90.750% What do you think?

I can say that this is an amazing ride. I can also say that I enjoyed watching it, and I put it in my favorites on my account at Youtube. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_FDK04vXaI (if there is no link, please copy and paste the link)

I wonder, now that we have broken through the "glass ceiling" of 90% (it wasn't that long ago that 80% was unimaginable), if we are going the way of other olympic judged events (I am thinking of ice-skating, gymnastics and diving, for instance) that we will soon have to re-think our scoring system....because after 100%, where do we go?

Now, before you start thinking, "well that won't happen, because how often do you see a perfect ride?", remember--a score of ten does not mean it is "perfect"; a score of ten means it is "excellent"...and we don't even have the luxury of tenths of points (yes, I know--halfpoints for freestyle) It is not just semantics. There are real consequences to approaching 100% scores, and there are widespread ramifications. I wonder if anyone at the FEI organizational level is thinking about this--I wonder if our FEI judges are thinking about this?

But then, watch the video, and ask yourself--"where would I have taken away points?" I understand the score, and agree with it when it is judged against our current standard and methodology, but this is what begs my question in the first place.

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Comment by Mary McGuire Smith on September 14, 2009 at 8:14pm: And I guess a better, more direct, question would be "do you think that the scores are rising across the board due to unfair pressure on judges to reward riders who THINK they should be getting a better score, when in fact, the riders just are not willing to put in the time and effort necessary to deserve the higher scores"? Boy, that sounds bad, and I hope I don't get flamed too badly.......

Comment by Mary McGuire Smith on September 14, 2009 at 8:10pm: Thanks for your comment, Dorita, and I agree--I see the same faults (relatively speaking, LOL) as you do in his performance, and the same brilliant performance....but you made the point that "modern" judges are more willing to give the big scores--and therein lies my question. 90% is not that far away from 100%, when you stop and think that I can remember when not so long go (within the last twenty years), if you scored a 60%, that meant you were on your way, and 65% as a median score over X number of shows, meant that the work was good and you were probably ready to move up....and I am talking all the way up through GP on our national show schedules, and on the "small tour" as well as the "O" listed rider/horse partnerships in the FEI. Nowadays, no one is satisfied unless they are pulling scores of 65-70% (whether their horse deserves it or not, and I have seen judges not called back to judge again--yes, in USDF/USEF rated shows here in FL--if those scores were not acheived by a fair margin of the riders--again--deserved (IMHO opinion) or not). So that is what begs my question--opinions?

Comment by Dorita Peer Kozak on September 14, 2009 at 7:04pm: I am a USDF/EQ Senior Judge. RE: Totalis: It is great to see such a young GP horse relatively free of tension and yet giving it 100% energy, the emphasis is on relatively. That explains the 10% difference between what Totalis' performance is and what it still could be. For example, I recall the rides of Margit Otto-Crepin on Corlandus. There I can also see "10"s in passage, half-pass, extensions, piaffe and pirouttes, and the rest of his work is not too shabby either. That was before judges were willing to give big marks, which I think is as you say quite "modern", but that's okay with me. I'd like to see Totalis use his neck more when he extends and his nose more forward in order for the kind of extension where the slight jerkiness is absent. The extravagance in his shoulders is something that can lead the eye away from the hindleg and back, and that slight restriction in his back shows up in his extended walk, where he looks a little muscle bound.

I've never had a horse half as gifted as Totalis and I celebrate what breeders have added to the recipe that it takes to make such a great performance. That horse's attitude is his greatest asset. His conformation and type is the ideal to make work easy for him. Watching his confidence and harmony with Edward is really moving. It is great that he is a stallion!