2019 National Level Judges Clinic

On January 19 & 20, 2019, USDF held a national level judges clinic presented by Lois Yukins, Gary Rockwell and Lisa Gorretta at the Embassy Suites West Palm Beach Center and at High Meadow Farms.

Lois Yukins is a USEF ‘S’ Dressage judge and a 4* FEI Dressage Judge. She is on the USDF judges committee and is an L Faculty member. Gary is an FEI O/5* judge, USEF ‘S’ Dressage judge and FEI Young Horse 5* judge. Lisa Gorretta is on the USDF executive board, serving as president, and she is a USEF Level 3/FEI Dressage Steward and R/Dressage TD.

Lois began the clinic by telling the full-to-capacity crowd that we needed to “forget the politics.” She emphasized that as judges we work for the horse, who doesn’t care about the ribbons and who doesn’t care about rider medals. We work to help the rider be good for their horse. Not only that, but we are also obligated to learn. She said that it’s important not to compromise our standards. Lois asked us to answer these questions:

What are we trying to do?

Who are we trying to please?

Are we on the right track?

Then Lois spoke to the USDF L Graduates and the USEF ‘r’ Dressage judges in the crowd and said, “Have you learned you won’t make money at this? You do it for the love of the horse!”

Gary discussed the 2019 tests and the changes made. He spoke about the design and flow of the test at each level from test 1 to test 3. He talked about the coefficients and why they were placed to emphasize certain movements. He said that the coefficients are placed to emphasize the training issues the committee sees. In this case, the committee added coefficients to transitions because they felt this area was really lacking in the horse’s training.

As always, in every dressage clinic, we went through the pyramid of training in great detail. This is the highlight:

Rhythm (regularity and tempo)

Suppleness (elasticity and freedom from anxiety)

                Lois reminded us that we can only redo muscling. We can’t change bones. We can help the horse move more efficiently within the range of the bones.

Contact (connection and acceptance of the bit through acceptance of the aids).

                Lois gave us the example of dominoes to demonstrate back-to-front riding, with the last domino being the horse’s poll pushing forward.

Impulsion (engagement and the desire to go forward)

Straightness (improved alignment and equal, lateral suppleness on both reins)

                Lois wanted us to know the difference between straightness and alignment. She said we work on straightness from the moment we get on a horse, even at 3 or 4 years old. A horse may lose straightness due to an evasion. When we notice, for example, a short side left and long side right, we need to build the muscle, especially on the horse’s short side. If a horse leads with his haunches (an alignment issue), he will become on the forehand.

Collection (balance and lightness of the forehand from increased engagement)

                In order for a horse to be able to produce collection, he needs more engagement, more power, and more straightness. The horse must be even behind, with even muscles.

Gary said our highest goal as judges was to place the class correctly. He thinks many judges are afraid to use the lower end of the point scale.

We watched videos and discussed scores and appropriate comments. We discussed the walk, trot, canter, stretching the frame, turn on the haunches, working pirouette, pirouettes in walk and canter, piaffe and finally passage. We held up point cards so everyone could see the range of scores. Certain participants were called upon to discuss their score. It was also discussed throughout the video session what are “worse” faults. For example, in a flying change, is a miscount worse than a late change? No. Although a counting mistake is not good, a bad change is worse because the training is wrong.

Some comments that Lois and Gary made were:

o   In the walk, the whole horse needs to walk “catlike.” The whole body should swing.

o   Don’t use the term “needs more” so often. Saying “needs to reach to contact” is better.             

o   Don’t let the rider get away with fiddling with the bit.

o   Underline key words on the directives.

o   Qualify comments “a little unclear at _____,” “at times a little too ____________,” “a little unsteady at _______.”

o   In a turn on the haunches, if the rider is pushing the haunches, that is a rider error. The girth and shoulders of the horse should move. A horse can’t engage if the haunches lead, and the movement can’t be supported if not in alignment. Also, the rider needs to understand shortening the stride is not slowing the tempo. Gary also advised riders to continue on the line they come out on. No leg-yielding or half-passing back into place!

o   Let the rider know if a movement, such as a pirouette, is not started clearly from straightness.

o   In a canter pirouette, can the judge tell where it starts and if the rider is in control?

o   A piaffe has no impulsion because 2 feet are always on the ground. Look at the quality.

Lisa Gorretta took us though some of the USEF rules, ranging from errors to tack. She also spent time on the new Social Media policy that licensed officials must adhere to. It was emphasized that we need to be professional and ethical when using social media because the lines may blur between us as judges and us as individuals. Some specifics mentioned in the policy:

o   Disclose we are a licensed official if we are discussing USEF-related matters.

o   Be clear when we are expressing our opinion so it doesn’t appear that we are speaking on behalf of USEF.

o   Be careful about the personal information we disclose.

o   Act responsibly and ethically so we don’t misrepresent ourselves.

o   Honor our differences (no discrimination).

o   Adhere to the laws governing copyrighted materials.

Then we looked at various bits and other tack to identify what was legal or illegal based on new rules. Just because some bits or bridles may be illegal one year, doesn’t mean it will be illegal the next year so it’s important to stay on top of the changes.

On Sunday we drove through near hurricane-like conditions, barely seeing the road and definitely not seeing stop lights, as we made our way to High Meadow Farms to see live test rides. We self-judged each ride and then had discussions, using our point cards to show each other and group leaders our score ranges as we compared what we did to what Lois or Gary did. As is always the case, scores seemed to vary based on where on the short side we were sitting. For example, everyone to the left of C may have scored a movement in the 7 range while everyone to the right of C scored the same movement in the 5 range. This also led to discussions on the value of panel judging and what can cause scores to vary. It was especially helpful to discuss each ride’s main issues and how that became the words for the further remarks.

Gary told us not to be so tough with everything at training level. For example, if the horse breaks gait, and the rider is quick to correct it, the judge can give a 5. A break of gait at training level doesn’t automatically mean 4 or less. He also said that since the FEI tests only have one collective score, which is for the rider, we have to take into account the whole ride, not just how the rider sits. If the horse’s tongue is out, has bad transitions, quits behind – everything is taken into consideration. We also discussed movements like a halt not being square makes the rein back easier, or noticing if a horse has more trouble bending right than left and seeing how long it takes for a horse to cross a diagonal.

We were grateful that each scheduled horse and rider showed up to present their test. Many of the horses were tense from the weather conditions, and one rider even had an unscheduled dismount during a bronc that developed from the medium canter. The exposure for us was invaluable, and we appreciated the opportunity to observe and learn.

Although Lois and Gary didn’t agree with each other over everything that was said, they did embrace each other’s differences, and the event was light-hearted and jovial. It was a real treat to be able to attend the clinic. Not only was the West Palm Beach setting gorgeous, it was also wonderful to connect with old friends, and I made many, many new friends.