Don’t forget that these horses are extremely fit and absolute freaks of nature to be able to jump and gallop the way they do! It’s incredible how well the lids stayed on today despite that, really a testament to riders putting in the work to get better at dressage while still being able to go fast and jump really scary things. Eventing is really a test of finding that balance, which is so tough as keeping 3 phases balanced is darn near impossible!
Side note, I thought Alex Hua Tian’s horse showed the most dressage quality out of all the rides today, did anyone else see his test?
But the “string” goes diagonally across the coat from the one button and only on one diagonal. It doesn’t look like piping. If you watch the replay, check out Boyd Martin.
Event horses look happier doing dressage because it is a much lower level test than GP dressage, so easier and less physical and mental stress on the horse. Another big reason is that event horses are far more likely to get turnout time in pastures and often with a buddy or two, and they get frequent outings in the great outdoors - hacks, conditioning gallops, etc. UL dressage horses OTOW typically don’t get much turnout and it is a rare UL dressage rider who takes her horse on hacks/trail rides on a regular basis.
People complaining that he didn’t get stopped mid-test and got a score; it wasn’t clear at the time. The “after check” verified some bleeding and he was eliminated then. More complaints that horse stuff needs to go…
Eventing dressage has points off added instead of subtracted, so low is good (even though the movements still get the 1-10 that straight dressage gets)
What I appreciate about eventing dressage compared to “pure” dressage is that the horses, almost without exception, are happy to GO FORWARD. They sometimes show some tension due to their sheer fitness and eagerness to go run and jump, but they don’t show the tension/anxiety/bottled-up quality so common in dressage these days - even at the levels equivalent to the eventing tests.
And THIS is the problem with dressage. If upper level dressage horses are not hacked, turned out, or trained with stress, then the problem is with the trainer. Yeah, I get the argument about how “valuable” they are…horses will be horses…they will find a million ways to injure themselves.
I don’t see the problem with GP training being stressful. It all depends on the horse’s physical abilities. If they are a klutz and can’t do collection, then the rider should not ask beyond the horse’s capabilities. You have passage, piaffe and tempi changes. If the horse has athletic capabilities, the horse can perform these movements. The problem is what dressage judges are judging in competition.
The best piaffe I have see was done by an ex Amish Belgian plow horse who was a schoolmaster at a riding school. He was trained by an “old timey” trainer who didn’t compete, just liked training horses better than training people.
A lot of the fun of watching eventing dressage is that occasionally one of them goes bonkers. Admittedly less and less so every year but it still happens.
I enjoyed watching this more than I usually do, it’s a lovely venue and Lucinda was a fun commentator, she added a lot of context. I loved the guy on the 21 yo horse who as she said “basically just going around on a loose rein”.
It is also very interesting to see horses who are not custom-built for dressage doing it. It reminds me of how dressage was 30 years ago.
I saw two Chinese riders, both men on bay horses, and I thought they had lovely rides on lovely horses. the bay mare with the white face that went in an absolute downpour won my “horse I’d personally like to own” award. (NBC has not been putting their names up on the stream I’m watching so it’s really hard to know who they are).
The dressage is actually relaxing to watch. One reason I watch cross country is because of the amazing riding, especially over the fences. The rider’s position is secure and has a real foundation. So different than the hunter riders we see so much of.
ps. the replay on :Peacock includes about 120 seconds of ads between each ride. There’s a timer letting you know how much longer until they return to the event. Jumping ahead is not permitted . Also, if you want go back to watch a previous ride, you’ll get 120 secs of ads again.
One of the Chinese riders is Huadong Sun. His horse is a Zangersheide mare named Lady Chin V’T Moerven Z. I am pretty sure I heard the commentator say he is based in Germany. He finished in 36th place on 33.60 penalty points.
The other Chinese rider is Alex Hua Tian. His horse is a BWP stallion named Jilsonne Van Bereelhof. I haven’t had a chance to watch his ride but it must have been wonderful - he finished in 3rd place with 22.0 penalty points.
Adding that I wanted to watch the second group of dressage rides before watching XC, but you apparently can’t watch a replay while a segment of that sport is being broadcast live. So I will have to wait until later to see dressage group 2.
