Dressage Aff/Unaff

[FudgieFoo]

Hi,
My last post I was planning to try some aff dressage as I had been getting on well at unaff dressage.

But this weekend was diabolical!

I did Prelim7 and scored 52%! Ah! And I had thought it had gone ok! It was accurate and Fudge didn't get tense or fizzy.

Apparently that was the problem. When I got the sheet back it said an obedient test but not forward enough! Normally my comments are the opposite eg energetic pony who is not quite behaving today! I was about half way down the board.

So I went into the next test, Prelim 18, with a determination to have lots of impulsion! It worked. Although it was a different judge I got 64.4% and came 6th (out of 13)

But now I've lost the confidence I had to give aff a try! What to do?

[DITZ]

Judges vary. Dont worry unduly. Best thing to do is to do a few prelims at an affiliated show before you actually spend the money on affiliating and see how you get on.

Dont let one bad test put you off though!;)

[GemmaA]

Many people are disappointed by the scores when they switch from unaffiliated to affiliated - the judging is often harsher (or better - whichever way you look at it!).
However, it just proves that it is correct - you acted on what the first judge said and got a much better score next time.

Personally I much prefer to go affiliated, I find the judging more consistent. It can be expensive to affiliate, but remember, you can either compete on a class ticket, or join yourself (your horse does not have to be affiliated to compete at prelim).

[holiday]

Well done on taking on board what the first judge had said and improving your scores, dont take to heart to much the scores as all judges score differently as said above, you get to know judges and how they score as you go on!!!!!!!!

Try your best and take on board comments they are supposed to help you although sometimes you dont think so!!!!!!!!

Good luck keep at it!!!!!

[msp]

A couple of thoughts:-
1) There can be quite a jump from unaffiliated to affiliated - Prelim unaffiliated covers a huge spectrum of riding from people who have no idea what the "scales of training" are through to excellent riders on top horses doing it for the horse's experience!!!!

The net result is that in an unaffiliated test you might get a 6 for a horse doing an accurate test, with a reasonable rhythm, whilst not being even vaguely "on the bit".

On the other hand affiliated Prelim shouldn't really give a 6 score unless the horse is active and on the bit at all times.....

2) All judges are human and some of the lower level judges are not that experienced. Keep in mind that once the first horse has been judged, the judge MUST attempt to judge all the remaining horses to exactly the same level (otherwise it would not be fair)..... This means if they are slightly hard on the first horse, they must be equally hard on all following horses. The judge will put a lot of effort into being consistent during the class.

Coupling this with the fact that different tests vary in difficulty quite a bit, you will find that your scores can vary quite a bit from outing to outing. In a lot of ways it is better to concentrate on where you came in the class relative to your peers, the comments and how it felt to you. You might have a bad score today because the first horse was too good and set the standard high!!! We try to be objective but its not easy:-(

3) Roundness and being "on the bit" is much more important than in unaffiliated, BUT being in a forced outline without activity and rhythm is worse than useless and will be marked down on every movement. An active horse working in a rhythm is much better than one in an outline which has lost its impulsion (because it is then in a false outline which will actually hinder its development). Maybe you lost freedom and stride length in your first test??? Remember that impulsion is not speed, but desire to go forewards and cover ground using longer strides (tracking up in trot) working in a rhythm.

Anyway don't give and have fun!

Mark Phillips