping up and down and thinking how thrilled we were at such a score, eh?  Still, a solid 4th place with3 combinations going forward to the Special and a berth earned into the Olympic Games since England is the host nation and  therefore gets a bye, is a fantastic accomplishment for this team comprised of 3 riders competing for their first time ever on a Championship Team!  USA,USA!

Naturally, I had hoped very much that Canada would keep its overnight 5th place position, but despite the fact that every one of our riders rode fantastically, it just was not to be.  Bonny Bonnello had such a beautiful ride other than two unfortunate piaffes in which Pikardi got behind her leg and became evasive.  I must say that the rest of the test was absolutely worthy of a score over 70% and I am positive she would have received just that without those 2 scores.  She rode like a true master and never lat one point go even after her difficulties and this is something only the best professionals are able to do.  And our anchor, Ashley Holzer, riding Pop Art, once again showed why they are in the very top group of the world, placing 12th with over 70% and securing our Team’s 7th place from a field of 14 teams!

The Danes as well as the Spanish went into 5th and 6threspectively and they truly earned their placements.  I know and respect their Coaches very much and all three of us knew we were hoping realistically for a fifth place finish.  It came down to everyone holding their own and depending on the anchors to pull their totals up.  Fuego did this for Spain as did Digby for Denmark. Ashley also did it for Canada but in the end both the other teams edged us out.  Good job to both!

Finally though, I have to speak again to how great our Canadian Team did, and I don’t just mean by placing a very credible 7th in this World Class field, though that is substantially better than they have done for many years as a team.  What I also commend them on is their wonderful “team-work” and by that I mean the riders , grooms, Chefs, Manager, Vet, personal trainers, friends, family and those behind the scene from Equine Canada and Dressage Canada, all of whom have played a pivotal role in bringing progress to a country which has sorely needed everyone to get together and create a new rode to success for way too long!  I truly believe that everyone is feeling the excitement of what can be if Canada creates a strong road-map for its future, filled with great programs for all divisions from Juniors and Young Riders through its International Elite Combinations.  Of course, that takes funding and that means creating the “Canadian Equestrian Team Foundation, the mission statement for which will be exactly the same as the USET Foundation, which raises funds for all High Performance Disciplines, plain and simple.  You can’t get people excited to give to something they can’t see, so programs need to be produced the minute these games are over.  Remember, the Olympics are only 2 years away, and we have not only to win the Pan American Games in Mexico next year, but also send no less than 2 fully funded Grand Prixsquads on European tours in 2011, and again another in 2012 before London.  We need to create huge depth of riders and horses able to achieve over 70% and produce the stars of the future, much like producing a movie star! Doing so means having every i dotted and t crossed between now and London, and that is an enormous undertaking involving 100% from absolutely everyone involved in the sport in Canada!

So, now on we go to the Grand Prix Special tomorrow with Belinda and Ashley and I guarantee they will do their very best!  I could not be more proud of everyone here and wish them the very best of luck!

Cheers!

RD

1…What nickname was the Channel Tunnel known by before it opened?

2…What English town does the Channel Tunnel connect directly to Coquelles in France?

3…What Tunnel is 23.55 mile undersea section in the longest undersea passenger tunnel  in the world?

4…What building project’s mascot was Marcus the Mole?

5 What  $15 billion tunnel is the largest privately financed engineering project in history?

Who co -opened the Channel Tunnel with the Queen of England?

Dear Berni, Being British I know you know all the correct answers so, do me a favor &  please don’t answer, unless no one gets it right in  one week. Fair enough?
Robert’s Mom
Jean

By now most everyone knows the scores of the riders and the 1/2 way Team standings after the first day of Grand Prix at the World Equestrian Games. But, just in case you don’t know, Victoria Winter with Proton and Belinda Trussell with Anton did wonderful jobs to put Canada in an overnight 5th position, only .4% behind the U.S. Team. Here is my letter to our riders and supporters:

I want to congratulate everyone on our team for an excellent day, with special congratulations to our first 2 riders, Victoria and Belinda. You both did great jobs and helped put Canada in a very strong overnight position only .4% behind the U.S. I could not be more proud of you, and know that we will continue with more great rides tomorrow with Bonny and Ashley.
I also want to thank the rest of our group who are all doing such fantastic jobs to support the efforts of our riders; our grooms who are taking the very best care of our horses and riders( it doesn’t happen without you!) and all the others, from Chefs, Gwynn Rooke and Gina Smith (awesome jobs today!), our Manager, Christine Peters (we need to clone you!), to Dr. Geoff Vernon ( as great of a vet that I have ever worked with in my 35 years of international competition), and of course the personal trainers, family and friends who have tirelessly supported our athletes! You all are making a huge difference and the rest of the world is waking up and finding new respect for Canada and its Team.
Everyone, well done, sleep well, and be prepared to do battle again tomorrow. We are in the hunt!

Robert

I also have to say that I cannot remember being more proud as I watched my assistant of 16 years, Katherine Bateson Chandler, enter the arena in her first Team Championships! It is not just that she did herself, her amazing owner, Jane Clark, and her country proud; but the fact that Katherine is universally loved by everyone regardless of which Team they are on or from which country they come, speaks to how special a person she is. And in a competitive sport, that says it all!

I do believe that there were some very large discrepancies in the judging today, showing that the work being done to improve it which showed in Rotterdam and Aachen, most definitely is the right track to keep going in, since these new procedures are not in place here in Lexington. I still firmly believe that the Supervisory Panel should be responsible for more than dealing with “counting errors”, and we saw today a 10% difference between scores from one rider which should have been determined to be unacceptable and appropriately dealt with. I also do not believe that once the draw is done, the riding times for every athlete may not be altered for any reason without the absolute consent of every Chef d”Equipe from every nation, regardless of the grounds for a change. Such a change which put two members from one country into the same rotation after the lunch break was incorrect without everyone’s consent.

But even the rain could not dampen everyone’s spirits attending what I know is going to continue to be a great WEG’s. I promise we will see drama, excitement, and world-records broken!

Cheers!

RD

The Opening Ceremonies to a packed crowd of 35,000 was a great success overall.  Several of the exhibitions were truly inspirational and singers from Wynona Judd to the 3 wonderful opera stars and blue-grass bands kept the crowd cheering.  For me, it was a little too long and some of it could have been streamlined so as not to run so late.  Still, it was full of Americana from beginning to end and I enjoyed it and felt proud.  I also loved seeing how happy and excited the athletes looked as they marched into the stadium.

Our Canadian horses all jogged beautifully, though I’m not sure how sound I looked as I trotted up both Pikardi and Anton for their riders.  Luckily, I was not asked to go to a holding pen to have myself checked for lameness.

All the riders were allowed into the main stadium today from 10;30 until 3:00 pm and we worked the Canadian horses as if warming up for their actual tests and then rode down and into the main ring and began each through the Grand Prix.  I was very pleased with everyone from our Team and believe we are ready and prepared for the competition. Our first combination will be Victoria Winter and Proton at 10:29 ( Our Team drew a very good 9th position in the list of 14 nations) with Belinda Trussell and Anton going in 28th position at  15:50 (3:50) pm.  Naturally, I wish them the very best of luck and will be there to do everything I possibly can to support their efforts throughout the week!

I also wish my American colleagues and friends good luck as Todd Flettrich and my someone dear to my heart, Kathrine Bateson Chandler, both compete in their very first Team Championships!    It is going to be a very exciting class and I am certain we are all about to witness new World Records from the amazing 2 and 4 legged athletes here in Lexington.  The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games are underway with the U.S. having won one gold already in Reining where Canada got an impressive 4th place.  Dressage starts at 8:34 am and I will report on the first half of the class and what we can expect on Tuesday as the second half of the Nation’s Cup Grand Prix goes on.

Cheers!

RD

I promise to make a full report on the Opening Ceremonies as well as today’s warm-ups at the WEG’s in Kentucky later tonight, but I just have to tell you that, with considerable angst and foreboding, I agreed to put my Schnoodle, Simon, in the care of none other than the infamous Rhonda Weis Wiener Boucher Stendall ( some Latin name I can’t recall which only lasted a few weeks).  Now, I love Rhonda and am positive that she will do a great job, lest it be her final one.  Here is her message to me:

Simon and Rhonda will be telling their incredible love story starting on Sunday, Sept 26. It is the story of forbidden (and resentful) love. Their one week together will be filled with more fun than most experience in a lifetime. Will it be raw and uncensored…yes.  Will it be tearful…yes  Will it be hard to watch at times…yes.  Will PETA (or Josh for that matter approve)… No. Will there be blood and other unidentified fluids…Yes  Will humans and animals be treated cruelly…maybe  Will it be illegal in 48 of our 50 states…Yes.  Will it be the new hot reality show…yes. Stay tuned for daily updates and photos…                                                         

Simon and Rhonda together. Should I be nervous?

The Team from Bahrain preparing for the Opening Ceremonies. One of 58 nations represented here at the WEG's. Awesome!

The Canadian Dressage Team moved over to the WEG show grounds today and all the horses settled in nicely.  I was very happy two weeks ago when I learned that the permanent stalls would be used instead of tent stabling which we were told last April would be the case.  The stadium looks fantastic and athletes from more than 60 countries are ready to march into it this evening at 7:00pm, beginning the largest sporting event held in America since the last time we held the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002.  The stadium holds 35,000 people and is sure to be at full capacity tonight as the drama unfolds.

So that’s the good news. I have to say though that so far there has been quite a bit of confusion at the venue with many volunteers not knowing how to get where people need to go.  Further, the parking for athletes and officials from teams is so far away that getting to and from the stables is a very, very long walk.  There should be trams going back and forth to transport people throughout the day, just like at an amusement park.  I also feel that there should be a ” cafeteria” of some sort directly next to the stables, just as there is in Aachen.  The organizers did give Canada, and I presume other nations, 3 mini-vans; however, they did not have enough drives for these shuttle buses so they simply said we should deal with them ourselves. The only problem is that there is great liability if an accident occurs with drivers other than those insured by the organization to drive the vehicles.

I believe that once the Opening Ceremonies are over, we will get down to business and the competition will begin to run more smoothly and well see fantastic sport for the next 2 weeks.  I know how difficult putting on an event like this is and, though thee are a few things which need “fixing”, Kate Jackson and the enormous staff

putting on the first World Equestrian Games in North America must be commended on what I absolutely know will be looked back on as a job extremely well done!

Good luck to all!!!

RD

My friend, Journalist and Freestyle Artist, Karen Robinson, put a very funny video up on her excellent website, Barnmice.com and I thought, “I just can’t resist; I have to put this one on DoversWorld”! Thank you, Karen, for making me laugh and reminding us the importance of wearing one’s safetly helmet at all times! So here is the link, folks, for your viewing enjoyment.
http://www.barnmice.com/video/naked-show-jumping

Cheers!

RD

One of my friends sent me this today and I could not agree more. We need a major call for tolerance in America and around the world. The following is funny but hits the point. Enjoy!

I  am perplexed that so many of my friends are against a mosque  being built near Ground Zero. I think it should be the goal of  every society to be tolerant.  The mosque should be  allowed, in an effort to promote tolerance.

That  is why I also propose, that two gay nightclubs be opened next door to the mosque thereby promoting tolerance within the  mosque. We could call the clubs “The Turban Cowboy” and “You  Mecca Me So Hot”.

Next  door should be a butcher shop that specialises in pork and has an open barbecue with spare ribs as its daily special.   Across the street a very daring lingerie store called  ”Victoria Keeps Nothing Secret” with sexy mannequins in the  window modelling the goods.

Next  door to the lingerie shop, there would be room for an Adult Toy Shop (Koranal Knowledge?), its name in flashing neon lights, and on the other side a liquor store, maybe call it “Morehammered”?

If  you agree in promoting tolerance and you think this is a good plan, pass it on.

________________________________

Cheers!

RD