Monica Theodorescu: "Also Judges Should Be Sanctioned"

Interviews

On Thursday 23 November 2017 the brand new indoor international youth riders competition kicked off in Aachen, Germany, at the "holy show grounds". German Grand Prix team trainer Monica Theodorescu will be attending the event on the weekend to scout and assess the quality of riding of the German youth. In an interview with the Aachen show organizer she spoke out about the importance of the role of the judges for the youth divisions.

Q: In the youth divisions the judges are not so much a topic of discussion as with the seniors...
Monica: Yes they are!

Q: How do you see the discussion and the various proposals currently happening in dressage sport?
Monica: Riders, horses and judges belong to our sport. The judges know that they have a big responsibility and the riders know that they have to handle the judging verdicts. What corcerns the proposals, a lot has been tested and fortunately a lot has been discarded. Of course we all wish for a uniform system with as little discussion as possible. Also when discussion and emotion are part of the sport.

Q: The FEI has proposed the HiLo drop for the first time.
Monica: Which never has led to more quality.

Q: But instead??
Monica: education must continue. And when judges have poor performances several times, then they need to think of sanctions.

Q: What can they be?
Monica: That can be, for instance, an obliged extra attendance at seminars, but it can also be suspension. When a rider rides badly, he won't get placed. When a judge judges poorly, nothing happens. Of course anyone can make a mistake or have a bad day and in the end it all comes down to accepting the judges' verdict. However, the current discussion has to think about sanctioning. By scratching marks the sport will not get better, nor more transparent.