About the Rider Katie Boniface About the Rider Katie Boniface

14 Tricks to Remember for Your Dressage Test

A few things to consider when you are out competing

Tips & Tricks of the dressage arena

Remember the first time you competed? Or maybe you are nervously awaiting your first competition...

Here’s a few handy tips for your first day (and second, third, so on):

  1. The number 1 rule is to stay on the horse and stay in the arena. Everything else is a bonus.

  2. Presenting in clean boots, jacket and tack is not mandatory but shows you respect the sport. Make the effort.

  3. There is etiquette to follow in the warm up arena. Try to follow it.

  4. It is highly likely you will be competing against people with more practice or skills then you. This doesn’t make you a loser – the fact that you showed up at all makes you a winner. Everyone has to start somewhere and that start is never at perfect.

  5. If this is your horse’s first time, likely he will be nervous too. Rule number 5 is to teach your horse to be curious so he will be less flighty.

  6. Breath.

  7. Remember which way to turn at C once you enter the arena. It makes all the difference.

  8. There is maths to learn in the calculation of the accuracy of the movements. Sorry, but true.

  9. There are also letters to learn, and they aren’t in alphabetical order.

  10. During your test, there are areas where the judges can’t mark you on the form. Use those spaces to ‘tune up’ your ride.

  11. Don’t forget to salute at the end of the test, and make it obvious.

  12. Your test score will depend on a combination of accuracy and the level of training you are at with your horse.

  13. Remember, dressage is founded on the art of training your horse. Prep and Prelim are the foundation of training that set you up for success. Therefore, the only thing that score should matter for is where you can improve your training, not how you can get a ribbon.

  14. And don’t forget to smile. You are enjoying an amazing sport partnered with your best friend. Not many other people get to do that!

 

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The secrets behind your dressage scores

Have you ever thought about what the judges are actually marking you on?

ES Quirky rider 1.jpg

Have you ever thought about what the judges are actually marking you on in your Prelim test?

When you are in prelim, the foundation skills needed for prelim are rhythm and tempo, making your horse work in front of you leg, and keeping them into contact.

The judges are looking for the application of the training scale – how well you implementing the training scale at home for your horses’ physical, mental and behavioural development. They want to see that the test flows: one movement should flow easily into the next without resistance, which shows good behavioural training and exposure.

They are also looking for accuracy in the test – the diameters of you movements, the correct shape on the course.

If you can ride an accurate test without any behavioural issues you should get at least 50-60% in your scoring. This shows you have put enough training in at home to be able to navigate the movement in the arena without your horse being silly.

Obviously, this can depend on your horse’s previous exposure and at what level you are competing at – for example, if you are riding at an official day they would expect a higher standard than at an associate day.

The next thing your judges are looking for is your rhythm and tempo. This should be consistent and fluid throughout the test- it shouldn’t be hurried but it should be active.

The next is connection and working frame, particularly the consistency of the frame throughout the test, and that you can ride your horse with bend. When we achieve this, we should be starting to see our marks getting up to 60-65%. It shows that we are implementing our training scale well, that our horse is understands how to work with self carriage, connection, and knows how to carry that through transitions and onto the movements.

We can start pushing those marks up when our horse starts working with thoroughness and swing, and that they are not working on the forehand but they are pulling through the shoulder.

Lastly is impulsion. Once we start working with impulsion, we can see our marks pushing the 70%, or maybe even the 80%, depending on the quality of the horse and the level of competition that you are at.

Keep in mind, your scores can also be influenced by the first horse that competes (as he sets the bar for the rest of the day), and what level you are competing in.

So when you complete your test, receive your results and are seeing comments give us insight into what areas we should be working with.

More forward – know more about how to keep you horse in front of your leg without rush; how to create more forwardness in your rhythm and tempo.

More bend – we need to learn how to ride our horse more around our leg.

More frame – your horses’ development in being able to work with rounded connection and into your hands, having the sensitivity to the bit and the suppleness through the back to be able to maintain the connection.

When you achieve these ‘mores’, you would be at the next level of competition – and once you get there, there will be more ‘more’ to achieve!

And that is why dressage is an ever improving sport.

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About the Rider Sarah Gallagher About the Rider Sarah Gallagher

What do the Dressage Letters REALLY mean?

What do the dressage letters mean, and how can you remember them in a test?

Recently, at our very first workshop, we were asked what the dressage letters mean. Or more specifically, why aren’t they A-B-C-D etc?

And it left us both a little stumped. Why isn’t it simple, and what do those letters mean? To start, let’s look at the dressage arena and the position of those letters.

In the 40x20m arena, the letters read A-K-E-H-C-M-B-F with D-X-G in the centre. In the 60x20m arena, there are a few extra letters: A-K-V-E-S-H-C-M-R-B-P-F with D-L-X-I-G in the centre. It’s certainly not straightforward, and no rhyme nor rhythm to the layout.

So where do these letters come from?

There are several theories as to where the letters came from, but unfortunately, the exact origin is no longer known.

dressage arena letter placements

The most plausible of the theories is to do with the Imperial German Court. Before 1918, markings where found on the walls of the stable yard of the Royal Manstall, which was used as an exercise yard and coincidentally measured thrice the length as the width – 60m x 20m! It appears these markings where to indicate the spot the groom would hold the horse in anticipation of his rider. The riders where (with the exception of A, which stands for Ausgang (exit) and C, which has no correlation):

  • K – Kaiser: Emperor/King

  • V – Vassal: Squire

  • E – Ehrengast: Honoured Guest

  • S – Schzkanzler: Chancellor

  • H – Hofsmarshall: Lord Chancellor

  • M – Meier: Steward

  • R – Ritter: Knight

  • B – Bannertrager: Standard Bearer

  • P – Pferknecht: Groom

  • F – Furst: Prince

There are no definitions for the centre line marker letters.

How can you remember the dressage markers?

When the letters have neither rhyme nor reason, it makes it difficult to imagine your dressage layout in the arena, and therefore your test. Unless you have a photographic memory (oh how I wish!), you may end up resorting to the use of a mnemonic – a phrase or short sentence that helps you remember initials or letters.

There are many examples of this, and feel free to share yours, but here are a few:

  • Clockwise from entry: All King Victor’s Expensive Show Horses Can Manager Really Big Plastic Fences

  • (or my personal favourite) All King Victor’s Expensive Show Horses Can Make Really Pongy Farts

  • Centre Line: Doing Lots Xtra Is Good

How do you remember the letters?

 

 

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