‘There’s only one scale of marks for me’: Clive Halsall on judging at the upcoming Dressage World Championships
Britain’s representative on the dressage judging panel in Aachen explains how he’s been preparing for the World Championships and why there’s an extra layer of pressure this time
Top British judge Clive Halsall tells H&H what he’s been doing to prepare for the Dressage World Championships, what he finds hardest about judging and how he’s looking forward to every minute.
In the words of Clive Halsall
I got the email in January. It just arrives from the FEI – no phone call, no fanfare – and you’re being asked to officiate at a World Championship. It’s not my first senior championship; I did the Europeans in Rotterdam in 2019, and the World Cup Final in Leipzig, as well as plenty of under-25 championships. But there’s only one of us who gets to go each summer from Britain, so it’s a privilege and you have to take it.
I honestly can’t remember exactly when I started judging. My List Six exam was around 1990, then List One in 2006. It’s really thanks to Stephen Clarke that I went further. He asked if I’d go forward for internationals, so I took my three-star in 2012 and my four-star in 2014. If I’d fully understood what I was signing up for, I might have thought twice! But once you’re in the system, you want to see it through.
Stephen passed not long ago but he was our mentor as well as a good friend. Everything I know about this job traces back to him one way or another.
Staying sharp means judging as much as possible. I’ve always thought that to be a good rider you have to ride a lot, and to be a good judge you have to judge a lot. This year alone in preparation for Aachen I have been to Mexico, Brazil, Florida, Sweden, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Fontainebleau in France, Germany. It’s not as glamorous as it sounds; entering and leaving the EU now takes forever – it took me two hours to get out of Lisbon recently.
I found the hardest thing to learn with judging, oddly, wasn’t the judging itself but sitting still for hours without being able to do anything about what you’re watching.
The dressage will be hosted in Aachen’s main arena
Aachen will be different because we’re in the main stadium this time, which we weren’t in before for the Europeans in 2015. It’s an incredible venue with so much history and I think the standard keeps getting higher every year – good horses, good riders, with real pressure on them in that environment.
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I’ll be at C for the team test, so there’s an extra layer of pressure for me there too. But there’s only one scale of marks for me, whether it’s a small local show or a championship. You have to mark the same, and be prepared enough that nothing surprises you.
“Aachen an incredible venue with so much history and the standard is getting higher every year”
Clive Halsall
Technically, things have shifted. The final collective mark changed from general impression to harmony, so now it’s all about assessing correctness and harmony in every one of the 33 movements, in seconds, with no time to doubt yourself.
The freestyle is its own challenge: we see each rider’s floorplan on paper only moments before they enter the ring, so you’re absorbing an entire routine in a couple of minutes before assessing how well the music enhances what’s happening rather than the other way round. It’s mentally exhausting in a way that has nothing to do with being physically tired.
You try not to get too emotional about a freestyle, but you can’t always help it. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl’s La La Land freestyle with Dalera has always stayed with me. I try to stay analytical, but some performances get you anyway.
Continuity helps too. I’ll have the same scribe, Andrea Foss, throughout, having worked with her in Fontainebleau and Rotterdam already this year. There’ll be seven of us on the panel, with a Judges’ Supervisory Panel watching everything on video behind us. Riders get their score before they’ve even left the arena now, which still amazes me given how long it used to take on paper.
People always want judges to mark exactly the same, but I find the small differences interesting. A horse can look completely different from the front, back, and side – you’re not moving around with them, you give your opinion from the angle you have. Everyone brings their own experience to what they see from their seat.
What I love most is that this job has taken me round the world, into different cultures, with different people. What I love least is the travelling itself, if you haven’t already been able to tell. But Aachen, in that stadium, with a field this strong – I’m looking forward to every minute.
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).