A new system of dressage scoring due to be tested this summer could make judging fairer, more accurate and more educational, according to its creators.

Wayne Channon, secretary general of the International Dressage Riders Club, has been working with dressage at Hickstead founder Dane Rawlins on the method, which they believe would bring the discipline in line with other judged sports such as gymnastics.

It involves riders starting theoretically with a 10 for each movement, from which fractions of marks are deducted depending on the seriousness of the error or weakness.

Wayne explained that a codified system would be agreed to determine how much would be deducted in any instance.

“If a horse has one irregular step, for example, that might be a 0.1 deduction,” he said.

“If it’s more than two or three steps, that might be a 0.5, five to 10 steps might be one mark deducted, all the time could be two marks lost.

“There are eight components [such as impulsion, contact and precision] that judges are supposed to look at and work out which problems there are with each, then make the appropriate deduction.

“With our system, judges can look at the components and make very specific deductions, which are documented.”

As currently, judges would watch tests but would call out each deduction as appropriate, which would then be entered by an assistant using a smartphone or tablet app, pictured.

Wayne believes the method will provide more detailed feedback for riders and trainers, on exactly where marks have been lost, but also result in more accurate scores and remove any bias.

“If someone’s very famous, and you know they’re going to get 75%, you start with that viewpoint, so you’re a bit on the upside already,” he said.

“You can’t train people not to have these biases; conformational bias is probably one of the worst.

“Properly used, these components should allow a more normal moving horse to beat an extravagant mover if the latter didn’t have good rhythm, contact etc. Currently, that really does not happen much.”

The system is due to be tested, alongside the current method, at Hickstead next month (28-31 July), in the invitational grand prix class being held during the British Dressage (BD) regional championships.

Related articles:

• ‘Too good an opportunity to miss’: Hickstead regional championships date change
• David Stickland: ‘is judging fit for purpose?’ *H&H VIP*
• Calls for dressage juding overhaul: FEI responds

A BD spokesman said: “There has been much talk of this system for some time now but it is very difficult for us to comment as we’ve not seen a clear plan of the system, how it works and the associated pros and cons.

“From what little we do know, there are reservations but we will always strive to keep an open mind.

“We look forward to working with Dane and Wayne on their findings and subsequent recommendations, but must never lose sight of the fact that we must continuously strive to improve the training and education of judges to ensure fair competition.”

For more on the proposals, see this week’s H&H magazine, out 9 June.

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An innovative system to evaluate and train dressage judges will be unveiled at the Global Dressage Forum (GDF) next month (26-27 October).

Maarten van der Heijden, sport director for the Dutch federation (KNHS), will explain the “judges’ dashboard”, developed over the past year in collaboration with the esteemed British scientist Dr David Stickland.

The dashboard has been trialled at around four Dutch national shows a week, in classes just below small tour.

Using programs provided by Dr Stickland’s company Global Dressage Analytics (GDA), every point is recorded. Within three days of each show, judges can study their analysis at home. Non-explainable differences are then evaluated with a personal coach.

GDA already offers a riders’ score analysis service, taken up en bloc by the Dutch federation in 2013.

Mr Van der Heijden said: “We decided to use this same IT from a different perspective.

“To be a good judge, you need to ‘look in the mirror’. We have already made a strong assessment of where some judges need help.”

Dr Stickland is a senior research physicist with Princeton University, currently seconded to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the

institute that discovered the Higgs boson.

Dr Stickland started analysing dressage scores “for my own amusement”, later undertaking consultancy work for the FEI. He was an early advocate of half-points and seven-judge juries.

He co-founded GDA with Akiko Yamazaki, the long-term supporter of US rider Steffen Peters, in 2009.

“There is much more information in dressage scores than people make use of,” said Dr Stickland.

He believes, for instance, that the two-point deduction for an error of course has more effect on the overall percentage than most riders appreciate.

The dashboard took an enormous amount of prior organisation because of forming the habit to send in sheets. The number of judges per show then provided a challenge.

“With seven judges, when one is very different you can hypothesise that the other six were right. But what about when you only have two?” he said.

He resorted to a basic colour-coding technique to identify judging trends of individuals against those of co-judges over the course of a year before being able to assert who was “miles off” with their marks.

The dashboard can analyse such subtleties as marking too high or low, even when overall rankings are compatible. It can detect judges failing to use the full range of marks for, say, collected walk.

“There is a lesson that someone is having trouble judging that particular movement,” he said.

Wayne Channon, secretary general of the International Dressage Riders Club, warmly welcomed the initiative.

He told H&H: “So often one judge can be just 0.5 points lower than their colleagues for a whole test and the result is 5% difference in the total test.

“Similarly, judges often end up with close matching scores, but the way they get there is not the same; one judge may mark the trot lower but compensate by having a higher canter mark.

“For the rider, this is confusing, but for the judge it looks like a good result. The GDA approach will enable judges to see where they are right and where they are seeing things differently.”

Dr Stickland stressed: “It’s important this is seen as education rather than reaction. We all depend on a vast number of volunteers to be judges and must give them the best feedback possible, not make them feel they are being painted into a corner.

“Judges don’t have hours to spare to compare sheets. The dashboard does this for them, in a format they can use when and how they wish.”

Ref: H&H 24/09/2015

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The FEI has responded to suggestions that dressage needs a judging overhaul by saying it is frustrated the system being promoted by the International Dressage Riders Club (IDRC) has not yet been fully submitted.

The FEI reacted to the article in H&H, reporting that pressure on the body to re-evaluate the judging system is mounting.

Judging is a topic that has been a focus of riders’ minds of late — at Rotterdam, Spencer Wilton received scores varying from 65% to 73% for his grand prix aboard Numberto.

“We know that today’s judging system has potential for improvement, and we are open to evaluating all proposals. There is no doubt that we all want a system that is easy to understand and which prevents big differences. These make people sceptical about our sport,” said Trond Asmyr, FEI dressage and para- equestrian dressage director.

“We know that judges are doing their best to give the correct marks. The reason why we have judges sitting around the arena is that the execution of the movements looks different from different angles,” added Mr Asmyr.

“Because of this, the ‘correct’ solution is not to have exactly the same marks from all the judges, but the average of marks should give a correct total result.”

As well as education — for which future “e-learning solutions” are in the pipeline to help the training of judges — the FEI says it has introduced a number of elements to “avoid big differences”.

Mr Asmyr added: “The judges’ supervisory panel [JSP] is there as a safety net to correct marks if a judge has not seen technical mistakes or counting errors. As of this year, the responsibility of the JSP has been widened, so that if one judge’s results are markedly different from the rest of the ground jury, the results of this judge may be changed. This is especially important in cases such as at the 2013 European Championships [where one judge scored Michael Eilberg and Half Moon Delphi 6% lower than the others in the grand prix].”

The IDRC believes the solution is an evaluation matrix based on a code of points, similar to that used in other artistic sports such as gymnastics and figure skating. This solution has been supported by Spencer Wilton who said it would “bring more structure to the marking” in his recent H&H comment.

However, the FEI said it is frustrated the document has not yet been submitted.

“The FEI has repeatedly asked for a description of the system, so that we can start evaluating it. We have been told that it is not sufficiently developed yet,” added Mr Asmyr.

“Therefore the FEI finds it difficult to understand how the IDRC can have such a clear conviction that this is the mantra for the future. The overall idea is interesting, but how will it work in practice? It is easy to talk positively about a system if you don’t need to evaluate it from all sides. It is frustrating that the IDRC has so far not provided the FEI with the system, especially when the club is promoting it so heavily externally.”

Wayne Channon, secretary general of the IDRC, told H&H he had submitted an outline overview to the FEI a couple of months ago.

“We were hoping that the FEI would develop it from our draft,” he added. “We need to work on the software. It won’t happen overnight, but we aim to have the full proposal to the FEI by the end of the year.”

The FEI has said it is looking for a “detailed explanation of the system” from the IDRC, not a fully working model.

Ref: H&H 16 July, 2015

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Judging in dressage needs a shake up, say riders and judges, following the discrepancy in scores at the European Championships that cost Britain the gold medal.

Swedish judge Gustav Svalling marked Michael Eilberg and Half Moon Delphi 0.7 points lower than the average of the other judges’ 95% of the time.

This meant Britain finished in the bronze medal position, rather than gold.

Britain’s Wayne Channon of the International Dressage Riders Club told H&H the current system is putting judges under “intolerable pressure”.

“We need to design a system that can reliably be done by a human — that is, it can be done with consistency and accuracy,” he said.

“The current one requires judges to be practically psychic. There are so many variables — it needs to evolve.”

Another point Wayne brought up was national bias.

“National bias has been an issue forever,” said Wayne. “It’s not a vindictive decision; it’s just what you’re used to seeing. But there needs to be a way to move forward.”

Wayne added that riders are becoming “increasingly upset” by the “injustices” in judging.

“We should bring trainers, judges, sports psychologists and statisticians together to design a new system,” he suggested

Judge Kim Ratcliffe believes national bias was “inevitable”, but thinks judging should be anonymous.

“If names weren’t published, it would take away some pressure,” she said.

“It worries me that if a judge comes under scrutiny, the next time they might mark what they think they should, rather than what they believe.”

She added that the FEI should standardise judge training to make sure all countries have a robust system.

The FEI told H&H a review of the system was undertaken in 2009, and a review of the European Championships is also planned.

A dressage freestyle test event was held by the FEI on Tuesday (24 September) in Germany, with a debrief to take place in the near future.

“The freestyle is characterised by the most subjective judging elements of all FEI Dressage tests and continual efforts should be made to increase its objectivity further,” said FEI dressage committee chairman Frank Kemperman.

“Various new ideas will be explored during five rounds of testing. We are anticipating that the event will be an important step forward towards greater transparency in freestyle judging.”

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (26 September 2013).

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World horse sport’s governing body the FEI says it has resolved its differences with the International Dressage Riders Club (IDRC), averting a hearing before the FEI bureau.

The row started when the FEI rejected the IDRC’s nominee for the FEI dressage committee, Wayne Channon.

When two other riders joined the contest, the IDRC excluded them from membership. The FEI duly threatened to suspend the IDRC.

But on 4 June, FEI’s Ingmar de Vos said the matter had been resolved in an “amicable way”.

Kyra Kyrklund will be the athletes’ representative to the FEI dressage committee until a full time appointment is made.

“We are delighted we have reached agreement so that athletes’ voices can be heard before the Olympics,” said Kyra.

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (14 June 2012)

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International dressage rider Wayne Channon is to move back to the UK.

Wayne, who has represented Great Britain since 1995 including at the World Equestrian Games in 2006, has spent the past six years in Turnhout, Belgium, but will move back on 22 August.

“My son is 13 this year and we want him to have an English education,” he said.

“Also Lorenzo [Wayne’s top grand prix horse] is now at retirement age, so it was an easy decision.

“I moved abroad to compete internationally and I haven’t really done that this year, I can do what I do here easily from the UK and I’m delighted to be moving back.

“I have several young horses I hope to bring on and get them competition experience.”

The Channons will move to East Sussex with their 14 competition horses and have applied for permission to build 16 stables and an indoor and outdoor school.

A spokesman for British Dressage added: “It will be great to see Wayne out competing on the national dressage circuit again.”

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (15 July, ’10)

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Isabell Werth has regained her world cup title, 15 years on from her previous triumph.

Riding Warum Nicht, she impressed judges and spectators alike with an outstanding freestyle performance for 84.25%. Werth was awarded 10 for music and interpretation from Dieter Schule, president of the ground jury.

“I didn’t expect ‘Hannes’ to be so good today as he was!” Isabell explained. “He was not spooky at all like in the grand prix and I could take all risks, any second. This really was our day!”

Imke Schellekens-Bartels was runner up with her talented mare Sunrise, ahead of the home crowd’s favourite, Steffen Peters and Floriano.

Britain’s Wayne Channon and Lorenzo CH missed out on qualification for the world cup final, but finished second in the Las Vegas B-final behind Portugal’s Daniel Pinto on Galopin de la Font.

Read Horse & Hound’s full report on all the dressage action from Las Vegas, including fantastic photographs and Wayne Channon’s thoughts on his first World Cup final, in this week’s magazine (26 April, ’06)

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Wayne Channon and Lorenzo CH stay in eighth place overnight on a score of 67.542%, followed by 21-year-old Laura Bechtolsheimer on Douglas Dorsey in ninth with 67.375%. Laura went out at 10am, being only eighth to go.

Team GB chef d’equipe David Trott said: “You’ve got to be pleased with third place on the first day. I was over the moon with Laura’s test, especially when she went so early. All the work they’ve been doing has really paid off. There are some strong combinations to come, but this is amazing.”

21-year-old Laura Bechtolsheimer on Douglas Dorsey. Picture by Trevor Meeks

After the first of two days of grand prix that decide the team placings, Germany’s Heike Kemmer is in the lead with Bonaparte on 75.792%, followed by Imke Schellekens-Bartels and Sunrise, from the Netherlands, with 71.542%. The third-placed rider is Sweden’s Tinne Vilhelmson with Solos Carex, on 70.333%.

Heike said: “The audience gave me a big kick when I entered the arena and Bonaparte said ‘we need to do a really good job now’. It was one of the best grand prix I’ve ridden and I’m naturally very happy Germany is in the lead.”

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the rest of the team riders will complete their grand prix. The best three scores from each nation will decide the final team medal positions. The best 30 riders then go forward to Friday’s grand prix special, where they start again with zero. The best rider of this competition wins the first of two individual gold medals up for grabs.

The top 15 riders from the special then advance – again with a clean slate – to the grand prix freestyle on Saturday evening, to contest the second set of individual medals.

Don’t miss this week’s Horse & Hound for in-depth reports on all the action in Aachen out on Thursday

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Wayne Channon has proved unbeatable so far this month, winning two major classes at Lipica CDI-W in Slovenia last weekend.

Partnering his 13-year-old Dutch-bred stallion Lorenzo CH, Channon scored an incredible 70.125% to win the Grand Prix. The pair then went on to win the World Cup qualifier with a score of 75%. “Lorenzo was superb,” said Channon afterwards, “I took it easy to start with in both tests and then started asking for more. He responded really well and did everything effortlessly. It was great to finish the tests knowing there were still reserves in the tank.”

Channon’s Italian operatic freestyle music “Il Passeggiato” was compiled by the Dutch duo Cees Slings and Victor Kerkhof, who also compose the music for the queen of freestyle, Anky van Grunsven.

Meanwhile Britain’s number one ranked rider, Emma Hindle, was demonstrating her mastery at the fiercely competitive Wiesbaden CDI in Germany.

Hindle, who is based at Brookhouse Stud, Germany took her two stallions Lancet and Diamond Hit to the competition. Playing the music she used with her former European bronze-medal winning ride Wie Weltmeyer, Hindle performed an impressive test on Lancet, the 13-year-old Hanoverian, to finish fourth in the grand prix free style on a score of 71.75%. Denmark’s Andreas Helgstrand and Blue Hors Cavan won both classes.

With the nine-year-old Oldenburg stallion Diamond Hit, Hindle finished second in the Prix St Georges as well as clinching third place in the intermediaire I on a score of 69.55%.

“I am chuffed with both horses,” said Hindle, “They did exactly what I asked. I had a good feeling in the grand prix with Lancet, but the judges didn’t feel I rode him forward enough, so I rode him more forward in the kűr and got better scores.”

Charlotte Heal was 10th in the Prix St Georges and ninth in the Intermediaire I with Clinten, a horse she had ridden for just 10 days.

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British European team dressage rider Wayne Channon has been offered a place in the World Cup final (Amsterdam, 20-22 April), but his ride, Lorenzo, is injured.

Wayne is one of five additional riders given a place based on their World Cup league standings, but last week Lorenzo was kicked on his left fore cannon bone by another stallion on the yard.

“I was delighted to be asked to go to the World Cup final,” said Wayne. “But I’m unlikely to be able to go. He’s trotting up OK now, but I can’t ride him for another week, as there’s a lot of bruising and swelling.

“I’m disappointed, but that’s horses.”

Meanwhile, Sandy Phillips has stepped down from her role as British Dressage senior selector to allow her to concentrate on her own competition performance and aim for team selection with Lara 106. The partnership has already been selected to compete in Saumur CDIO (26 – 30 April).

“When she took up the role as selector last summer it was agreed that Sandy would be able to step down if she chose to focus on competing Lara,” said chairman of selectors, David Trott.

“Her knowledge and insight have been a valuable addition to the senior selection panel and we look forward to following her progress as she competes this year.”

A new senior selector will be appointed shortly.

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