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Topic: Central Inspection at Valhalla Farm: Some observations (Read 1564 times)
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Navar
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Observations from a first time participant: Overall, I left with alot of questions and misgivings. I met some wonderful people there like Dean Graham, Nancy Shea, Bobbie Whitman, and another of Valhalla's trainers, Juan, who was fun and outgoing and obviously enthusiastic about his charges. Oddly enough, the rudest person I met was none other than Erin Brinkman.
I thought the whole process was a bit more disorganized than it realistically should have been. The order of events kept changing, as if on a whim. I had been warned by another member that presenting mares at the central inspection was not usually a good thing; that the process was more drawn out/wearing on the horses and the judging more harsh for some unknown reason.
I took two mares; an Anglo-Trakehner out of a PSB TB mare sired by Abdullah and a tall (15.1 and 3/4) Arabian mare. I consider myself predominantly a rider. I pride myself on not being barn blind and if anything, hypercritical of my horses. I believe you evaluate your horses from the ground-up and that they must have the proper underpinning in order to be good performance horses. While you could say that this horse or the other of mine could have more angulation to their shoulder or hind leg, or a neck set on higher, their legs are without question, extremely good. Nonetheless, Miss Gibbles evidently saw heretofore unperceived deviations in my horses' front legs which neither I, nor anyone else I know or who has seen these horses before, can find. After hearing the same litany of offset cannons or knees on virtually every horse Miss Gibbles evaluated, I began to wonder if she knew what straight legs were supposed to look like and if I should offer her a plumb line in order to factually determine if she did. She also dinged my mares for being a bit on the nervous side. While I agree they were, the drawn out process of the inspection was by no means conducive to one presenting happy horses in their best form or frame of mind. After being largely confined to their stalls for three days when they are normally turned out 24/7, then being made to stand for two hours ringside for the triangle and liberty phase with whips cracking and horses being warmed up at speed in the round-pen located next to the covered arena, my girls were fried and had had enough! Other comments on the mares were ears too long and a tail being carried to the left. Excuse me, but since when do we ride the ears or the tail!
Finally, after watching no less than five sets of eyes evaluate the stallions being presented and then having only one set of eyes evaluate each mare, I found myself thinking the process grossly unfair. My mare by Abdullah and Mike Hassel's mare by Target are not dressage horses. They scream eventing and jumping at you when you look at them. However, it was obvious that no credit is given to mares obviously of other talents than dressage. I had not realized that I was a member of the American Trakehner Association of Dressage Horses, but I evidently must be. I have noticed the German Verband making such observations of inspected stallions in their comments, "that so and so while having a limited trot is an outstanding jumper and will undoubtedly pass on such abilities to his offspring." Why not is such consideration given to the mares? Especially when it is usually the mare who gives more of herself to the resulting offspring than the stallion. I also thought there should be free jumping for the mares in order to more fully evaluate the total athlete. The present forum of inspection leans unduly heavily towards a dressage emphasis. Should not the Trakehner be known as a multi-faceted breed?
Also, I believe the judging/inspection of the mares needs to be revamped to include at the very least a panel of three judges/inspectors and not just one. I think it is a disservice to the mares to do otherwise and they are not getting a fair shake. As Maren Englehardt pointed out, if such were the case in Germany, there would be extreme outrage. Should we Americans accept anything less?
My Abdullah daughter did pass inspection, but just barely, as did Mike Hassel's mare, Dastarin. My Arabian mare did not which is the ATA's loss. I have two other Trakehner mares which are coming of age to be inspected, another Anglo and a purebred. Prior to the inspection, I had planned on keeping both and submitting them for inspection in 2004. I have been gravitating towards Trakehners after being involved for some years with straight Egyptian Arabians. But after this experience, I am no longer so enthusiastic and will be selling the Anglo and retaining only the purebred. I am certain I will approach my next inspection with trepidation. I will not submit them for inspection at a central inspection. What I thought would be a more objective process turned out to be as subjective as any other "judged" equine event I have ever attended and more is the pity.
- Karen Webb
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Shawnda
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I believe Jean and her group at Valhalla did an excellent job of organizing this meeting and inspection. What threw us for a loop in the scheduling was the large number of mares put up for inspection at the last minute. Until mare owners get organized this will continue to be the norm. It is very difficult to schedule for 15 mares to be inspected, and then 22 show up. That easily adds an hour or more to the inspection schedule.
I think that Reah and Sam did a very good job inspecting the mares. There was a large scale of marks and a "Model Mare" title was even given out to an outstanding Hailo daughter. Neither of them are afraid to give out a 4 where neccesary or a 9 if warrented.
We do have a problem with poor front legs in our Trakehner horses. It is an area that we are trying to fix. Many mares presented that day had bench (offset) kness, were behind the knee, or toed in or out. When you have a mare inspected, the marks and comments given are to be used to help in breeding decisions. That is the purpose of having mares and stallions inspected.
I also noticed a large range in the "condition" of the mares put up for inspection. Unfortunately at each inspection, there will always be horses that have been pulled from the field the day before, and taken to the inspection. You cannot get a horse into "show shape" in 2 days. It takes an average of 2 months to 6 weeks. The same applies to the handlers. Some were very well prepared and did an excellent job. Others were obviously doing this for the very first time and could not even run fast enough to keep up with their horse. With poor preparation, it all backfires on the horse.
I have been to every central inspection for many years, and many regional inspections. It is my observation that most regional inspections do achieve better marks because the horses are better prepared and there is a handler (often the organizer) who offers his/her services for free. At regional inspections people have filed their applications months in advance and therefore know months in advance what mares they are bringing. At central inspections, we get a number of new members who have never been to an inspection before and have no idea what to expect.
The idea of having more than one inspector at mares inspection is a good idea, but are you willing to pay for it? We would have to raise the inspection fees to be able to cover the expenses of having it.
I hope I have answered your concerns without being too critical. Mare inspections for the ATA are failrly new to the organization and we are open to comments and suggestions to help improve upon the system. So remember to do your homework in advance, and not to show up at a formal ball dressed in jeans.
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Navar
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Number 1, I was not dressed in jeans and my horses had not been pulled from the field the previous day. While they are not stalled horses nor are they blanketed, careful grooming can still turn out a nice presentation. I certainly was not one of the many last minute entrants. My mares were well groomed, braided and had been schooled in hand on many occasions prior to the inspection. I had also arranged for Dean Graham to handle both mares. I had consulted with other members who had already been through the process and studied the excellent video put out by the USDF for showing your sporthorse in hand.
I did notice alot of front leg issues on horses attending the inspection, along with lots of winging and paddling. Nonetheless, I stand firm that these were not issues with either of mares I presented and I resented being lumped into the group. Otherwise, I knew their faults and weaknesses and agreed on other points of the evaulations. The long drawn out process of the triangle and at liberty phase was unfortunate and probably to the detriment of more than a few horses. For example, the Abdullah colt seemed very tired and less brillant at the free jumping on the second day, so I was pleased to learn that he did indeed pass despite obviously being off his form.
I think proper scheduling could have accounted for the additional entrants and probably the mares should have been split into two groups for evaulation. I know when I spoke with the ATA office on Monday prior to the inspection, I had been told that the mare inspections would last until at least noon on Saturday, so was surprised to learn they were trying to evaulate all mares by 6:30 p.m. Friday evening.
Certainly I would be willing to pay additional monies to have the mares more fully and fairly evaluated. The full inspection committee was already there to evaulate the stallions, why then cannot they just proceed along with the evaulation of the mares?
As previously stated, my biggest problem with the process was that we are not all breeding and training dressage horses and the current process does not give equal measure to horses with talents other than dressage.
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Markus
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Not to change the subject, but do you know who the "Model Mare" by Hailo was? Was she out of a TB mare? Do you know what her name was?
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StarryNight
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Trakehners rule
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Model mare
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2002, 03:04:46 PM » |
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The Model Mare was L'egant out of Lilli by Halio
Lilli is a Martini daughter out of Liberty who is by Adbullah
High scoring PSB mare who was presented with a foal was Time Wise xx by Princely Pleasure xx out of Midnight Mirage xx by Torsion xx. Her score was a 51
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Markus
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Thanks so much. I wish I could have been there.
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shadytrake
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I LOVE Trakehners!
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I really liked the PSB approved mare Timewise xx. She will add nice TB blood to the breed IMO.
Melissa
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Jennifer
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The problem with jumping at the mare inspection is that often the mares being evaluated have a foal or are in foal. I think this would complicate things a bit.
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