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Development Notes

When I was accepted to the USDF LProgram, I didn’t know preciselywhat to expect. I did anticipategaining a better understanding ofthe technical analysis of judging,biomechanics of the horse and rider,rules and regulation, and what theviewpoint is like from C. The USDFL Program was all of this and more!Fortunately, years of Pony Club

ratings provided me with thestrength to manage the stress andhigh expectations of the examiners,to study the materials, and practicemy judging skills. This wholeexperience has magnified myunderstanding of dressage judgingterms, requirements of the levels,modifiers of the tests movements,definitions of the scores, directive

ideas, dressage rules and attire, andhow to show empathy and provideconstructive feedback to the rider. Inorder to provide insight to myexperience, I will highlight specificdetails and the primary focus ofeach session.

The sessions of the L Programare taught by a plethora ofwonderful and experienced judges.Session A was instructed by JanetFoy. This session focused onprofessional expectations andresponsibility of a judge, judgingmethodology, rules and theirapplication, general biomechanics ofthe horse and gaits, and the Pyramidof Training.

Firstly, it is apparent that judgesmust maintain professionalism andconsistency no matter what thesituation, but consistency is adeveloped skill. I knew right awaythat I would be spending most ofmy time practice judging. Since Ihave been riding dressage for years, Iknew many of the rules; but I wassurprised at how detailed they reallyare and the protocols that need to befollowed in order to enforce or takeaction on them. It took many timesof rereading and asking questionsabout the rules to clearly understandthem. As we moved into judgingmethodology, I realized just how

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The Trip Harting Grantby Nicole Charbonneau, H-A, Cheney Pony Club, Inland Empire Region

The Trip Harting Grant was established in honor of a popular Pony ClubDressage judge and instructor. Trip was a Graduate A member fromPotomac Pony Club.

This wholeexperience hasmagnified myunderstanding ofdressagejudging…

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Development Notes

much thought a judge must truly putinto their score. There are so manymodifiers that contribute to or takefrom a single score and to whatdegree do you use it to determinethe score.

The biomechanics of this ses-sion was the primary focus. It tar-geted on how the conformation ofthe horse, muscles, tendons, liga-ments, and bones all work togetherto create movement. This section ofthis session was crucial for under-standing how the horse uses itsbody, how it affects their gaits, andwhat to look for as a judge. The de-veloping eye of a judge relies heavilyon understanding what you are look-ing AT and what you are lookingFOR. Again, this emphasized theneed to practice judging. This ses-sion offered help in this area, as bothdays we were able to watch horsesgo through specific movements oftraining through second Level. JanetFoy would ask us for our score andwhy we gave it. This provided a lotof feedback on what is the criteriaand the essence of each movement.Little did I know that I would havethe criteria and essence of the move-ments memorized by the end of theprogram.

Session B goals were to help usunderstand the criteria and purposeof each level and the criteria forgaits, paces, and movements. TrennaAtkins was our instructor and sheprovided video after video ofdifferent tests, movements, andvarying qualities of horses to helpdevelop our eye. This session wasgreat as it allowed for numerousopportunities for discussion aboutwhat to look for in each movementand also how to differentiateexpectations through each level.

Again, we had the opportunity eachday to watch horses performmovements and to score and discusswhy we gave it that score. I foundmyself keeping pace better thissession as I watched and scribed formyself. I also felt I was gainingunderstanding on how todifferentiate the basics, criteria, andmodifiers of each movement.Granted, I still had a long way to go!

Session B was extremely helpfuland detailed as the reading materialwas specific to each movement ineach level. The reading material hadthe biomechanics of each movementand listed the criteria, purpose oraim, common faults, suitable vocab-ulary, and modifiers that often oc-curred. I found this session to be thegateway to developing my eye andappropriate language to use per eachmovement. After this session wascompleted, I decided that I wouldneed to create a document with eachtest movement with lists of vocabu-lary from tests I had accumulatedover the years and that of my otherdressage friends. I worked on thisdocument for several months withanother candidate. When it was fin-ished it was thirty-five pages longand worth the time! Janet Foy hadrecommended that we do this and Iused it throughout the program.

Session C was taught by AxelSteiner and this session’s emphasiswas on the collective marks and howto efficiently develop the finalremarks. I immediately realized thatbrevity is not my strength, which isprecisely what you need when youare writing final remarks. I realizedthat as a rider, I never knew just howmuch thought goes into theculmination of the collectives andfinal remarks. With Axel’s humor

and experience, he took some of theanxiety out of this, but still stronglyimpressed upon the development ofthe final remarks as I watched thetest. He suggested jotting down abrief note or even keeping thehandy composite of further remarksthat the L Program provides in ourdressage test binder for a quickreference. I practiced both days ofthis session on how to ascertainwhat the obvious strength andweakness is of each horse and ridercombination and put it into words.This was difficult, because there areso many facets of dressage, so whichdo you weigh importance on? Now Ihave to apply my knowledge of thecriteria and essence of themovement!

Additionally, Axel discussed thethree new rider marks and thoughthe idea of having three would allowfor a better evaluation and feedback,it also presented challenges. Wediscussed in depth what each ofthem evaluate, how to score themconsistently, and how they tie intoSubmission and Impulsion. I left thissession knowing that I wouldcontinue to reread material until thisprogram was completed.

So now that I made it throughPart 1, I was ready to get started onPart 2. I wanted to apply what I hadread, reread, discussed, andpracticed. Part 2 is comprised ofthree sessions called D1, D2, and theFinal Exam which all occurred atrecognized shows. The D1 sessionallowed me practice my judgingskills, learn how to work withscribes, get a feel of the pace of onetest after another, and to rememberto breathe through it all. We hadscribes the first day and practicedour “real time” judging. The

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Development Notes

candidates are allowed one warm uptest, followed by six more tests thatare judged and scored. This formatwas followed in all three levels. ThenI compared my scores to that of theinstructor, who was Axel Steiner.The tabulation sheet allowed me tosee how I placed each class and myoverall point comparison to Axel.This provided the opportunity forme to discuss horses that I struggledwith and other questions that I had.This first session in Part 2 was trulyan eye-opener at how much a judgemanages. There are so manyunforeseen things that may and dooccur and that it takes great skill tokeep pace with the test and deal withthe scribe getting behind, writing inthe wrong box, the rider going offcourse, or a naughty horse. Thesecond day of the session wasdesigned for us to practice oraljudging skills and discussion with theinstructor about what we saw. It wasnerve-wracking for me to have Axelsitting next to me, but greatpreparation for the final exam. Theoral judging portion required me toshow confidence and understandingof the requirements of the tests andthe training pyramid.

The D2 session was much likethe D1 session, but with higher ex-pectations for us to show a greaterlevel of understanding, confidence,and independence. Janet Foy was theinstructor for this session. She did agreat job impressing upon us that wemust watch for the quality of thehorse and be committed to givinghigher scores if the horse and riderare doing a great job. She explainedthat often L Program candidates getcaught up in “laser” judging and thisintense focus is often on the nega-tive occurrences of the test, rather

than the positive ones. I found herdiscussion on this to be very impor-tant and it conveyed the importanceof giving 8’s or 9’s along with 3’s or4’s if necessary. Janet reiterated theimportance of having a spread ofpoints from first to last place, so thatyour class is clearly placed in the cor-rect order. Again, the first day wasslated for practice judging and thesecond day was for oral judging.Janet had a different exercise foreach candidate depending on ourarea of weakness. Instead of justjudging the test, she had some candi-dates discuss what element was miss-ing of the training pyramid per eachmovement or had us state theessence of each movement.

Throughout the duration of theL Program, it was required tocomplete at least 12 hours ofscribing and 10 hours of sitting withan “R” or “S” judge. Theseexperiences were invaluable! I spentmuch more than the required timewith both scribing and sitting. Allthe judges were so helpful inallowing me to ask questions inbetween rides and giving tips abouthow to develop a judgingmethodology for specificmovements. Two judges went so faras to allow me to tell them mycomment and score with givenmovements and then they wouldgive their own. It is obvious thatthere is much support among judgesfor the L Program and developingupcoming judges.

The Final Exam took place inSacramento at the CDSChampionships. Finally, ten monthslater and a trip out of state, I hadmade it to the final exam. I wasstressed out and anxious, but readyto do my best to pass this exam with

distinction! This time we had AxelSteiner and Debbie Riehl-Rodriguezas our examiners. It was comprisedof the written test, which occurredFriday night and then two gruelingdays of the same format as theprevious sessions. The two bigdifferences between the exam andthe other sessions were that therewas no feedback and that we didmuch more oral judging. We watchedand judged beautiful horses andriders trying their best in theirchampionship class.

In retrospect, this programtaught me more than I expected,gave me the tools to judge fairly andconstructively, and it has made me abetter instructor and rider. I spenthours and hours reading therecommended books and materials,watching old dressage tests, usingYoutube and USDF’s e-Trak tojudge out loud, traveling to shows topractice judge, and meeting withother candidates to study. Lastly, Ihad a huge amount of support fromKari McClain, “R” judge, AnneAppleby, “r” judge, and MikeOsinski, “S” judge who mentoredand organized additional practicesessions comprised of volunteerriders from our barn for three of uscandidates who went through thisprogram together. They ferventlysupported our endeavor with theirknowledge and experience of what ittakes to be a successful judge.

Thank you for the financialsupport that The DressageFoundation’s Trip Harting Grantprovided in developing my educationas a judge. I did pass with distinctionand hope to continue on to the “r”judge in due time. g

To find more information on thisgrant, visit the “Opportunity”page of www.dressage.ponyclub.org .