Three days at Devon

I went to watch a friend compete in the FEI Five-year-old tests at Devon, and decided to stay three days: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. My friend did well -- more on that later -- but I was awed to see the winner of the class score in the 90's! Here is footage of the horse from a previous competition. You can see why she won. The quality of the horses overall was such that I could not really distinguish the very good from the exceptional. Many horses I was totally wow'ed by scored in the low seventies, so the judges were spare in their marks. Usually, the criticism had to do with lack of engagement and lift. One gorgeous horse, with beautiful rhythm, suspension, and regularity (think metronome) received a comment that cadence was not a substitute from impulsion. So you get the idea...