How do judges evaluate the cones phase and what earns the best score?

The cones phase is scored through a straightforward penalty system that adds points for each ball knocked off the cones and for each second the driver exceeds the optimum time. The driver who completes the course with no balls knocked and within the optimum time earns the minimum penalty score for the phase. The accuracy required to drive through cone pairs cleanly is a product of the horse's responsiveness to directional aids, the consistency of the horse's pace through turns, and the driver's ability to judge the vehicle's width relative to the cone pair openings. A horse that drifts outward through turns — carrying the vehicle toward the outside cone pair as centrifugal force acts on the vehicle during curved approaches — is more likely to knock balls than one that maintains a straight, direct path through each pair. The optimum time for the cones course is calculated based on the course length and a required average pace, and driving at or slightly under the optimum time produces the best time penalty result without requiring a reckless pace that would increase ball-knocking risk. Learning to judge whether the horse's pace through the course is producing a time within the optimum takes experience and a sense of pace that develops through practice on measured courses. Course walking for the cones phase helps the driver identify the pairs that require the most precise approach angles, the combinations where speed must be managed carefully to avoid drifting into a cone, and the overall course flow that allows a smooth, forward drive from start to finish. Arriving at each pair with a planned approach angle rather than reacting to each pair as it appears produces more consistent accuracy than navigating in real time.