¶ Introduction
Silent Dressage is an important part of ponyplay that has had a history spanning more than a decade within SecondLife. As an activity within ponyplay, it serves to strengthen the bond between a pony and its trainer while also teaching movement, elegance, and precision. Silent comes in different forms, each with a different set of rules that have evolved naturally over the many years it has been in practice. Traverse, with its codified trajectories and rules, is the perfect discipline for the competition we will be holding at Tall Tails.
We hope that the competition we host will be able to showcase the skills and bonds that the participants have formed, both members of the team will need to have the utmost confidence in each other and be able to handle the pressure of not only a crowd but a group of judges who will be scrutinizing their every action.
Medals will be available for all those who take part in the event, three metal medals for the podium finishing teams, and green plastic medals for the rest.
¶ When & Where is it Happening?
The Silent Competition will take place during the Week of Madness. It is a part of a series of events that will be running all week to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of Tall Tails.
The event will take place Tuesday, 25/05/2021 at 12PM SLT.
A special Silent Dressage field has been prepared specifically for the event, the field will be kept 32 meters from the crowd so that participants can lower their viewer settings to a smaller distance to help fight off any lag they may experience.
Judges will be located on the field and sat on a special viewing platform so they can overlook the event.
As with all events which take place at the Sky Training Platforms we ask that all members of the crowd to not cross the sim border.
You can get to the new Silent Dressage field here. The field may need to be rezzed to see it.
¶ How Can I Take Part?
The Silent Competition event is available to anyone, provided they come in a team: one with hooves the other with a whip. Registration is not restricted to Tall Tails members, so if you wish to take part then please do not hesitate.
To register, simply contact any of the judges listed below either on Tall Tails Discord or in SecondLife and provide them with the following details;
Team Name: Totally Real Team
Trainer: Molly Lacroix
Pony: Teapot
Don't want to register but you are still curious about the event? Well then just show up at Tall Tails on the day of the competition and enjoy the spectacle!
¶ Competition Rules
The rules that will be used for this competition are a tailor-made variant of Silent Dressage Traverse specifically for the purpose of this competition, they will allow both the pony and the trainer to be judged in all aspects of the disciplines this ponyplay activity requires. Some details may differ from what you are used to so you have best pay attention!
- The trainer shall enter and exit the field on the right side; the pony on the left
- The pony shall move from figure to figure by walking along on the inner side of the outer line of the field,
- While not an absolute rule, the trainer shall navigate the field in an elegant way by avoiding whenever possible straight lines or tight curves
- The pony should take the shortest route around the edges of the field between two figures of the pattern. Walking to the first figure is always done clockwise except for Figure 8,
- The pony is allowed to traverse the field between two figures as long it is the shortest way and they are aligned on the field (e. g. from lines C to H, or line D to G and reverse)
- The center circle shall be entered facing the same direction as the trainer is facing
- Every other figure shall be entered and exited by its adjacent letter
- Making a 180 degrees turn on a figure marker is forbidden except with Figure 8
- Figure 8 can be exited either backward or with a 180° on the spot
- The trainer shall not block the pony's path
- The pony shall not correct a missed figure marker
As a small disclaimer, we are aware that there have many discussions around the correct method to do Silent Dressage. These are the rules for how we will judge our competition, they are not intended to invalidate or depreciate the rules others may use and teach.
¶ Judges
¶
| Axelle Beorn | axelle01.resident | 058f17a7-90fe-4a06-890e-9928bb194e11 |
| Aida Beorn | aida.beorn | 51e6f6a2-b0a8-4b74-93c0-69832c5be943 |
| Stephanie Mapple | missmapple.resident | 1f79aea3-cdd0-4d39-927a-d80b3240211c |
¶ Judging Criteria
For the purpose of this competition both the trainer and the pony will be judged and noted according to the following criteria performing a provided pattern:
- Technicality - This discipline is focused on how well the rules of the competition have been followed
- Synchronicity - How well-timed and in sync the Trainer and pony are
- Style - How smooth and elegant transitions made by the Trainer are
- Accuracy - How accurate the pony is at stopping on the figure marker at moving around the field.
- Display - How well the Trainer and pony are presented. This is in regards to the outfits worn by both participants.
¶ Teams
¶ Team 1
| Trainer | Magic Lacroix | u69.Magic | 4836d4cd-c058-4f4e-8249-3b23e91f0802 |
 |
| Pony | Molly Lacroix | magentamolly.resident | 89834eeb-147a-4c41-b249-f14946e5005f |
|
¶ Team 2
| Trainer | Loren Fox | lorenfox.resident | 9f59885f-3894-420b-b08a-51cd41e6d75f |
 |
| Pony | Alexis Sinclair | thecustodian.resident | 3d6f16db-e2ce-47ba-88a9-161bd147dac2 |
|
¶ Team 3
| Trainer | Rain Lacroix | curious.rain | 4dd5139a-8dfb-4f10-8702-93f63d6a2bd8 |
 |
| Pony | Camilla | camilla.sassypants | 69133072-f6e5-498c-a4af-4aa40bb142f0 |
|
¶ Team 4
| Trainer | Joline Komarov | joline.komarov | c0fa4e54-0c4a-41ec-b47c-303585fd0f63 |
|
| Pony | Demure | jennanekogirl.resident | 3fa01452-e57e-483d-8f63-0274a68bb24b |
|
¶ Team 5 - The Fox and the Bound
| Trainer | Yoko | yokominamoto.resident | 5f59de18-a9bc-4bbf-8425-44c203a8c71a |
 |
| Pony | Holly | reyetta.claven | eb38e3ec-3873-4fc3-8d53-3d608639d04b |
|
¶ Team 6
| Trainer | Vanish Aker | vanish.aker | 6f66ccbd-b66d-4a1d-a1c1-cf1f4a442ae3 |
|
| Pony | pumpkin | nele.boa | 3d977ff6-6431-4378-98e4-90629d976d7b |
|
¶ Team 7
| Trainer | Vanish Aker | vanish.aker | 6f66ccbd-b66d-4a1d-a1c1-cf1f4a442ae3 |
|
| Pony | Nataly | nataly0707.resident | 47d6c710-c832-4bb6-876c-d58e5f30a46e |
|
¶ Team 8
| Trainer | Clarissa | claire110.resident | 0241a4e9-c385-4862-b4d1-c2e593bb8118 |
|
| Pony | Katrin | katrin.randt | 4b1f9c8c-07c2-40c3-85fe-4c139d81b506 |
|
¶ Team 9
| Trainer | Starbright | dilekiona.resident | 3164a17f-c07d-4e9e-861f-2095ee434f3f |
|
| Pony | Laurine | laurine.resident | 4722f6c5-aa78-454b-a842-8b17241f4413 |
|
¶ Team 10
Trainer: Starbright (dilekiona)
Pony: Clarissa (claire110)
| Trainer | Starbright | dilekiona.resident | 3164a17f-c07d-4e9e-861f-2095ee434f3f |
|
| Pony | Clarissa | claire110.resident | 0241a4e9-c385-4862-b4d1-c2e593bb8118 |
|
¶ Results
It was a very long and nerve wracking day when the Silent competition was help. Our three judges looked very imposing sat on their seats overlooking the dressage field and all the teams were feeling the pressure.
Once things started over the crowd cheered each team on as they took it in turns to display their skills on the field.
In the end it was a fantastic event and it was wonderful to have ponies and trainers with us to take part in the event. Magic Lacroix and Molly Lacroix took home the gold medal with Yoko and Holly in a very close second place. The third place team was Rain Lacroix and Camilla who surprisingly put on a very good show despite their inexperience.
Judge Aida was kind enough to catalogue the results of the evenings proceedings so that all the teams would be able to see how they did in the judges eyes.
The information can be found at the link below.
Detailed results can be found here
¶ Pictures
