As you enter at A, the judge’s steely eyes will be firmly fixed upon you and your horse for the next few nerve-wracking minutes. But what’s going through her mind as she watches you? Is she judging the perfect roundness of your circle or straightness of centerline, like an old-fashioned figure skating judge, or is she able to look past the geometry? Two top-level dressage judges share their thoughts on what they expect during Training Level and First Level tests.
The purpose of Training Level is to confirm that the horse’s muscles are loose and supple and that he moves freely forward in a clear and steady rhythm while accepting the bit. “For me, a good Training Level horse is one that shows a proficiency of the basics,” says Maryal Barnett, Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) “C” and United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) “S” dressage judge. “He demonstrates a nice, steady rhythm that you can set a metronome to; he’s relaxed, supple, balanced and is searching for the bit. A horse that moves like this, forms the figures correctly and bends in the corners, will always stand out. Even if he isn’t the greatest mover, it is clear to me that he and his rider understand the basics of dressage.”
To achieve this picture, Lois Yukins, FEI “I” and USEF “S” dressage judge, says that the rider has to have a steady and effective seat, and must also understand how to balance the horse and be adept with the aids. “Dressage isn’t just a matter of the horse being well schooled; different riders on the same horse can have completely different results,” she says. “The balanced rider can help the horse perform to his maximum ability, while the off-balanced rider will hold on to the reins and interfere with the horse’s movement.”
“I feel quite bad when riders fail to put enough importance on seat,” Maryal says. “It doesn’t matter how good the horse is. If the rider can’t sit and give clear aids, the horse isn’t going to have confidence in his rider, and the test is going to reflect that. Because it’s sort of a common thread with all judges, we want to encourage people to improve their seats. Longe lessons are the best way to improve. Or get with an instructor who really encourages a good seat.”
The First Level builds upon the Training Level requirements, but in addition requires the horse to demonstrate pushing power and a greater degree of balance and throughness. The transitions are more precise and closer together, and include transitions from the working gaits to the lengthening gaits. The horse is asked to increase the bend: The circles are 10 meters at the trot and 15 meters in the canter. “The horse that makes me sit up is the one that shows these basics, can do the lengthenings and is balanced enough to do the transitions in the lengthenings,” Maryal says.
The First Level rider must know how to balance the horse, and the aids must be more independent. “Now the rider has to sit the trot,” Lois adds. “So the seat has to be much better. First Level riders also need to understand how to put their horse on the bit because at this level it is required. So the understanding of throughness becomes even more important.”
However, many riders fail to keep the horse parallel enough during a leg yield, Maryal says. “The horse should be parallel to the wall, the shoulders slightly in advance. Many riders don’t ride the horse on the outside rein, while some will have the horse too much on the outside rein, [so the horse ends up] leading with his haunches.” Conflicting rider aids are commonly observed by judges during the leg yield. The rider asks for the leg yield by applying the inside leg, but then blocks the horse’s movement with the outside thigh. “That’s easy to see when you’re sitting at C, but not so easy to see or feel when you’re doing it,” Maryal says. “When a leg yield is done right it’s sort of a throw and catch, in that you ask the horse to move from the inside leg, and then catch him on your outside aids, and then you let him go again. But it’s very subtle.”
Understand Why Geometry is Important. “I’m not as interested in the geometry as I am in the training, especially at Training Level,” Lois says. “However, if you get a judge who is a stickler, then bad geometry is a way to lose points for sure.” Lois says to find out why you can’t make the pattern. For instance, if you have to steer with your reins to create a circle then something has gone wrong in your training. If you are riding the horse correctly, from inside leg to outside rein, you should be able to hit all the patterns. Always remember that the patterns are fairly simple and should never become a struggle.
A balanced horse creates accuracy because the more balanced the horse is the easier the transitions will be. “There is a certain amount of space for a horse to make a transition. However, for a horse to [score a] 7, 8 or 9, he will have to have more exact transitions and be bent correctly on the circle,” Maryal says. “Accuracy is important because it does reflect on the basics of the horse.”
Pay Attention to the Walk. There are coefficient points related to the walk in many of the Training and First Level tests, which incorporate the medium walk and free walk. The points for the walk are high because the gait is an indicator of how the training is working. If the walk becomes impure in any way, or a little uneven because of crookedness or resistance, this can hurt the submission score as well.
“It’s not just the quality of the walk but the way it’s ridden,” Lois says. “I find that people often don’t allow the horse to oscillate and really move the whole body. Their hands are too still, trying to keep the horse on the bit. In the free walk they don’t allow the horse to stretch as far as he wants to. They spend too much time worrying that the horse will jig.”
Maryal adds that many people don’t realize that the medium walk should have an overstride, as written in the rules. The judge is looking for a purity of the rhythm, that the horse does take an overstride and is still stretching to the bit. “I would suggest that riders practice at home, teaching the horse to march across the pattern in the test, in front of the leg,” Maryal says.
Use the Arena to Your Advantage. “The corners are places where you can prepare the horse for the next movement. Let him know what’s coming up by using half-halts to balance and position him to be ready for the canter depart or the next circle,” Maryal says. Riders often cut the corner off completely or ride into them, pulling the horse’s head to the outside with the reins, which unbalances the horse and makes the following movement or transition nearly impossible. As you approach the corner, make a half-halt to balance the horse, position him to the inside, and then think about riding him through the corner as if he’s a train with cars behind him. Each part of the horse goes through the corner one bit at a time. “But remember not to go too deep into the corner at these lower levels—treat it as a quarter of a 10-meter circle.”
If you are getting consistent comments and low scores for the same things, be honest with yourself and decide if your training is going in the right direction. Don’t move up to the next level until you’re consistently scoring in at least the mid to high 60s.
Further Reading Dressage Tips at a Glance Dressage Mysteries Solved The Dressage Training Scale
Sharon Biggs is a dressage instructor and the author of In One Arena. She is based in Indiana.
This article originally appeared in the October 2006 issue of Horse Illustrated. Click here to subscribe.
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