I’m surprised there’s no discussion thread so far - who is watching? The commentary from Carl Hester yesterday was like a master class.
PSnif you’re wondering how to watch, get the free 30 day trial premium membership from Clipmyhorse.
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I am not watching - had a Clipmyhorse subscription for a while but it took two years of wrangling with them to get it cancelled - what an operation!. Needless to say, I won’t patronize them again.
But I saw a blurb somewhere that Ashley Holzer’s horse freaked out and her score reflected it. I feel so sorry for her - it was her first time representing the USA and I am sure she is quite disappointed. But as we all know, horses are horses. 
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Tuned in just in time to see Charlotte Djaurdins test. As a hunter land drop in wow. Agree the commentary is very good. Break coming up then it really heats up for the medals.
I did see Ashley Holzer yesterday. She handled things so professionally but yikes. Her horse looked like it’s mental ability to piaffe disappeared. At WEG. Again, she handled it really well, imo.
Also agree CMH is awful but with the new update at least now I can find the events I’m getting raked for.
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That “blurb” was probably from DressageHub, who is chortling with glee that Ashley had problems and has pulled out every video clip of every bad moment she can find.
And what you said is pretty much what Ashley said - they are horses and not machines, and shit happens. Gut wrenching when it happens at a championship, but she handled it with grace I think, more concerned with letting the team down than anything else. The US team is so strong though, I don’t think it will hurt their standings much overall
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I saw that.
With how supportive some in the Dressage community has been towards MB, you’d think that would spread…
Eh, I take that back. I think most know about DHubs sour grapes approach to everything.
Holzers success will be even sweeter for having overcome, in the end
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Nope - I don’t patronize DressageHub or the wacko that runs it.
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I saw the “blurb” somewhere else - didn’t see the ride but yes, it appears that she did handle with grace and understanding of her mare. I thought the scores for Steffan and Adrienne were a bit below some earlier 2022 tests, and maybe below hopes/expectations, but as I didn’t watch, hard to say.
Interesting that some days ago, Dressage News did an article on how the teams would place based on averaging each rider’s high score from earlier this year. He had the order exactly correct.
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I thought the rest of the test was quite lovely, especially the canter tour after the meltdown. Horses suck sometimes, lol.
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Starting on Wednesday you can watch the Paradressage free on the FEI YouTube channel. In a way I’m sad it isn’t restricted by broadcast rights as it means more people won’t encounter it in other streams of the show but not arguing with free and not having to cancel in time.
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NICE! These riders are amazing…
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I believe Horse and Hound had the article about Holtzer.
Someone commented on it that horse had issues in the past in the ring, does anyone know if that’s factual? First I’ve heard of that.
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Yes the mare has had issues off and on. There are several videos, (from guess who…) and it looks like the mare is spooky, has slammed on her brakes and said “no, not going there” and other times where you can see that she sort of shies or or moves off her line, or breaks her gait or stops paying attention. She seems a talented mare very good when she can stay focused.
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Can’t wait! Canada has a very strong para team this year and they are also each lovely people. I will be watching and cheering every step!
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She seems quite spooky and has had other tests where she just says NOPE once in a while. But it’s not the pattern of disaster a certain someone who loves to hate Canadian riders makes it out to be. Havanna is similar too - I watched Ashley almost end up in the VIP tent at Global this winter when the mare lost it in the victory gallop. So there are moments for DH to compile into one of her beloved “dressage disaster videos,” which are rarely more than a bad moment or two, followed by a strong recovery like we saw with Valentine yesterday.
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Adrienne’s ride was nicer than I have seen with this particular horse, and I’d love to know how her piaffe scored (will investigate as I suspect it’s posted somewhere) because it felt like the most textbook correct of the piaffes I saw, which was certainly not every rider. I have not seen her on him since Tokyo, and assume they’ve improved! There were some mistakes which took their score down, but I can’t remember what at the moment.
Steffen rode the heck out of a tough ride. Suppenkasper was tighter in his back than I’ve seen him and seemed to be well behind the leg even then. I think he has improved overall, as it seemed like they fully earned that score, in large part because of how incredibly well Steffen rode what was clearly not the easiest day for his horse.
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Scroll down the list until you find the rider whose movement scores you want to see. In the far right column, click on Details. A new screen will pop up, containing the individual scores for each movement by each judge.
Adrienne got 7.5 - 8.5 for the piaffes.
Movement 8: 8 7.5 7.5 8 8 8 8
Movement 15: 7.5 8 8 8 8.5 7.5 8
Movement 30: 8 8.5 8 7.5 8.5 8.5 8.5
By contrast, Cathrine scored a range of 7 - 9 for piaffe.
Movement 8: 9 9 8.5 7.5 7.5 8 8.5
Movement 15: 9 8 8 7.5 7.5 9 8.5
Movement 30: 9 9 8 7 7.5 8.5 9
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@netg - thanks for the input on the scores. I can’t quite get a grip on the pressure at this level and the horses must sense it too. When reaching for those 75+ scores, every little tiny thing either hurts or helps. Its interesting, when you look back since a year ago, Steffan showed his horse a number of times during the season, while Adrienne’s had I think only one ride. Different management styles, different reasons.
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I loved Lottie and Glamourdale’s ride yesterday, but totally get why Catherine scored higher. Vamos isn’t as exciting a mover and she nailed every transition and her collective marks were higher too. She’s just so soft and quiet - love her riding!
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Amazing result for GB. 3 horses at their first championship event and 1 horse doing his 4th lifetime GP test. The future looks good.
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Ok that makes sense, spooky isn’t the same as a total disaster as the one comment I saw made it out to be. So awful how people can pile on on these occasions.
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