DeRosa Daily Equestrian Olympic News
Horsesdaily Veteran Olympic Reporter Diana DeRosa Brings Us Into Her World

Response To "Should Brilliance Be Marred By One Mistake"

The other day I begged the question that when a major mistake is made in a ride, should that reduce the score so much that the rider can’t win or when a ride is that good, should the good outweigh the bad.  I asked you to write me because I wanted to know your thoughts.  I was referring to Isabell Werth and Satchmo’s ride because they at one point stopped in the ride and then did a combination mini rear/buck.  Since then, the Grand Prix Freestyle has taken place and Satchmo spooked and bucked again and still won the Silver Medal.

In that same test Steffen Peters just missed getting the Bronze Medal.  Afterwards in the Press Conference Pamela Young asked the same question I asked you.  She questioned the German judge but  prefaced her comment by saying that she was no dressage expert but asked him to explain what we all had missed.  He did, but he also prefaced his remark back to her by saying, you did say you are no dressage expert.  He explained it this way.

The degree of difficulty of Isabell’s test was much higher.  The half pass was much more sizable than Steffen Peters.  Passage was much better and all the transitions.  In piaffe we gave only one mark.  Sometimes the horse was too short at the neck.  You have to look 180% of these details.  The winner today was Anky.  The ranking was really perfect.   Isabell’s horse has fantastic basic paces.  Anky today her piaffe passage transition was very good; also the harmony and the music.  With the mistake of Isabell – we have to put a rider down on the artistic side of the sheet.

Pamela accepted his comment but then asked him to explain how all of the judges marked Steffen either 2nd or 3rd in the Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle, but this judge marked him 6th and 9th.  Peters missed the Bronze Medal by .30 (Heike scored 74.455 and Peters 74.150).  Of course there are those that believe politics was involved since both the 2nd and 3rd placed riders were Germans, but there are others who feel that the judges really do judge what they see.

I really enjoyed Steffen’s ride and it’s sometimes hard to understand how one judge could mark so much lower than the others and just enough to exclude Steffen from an Individual Medal.  However, like Pamela I will admit that my knowledge of dressage is good but not excellent and therefore I have to rely on the word of the judges for the subtle and finer details.

So, now let’s move on to what those of you who responded had to say.  I appreciate the fact that every one of you who wrote put a lot of time and thought into responding to this question and I benefitted from all of your responses as I’m sure others here will.  Claudia Tarlov also thanked me for taking a multi-faceted approach (Interesting articles! I love your approach, through so many perspectives!).  Claudia, that is exactly what I am trying to achieve with my columns – some depth, some color, some thought provoking ideas, some personal perspectives, but most of all getting you (the readers) involved and giving you the chance to feel a part of this Olympic journey.  So, now read what they had to say and learn from their comments:

Vanessa and Danielle's Response