[QUOTE=Carried Away;6475839]
I was saddened by Parzival’s test too, very unpleasant to watch. I don’t think she let go of the curb rein once. I loved Ravel’s soft expression and wonderful floppy ears!! Valegro was amazing, and deserved to be 1st.[/QUOTE]
I was swearing at that woman from the moment she came into the arena. She was dragging the horse’s nose right into his chest and it looked horrendous. Never saw her ease up on his mouth from step one. 80% disgraceful. :mad:
[QUOTE=AmericaRunsOnDunkin;6476040]
Well I have to admit that watching dressage over the past two days was just a kick in the pants! I loved every second of it. I had some trouble predicting the scores it seemed, but it was fun watching so many “super stars” compete all in one place. Just had to gush for a second and stop and really appreciate the opportunity to watch the competition. I am so loving my sport right now! (Sorry, was that over the top?)[/QUOTE]
:)its been great! I’m starting to watch the replay now…educational to watch again knowing how the scoring went;)
I cant wait to see Valegro, Ravel, and Damon Hill again. And to :no::no: at the Dutch.
Interesting how things change. Who would have thought ten years ago that the Germans would be riding more open and forward and the Dutch would be the Crankin’ crew.
It would be nice if the judges would look at the socring of these cranked and confined horses and try to alter the directives or scoring so that it is penalized more. Many, many dressage enthusiasts do NOT want that to represent the pinnacle of the sport! Yet the judges universally rewarded those rides, so it may be that it works with the current scoring system. And unless something is changed it will continue. With the lovely horses performing and scoring well without this ugly, constrained appearance, it cannot be argued that it is what must be done to win.
I am afraid that there will be much politicking and once again they will decide that the judges were exactly right, the system is exactly right and all is well in dressageland…
Replaying some rides on MSNBC right now. Can’t believe they went to commercial in the middle of Gal’s ride!
I happen to be watching EG’s ride on the mercifully mute replay. He could have done 12 2s with that teacup canter! Talented horse, though, despite the tension.
[QUOTE=lovey1121;6475662]
Btw, I really like Judy the BBC commentator. Knowledgeable and kind, but not afraid to call it the way she sees it.[/QUOTE]
:yes:
Just saw Valegro on TV – LOVE that horse! What a nice test.
So the team medals are awarded after the GPS. Are the scores averaged?
And then the individual medals are determined how?
They seem to change things every Olympics!
To my eye it seemed like the last Dutch rider had a terribly loose curb chain, since there was so much play in the angle of the bit. A tight one would have had a much steeper angle.
The horse also had thatlook like he might be like a steamroller to ride–not terribly pleasant.
Kittel causing trouble again; http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=553759
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/olympics2012/7631/313649.html
Amy Mathieson, H&H news writer
3 August, 2012
The FEI has moved to reassure people who have expressed concern about a photo of Swedish dressage rider Patrik Kittel warming up his horse in what appears to be a rollkur position.
The photo of Patrik and his horse, Scandic, was taken yesterday (Thursday 2 August).
The picture has caused online outbursts from dressage lovers calling it “disgusting” and calling for his disqualification.
But the FEI reassured fans on its Facebook page that its stewards were “monitoring” training sessions — and that single photos could be “misleading”.
A spokesman wrote: “Looking forward to top class dressage performances at the sensational Greenwich Park venue today.
“We are aware that there is concern about some training methods, but photographs can be misleading. Rest assured that our stewards are always there, on the ground, monitoring all training sessions.We’re on the case.”
I do hate that people will use one photo to make a point. I’m sure there could be some terrible pictures of all of us doing different things!
Agree!!!
The voice is such a wonderful aid!
So funny about the Parzival comments.
I didnt see the entry so wasn’t blinded by the entry and saw an extremely (almost impossibly) active hind and nice poll up ride. As did the judges 
The horse is obviously the most “dancing” one of the bunch if that matters… in activity.
In person I am sure he is a pretty amazing beast.
Where the funny part comes in is because I would love to see some of the cothers enter that arena and avoid the giraffe their horses would turn into (if we could stay on long enough) wihout coming behind the verticle LOLOLOLOL.
There is NOTHING wrong with riding round right before hand right before your test. NOTHING.
I saw a lot more to like in dressage today !
Watching on replay, but:
I love Fuego and his rider! The smile on Juan’s face just showed how proud he is of that horse and the way he waved to the crowd (blew someone a kiss!) seems like he was happy to have been able to please the crowd as much as the judges. That’s the first I’ve seen them, but I think I’d actually like to meet Juan. 
And Valegro’s test took my breath away. SSOOO beautiful, I had tears in my eyes: it seemed like Valegro was more than just a horse. Definitely will be rooting for them!
I’m an eventer and have been glued to the dressage coverage…You guys are amazing and if you really do get those horses to go the way they do and not via Rollkur, then I am thoroughly blown away! This morning I saw Charlotte Dujardin’s test and pretty much sobbed my way through it! What a gorgeous symphony it was and she was so thrilled and loving of her horse it made my day.
NOMIOMI1–I’m going to follow you around and agree with you. I forwarded to Parzival’s ride so I could see what they were talking about. I DID see the entrance. He was NOT cranked in. The reason the curb looks like that is the chain is so loose it is ineffective. The only reason he can open his mouth is because the noseband is loose enough.
Again, it seems a LOT of people commenting on this do not ride FEI, have not, and have not ridden hot horses. Sometimes you need to basically ride without a curb chain to make them happy, which is the ONLY way the curb can come back that far. The ONLY times I have gotten comments about curb too tight was when I had the chain so loose as to be ineffective.
I saw a LOVELY test with a relaxed, happy horse, poll high, swinging tail abd back,
[QUOTE=rothmpp;6475971]
Regarding the voice aid - glad to see that I was not the only one who heard the whoa from Kittel. Thought maybe I was hearing things…
Very subtle (or not so subtle) voice aids are heard all over dressage tests. It’s hard to remember not to, unless you never speak to your horse when riding, ever. And most judges tend to ignore, or at most make a comment in the remarks, a small slip. It’s got to be pretty blatent for most judges to deduct for it. And in those booths that they were using, I’ll bet they weren’t even hearing the horse as much as we were on tv.
Totally agree I’d rather have a small voice aid, than a gouging spur. The problem then comes from what is small… The next thing we’ll have is riders yelling and grunting all through tests ALA Monica Seles tennis of the 90s.[/QUOTE]
You can’t have voice in Dressage, otherwise horses would just be taught to respond to voice cues and not proper aids. That is trick/circus riding not real riding.
I am one of Valegro’s biggest fans but he looked OBESE today! I hate seeing fat dressage horses- they are athletes, people! How often do we compare dressage to ballet…have you ever seen a fat ballerina at the top of the sport?! No wonder he seemed to be missing a bit of his usual extreme lightness. His ride was very correct and he’s still a phenomenal horse, but I am positive he would’ve scored higher if his weight wasn’t fighting to keep him earthbound.
Those high-gain directional microphones they’re using are picking up a lot more than the occasional “Mysterious Gwook”!
[QUOTE=Mickey the Marcher;6476410]
You can’t have voice in Dressage, otherwise horses would just be taught to respond to voice cues and not proper aids. That is trick/circus riding not real riding.[/QUOTE]
Disagree, voice is just one aid.
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