Dressage test riding is a valuable skill to have once you start showing.
Many riders will practice all year long, perfecting a certain test or level, only to blow it all to pieces when they actually get in the ring. Its a common frustration.
But there are 3 main reasons why this happens. Below we will look at each reason and discuss solutions. You CAN master the art of dressage test riding!
Reason #1 – Different Horse, Different Rider
You have to realize and take into consideration that both you and your horse are completely different beings when you are at a show.
Your Horse
Your horse will most likely have a completely different temperament when you are away from home. He could possibly be a bit more high strung and excitable. You have to be prepared for this, but you also need to ‘learn’ the horse show version of him.
This takes time and frequent trips away from home. But you have to get out as much as possible to be able to learn how to read your horse in other environments. Soon enough you will feel comfortable with the horse you have off property and you will know just how to handle him.
This all carries over into the show ring of course. If you don’t really know the horse underneath you, you certainly won’t be able to ride him well enough in the ring in front of a judge. Here are some things to think about:
- Does your horse require lunging at the show, but not at home?
- Is your horse less attentive? What exercises work best to get his attention?
- Does your horse react more dramatically to your aids? Maybe you need softer aids at the show.
- Does he spook at things in the show ring? What can you do to desensitize him the night prior?
- When you are in the middle of a test, does he lean or drift toward the exit? Learn how to ride that.
- How is he when there are 10 other horses in the warm up? Or when he’s alone?
- What about indoor versus outdoor shows?
These are just a few of the many things to think about. Next time you are at a show, take notes. Pay attention to your horse and learn him.
You
Its probably obvious that you are a totally different person at shows as well. Most likely you are a little nervous or pumped up a little bit. There are two main consequences to this. First, this might make you liable to make mistakes in your test. Secondly, your horse feels this ‘different you’ and reacts accordingly.
If you are nervous at a show, thats a reasonable feeling. We all get nervous. The only way to combat this is to show more. The more you get out there, the more comfortable you will feel each time. And the more you get out there and make mistakes, you’ll see that it’s not such a big deal, and you don’t need to worry about making mistakes. Once you stop worrying about making mistakes, you won’t make as many. And when you do make a mistake, your mindset will be different...”no big deal!”
But you really do want to try to make things as normal as possible at the show by trying your best to be the same person as you are at home. Your horse can pick up on even the smallest changes in your behavior. He can even feel your heartbeat when you are close enough.
Some horses will react very strongly to this change they pick up from you. And then your horse will be even more nervous than you. They don’t feel secure when they don’t know who the strange person is on their back.
So you are having to learn how to ride a completely different horse, while your horse is learning how to be ridden by a completely different you! No wonder things don’t go as planned at a show!
But that’s OK. Just take the time to really learn how to read your horse. Be yourself as much as possible. Over time, the two of you will become more and more in sync.
Reason #2 – Riding in the Show Ring is Completely Different From the Way You Ride at Home
Here’s what I mean:
You spend several months at home perfecting your leg yield. Its pretty good, you know how to set it up and can usually set it up 100% flawlessly. Ok, sometimes the set up goes awry, but you just circle back around and set it up again. And POOF! A perfect leg yield. Why did you circle back around and start over? Because you don’t want to train a bad leg yield into the horse. That’s good training.
But in the show ring, you can’t circle back around and start all over. So essentially, you have no idea how to save a leg yield from a poor set up and turn it into a ‘saved leg yield’ that earns you a pretty good score. So you carry on down the line with your poor leg yield and get a 4.
Or let’s say you have been working on your stretchy trot at home for several months. This is actually a really tough movement that requires your horse to be working correctly on the bit before you even start the stretch. He won’t really stretch otherwise. So for this movement, once you loose it, you have to pick the reins back up again in order to get the horse to stretch out to the bit again. So that’s what you do, you don’t want to train a bad stretchy trot after all. There’s no way to actually fix a stretchy trot gone wrong without actually starting over.
But again, you can’t start over in the middle of your dressage test. So what’s the answer?
You need to practice ‘dressage test riding’ at home, but not too much.
In the first example above, you should take some time practicing how to fix a poorly set up leg yield and learn how to fix things in the moment, rather than stopping and starting all over.
In the second example above, well, you need to practice ways to make it look as good as possible when it goes bad, without picking back up the reins and starting all over.
When you are training a new movement into your horse, of course you don’t want to carry on with poor quality. So starting over and doing it correctly is better. But you also need to learn how to ride as if there are no do-overs. Basically, you need to learn how to ride the horse that’s under you, moment by moment, responding to exactly what’s happening underneath you in that moment.
Now let’s say that you are riding a shoulder-in down the long side of the arena. You come around your corner and start your shoulder-in. Then your realize that your horse is at too much of an angle, and it’s basically a leg yield. You think, “Whoops, this is a bad shoulder-in.” …Don’t think that and just live with it…FIX IT! Don’t just accept what is. You can change things and fix things. That’s what you have to do in dressage test riding. Fix things moment by moment. The judge will be far more impressed, and give you a better score, if you fix a movement, rather than let it remain a disaster.
And that folks, is what I believe is the most important part about doing well at shows. Learn how to truly ride in the moment.
Reason #3 -Your Mind Gets Stuck Somewhere in the Middle of the Test
Imagine that you are entering the ring, going down your centerline, and you come to a perfect halt. As you solute to the judge, you think, “Yes! Great entrance!”
You carry on beautifully until you come to the free walk. Your horse breaks into a trot has he walks across the diagonal! You feel humiliated and you know that the movement is now ruined. Maybe you’ll get a 4 if you’re lucky. Learn more about the free walk here.
So you gently bring him back to a walk and finish the diagonal. But your mind is stuck on what had just happened, so as you start to gather up the reins for the transition to medium walk, your horse jigs AGAIN.
Because your mind was stuck on the ruined free walk, you essentially ruined the next movement as well.
So you need to learn how to move onward when something doesn’t go as planned. Keep going, keep riding your test. And this also ties back to reason #2 above. The more you learn to ride in the moment, the more you’ll be able to stay in the present in your mind and ride the horse underneath you instead of dwelling on past mistakes.
Another common scenario is that you just ‘give-up’ after making a mistake. In certain situations, this could really cost you. For example, many tests have a transition to trot after the canter work. Lets say that your horse accidentally breaks into the trot while doing a 10 meter canter circle. The break into trot happens just as you are finishing up the circle, and next you’ll be transitioning to trot at the next letter you pass anyway, so you just stay in trot instead of picking up the canter again.
This is a very costly way of thinking. When you decide to ‘give up’ and not keep riding in the moment, you actually end up hurting your score even more. Here’s what I mean; You see, you are already going to get a bad score for the 10 meter canter circle because your horse broke into trot. But since you decided to just stay in trot, you are now liable for a score of 0 for the transition to trot at the letter. It simply did not happen at all, technically, so the judge could give you a zero.
Mastering Good Dressage Test Riding
So you see, they key to good dressage test riding has a lot to do with staying on top of things. Don’t just give up when things go wrong. Don’t leave things as they are, or you’ll be leaving points on the table. Stay present and ride in the moment. Learn to ride what is underneath you at any given moment. But also take the time to really get to know your horse. Learn how he acts away from home and adjust as needed. Pay attention to your horse and work on building a bond that is strong enough to withstand those horse show distractions.
Keep Riding, Keep Refining
The Refined Rider
