Think of the attribute list of an event horse. Footwork, reactions, intelligence, athleticism, carefulness, scope, speed, stamina, impulsion, submissiveness, paces and trainability. Which attributes are we testing and how much emphasis is placed on each?
How these attributes are tested will absolutely shape the type of event horses that are bred, produced and purchased, and then it will continue to shape how we train them. If 76% of horses all score the same score of zero penalties in the cross-country, but they get rewarded for everything they do in the dressage arena, then over time we will end up with dressage horses being asked to perform cross-country rather than cross-country horses being asked to perform dressage.
A conversation and proposal around the balance in our scoring system.
