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When the competitions that would be the selection events were being discussed, the question was always, where can we find a competition that will let eight Australian riders compete in the Grand Prix class. Please note, that is Grand Prix singular. I can remember discussing it at Boneo Park with the dressage chef d\u2019equipe, Julia Battams, and that\u2019s when I first heard Rotterdam mentioned. Rotterdam, I said, that\u2019s a great show, but will they really give us eight entries? Yes, said Julia.<\/p>\n
And we started planning our trip to Holland\u2026<\/p>\n
Now it turns out that instead of us having eight places in THE Grand Prix at Odense and Rotterdam, we have four places in the four-star (or in the case of Rotterdam 5 star) Grand Prix and four places in the three-star Grand Prix, at the two shows, and that blows the whole notion of an objective selection policy out the window. It didn\u2019t matter which Grand Prix, three or four or five star, our riders competed in, but it had to be the same class for the word \u2018objective\u2019 to apply.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that the four riders who start in the four-star Grand Prix will get more marks than if they did exactly the same tests in the three-star Grand Prix. That you can establish by going back and comparing the marks at 3 and 4 star competitions. The top horses are in the four-star, and when the winning mark is in the 80\u2019s that drags the lowest marks up, winning the winning mark is in the 70\u2019s, that drags the scores down. Sure it is in part the quality of the dressage is on the whole better in the four-star, but it is not entirely that \u2013 when they are handing out lots of 8\u2019s then their worst mark comes up. Add to that, the judge sitting in a four-star class expects a higher standard of performance than in a three-star class, and that expectation (and this has been scientifically proven) affects the marks they hand out. It’s actually worse at Rotterdam, where there is a five star and a three star GP.<\/p>\n
High Performance manager, Chris Webb says that he was always aware that this could be a problem and had been in discussion with the organizing committees, but that he only received formal notice of the situation a week ago, and that since then, discussions were being held with the riders to come up with the best solution and a rider consensus. Well I can tell you that the four riders selected to go in the 4-star, and although Chris denies it, I am informed that they are already selected and look very like the team that went to the last WEG, will be highly of the consensus that this is a good decision \u2013 but the four riders in the three-star, will not be so consensed.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt this is not a good decision, and it would be better to have found lesser shows with an-all-in-one class option, but assuming this cannot be done now, here is my suggestion, which although not perfect, is at least kind of fair. All eight names into a hat, four drawn on one side, four on the other. The first four ride in the four-star at the first show, and the three-star at the second, and vice versa. And while we are at it, the order of go should also be random and out of the hat, so that no one is given the likelihood of a better scoring, later spot, on the draw.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure if my suggestion would stand up in the Court of Sports Arbitration, but it would have a better chance than this subjective selection determining who is likely to get the best result in the so-called \u2018objective\u2019 selection process.<\/p>\n
– Chris Hector<\/p>\n
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