On all my spare time...not that there's much of it these days....I do get to judge a bit. Mostly in the 'off' season when the IDA shows are running, and I do really enjoy judging those shows.
The IDA is the Intercollegiate Dressage Association, which is a college level dressage competition offered by various schools who sponsor teams. It's really an interesting competition from all perspectives. Riders do NOT bring their own horses though, like in a traditional team. The "host" college provides the horses. Each "team" is comprised of riders from four different levels, Intro, Lower Training, Upper Training, and First Level.
The 'show' horses are paraded out first thing in the morning, with a narrative regarding each horse and their personality as they demonstrate their gaits to the visiting teams. Their horses are chosen by random drawing, so that the rider is generally completely unfamiliar with the horse they will be on. The riders are then allowed a 10 minute warm up prior to riding their test. I will generally see a horse go three, maybe four times (maybe?) in a level. I have to say it is very interesting some times to watch how each horse reacts to a variety of riders! Some of the riders do an incredibly good job too. It's a GREAT opportunity for these kids to learn to ride all sizes and shapes of horse...something that many adults never have the chance to experience!
It's really too bad that we can't apply this program to our Adult dressage shows. Oh what fun that would be to watch!
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