Does anyone know how Edward Gal is doing?
What happened to him? Is he okay I hope so.
[QUOTE=Countrywood;8609716]
What happened to him? Is he okay I hope so.[/QUOTE]
Old news, Countrywood. http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2016/03/10/edward-gal-withdraws-2016-cdi-w-s-hertogenbosch
Riding in a CDI tomorrow according to Undercover’s Facebook page.
[QUOTE=Silverbridge;8609736]
Riding in a CDI tomorrow according to Undercover’s Facebook page.[/QUOTE]
Oh, thank you!
Good news that he is is okay he is such a classy and talented man.
He had a not good ride on Undercover today that he is being skewered on the Interwebz for.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t sit in judgement at their keyboard. 
He had a not good ride on Undercover today that he is being skewered on the Interwebz for.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t sit in judgement at their keyboard.
[QUOTE=redsoxluvr;8611631]
He had a not good ride on Undercover today that he is being skewered on the Interwebz for.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t sit in judgement at their keyboard. :/[/QUOTE]
It looked and sounded as if it was windy as hell! He gave the horse a very sympathetic ride.
My horse (also middle aged and should-know-better) is a complete freak at venues if he doesn’t compete every month or so. Some are just like that!! I think a tense performance after a break is quite normal.
I think the slating is that people believe he was marked too generously. I haven’t seen the test so I don’t know.
[QUOTE=redsoxluvr;8611631]
He had a not good ride on Undercover today that he is being skewered on the Interwebz for.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t sit in judgement at their keyboard. :/[/QUOTE]
When I saw that video, I watched it, felt bad because conditions were obviously bad, spooky horse, I also admired the rider for sticking it out and riding the entire test.
When I saw the score? I had to roll my eyes. Over 70% for a really bad ride? That is not skewering Edward Gal, but the judges.
I honestly would expect a sub 50% ride from judges in this region. Because even the “good” moments in that test were tense and at best, satisfactory. Nothing in there was even fairly good.
That test was not good to watch, I wanted to avert my eyes, in sympathy…maybe that is what the judges were doing…and then just doling out “Superstar” scores envisioning a Totilas ride.
Where is the video?
http://www.dressage-news.com/?p=35754
I’d also love to see the video. According to dressage news, he was working on an 80%, when he got 1’s for a piaffe/passage - but then recovered
[QUOTE=yaya;8611898]
Where is the video?[/QUOTE]
Facebook link to video here:
https://www.facebook.com/leonoor.vandongen/posts/10209286777632234
Oh big deal! The horse was tense and had a little melt down. The rest of the test was very well ridden considering the horse was upset, certainly more than 5s (sufficient) some was 6 (satisfactory) but lots of quite good and good 7/8. Well ridden and much better than nearly everyone else in the worlds best
I was watching dressage the other day, and one horse had a MAJOR meltdown in pretty much every downward transition - running backwards, rearing and general leaping about. There were at least 5 such incidents in the test. They still won their section! I guess 8s with some 4s still trumps 6s across the board. I would have found it difficult to not let the misbehaviour affect my scoring of the other movements, which were fine. I personally prefer a calm, obedient test, some people prefer that extra sparkle even if it boils over into tension at times. Might be a reminder to not play it too safe when competing 
That horse does not seem to have a weak spot - a wonder of modern breeding and training by the best…I did not see him in Aachen, but hope I can get to see him in early June…would be a highlight for me.
[QUOTE=redsoxluvr;8611631]
He had a not good ride on Undercover today that he is being skewered on the Interwebz for.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t sit in judgement at their keyboard. :/[/QUOTE]
I’ve seen the judges skewered while all the comments I’ve seen (I have NOT gone looking for them in general, though, so have no large sampling of what’s out there) were complimentary to how quietly and peacefully he rode a horse who hadn’t competed in a while and was obviously worked up. For that, I personally think he’s best in the world.
The score, though… just no.
If you were correct on what they deserved, this pair has deserved scores close to 100 in the past. To their own standards, it was a terrible ride. To mine, it was clearly amazing - but we’re talking an international competition. If I were able to ride that well (no question I’m not!!!), as a nobody - the judges would have given me a score in the 50s if I were lucky. It was a very bad day for the pair, but with a difficult horse sometimes a first outing in a while will be. Judges just have to be consistent - and you could tell by the differences between judges on the same movements they simply didn’t know what to do. How rare is it to see a top rider on a horse having such a bad day? It’s understandable they had trouble figuring out what to do, too, especially since they find themselves under great scrutiny if they differ much from other judges.
[QUOTE=sammy14;8612029]
Oh big deal! The horse was tense and had a little melt down. The rest of the test was very well ridden considering the horse was upset, certainly more than 5s (sufficient) some was 6 (satisfactory) but lots of quite good and good 7/8. Well ridden and much better than nearly everyone else in the worlds best[/QUOTE]
Agree. After reading the commentary I was expecting to see a real train wreck of a ride. Other than the few mistakes, there was a lot of really nice work, and the score seems fair to me
Wasn’t it also Gals lowest GP score ever on the horse, and a score that dropped him from the top 10 into the doesn’t even matter placing on the leader board ? Sad for the people he beat to realize that even with big mistakes Gals test is still better , but that’s life…
