DeRosa Daily Equestrian Olympic News
Horsesdaily Veteran Olympic Reporter Diana DeRosa Brings Us Into Her World

When Brilliance Is Marred By One Mistake What Should You Do?

On Saturday night in the Grand Prix Special what we saw was absolutely amazing.  There was incredible dressage right before our eyes.  I remember thinking to myself that I rush around writing stories, taking pictures, looking for flags to photograph, labeling, getting something to eat, finding time to sleep, but what about the reality of where I am.  I’m at the Olympic Games and where else can you see such perfection in all levels of riding.

Yet, there was one ride that I want to hear your thoughts about.  Germany’s Isabell Werth and Satchmo were unbelievable.  When they started out their ride and you saw marks over 80 you knew that no one was getting past them.  Then ¾ through their ride the most amazing thing happened,  Satchmo for about 10 seconds just freaked.  Isabell kept her calm but there was no hiding this disobedience.  It was major.

Afterwards I chatted with a few other people about this and we debated the issue, sometimes heatedly.  I tossed out two ideas.  One was whether or not when such disobedience happens should that horse be able to win the class.  The other was if 95% of the ride is beyond brilliant should a rider be penalized for one uncanny error.

As a spectator, I think it would be hard to differentiate how someone who has no mistakes gets beaten by someone whose horse backs up for several strides and then does a rear/buck combination.  Their knowledge is not enough to distinguish how much better all of the other movements are to offset the one mishap.  So it lends itself to those people feeling that the judging is political when in fact it’s all about every movement being scored and then at the end tallied.  Yet, how do you explain that to a spectator and should major mistakes like that have a penalty associated with them so that in the end that combination could not win the class.  I’m just throwing this out there because I’m curious to hear what you have to say.

Or on the other hand, should we take more time to educate the spectators.  Even in a situation like this should someone take the time to explain to the spectators how Satchmo could still win the class despite the mistake.  Keep in mind that if it were a minor mistake the spectators would not even notice it.  Whereas this was a clear cut case that no one could miss.  By giving an explanation you would help the spectators understand that even if that one movement received a zero, the other movements were so far superior to any other horse in the field that the horse could still win.

In hunters a rider could have a brilliant go, but if they touch or knockdown a fence there is a score that is automatic given in such a situation.  However.  the difference is that the competitor gets a final mark as a whole.  It’s not that each fence gets a point value, whereas, in dressage it’s a point value movement by movement.

So, we have a diverse group of readers here.  Some of you are purely spectators, others are judges and still others riders.  I’m thinking of this from many perspectives, especially the fact that our sport needs to be transparent.  Let me hear your thoughts on this subject because I want to know what you think.

Teach Them and They Shall Come