The Concept of Guest Judge Riders Questioned in Holland

Opinions

In the Dutch equestrian newspaper De Paardenkrant editor in chief Dirk Willem Rosie posted a column titled "Blindfold and Earplugs" in which he discusses the role and use of the "guest judge rider" in the Pavo Cup Finals. This year young horse specialist and World Young Horse Champion Eva Möller was hired to test-ride the three best 4 and 5-year olds.

In his column Rosie started outby saying that "we all have to say goodbye to the idea of the initiation of the guest judge rider concept. The idea was that on the ground something can look nice and impressive but the feeling a young dressage horse gives is part of its inherent quality. Indespensable elements, such as eagerness, sensitivity and the reaction to the aids, can be assessed beter from the saddle. The last fifteen years we saw the guest judge rider agreeing with the other judges."

Rosie believes that "guest judge riders are not eager to contradict the opinion of the other judges... I can understand that a polite German young lady will not overthrow the Dutch ranking. But I find it hard to swallow that a professional, hired to show her skill to an eager audience, jubilates about the emperor's new clothes."

Rosie applauded Möller for her great riding skills and especially for even improving the performance level of Capri Sonne and Diego. The journalist wonders why Möller still put Desperado first.

Eurodressage was interested to find out Eva Möller's opinion on what was said about her Pavo Cup assessments as a guest judge rider in De Paardenkrant.

"First of all I was really impressed by the quality of the young horses and it was a pleasure to ride them," Möller told Eurodressage. "This was the first time they just had one guest rider and that I had to comment, while riding the horses! Not easy, by the way, because you have to do a lot of things in a really short time!"

"It was my job to judge the rideability of the horses. Important for me is here the natural balance, the comfort to sit, the lightness, how quick the horse reacts to the rider's aids, the positive willingness to go forward, a light and steady contact," Möller explained. "Both horses, Desperado and Charmeur, fullfilled these criteria in an outstanding way (for a 10)!"

"I was 100 percent willing to change the ranking, if necessary," she confirmed. "I'm for sure objective and independant enough! It's nice to hear that the editor thinks, for example Capri Sonne looked nice under me and (my) comment was good (for Capri Sonne), but was not as good as for Charmeur!"