DRESSAGE is enjoying a huge surge in popularity in Ireland at the moment. As a result the standard of riders and horses are constantly improving and with that the demand for judges is also on the increase.

As one of just half-a-dozen List 1 judges in the country, Galway’s Vida Tansey is among the most qualified at the highest level. “I grew up in Chicago and began riding in the local riding school when I was about 11 years old. At that time I mostly did show jumping because that was what everyone around me was doing,” Tansey told The Irish Field.

“When I was 18 I began working with a different trainer and got my first introduction to dressage and began to compete. I met my husband and when I was 21 we moved to Ireland. In the beginning I was just show jumping, but as dressage became more popular here I once again began concentrating on it more and more.

“In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s I produced a thoroughbred named Rumble, who I bought from race horse trainer Noel Meade, through the grades and in 1981, we won the National Championships.

“Probably the most notable and special horse I have produced over the years is the event horse Custom Made.

“I broke him and rode him as a youngster before he got a little too strong for me. Aaron Mannion then took over the ride and the pair enjoyed great success. I then sold him on to American David O’Connor who, among other amazing results, won the eventing gold medal at the Sydney Olympics with him,” she said of the superstar horse who won Badminton in 1997 and passed away in 2019 at the incredible age of 34.

In the family

Vida’s daughters followed in her footsteps and share her love for horses. “At the moment my two daughters, Ria and Sana, have their horses here. Sana works full-time so just has one eventer and Ria, who is studying for her degree in Entrepreneurship, has three dressage horses ranging from Novice to Prix St Georges.

“I suppose the reason I was attracted to judging was because I felt I needed a more comprehensive understanding of the whole picture. I was a rider and a trainer, but I needed to stand back and examine how marks were broken down and exactly what they were awarded for.

“There are six levels of judging. They are called List 1-6. The first step is as a trainee. To apply you must be 18 years old or older, have ridden up to at least Novice level and have two references from dressage trainers or judges confirming your suitability to become a judge.

“Once accepted as a trainee, you are expected to write for judges on an official list, in order to become familiar with the terminology and understand the demands made on the writer.

“You can sit in with judges on List 4 or above when tests of Novice and Elementary standard are being judged and practice judge novice.

You must attend at least one national judge training day a year and keep your log book up-to-date.

Lending help

“Most master judges are very willing to talk and help out up and coming judges. There are also interactive judges training sessions where a judge will mark a test out loud. From feedback, we have found that seems to be very helpful.

“There should be at least a year between gradings and all upgrades are exam-based. Once you have made it to List 3, the exams for List 2 and 1 take place in England. We don’t have enough people going forward to this level, or enough horses competing at the higher level to do it in Ireland, so that makes it quite expensive. You must practise-judge 10 horses so that involves trips to the UK which add up.

“Dressage judges get paid expenses and Dressage Ireland have guidelines for this. Any travel over 140kms is 50 cent a km, and a lot of the time you may prefer to travel away from your own area to judge. I prefer not to be judging people I may be too familiar with.

“As a trainer, I can’t judge anyone I have taught in the six weeks leading up to the show. If a pupil of mine plans to go to a show, I will always make sure I’m not judging there because they would have to go HC (Hors Concours) and wouldn’t be able to get any points or prizes.”

Progression

Vida is proud of how the sport is progressing in Ireland. “I have really enjoyed witnessing the progression of dressage in Ireland over the years. I’m immensely proud of our ‘girls in green’. They have done so well and are leading the way, showing riders that it is not just possible for them to compete, but also to do well on an international stage.

“The success of Irish Draughts and Connemara ponies in higher level dressage is another brilliant development.

“I love to see how the Trailblazers and Silver Spurs leagues are encouraging the children to get involved and think that the future is looking very bright. As a judge I love to watch a horse progress. I love to give good marks, to see a horse happy, enjoying his work and learning, that is the real joy for me.

“If there was anything I would like to see changed, it would be that Irish judges are allowed to work in the UK. We do all our higher level training and exams there so I don’t see why we shouldn’t be allowed to judge classes there.

“In Ireland we currently have 23 judges looking to upgrade and three of them are List 2 which shows how much the sport has grown in popularity.

“With that in mind, I would like to see some sort of new format for advanced riders, maybe along the lines of show jumping’s New Heights Champions Series where, instead of having just one or two riders in an advanced class at a venue, that they all travel to one place and compete against one another, so maybe that’s something to look at for the future.

“All the information on how to become a judge is available on the Dressage Ireland website and I would encourage anyone considering it to go on and discover what’s involved,” Vida concluded.