Maria van den Dungen, 2010 Dutch Indoor Pony Champion

Shows

2010 Dutch Indoor Pony Championships

The 16-year old Maria van den Dungen took the tally to three when she won her third Dutch Indoor Pony Champion's title yesterday at the Dutch Indoor Pony Championships in Wanroij, The Netherlands.

Aboard the black stallion Rembrandt, a Weser Ems bred Renoir offspring which she may ride for owner De Havikerwaard, she scored 71,14%. Suzanne van de Ven and the young liver chestnut Majos Cannon are now solidly heading for a spot on the Dutch team that will compete at the 2010 European Pony Championships. In Wanroij, the pair became reserve indoor champions with 70,88%.

Favourite for the title, Antoinette te Riele and her European gold medal winning Golden Girl, finished on an "unusual" third place with 70,35%. Title-defender Dana van Lierop returned to the show ring with her 2009 Dutch team pony, Lord Champion, after an almost 8 month absence. They slotted in fourth with 69.82%

The scoring at the 2010 Dutch Indoor pony Championships was staggering and one certainly wonders what the final ranking would have been if the judges had been more on the same wavelength as they are supposed to be. Judge at H had winner Van den Dungen on a 66,32% while judge at C scored the ride 75.53%. That is a 9,21% score difference! Judge at H appreciated Van de Ven's ride with 68.16% and so did third judge at M (68,95%), but C judge had her on 75.53% (7,37% point difference). The judges agreed on Te Riele's performance (70,53%, 71,32%, 69, 21%) but they were totally scatterered with their assessment of Dana van Lierop's ride. H-judge thought it was 64,21% and C-judge had her winning with a 76,84%. That's a 12,63% (!!) point difference.

Let's quote the findings of a professional again, who has been hired by the FEI to analyse scoring patterns. At the Global Dressage Forum, David Stickland sent out the following message: Judging is a team sport and every judge on the panel has an equal voice, which means that every judge needs to be at his peak. It implies that judges need excellent education to be at their best. Without combination bias, judges should be able to achieve only a 1,0% difference between one another. (read full article here)

Results 2010 Dutch Indoor Pony Championships