March 16-19 Sandra scribes at the CDI Dressage Show in Wellington, Florida.

I had a great time in Florida, absolutely gorgeous weather. In the 70's every day and breezy so I wasn't too hot. I went down to Wellington with the purpose of scribing for qualified judges. I am working towards becoming an "r" USEF Judge so I wanted to get more experience with judges I haven't worked with before. This particular show was an International show with 10 countries being represented. It was four days long with dressage tests from 8 in the morning until 5 and then on Friday and Saturday they also had evening classes under the lights. I was priviledged to work with Betsy Berrey and Suzanne Handler. Betsy is located in Wellington and is an "S" judge. Suzanne is from Sweden and is an "R" judge. They were both delightful and very nice to scribe for. I learned a lot from my seat in the judges booth. I was able to watch classes from Training level all the way to Grand Prix ranging from Juniors, Adult Amatuers to the Open classes. I learned that even in Wellington there is a large range of horses and riders with only a handful of riders displaying true classical riding. I was dissapointed that so many horses were stiff in the jaw with mouths open and leaning on the rider's hands. I also saw that the majority of horses didn't engage their hinds legs and tended to step wide in the extended movements. Most of the comments on the tests were "lacking bend", "heavy in the hand", "wide behind", "lacking elasticity", etc. The judges were very correct and could see all that was happening before them. It was very motivating for me to come home and continue striving for lightness, elegance, and true engagement when I ride. It is a hard task to do and I understand that dressage is a journey and everyone is on their own path. But I was hoping to see more riders displaying softer hands and lighter, happier horses. I saw the Grand Prix Freestyle that was a qualifier for the World Cup being held in Sweden. Arlene Page won on Wild One with an energetic ride. There was one freestyle that I enjoyed to classical music and Leslie Morse had a good one to some jazz/swing. I thought some of the other music was a bit boring and if I closed my eyes I could not imagine a horse moving to the music. They had the freestyle class at night under lights so the atmosphere was electric and some horses spooked and looked tense. The show grounds were beautiful and the jumpers had left for another big show so it was just the dressage horses. It was very calm and quiet with plenty of room for everyone to spread out. It was a great show to attend and I hope to ride there in the future.