[QUOTE=Equibrit;8792657]
She actually did seven strides in one of the zags.[/QUOTE]
Did she? Now that’s a mistake I didn’t notice. Thanks for bringing that up. I’m planning to rewatch some of these rides later. Thanks!
Wow, I have been in meetings and missed most of the last group. Huge Kudos to Laura for besting Hans Peter and putting the U.S. in 3rd place going into the GPS!
For some reason, I thought HP was riding Flirt at Rio - didn’t realize he had brought Johnson.
PS. They apparently adjusted Isabel’s score. It’s now a 80.643 and she’s in 4th behind her other two teammates and Charlotte. At least, this is what the Rio2016 website is now saying…
Interesting. Thanks for the update J-Lu. I can’t remember entirely because I’ve had to wake up at 6 the last four days to watch all of this and I am exhausted. I thought I saw a lot of zig zags where the count was off.
Laura did lovely count and bend, but that last change she looked like she just forgot.
Isabel was correct in the count and even from side to side, but lacked bend and oomph.
The zig zag has SO many elements that they are scoring on with each half pass, each change, the quality of the canter, the quality of the bend, the throughness, etc.
That’s what makes Valegro so amazing. You start at everything on him with a 10 and can take a few little bobbles off here and there, but it’s like it’s opposite of the other horses who are building to perfection. He only has small deductions from perfection. I wonder if we will ever see a horse like him again. It is a lesson in how to do things correctly.
[QUOTE=J-Lu;8792679]
PS. They apparently adjusted Isabel’s score. It’s now a 80.643 and she’s in 4th behind her other two teammates and Charlotte. At least, this is what the Rio2016 website is now saying…[/QUOTE]
Oh good thats a little more fair! I thought Dorothee and Showtime had a better ride than her!!
[QUOTE=Beentheredonethat;8792692]
Interesting. Thanks for the update J-Lu. I can’t remember entirely because I’ve had to wake up at 6 the last four days to watch all of this and I am exhausted. I thought I saw a lot of zig zags where the count was off.
Laura did lovely count and bend, but that last change she looked like she just forgot.
Isabel was correct in the count and even from side to side, but lacked bend and oomph.
The zig zag has SO many elements that they are scoring on with each half pass, each change, the quality of the canter, the quality of the bend, the throughness, etc.
That’s what makes Valegro so amazing. You start at everything on him with a 10 and can take a few little bobbles off here and there, but it’s like it’s opposite of the other horses who are building to perfection. He only has small deductions from perfection. I wonder if we will ever see a horse like him again. It is a lesson in how to do things correctly.[/QUOTE]
They will just have to clone him :lol:
[QUOTE=belgianWBLuver;8792700]
They will just have to clone him :lol:[/QUOTE]
Ooooh. They’d better. I want one!
“Legs”
What a great barn name! He certainly has pretty ones. 
(Watching on MSNBC. Not live, but great.)
So the Special determines the Team medals. How many go into the freestyle? And they all start even again?
The top 18 go into the freestyle. All previous scores are wiped out and only the freestyle scores count for individual medals.
I am not sure I will ever understand all of this.
Okay, so now for the Special. Which is??? Another go at the same test as today? A different test? All riders for each country’s team will go in the Special (and yes I know, only some of the countries have qualified to be in the Special). And then also some of the Individual Riders from the countries who did not send a full team will also do this same Special?
Do the scores at the Special stand alone, or are they added to the current scores?
When does the Special start? I think tomorrow?
I am very much looking forward to the Freestyles … they are always wonderful and so entertaining. And, now that it has been explained, I won’t have to be so confused about scoring for the Freestyle.
I still don’t understand about the Special, though.
SCM1959
Special is a different test. Think of it as the GP test on steroids. It’s much more compressed, but still the same movements. So, with tired horses in Rio (from the heat) tomorrow could be interesting. And tomorrow’s scores count for 50%, as today’s scores were 50% of their totals. I believe the Special starts at the same time tomorrow as rides started today.
Oh, and yes. Top teams move forward to the Special, as do a number of riders that are not a part of a team. If you look at the results page for the Rio Olympic dressage, you’ll see “team” listed next to the riders that are a part of a team at this point.
Are there awards at the end of today? Or do the scores get carried forward to tomorrow so there is just one set of awards for all 3 days?
And what is so “special” about the GP Special?
They changed the format. They used to have it so that you could move on from the GP to the special or the freestyle. And determining the individual score just on the freestyle is a change, too. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not.
Tomorrow after the special there will be team awards.
The special is just a variation of the GP, like the variations of the tests when we have 1,2, or 3.
It’s pretty exciting for tomorrow. It seemed coming into this there was a lock on the awards. Now, not so. I think if we have really solid rides tomorrow, and all three can go for it a bit more(and I think they all can) we can get bronze and “maybe” challenge for a silver. It’s not set in stone.
And I think it’s really great there are so many countries with really solid teams that did well. It bodes well for a more open future in who can do well in dressage. Before Valegro, GB was never in the mix.
[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;8792777]
Are there awards at the end of today? Or do the scores get carried forward to tomorrow so there is just one set of awards for all 3 days?
And what is so “special” about the GP Special?[/QUOTE]
Here’s the test:
http://inside.fei.org/system/files/GPS_2016.pdf
I think the team medals are awarded after the GP Special.
A different test.
The GP test sheet:
http://inside.fei.org/system/files/GP_14_09-2013_0.pdf
The GP Special (or GPS) test sheet:
http://inside.fei.org/system/files/GPS_2015.pdf
Note that the suggested average time for the regular test is 5:45, while for the GPS it is 6:40. The length can definitely be a factor in the performance.
Oops sorry Bristol we were linking at about the same time.
GMTA
Maybe we should simplify it all:
Grand Prix Test = All riders
Grand Prix Special = Top six teams and top individual riders (not a part of a team)
After the above tests are completed, the top three teams (total scores which are three of the best riders from each team) win medals.
Freestyle - top 18 riders (cumulative scores GP and GP Special) ride freestyles. Top three finishers (based only on freestyle results) win medals.
[QUOTE=Velvet;8792833]
Maybe we should simplify it all:
Grand Prix Test = All riders
Grand Prix Special = Top six teams and top individual riders (not a part of a team)
After the above tests are completed, the top three teams (total scores which are three of the best riders from each team) win medals.
Freestyle - top 18 riders (cumulative scores GP and GP Special) ride freestyles. Top three finishers (based only on freestyle results) win medals.[/QUOTE]
The ‘official’ explanation said that the riders were riding for team and individual medals concurrently. Did it mean that the riders are riding the GP and the GPS to determine which countries win team medals — but the “individual” component of those tests only relates to who qualifies for the FS? And the scores are wiped clean after the GPS, so that everyone who has qualified starts the FS with a blank slate?
Would this be like gymnastics where the team medals are determined after everyone has competed in the different exercises ---- but then the slate is wiped clean, so that the individual medals are a competition in their own right (but the participants qualify through their individual scores in the team portion?)
How can I be a horse person, and yet I understand how gymnastics works so much better than I understand how the medals for dressage work?
I gather that this way to doing things is new? Do regular dressage competitions run the same way as the Olympics now?
