To me, the most comfortable, practical, affordable, easiest and most enjoyable place to judge from at a real competition is a clear space, with my car parked on top! A guaranteed comfortable seat. A clear view. Comfortable temperature and airflow. Comfort for my writer, too. And everything I might need within arm’s reach: spare pens, tissues, water, Ibuprofen, spare contact lenses, sunglasses, air conditioning, heating and snacks! Accountability is a great thing. To me, mobil

This is one of the busiest times of the year for pure dressage competitors, and ..... believe it or not, it's also the time when competitive eventers focus, I mean really focus, on their dressage We're fortunate enough to have Andrea Bowen as a RingCraft Community member and enthusiast, so she'll ensure anyone enquiring from this page gets THE BEST deal possible, coupled with the very best service too. Fully installed on a heavy-duty galvanised steel structure Premium 8ft x 4

When panel judging, it’s common practice for each judge to make a note beside each competitor’s name on the start list. Why? Because if there’s a significant discrepancy between the judges’ marks, that note helps them remember the combination when discussing the test afterwards. So, ask yourself: What do you want the judges to remember about you? “The smiley rider with the super halt!” Or… “Grumpy rider, backward-thinking horse, tongue out far too often.” Every test leaves

Over the next two weeks, a number of our judges will be taking their BD upgrade exams, or hoping to get on the List for the very first time. @everyone — please join me in wishing them all the very best! A huge amount of work has been going on behind the scenes. The Exam Prep WhatsApp group and the individual level groups have been pinging non-stop, while 1:1 mentoring sessions are happening every day, including evenings and weekends, as we work together to dot the i’s, cross

October 14th. The one day of the year when I get a personal ‘half halt’. The anniversary of my rotational at Weston Park. This year’s ‘half halt’ is particularly well timed, coming straight after a week of intensive FEI training. Usually, it isn’t the difficult fences that are the riskiest. Those are the ones that get the better riding, the extra attention and the respect they deserve. The risky ones are often the fences we take on at speed, perhaps without giving them quite

The FEI course itself taught me a huge amount about the jumping side of things, with Badminton course designer Eric Winter and WEG CD Guiseppe Della Chiesa. Both extremely knowledgeable people. Jo Young from Canada imparted lots of interesting dressage scenarios from her incredible FEI journey, for vibrant discussion. The best part of the entire course for me was coming home each evening to an Air BnB that I shared with Anne-Marie Taylor and Joanne Jardin. We talked, we bant

If a rider makes one clear mistake in a performance – a break of pace, an incorrect lead – I’ll reflect it in the mark for that movement. But I try not to let one error cloud my judgement of the overall quality of the test. Sometimes it’s simply uneven ground or a momentary lapse of concentration. Often, the rider quickly regathers, the horse recovers and the performance improves from there. In these circumstances, I wouldn’t normally make a further deduction in the collectiv

I was asked about this in a 1:1 mentoring session yesterday and thought I’d share my thoughts. To me, when a horse is executing a walk pirouette and the inside hindleg doesn’t move at all when it should be coming off the floor in the 4-beat sequence, that is ‘stuck’. If, within that 4-beat sequence, the inside hind should be coming off the floor but instead turns or pivots whilst remaining on the ground, that is what I would call ‘pivoting’. ‘Stuck’ is worse than ‘pivoting’.

Every performance has a highlight. I always try to see it, and I always try to state it in my collective comments. It might be the energy and enthusiasm forwards into the bridle. It might be the elastic strides into and down from medium or extended trot, whilst keeping the rhythm completely clear. It might be a particularly good transition, a lovely moment of self-carriage, or simply something that really stood out as a strength in that particular performance, like the flying

To me, the difference between a 7 and a 7.5 / 8+ in the way of going at Nov /Elem / Med is that little bit of extra quality. When the hind leg comes underneath and propels the horse upwards as well as forwards, it gives me the feeling that the horse is not only round, on the bit and securely connected, but also showing some spring, lift and cadence. “ My horse just doesn’t have the ability to do this,” I hear you say. I beg to differ! I’m sure you’ve seen your horse turned ou

Being able to achieve a clear four-beat rhythm in walk is an important goal for any competitor. It becomes even more important when the walk is on a double coefficient, because losing clarity in the rhythm can have a significant effect on the overall score. Being able to identify good and poor rhythm in walk is equally important for any judge — particularly anyone preparing for a judging exam. It sounds simple enough, but actually seeing and accurately assessing the four-beat

Dressage is the only para-equestrian sport included in the Paralympic Games, with competitors divided into five grades, from Grade I to Grade V, according to their functional ability. Classification is carried out through physical assessment, with the aim of grouping riders with similar functional abilities so that the impact of their impairment on the competition is minimised. The important point is that the principles of judging are exactly the same as for able-bodied dress

Today marks the start of ‘Exam Month’ for a number of our judges preparing for their upgrade attempts, including some who are hoping to get onto the judging lists for the first time. Needless to say, our current 14 out of 15 pass rate, or 93%, has attracted a few judges who have struggled in the past, for a variety of reasons. But make no mistake: these exams are difficult. Outside of this group, the success rate remains very low, at around 20%. The strategy we use within the

I see any pink tongue showing, as well as different degrees of tongue being visible, as something that detracts from the way of going mark. In an exam, I feel any tongue showing, to any degree, needs to be mentioned in the movement where it is seen. If it's seen in two or more movements, this should also be reflected in the collectives, with acceptance of the bridle underlined. The co-operation mark takes the hit — to a degree appropriate to what you have actually seen. I don

When you turn up the centre line to ride a leg yield or half pass back to the track, be really sure about your accuracy: Where does the movement start Which marker should you reach? Have you spent enough time on the centre line first? It’s surprisingly easy to get penalised for TWO movements if you start your sideways movement too early. Start the leg yield/half pass early → you haven’t spent long enough on the centre line = lost marks for the centre line movement. And becau

I’ve been using my AV Edge wristband and Niagara Therapy chair together for some time now, and I genuinely feel the difference. We’re surrounded by electromagnetic signals every day — 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, radio waves and more. One of the effects that is claimed in relation to electromagnetic exposure is that it can cause red blood cells (RBCs) to clump together, potentially affecting how efficiently oxygen can be transported around the body. AV Edge wristbands and patches are d

It really doesn’t take a lot to do a little better. I recently ran a poll in our Super Speedy Scribes WhatsApp group, and the responses were really interesting. For many, it really is the little things that make the difference: Some scribes are simply grateful for the opportunity to put something back into our sport. Nothing more than a 'Thank You' required. But some told me they will only make the effort at a venue once — particularly if they don’t even get a thank you. And

When I’m judging at the lower levels, I try to make sure I sufficiently reward correct training and accuracy, even when the horse / pony isn’t yet securely round and on the bit. To me, there needs to be a distinction between a horse and rider whose foundations are in place and developing correctly, and one where they are simply trying to achieve the movements. For example: An attempt at the correct inside bend Changing the diagonal correctly when changing the rein in trot A r

I'm often asked if judge differently at unaffiliated competitions? My answer is: No — not when it comes to the marks. My question back to competitors would be: Would you expect me to be more “friendly” with my marks and comments at an unaffiliated competition? And, if so… Would you really prefer to get a higher mark for a test that perhaps wasn’t quite as good, only to get a lower mark for the same — or better — quality test when you go affiliated? To me, the only way to be f

The nose is generally pulled in, and a tilt through the poll soon becomes apparent. It can look as though, if the inside rein were released, the whole structure of the movement would fall apart. The shoulder-in needs to be through from the inside leg to the outside hand, with the outside rein providing the security and connection. The shoulders should clearly be displaced from the track, while the frame of the horse should appear a little more uphill than it was before the mo