Thank you. Of course.
Iâd like to hear more from people more knowledgeable than I about what made this a good test, even an excellent test.
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Please re-read Iberianfanâs post. Post #2
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The flapping mouth does not indicate that he isnât accepting the contact. It looks like itâs part of his MO, heâs thinking, processing. Itâs softly flapping and also very foamy, which doesnât look like resistance. A gaping mouth would indicate that. His isnât gaping. And the tongue out is also a more egregious fault than lip flapping. His tongue isnât out either.
So he might have been marked down for being too busy in the mouth in some movements. By some judges. Is there a public record of the comments? We donât know that he wasnât faulted for it without seeing the remarks. It could have been an 8 that got knocked to a 7.5 for âbusy mouth.â
I have scribed CDIs with a panel of five judges and have had some who were VERY bothered by a busy mouth on an FEI horse, mentioning it in every other comment box. And then, scribed the same competing pair the next day for another judge, who didnât even comment on the lips, or seem to care.
The most current GP horse in our barn does this same thing and actually makes a little huffing noise as his lips flap. Similarly to my experience at the CDIs, some judges comment and others do not.
I donât know what âI am a Smurfâ means in this context?
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what didnât you like?
I thought it was a remarkable and decent test. What I notably didnât like were the wide tails on the riders coat.
Iâm looking. Would appreciate any help.
Poll lol. Iâll fix the typo
https://www.longinestiming.com/equestrian/2023/ifema-madrid-horse-week-madrid/resultlist_D02.html Hit details. Notice degree of diffilcuty.
Phew! And I now retire for the night.
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I should have known. Iâm just such a literal person.
There are actually some interesting transitions in that test that demonstrate a great amount of skill.
The horse is a Spanish horse with a lot of knee movement, so yes, quite different from a Warmblood or a horse that moves with more suspension vs knee action. Nothing âwrongâ with it. Thatâs the horseâs movement. Some Spanish horse genetics just produce that type.
The horse is absolutely using his hind end, but that push is going to look different on a horse with that much knee action. Heâs not behind the leg, and his hind quarters are engaged. Theyâd have to be in order to pull off some of those transitions and the movements in general.
Itâs very hard to have the poll as the highest point on these Iberian types, and I donât view that as a hard and fast or absolute rule.
When youâre not being distracted by these differences, youâll notice a relatively technical test.
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Good comments. I saw an exceptionally balanced and agile horse performing a series of smooth, catlike movements.
What an intelligent-looking horse. Just so perfectionist in each hoof fall. To me, the horse looks soft and the mouthiness is thoughtfulness and concentration.
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Babyâs got butt
That horse sits and powers off the hind legs really well. Compare his P&P to the strung out hind legs in the next county we see in some WBâs (note, not all before the pitchforks come out)
The test was difficult technically - very! One that played to the horseâs strengths really well.
Some of those transitions were pretty epic in terms of difficulty and could not have happened if the horse wasnât powering from behind and receiving that power smoothly through the bridle.
The poll issue crops up regularly with Iberian stallions, they have enormous crests and if you took that away the poll would be as high as the fashion dictates.
The flappy lips were a distraction, not something I liked to see, but it didnât seem to suggest a similar level of tension through his back or the movement wouldnât have been as fluid (and the extended paces not so freely forward). One of my PREs was an incessant bit fiddler and lip smacker - anything in his mouth set him off, bitless he was totally quiet.
Was it worthy of 100%? No, but it didnât score anything close to that. IMO it was a good and very technically difficult test executed well.
And yes, Iâm biased as hell, I love Iberians 
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Mostly 9âs for Degree of Difficulty from the judges.
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Just curious, what was the purpose of posting this clip with the âHmmmmmâ title and no other commentary?
It seems like the intent was to solicit comments that you could then debunk.
I really like reading other peopleâs analysis and learning from them but this feels more like a set up than a learning opportunity.
PS - Thank you to the people who did post informative commentary, I appreciate you
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Silverbridge,
âSmurfâ is internet slang, and maybe COTH slang, for a lower level rider, who will never be a big name or a mover and a shaker. âSmurfâ is one level above a backyardigan.
I was qualifying my opinion as someone who only has knowledge and experience of lower level dressage. And FWIW, I know next to nothing about Iberian horses.
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I posted it because I was impressed with the ride and thought others might enjoy it, too.
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But âHmmmmmâ not âWow, look at this performance!â
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âA bit tight in the neckâŠâ anyone who owns and rides a PRE has gotten this comment multiple times. They will etch it in my tombstone. This is the one of the hardest parts about riding these horses. Super horse with lovely straight movement up front. PRE gaits tend to look like they are in âslow motionâ - they donât have the snappiness in the hocks that you might see in a warmblood. They almost roll through the entire leg, all the joints. And yes, catlike is a good description.
I saw the horse get strong in the contact once coming back from an extension, but it looked pretty even otherwise. Nice to see a test with no tail wringing. And talk about starting out with a bang, difficult transition to pull off correctly.
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Ok and I guess now you learned something 
. Given your own description of yourself maybe, just maybe you were a little overactiveâŠâŠ.
