Susie Hoevenaars and Francis Verbeek are two judges at the cutting edge of international young horse competition, share some of their thoughts on judging at a seminar for riders and judges on young horse judging.
Right from the start, the duo stressed the need for the horses to go naturally, “we must recognize the quality and natural way of going, that is most important,” Susie told us.
Francis suggested that we look for the horse that “is really swinging over the back with a soft connection to the hands. The more easy it looks, the better it is. If you see the rider working their hands and legs, that means there is not the right balance between the rider and the horse…”
“Ease is what we look for, not the rider supporting the horse.”
The dressage world has been celebrating the return of harmony, there is also concern that the young horse classes don’t become an end in themselves, that they should lead on to Grand Prix. Or as Francis put it: “We have to ask the question is the horse able to collect in all three gaits, this is specially important for the Grand Prix horse.”
It was comforting to hear Susie stress that the basis of the young horse classes must be the training scale:
“Regularity is Number 1 on the training scale. The horse is not made to carry a human, it is made to run, when we sit on him, the weight goes to the front. First we need regularity so the horse can find its own balance, then we need suppleness.”
Yet another element of the scale was introduced, “Suppleness,” Susie reminded us, “is so important for the back, the back is the key to suppleness – if the horse has a stiff back, how can he step under?”
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