Dressagedaily has a great article!
Day: August 15, 2010
Dressage fan or not, check out today’s national championships!
So I spent my post yesterday complaining about how not spectator friendly the USEF Festival of champions is. Well today, I am telling you all a little something different. I think you all should check out the live streaming video today.
I was busy going from one barn to the next yesterday, but I did make time to come home for lunch. I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but for some reason I went online to check out the live streaming video, and let me tell you. I was IMPRESSED!
I only watched a few of the Junior tests, but it was great! The commentators KNOW dressage! For example, they not only would talk about tempi changes, but they would give the live e-score and could add in comments such as “they got a 4 because the horse was carrying tension in its back, but see how quickly they recovered once they changed bend for the next movement”. This is a HUGE improvement from the 2008 Olympic games coverage where the online coverage with a pompous 3 day event rider who had no idea what to type.
So why do I think everyone should check out the coverage today? Two reasons. The first being that regardless of what you ride, it is a really good idea to show USEF that there is an audience out there for live online video of competitions. If no one checks it out, that does not give them a lot of incentive to keep doing it. The second reason is because this is a great educational opportunity. Steffen Peter’s is supposed to be doing commentary today! He is the best Grand Prix rider in America at the moment so to hear him talk about his peers and possible teammates is invaluable. It is amazing to listen in to any Grand Prix rider talk during a dressage ride, but to hear it from Steffen is going to be amazing!
So even with the media guide sitting in front of me I am not sure of what the competitions times are today, but considering there are only 2 classes going (one of which is the Grand Prix) I am thinking that the competition will be running from 10-3 and I am also guessing that the Grand Prix freestyle will be in the morning. So if you are around I know it is a worth while thing to check out! I bet you will learn something even by watching a single ride.
A Horse and a Half 