USDF powers who be are raising the qualifying scores to ride a freestyle at all levels to 63 from 60. The rationale is that scores have overall gone up so we need to raise the bar. Also you have to demonstrate technical proficiency to ride a freestyle and most of them think the score should be 65. What do you think? I personally think its exclusionary. A friend pointed out that the directives for freestyles state that it should be fun and not just for scores. I know people who would not have qualified to ride a freestyle at their level, but do fantastic freestyles and score ten percent higher.
Maybe for professionals they should raise it to 63 but keep in 60 for amateurs? I don’t see many freestyles at the shows I attend and upping the qualifying score will just result in a further decrease. Is that what they want?
7 Likes
At least at the lower levels that seems like a solution in search of a problem. It seems like the freestyle entries at lower levels are already thin. Who does it hurt if someone who only earned a 60% does a freestyle?
11 Likes
If judges actually judged and gave appropriate scores as defined by the rule book, we would not have “grad inflation”…see DelMar fiasco.
What is the “problem” that this action is intended to fix?
The USDF Strategic Plan states that they want dressage to be more inclusionary…so how does this do this?
Let them raise that qualifying score and see entries drop…it will only hurt the GMO’s that make money off class entries at shows.
9 Likes
I understand why they would do it, but it’s too bad they are doing it. I ride a very average moving horse. She isn’t bred to do dressage. It’s incredibly tough for her to break 62 percent. We have to ride a very clean test to get low 60’s scores. Nor do I have the funds to show multiple tests or shows until I get the higher score. I was excited as we just got a qualifying score at 3-3, and thought about trying a freestyle next year… guess not though if they upped it.
6 Likes
Certain people in the USDF were really unhappy when the 3rd Level Qualifying Rule was defeated.
My prognostication is that this is the beginning of implementing more qualifying scores…start with Freestyle qualifying, where there is already a score…then go put qualifying requirements elsewhere.
For those of you going to the USDF convention, my suggestion is to make a lot of noise.
1 Like
I personally think freestyles are a waste of time when you have basically zero movements to choose from (I mean really, there’s only so many first level you can watch) so I would be fine if they did whatever to just get rid of them below the FEI levels. They’re already only maybe one entry even at regionals so why even have it.
6 Likes
i am in the same boat. this is disappointing to me for sure.
especially at the lower levels, and for ammys, this change is hugely exclusionary – especially since there aren’t many freestyle entries to begin with. are they looking to kill the class? 
4 Likes
By that same logic they could drop every class below the Grand Prix. Really, the only interesting things about dressage from a spectator’s POV are the piaffe, passage, and the flying changes every stride. These are the movements that make horses appear to dance, and these are the movements that inspire people to pursue Dressage in the first place.
Everything leading up to it is boring to watch, so it should be something that people practice and learn at home, rather than do out in public at the show.
Other people shouldn’t have to be bothered by watching it. And judges do riders on the way up the levels no service by witnessing and scoring something so mundane.
Be interesting, or stay home.
21 Likes
I think freestyles are fun and a great way for people to be creative and pick up points for something other than having a fancy horse.
Leave the score cutoffs where they are.
12 Likes
God forbid lowly AAs be given the opportunity to do a fun class at a show. It’s such a waste of time for those people who are not physically present and in no way impacted by them directly.
25 Likes
If the score cut-off is implemented, it will drive people to schooling shows or other un-rated fun shows…which shows how out-of-touch TPTB are with the day-to-day average smurfs.
5 Likes
Yes!
Not in my region. The shows I go to almost always have 5-10 freestyles spread over the levels Regionals - those classes are usually quite large - think 20+ in the first level. Most classes place all the way to 8th.
You could make that argument about any lower level. You’ve never experienced torture until you’ve scribed first level AA regional championships when the class is so large it goes over two days.
4 Likes
I was just at regionals and there were fewer than 5 entries in any freestyle below 4th level.
Which would seem to suggest that there’s not really a need to prune entries, egh?
17 Likes
Which is why it is so obvious that the USDF is totally disconnected from its member base.
The people riding musical freestyles below PSG are not going to the Olympics. The USEF (USE) already has a qualifying process for its “high performance” division…
So…as someone asked upthread…is this a solution looking for a problem??? If so, what’s the problem? …Or is someone(s) just bored?
14 Likes
Do you really believe this? Everyone has to start somewhere. It’s very insulting to those of us still riding at the national levels, regardless of whether we do freestyles or not.
18 Likes
I think the musical rides
-
Add a bunch of unnecessary cost and effort to showing as you have to have one professionally made, have different ones for different footings and rings, etc.
-
Make the sport seem foolish. I think this is true of all the rides to music at any level. Some people find it all fascinating and artistic, I have never seen the point of it as riding to music has zero to do with the training of the horse or rider.
The musical ride is still required at GP so there was no sense in my posting that we should get rid of it, but I don’t think musical rides at any level add anything to the sport at all.
Just because my opinion differs from yours doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to have one. If you think the musical rides are fun, by all means do one, it’s your prerogative, just as it’s mine to not do one because I think they are dumb.
5 Likes
I think they are just looking for better quality freestyles - from riders who gets scores more consistently over 60%. - meaning they are at the right level for their riding.
You, who are an advocate for good riding, should be happy about this, no?
IMMHO, riders who usually just score in the high 50%s are usually not at the right level for their horse and/or skills and thus, their freestyles are evidently not up to par.
4 Likes
