Great Meadows International

[jcraig10]

That was a bit of a wild ride to watch where PD fell off. His 4* rides are much smoother!

Buck withdrew his 4* horses, hope all is well. He seemed to have a nice ride in the 3*

[Carolinadreamin]

Was anyone able to see why Kim went outside the rope?

[wsmoak]

Sinead does such a good job as commentator. (Did Karen joke earlier that the producers slipped her a note to “be nice” ? LOL. I do enjoy the instructor-type commentary, that they need to slip their reins or that they’re landing with their foot behind the knee too much. But yes, keep it positive.)

[JFJ]

@gottagrey

yes it does - watching the live feed - have had a couple of spills - didn’t show them and a few near misses… nice to see Buck back in the tack after his injuries.

I can’t believe he is riding let alone competing! How does his face look? I’d imagine a bit bruised!

[FrittSkritt]

@Equisis

I don’t know that I would notice as a rider- I get absorbed in my warm up and tend to not notice other riders unless they are really drawing attention. When I was grooming, I would probably have approached her groom casually about it- and I have done so, in the past. I am also a little surprised a steward didn’t say anything- my rider liked to carry his whip until the last possible minute, and I was frequently asked by stewards if he had forgotten to drop his whip, and did I want to remind him? IME, they were pretty invested in not sending anyone into the ring with illegal equipment. (Not casting any blame here- just my experience grooming at a lot of big events with a rider who walked the line!)

It sounded like she didn’t know the rules, so the responsibility is entirely on her. I feel like that’s something that’s beyond forgetting to take off bell boots or carrying a whip - and with the rules changing every year, I’d hate to be the person who tells someone one thing and have it be another!

[TXnGA]

@EventerAJ

I never quite understood why doubles were allowed at Intermediate 2*/3*/whatever…it is roughly equivalent to 2nd level, and should not need a curb for that level of collection.

Would have thought the bit check would catch that, but some shows’ covid protocol is by-passing the bit check and/or dropping bridles after the test for visual inspection. Sucks to be eliminated for missing a new rule change, but such is the sport.

Bit check / bonnet check/ spur rubs/ spur length was done after the dressage tests at GMI this year. There was no check prior to dressage.

[devvie_continued]

@wsmoak

Sinead does such a good job as commentator. (Did Karen joke earlier that the producers slipped her a note to “be nice” ? LOL. I do enjoy the instructor-type commentary, that they need to slip their reins or that they’re landing with their foot behind the knee too much. But yes, keep it positive.)

I agree . . . I enjoy the team of Sinead Maynard and Karen O’Connor. But . . . here’s my wishlist/complaints department report: 1) Say who YOU are. I came in part way through the commentary and didn’t recognize Sinead’s voice, had no idea who it was for more than an hour of the live stream. Commentators, radio hosts, bands: they tell their audience who they are, they don’t expect their listeners to recognize their voices. Can you imagine this happening on radio???

2. Use the first and last names of riders, and repeat them! For example, when you say Will, do you mean Faudree or Coleman? I have no freaking idea, commentators, and I need you to make that clear for me. I’m sure I’m not the only one who sometimes doesn’t watch 100% of a live stream but wants to HEAR 100% of the action through the commentary. THAT’s what I feel that these two don’t always do well/remember to keep in mind.

[Jealoushe]

@devvie_continued

I agree . . . I enjoy the team of Sinead Maynard and Karen O’Connor. But . . . here’s my wishlist/complaints department report: 1) Say who YOU are. I came in part way through the commentary and didn’t recognize Sinead’s voice, had no idea who it was for more than an hour of the live stream. Commentators, radio hosts, bands: they tell their audience who they are, they don’t expect their listeners to recognize their voices. Can you imagine this happening on radio???

2. Use the first and last names of riders, and repeat them! For example, when you say Will, do you mean Faudree or Coleman? I have no freaking idea, commentators, and I need you to make that clear for me. I’m sure I’m not the only one who sometimes doesn’t watch 100% of a live stream but wants to HEAR 100% of the action through the commentary. THAT’s what I feel that these two don’t always do well/remember to keep in mind.

I find this annoying too, I didn’t watch this particular event but in the past they always assume we all know the riders/horses/nick names and stories etc. Half the time you have no idea who or what they are talking about.

[FitToBeTied]

They need to get some professional commentators. Active/retired competitors are fine for some color but you need a real pro announcer for the play by play.

Two things I keep waiting for but I guess are never going to happen. The first is to get more realistic dressage scores on US based events. It seems at our home events we get these amazing scores but then when we travel the scores always tumble back with only a couple of exceptions. The other thing is tougher courses. Like the first point, we have people cruising around XC courses but have problems replicating those results on the big international stage. If you want to compete with the best in the world then you can’t be competing on fluffy courses.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

@FitToBeTied

They need to get some professional commentators. Active/retired competitors are fine for some color but you need a real pro announcer for the play by play.

Two things I keep waiting for but I guess are never going to happen. The first is to get more realistic dressage scores on US based events. It seems at our home events we get these amazing scores but then when we travel the scores always tumble back with only a couple of exceptions. The other thing is tougher courses. Like the first point, we have people cruising around XC courses but have problems replicating those results on the big international stage. If you want to compete with the best in the world then you can’t be competing on fluffy courses.

I guess I disagree (not about the professional commentators…I’m with you on that)…the dressage scores are generally accurate in the US…they are a LOT better abroad. What is competitive here in the US (after all 3 phases) is not what would be competitive abroad and that is what shows up…meaning people finishing in the top 10 often would be just mid pack at a comparable event abroad. And then the problem with replicating things on the big international stage is that we just don’t have the atmosphere at the US events like they do abroad. Then you add in travel and that many are running over a course for the first time, different footing etc…yeah, its harder.

[Divine_Comedy]

@FitToBeTied

They need to get some professional commentators. Active/retired competitors are fine for some color but you need a real pro announcer for the play by play.

Two things I keep waiting for but I guess are never going to happen. The first is to get more realistic dressage scores on US based events. It seems at our home events we get these amazing scores but then when we travel the scores always tumble back with only a couple of exceptions. The other thing is tougher courses. Like the first point, we have people cruising around XC courses but have problems replicating those results on the big international stage. If you want to compete with the best in the world then you can’t be competing on fluffy courses.

I both disagree and agree on the judging for this weekend. First on the realistic level of scoring…well. The live stream only showed the last session so it’s hard to get a good read on whether we really had deflated scores or not. I think perhaps a little, but word was that the judges over at Burgham were also throwing out 9s like candy, so honestly it could have really just a been a bit of ‘thank god we are back to normal’ that we are seeing. Also, we’ve got a good number of pairs who have actually gone overseas and laid down better tests, even personal bests, so I don’t think that is always our biggest issue. Honestly I think going out in XC and making the time as well as jumping clear, has become our bigger issue.

Also, I’m sure we also saw a lot of these riders who did their homework over the break.

Having said that…the judges were all over the place from each other. There were a lot of major differences in options, ranging from B scoring 7.5 points lower than C to B scoring 5 points better than C. It wasn’t just a matter of B using their scale more either…nor consistent via session, time of day, nothing. No real pattern. So I would hope the two judges take a few minutes and talk with each other to see why there were so many differences and try to learn from that.

As to the cross-country…no, it wasn’t as hard as it has been in the past. It was also fairly discussed, both in media and by riders, that this is essentially serving as the first event back for the season, for some of the entire year. And DOC reportedly took that into account when designing the course. He tested the horses through their fitness and the optimum time, which was quite influential as we could all see. The footing was reportedly good enough (though holding) to push for the time if you wanted to do so without undue risk of injury, but again, as the first event back we saw many pairs picking a more conservative pace.

Yes, we need to test our horses over courses up to standard but the first of event of the season/almost of the year is not the event to harp on the difficulty of the course. I’m sure next year GM will return to a more testing level and hopefully our remaining events on the fall schedule take an appropriate step up. Hopefully Tryon’s 4*L provides a more testing course than WEG proved to be, as we will need our riders ready to contest tough courses.