Are our future Olympians flawless on the flat? Dressage judge Jessica Ransehousen irons out the kinks.

Nine flawlessly turned-out horse-and-rider combinations took to the dressage arena at The Fork Stables in Norwood, N.C., this morning in the first phase of the final USEF Mandatory Outing for Olympic Eventing, but there was nary a winner in sight.

While the tests were scored by I-rated FEI judge Jessica Ransehousen, the numbers are being kept for internal use only, as team selection is subjective, and this mandatory outing is not technically a competition. Instead, the morning had a distinct educational flavor, as Ransehousen took several minutes after each test to discuss the performances with each rider, going through their scores movement by movement.

For the few spectators on hand, Ransehousen’s frank but positive input was easily audible. She had no qualms about chiding one rider for misusing their “very, very long legs,” or proclaiming a flaw in another’s position “a little bit weird, honey.” But the constructive criticism was just what most competitors were looking for. Many even re-schooled their problem movements over again after their tests.

“She was definitely very straightforward with us, and I know she’s really there to help us improve our game,” said Becky Holder, who scored mostly 7s and some 8s with Courageous Comet. “If we want to be competitive on the world stage, we need to hear it told as it is.

“I have a bad habit of allowing the haunches to trail in the half-pass, and I fixed it so well that I ended up having the haunches leading,” she continued. “I over-corrected that a little bit. It was our first time through the Olympic test, so it was great to be able to practice it.”

For Bonnie Mosser, who was only recently added to the Eventing Short List with Merloch after Phillip Dutton’s The Foreman was withdrawn, today was a chance to improve upon their performance at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** in April.

“He was more through, and his trot work definitely had more presence,” Mosser said. “I’d heard it all before, but [Ransehousen’s comments] were a good reminder that my tendency is to get a little quick in the dressage arena, and I hadn’t heard that in a long time, so it was nice to understand that I was riding forward again and that I need to settle down. But it was all exactly how I wanted it to go.”

Dutton, who has two mounts remaining on the Short List, said he was also pleased with their performances this morning. Connaught and Woodburn , who placed first and ninth, respectively, at Rolex Kentucky, earned high marks.

“It’s the first event the horses have had since Rolex, and it takes some time to get the cobwebs out, but I was not disappointed,” he said. “They did about what I thought they could do.”

Dutton noted that The Foreman, who won the Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.) last fall, will be out of commission for about four months. Yesterday the gelding underwent surgery to repair a recurring splint injury and remove adhesions in a front leg.

A hoof abscess kept Stephen Bradley and Brandenburg’s Joshua out of this morning’s action. The selectors have excused the pair from participating in the mandatory outing for veterinary reasons, but the horse and rider are present on the grounds and are currently still in consideration for the team.

Click here to jump to coverage from the Mandatory Outing’s cross-country phase.