Especially since the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen sport fans from all over the world know how fascinating dressage sport can be. Back then, the international dressage stars competed in Aachen’s Soers arena for the World Champion title in front of 40,000 spectators, the competitions were broadcast live worldwide.
After the 2008 Olympic Games the FEI established a Dressage Task Force. With Frank Kemperman, show director of CHIO Aachen, as chairman, proposals for the advancement of dressage sport were developed.
“We want to make the sport more entertaining and more comprehensible," said Kemperman. The FEI’s General Assembly has already approved several ideas in Copenhagen in November.
Besides detailed proposals regarding the improvement of the judging system, the Task Force worked out a concept for a different competition format for the Olympic Games. The team competition will now be decided in the Grand Prix Spécial. The teams start in reverse order of their Grand Prix results.
“This means that the Nations’ Cup will be upgraded now, the competition will be more exciting”, explained Frank Kemperman.
According to these new rules, the format for the 2010 CDIO Aachen will be as follows:
- Thursday: Grand Prix (1st rating competition for both individual and team classification)
- Saturday: Grand Prix Spécial (2nd rating competition individual classification and Final of the Lambertz Nations’ Cup)
- Sunday: Grand Prix Freestyle to Music (Final individual classification)
Also the “3+1 team composition rule will be applied at Aachen. One country will be allowed to bring four riders, but only three of them will officially start for the team; there will be no more drop score.
In regards to the judging system, new ideas will be tested. “We want to make the sport more fair and transparent with this," said Kemperman.
The most important innovations are:
- More judges: In the course of selected competitions, seven instead of five judges will be appointed
- Half mark: Instead of full marks, judges will in the future also be able to give half marks
- Freestyle to music: The judges assume different tasks. While one judge is responsible for the rating of the technical performance, another will judge solely the artistic performance
- Supervisory Panel: Also the judges’ work is supervised, the Panel’s members will test if the possibility to correct single judge marks should be implemented in the future
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