10/21/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/1DjWEfSgkG/
Observation and Celebration.
Dressage Judging is always under the radar lately. There is a lot of buzz about protecting the horse and our sport. As and aside...for those who want to understand better, There is also education available. Several friends of mine have audited the L ( learner judge ) program USDF offers to better understand the scoring and what the judge sees.
For a while competitive dressage seemed to be going down the wrong path towards a more domineering rider who rode through force and horses with learned helplessness. Rollkur or riding in a forced low deep extremely round position for extended periods made an appearance. Now I don't see much rollkur....mostly people who don't really understand it. ( calling rollkur any time a horse is behind the vertical or when a horse has a moment of unbalance or distraction) but...that's a chat for another day.
I do think the tides are changing...Justin and his stallion brought a lot of happiness and excitement back to the sport. Why ? Because of theirs tangible partnership. It is beautiful. Horsemanship is now at a forefront because phones call out everything all the time. Carl's horses get to live a more horse happy life than most competition horses. Too many survived in a stall all their lives...without much time to be a horse ( joy of friends, of galloping and playing and movement ! )
So this brings us full circle back to local dressage and judging. How do we change at the grass roots level ? We must keep the grass roots growing or there will be no future to the sport except for by the wealthy and elite. Horses are becoming more and more expensive. Local shows are filling !
I donated a Harmony award to the local show series at Columbia Riding Club this year. (I talked about it before. )You know what? 3 shows. 3 different L judges and the same 3 riders won the Harmony award . One rider won it on a horse and a mule and the other 2 rode the same horse both times.. and 1 was in a western saddle. The breeds were : Quarter Horse, Gypsy Vanner, pony mule and small pony.
I think this is exciting for our sport ! Judges agreed and saw the same qualities !
While I would have loved to see 6 different riders win them...I also am delighted in the eye of our L Judges! Each judge will emphasize different traits. Its human nature: suppleness, connection, forward, balance etc.
Pretty cool they agreed on Harmony.
I think it's definitely 👍 up to our sport. The future is bright.
( I used this photo of Campbell on Consider Me in their Wonder Woman costume from a few years back....Halloween fun )
