FROM BETWEEN MY
BLINDERS
PROPER TIMING IN CDEs: PART OF THE GAME!
By Hardy Zantke
From The Whip, February 2015
I have written about the importance of proper timing in Combined Driving before, but there are two
fairly new issues which I would like to bring to your attention, as they came to mine over the last
season.
1. Start of Marathon
Article 963.4 spells out the procedure for the start (and finish) of the marathon. Let’s focus
on the start: Years ago, if a driver was not at the start of Section A within a minute of his scheduled
staring time, he would be eliminated. Period. Harsh but fair. After all, the Article also does say that
drivers should be there at least 10 minutes before their published start time. So there’s no good
excuse, really, for not being there on time. Fortunately it does not happen all that often; if
somebody was just a little late, we often would just send him out in a hurry without changing his
green card, and ask him to make up his time.
We have stuck to this policy at most events over the years, even though the FEI changed the
rule a few years ago and no longer Eliminates a driver who comes late to the start of A. Instead, he is
supposed to be penalized for every second he arrives late, and then to be given a new start time at
the earliest available time at the discretion of the Timekeeper. We have not used that rule much, as
it creates quite a few difficulties. Usually the marathon schedule has been very carefully worked out
by the officials – trying to avoid drivers overtaking each other, trying to avoid holds, trying to ensure
that people going twice or sharing navigators or equipment have time to do so, etc. Working out a
proper marathon schedule can often be quite a challenge (if not a nightmare at times). So with that
in mind, things could really go haywire if the Timekeeper at the start of A should decide to change
anything on this carefully organized schedule when trying to fit in a latecomer. Even if he radios the
officials, they often will have great difficulties to quickly decide where a late-comer could be fitted in
without disrupting the carefully laid plan.
A scratch or no-show’s time slot would not be automatically available for a previous latecomer, as mostly it would work ONLY if the open slot would be for the same type of turnout level as
well as animal size. For example, the late-comer is a Training level horse, he then could use usually
only an open slot for another Training level horse: All other levels, as well as all other animal sizes,
have different length and different speeds on the marathon, so could create confusion among the
obstacle observers (hazard judges) when drivers come out of their expected order.
That is why we have continued to use our old system: If you aren’t there on time, so sorry! –
you’re out, unless it is very close (say within a minute of your assigned starting time), in which case
we could still send you out and ask you to hurry and make up the time. But since the Rulebook really
no longer supports handling lateness that way, I’m afraid we really must pay closer attention and go
with what the Rulebook requires. I believe this means five things:
1.
The Starter at A really MUST write down the EXACT time that a late-comer arrives and
reports to be ready to start A – and he MUST record that late arrival time on the driver’s green card
and should put a red dot next to it to alert the scorer! He should also write it down on his back-up
sheet.
2.
Then he must assign the driver a new start time. If the driver was only a minute or so
late, the starter probably can just still squeeze him in with a new starting time one, two, or perhaps
even three minutes after his original one, but he can’t start him closer than two minutes before the
next one. Note: At the start of A he should NOT delay the following drivers. If there is not enough
time to squeeze in the latecomer, then he needs to see IF there is an open slot available in the same
level and animal size – or otherwise call the officials and ask for a new start time. If none other is
available – well, tough luck, perhaps the late-comer will have to wait till the very end of the
marathon. (That does create a hardship for the volunteers, who now must stay for another
competitor and the scorer, who can’t finish that class, as well as for all others in that class, who can’t
see their scores until the late-comer has finished and has been scored too.)
3.
Then the Starter MUST note that NEW starting time on the green Card and his backup sheet and start the competitor accordingly.
4.
The Scorer MUST calculate the additional time penalties for the time that the driver
arrived late at the start – NOT the time he was actually started – but must use the actual start time
for further calculations of possible section time penalties.
5.
In order for all this to happen properly, the officials MUST brief the Start of A
timekeeper (and the scorer) accordingly – not an easy task, and thus one needs a really sharp
volunteer for the Start of A!
We can see it is quite a complicated matter! So once again, let me emphasize to all
competitors: Do synchronize your watch ahead of time with the marathon clocks and then BE ON
TIME. Remember Article 963.4.1: You are supposed to be there 10 minutes BEFORE your start time
anyhow!
Once you have your watch properly synchronized, then please also check that the proper
time is entered in your green card at each start and finish of each section and that you are started
also at the time as entered in the green card. Volunteers do make mistakes. It is up to you to
POLITELY alert them to that fact when you think they just did make a mistake. It helps little when
you tell the officials at the end of the marathon that it can’t be what the green card shows for your
start or finish time since your own watch says you were on time, when the green card figures you are
not. The time to correct such mistakes is immediately when the mistake happens, and you can do
that only when you have your own watch synchronized to the marathon clocks. Should one of the
marathon clocks be off, don’t worry; that the officials will see then with not only you but other
competitors too ..... but you can report that right away when you see it, and you can only see it if
your watch is properly synchronized! So please help us all. Synchronize your watch, be on time, and
double check each time!
II. Start of Cones
So much to the marathon, but now let me also address a change in the start of the cones.
Once a competitor has entered the cones arena, has halted and saluted the judges, and once
the course is ready for him, the judge will ring the bell (or use a whistle) and then the competitor can
start. It used to be that you had one minute to start after the bell was rung. A minute is a fairly long
time, and often experienced competitors would use that interval to show their horses around in the
arena a little bit and then set up properly to cross the starting line.
Please note: That one minute has been shortened to only 45 seconds, AND after the 45
seconds are over the clock is supposed to start on your round – regardless of whether you have
crossed the starting line! (See Article 975.2.1.a) This means that starting late on the cones course will
shorten your time allowed … so you better not drive around for longer than 45 seconds after the
bell!
Unfortunately there is one more item to pay attention to. I haven’t seen it used very often,
as it can be confusing, but we better be prepared for it.
Article 975.2.b requires that you also MUST enter the arena at the latest when the course is
ready. If you fail to do so, the Jury is supposed to ring the bell and then you should have just 45
seconds to enter the arena. If you should still fail to get in there within those 45 seconds, the bell
should be rung again and you should be eliminated! So don’t hang around for too long in the warmup arena. Be ready to enter when the previous competitor comes out or the gate steward tells you
to do so. And if you did not do that, and the jury goes by the rule book and rings the bell (or blows
the whistle) make sure you don’t mistake that as your starting signal when it was just the signal to
get you into the arena.
Yes, I know it’s hard – but hey, timing might not be everything, but it is a BIG part of it!
NOTE: The above article uses references to ADS rule articles and numbers. Please check your
Equine Canada rule book for the corresponding rules. This article is for general information only.