A Dressage Scribe

Scribe or Sit with a Judge – Scribing is a great way to learn what a judge looks for in a good test.  Shows love having volunteer scribes and you will learn great deal.  Scribing is one of my favorites, I just can’t quite figure out how to watch my paper and the horse at the same time yet.

Don’t Warm Up your Horse Too Much.  This can be hard to gauge and you will need to know your horse well to warm him or her up correctly.  Make sure to check the show time so you know if the show is running ahead or behind schedule.  Warm up is not a time for training.  If your horse is having a bit of trouble with a movement, don’t drill as if you were training at home.  Usually drilling will make the situation worse.  Just accept what you have to work with that day and do the best you can.  Keep in mind the weather and its impact on your horse. An extremely hot day can definitely change how your horse preforms.  The key to this tip, practice, practice, practice and know your horse. 

Always Prepare for Your Next Movement  – Have your next test movement in your head and prepare your horse before the movement is to be asked.  You however don’t want your horse to anticipate the movement.  This can be a tricky balancing act between preparation and anticipation.  Keeping a variety while working at home can help with anticipation. 

Ride Your Fullest Potential – Don’t turn into stone the minute you enter the dressage arena and forget to ride your horse.  Your horse needs guidance and direction from you.  Make sure you are not so conservative you don’t allow your horse quality movements.   

Entrance and Exit Halts are Important!  These are the first and last things the judge sees in your test so make sure these movements are good.  

Read the Directions and Purpose of the Test – Each dressage test has the directions and purpose written at the top of the test.  Read those to get a better understanding of what the judge expects to see out of you and your horse when preforming.  

Halt at X- Halts should be at X (if designated on the test). Remember at the lower levels you may ride the halt through the walk.  It is better to ride the halt through the walk at be at X than to overshoot X.   Occasionally you may ride a test where a judge will be at B or E then your precision will really be put to the “test.”  

Do you have any tips on ways to improve a dressage score?  If so, please feel free to share so we can all learn with you.

Don’t you just  love the dressage information highway!  I enjoyed Tracey’s version of the presentation myself and wanted to pass it on to my readers with a few of my own little comments too .   Of course I asked Tracey’s permission. 

Ways to Improve your Dressage Score

Be Accurate!   Many riders lose points on dressage tests because of inaccuracy.  Take the time to really look at the dressage arena and its measurements so you can understand the exact dimensions and where you should be preforming movements.  Start and end movements at letters, but also plan for turns.  You may have to turn slightly early to reach a letter in a correct place.   Focus your eyes slightly ahead of the letter to make sure you arrive at the letter correctly.  Serpentines are where many lose points (that’s why they are in our tests, to get us!)  Make sure you are parallel to the center line when making your loops. Don’t let your serpentine get snake like. Also, don’t go into the corner at the beginning of the serpentine. 

Corners are Your Friend  -  Make sure to use your corners.  You don’t need to bury your horse in the corner. The higher the level you are riding the deeper the judge will expect you to ride in your corners.  Your horse’s head should not look to the outside!  Practicing shoulder-fore position at home can help you ride better corners.  Also, don’t forget the short side of the arena is important too.  Don’t take a break because that is one of the few times the judge has a side profile of you and your horse.  

Post at the Trot in Training Level – When competing at training level many horses have not developed their muscles to be comfortable carry a rider in the sitting trot.  Riders may also not have developed a good sitting trot.  You are allowed to post so go ahead and post.  You will have plenty of time to sit once out of training level. 

Show One Level Below Where You are Currently Training:  The general rule is to show one level below where you are training.  This is refering to recognized shows.  Schooling shows are a bit of a different story and may be a place where you can test out a new level or skills you have been practicing at home.  

Wear Gloves when Riding - You do not want your reins too long and many riders ride with their reins too long.  Gloves can help prevent the reins from slipping through your fingers.  You should ALWAYS ride with gloves.  Many mistake long reins for a soft connection when actually long reins can be a more harsh connection with your horse’s mouth.  

Don’t Ride with Your Stirrups Too Long - You should be able to flex your ankle in your stirrups.  Too long of stirrups may cause you to lose a stirrup or have too much movement in your leg. 

Correct Mistakes Quickly and Quietly – If you get the wrong lead, make sure to change it.  Thinking the judge won’t notice is not a good plan.  They always notice!  The judge would much rather see you correct a mistake and move on to the next movement.  If you don’t correct a mistake you could be chancing a big fat 0 for your score.  If you fix your lead, the judge will at least get a few strides of a correct canter to give you a score. 

Lendon Gray’s Dressage 4 Kids Website – A great website to interest youth in dressage. http://www.dressage4kids.com/

Edward and Totilas broke the Grand Prix World Record with an amazing score of 90.75%. This team just keeps getting better and smashed that record with a score of 92.30% to win the FEI World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle Qualifier at Olympia, the London International Horse Show. Below is a video of the pair with their second World Record breaking ride.

Edward and Totilas have created quite a buzz in the dressage world. Along with the praise, the pair is also receiving critism. Some critical remarks state that Totilas’s exaggerated natural paces are “artifically inflating the marks and corrupting the fundamentals of the sport.” I guess when you make it big someone always has something to say about it. Maybe the horse’s extravagant movements do bring in big scores. I don’t know. What do you think? I do know that Totilas is a young stallion and I will look forward to seeing what the future brings for him. In my opinion, the pair is amazing. I will leave it to the judges to decide the scores.