United States Eventing Association

Center Line Success, sponsored by Team Tate Academy and hosted by USDF, provided its 80 attendees with a wealth of knowledge to put into practice. Jeanne McDonald, “S” USEF Dressage judge, and Heather Gillette, “S” USEF Eventing judge, generously took time out of their day to present and all attendees received a USDF educational credit.

Bringing Two Disciplines Together

Mary Grace, my co-organizer, and I formulated this topic after an adult amateur eventer asked Mary about understanding more about why he was receiving his scores. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring the dressage and eventing disciplines together and help riders better understand what judges see and want to reward.

I have been fortunate to know both Jeanne and Heather for several years. Jeanne is responsible for my love of dressage; I rode with her for more than 25 years. We are good friends, and she encouraged me to pursue my USEF “r” Eventing license. I met Heather when we were going through the USEF “r” Eventing testing in 2019. Heather has been a good friend and an inspiration to me as she has progressed through the levels of judging.

The Focus: Success Down Center Line

Held in the Devon Room on Thursday during Dressage at Devon, the focus of the afternoon was learning tips on how not to lose points when riding your test in front of the judge.

In true official teamwork fashion, Jeanne and Heather divided the topics and spent an hour and a half addressing understanding the purpose and directives in a test and improving one’s test riding. The goal of being in harmony with your partner, always keeping your horse’s welfare paramount, adhering to the pyramid of training, using the scale of marks, the importance of accuracy, knowing your test—including the specifics—and so much more were covered.

There was a PowerPoint presentation for attendees to follow. People listened attentively, took notes, and, at the conclusion, many asked questions and stayed to talk to Jeanne and Heather. The new 2027 Dressage Tests were inquired about, but they were not discussed in detail because they have not yet been released.

Center Line Success Test Tips

For anyone who could not attend, Heather and Jeanne have put together Center Line Success Test Tips to help riders. We hope everyone can use this knowledge in their training and showing.

Thank you to Mary, Jeanne, Heather, Lisa Engle and her volunteers at Dressage at Devon, Katherine Robertson of USDF, and Team Tate for their sponsorship.