Visual attention patterns of Grand Prix Dressage Judges were the subject of a study conducted in 2011 by Dr Inga Wolframm and two of her students from the University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein in Wageningen (The Netherlands). The purpose of the study, which was supported by the FEI, was to find out whether there are differences in observation patterns between judges with different levels of experience and how judges generally observe the horse’s body when they are judging. The results of the study will be published on the FEI website.

Seventeen Grand Prix judges at 5*, 4* and national levels were recruited to take part in the study. They were asked to judge a horse-rider combination performing the 2009 Grand Prix test from a video, while their eye movements were recorded with a professional eye tracker system.

In order to identify patterns of visual attention, a checklist was devised listing all equine body parts a judge may focus on while judging:

Front of the horse:         head, mouth, poll, neck, shoulder, forearm, knee, front cannon bone, chest

Back of the horse:         croup, tail, thigh, flank, gaskin, hock, hind cannon bone

Rider:                            rider head, rider torso, rider hand, rider thigh, rider knee, rider lower leg

Results

No significant differences were found in total dressage scores between judges with different levels of experience. Results show that:

- for movements performed at the trot, judges pay significantly more attention to the front of the horse than to the back or the rider.

- for movements performed at the canter, judges also pay significantly more attention to the front of the horse than to the back or the rider.

It was also possible to determine the judges’ visual attention patterns for each movement. For example:

- in the piaffe, judges focused on average 25% of fixations on the hind cannon bone, 15%  on the forearm, 9% on the front cannon bone, 9% on the rider’s lower leg, and 8% on the  shoulder.

- in the passage, judges focused on average 19% of their fixations on the hind cannon bone, 13% on the forearm, 10% on the shoulder and the front cannon bone, and 9% on the rider’s lower leg.

- in the flying changes, judges fixated an average of 15% on the knee, 12% on the forearm, 11% on the front cannon bone, 9% on the hind cannon bone, and 6% on the hocks.

- in the pirouettes, judges concentrated on average 17% of visual fixations on the hind cannon bone, 11% on the hocks, 8% on the shoulder and the mouth, 7% on the forearm and the front cannon bone, and 6% on the rider’s lower leg. 

However, although overall visual attention patterns emerged, large deviations in fixation frequencies were detected across all movements.

- in passage, the observation of the hind cannon bone varied between 7 and 43%
- in the piaffe, the observation of the hind cannon bone varied between 7 and 51%.

Conclusion

Current findings clearly suggest that judges base their assessment of the total performance on their observation of all body parts, but pay special attention to specific parts of the horse. While the front of the horse as a whole seems to provide information that is most useful in determining the quality of the overall performance, the hind cannon bone features very strongly in most exercises as a point of visual focus.

Next steps may include developing specific attention guidelines for each movement. Such guidelines should then also include a ranking of areas for attention focus according to importance as determined by current results. Judge educational programmes for current and future judges could also include training in attention focus on certain areas.

For further information please click here.