Dressage is a chance to showcase harmonious communication from rider to horse, where a series of movements are performed exemplifying the horse’s physical suppleness, strength and desire to work. Every rider employs the principles of dressage to at least a basic level, as every rider needs to communicate with their horse effectively to work towards their goals and the best way of going for what they are trying to achieve. Those who compete in pure dressage thrive from the training required to improve their horse according to the Scales of Training, presenting their horse in competition to a judge (or judges) to be scored according to this scale.
The Scales of Training are as follows:
Rhythm – the horse should stay in the same rhythm within each pace rather than sporadically speeding up or slowing down, with the hooves touching the ground with regularity. This rhythm should be at an appropriate speed, referred to as the tempo – i.e. not racing around, but also covering the ground with enough energy.
Suppleness – this describes the horse’s ability to move in a balanced way both longitudinally (moving forwards and backwards, i.e. extending and collecting and transitions from pace to pace) and laterally (moving sideways. i.e. leg yield, shoulder in, travers, renvers and half pass), and maintain balanced through bend or straightness.
Contact – the horse should take the bridle into an elastic contact that feels soft and steady. You should feel some weight through the rein and that the horse is seeking the contact, while you provide a consistent boundary for the horse to work within.
Impulsion – this is the energy created by the hind that gives power to the paces, and should not be confused with speed. Paces cannot be uphill without impulsion, and creating impulsion helps the horse to be able to collect and extend. Impulsion comes from the horse being responsive to the rider’s aids, and the rider containing the energy created by the leg within the contact.
Straightness – straightness may sound easy to achieve, but is a reflection of a horse that is balanced and supple, and a rider who is themselves balanced, symmetrical and straight.
Collection – collection is increased engagement of the hind legs, the ability to carry the weight on the quarters rather than the shoulders and elevate the frame.
The collective marks in dressage assess the overall picture of horse and rider according to the above.
In the UK, dressage tests come from British Dressage, and go from Introductory level up to Grand Prix. Not all tests at each level will contain all of the movements we are going to talk about in this post, so if you see something on these lists that you do not feel ready for, it doesn’t mean you can’t give that level a go – just make sure to choose to go to a show running a test that does not include that movement, or be prepared to drop a few marks! After Intro A, B & C, tests run from Prelim 1 onwards, and the higher the number the ‘harder’ the test is, although of course whether you find one test more difficult than another depends on your and your horse’s particular strengths and weaknesses. Prelim 19 is therefore theoretically more testing than Prelim 7, and so on.
Intro – Intro tests include movements in walk and trot only – no cantering. They are ideal for novice riders who are just learning to canter, or young, green horses who may find cantering at a show exciting. There are only 3 different Intro tests available – A, B and C, – they all include 20m circles in trot, transitions to walk and back up into trot again, turns onto the centre line, changes of rein, and free walk across the diagonal. You may be asked to ride a 3 loop serpentine in trot or half 10m circles in walk. At Intro, the judge is looking for your horse to be responsive to the aids, be able to bend in balance and stay straight, and for you to try your best to ride an accurate test. If your horse doesn’t quite come round onto the bit yet it doesn’t mean an Intro test isn’t worth trying!
Prelim – Prelim sees the combination move up to including working canter in their tests. The canter work will be on 20m circles and straight lines. The harder Prelim tests include some changes of rein in canter, but no counter-canter. The trot will include serpentines, changes of rein, smaller circles, and give and retake of the reins.
Novice – At Novice level, we start to see lengthened strides including medium trot and canter, where the horse’s strides and frame become slightly longer without hollowing or falling onto the forehand. At this level you are required to “show some strides”, and the bigger trot or canter does not have to be ridden marker to marker. The judge is looking for some lengthened strides in comparison with your working trot or canter, but does not want to see extended trot or canter, so don’t worry if your horse doesn’t have the ability to fully extend yet as that is not required at this level. Novice tests also include counter canter, 10m circles in trot, give and retake of the reins in trot and canter and half 15m circles in canter. Walk to canter transitions are in some of the harder tests.
Elementary – The step up to Elementary is significant, and a lot of riders are disheartened by a drop in their scores when they first dabble in Elementary tests. The judge is looking to see a higher level of engagement from the hind and therefore the horse’s ability to collect, and to perform the movements required successfully, the horse must have greater suppleness and flexibility than at the preceding levels. We start to see some lateral work including leg yield and shoulder-in, simple changes which are a canter-walk-canter transition, 10m circles in canter, rein back, and collected work in the trot and canter. Whereas the medium trot and canter at Novice level required ‘some strides’, at Elementary level it is usually required to be performed from marker to marker, meaning your horse must be more responsive to your aids when asked for this lengthening followed by collecting.
Medium – Stepping up to Medium brings the chance to try new movements such as the half pass and walk pirouettes, giving you a taste of what’s required at top level and testing your horse’s ability to engage the hind and collect to a further extent, as well as their lateral suppleness. Extended paces start to be required, which sees the strides lengthen further from the medium strides, so collected, working, medium and extended paces should be well established.
Advanced Medium – The only difference between Medium and Advanced Medium level dressage is the flying changes, where the horse is expected to cleanly change canter leads. At this level you will only be expected to do one flying change at a time.
Advanced, Prix St Georges, Inter I, Inter II and Grand Prix – At these levels we see a combination of the above movements alongside more advanced movements, with the step up to International level competition at Prix St Georges. At Advanced and Prix St Georges level we start to see multiple flying changes in sequence (at every fourth, third, second or at every canter stride) called tempi changes. Canter pirouettes require a great deal of collection and engagement and start to come in at these levels. Grand prix is the most difficult level of dressage. It takes many years to produce a horse to this level, as well as great skill from the rider and natural ability and willingness from the horse. British Dressage have produced a series of videos demonstrating these movements.
Freestyle to Music classes allow the rider to make their own floor plan to music of their choice, following a list of required movements. The rider will access a list of movements that must be shown at some point in the test, and will devise their own test to include all of these movements in whichever sequence they like, to suit the music of their choice. There are several professional companies who work with the rider and their horse to find music that suits the horse’s paces as well as the rider’s taste, and they can make a floorplan if you don’t know where to start! These classes are usually only found at affiliated shows, but some unaffiliated schedules do include them.
FAQs
What are the hardest dressage tests? Dressage tests theoretically become more difficult as the numbers get higher – for example Prelim 1 is easier than Prelim 19, and Elementary 59 is more difficult than Elementary 40. Grand Prix is the highest level of dressage, and the culmination of all of the training that has gone into the preceding levels. Although these tests are intended to test the horse in relation to strength and suppleness increasingly as the numbers go up, how difficult your horse and you find each test depends to some extent on where your training has focussed. For example, some horses may find the walk canter transitions relatively easy if this is something they have been taught, but they may struggle with 10m circles in trot if they have done little trot work and struggle to balance. Take this rule with a pinch of salt, then, and read through a test before you put an entry in to see if it suits your horse.
When should you move up a level in dressage? Generally, once a combination is consistently scoring above 65% at a level, they can step up if they wish. This is probably a conversation to have with your coach, however, and ultimately there is no necessity to step up if you do not wish to. Each class at affiliated competitions is split into Bronze, Silver and Gold, meaning that even riders with a history of competing successfully can compete in a lower level test entered in the Gold section, keeping competition fair for riders who are just starting out at that level. Conversely, there is nothing to stop you stepping up and giving a more difficult level a go. The only exception to this is Prix St Georges where certain scores have to be achieved before a combination is eligible to compete. Many riders use an unaffiliated competition to dip their toe in the water of a harder level before entering an affiliated show at the higher level.
What’s the difference between unaffiliated and affiliated dressage? Affiliated dressage is governed by British Dressage, and follows the rules and regulations set out by British Dressage strictly. Unaffiliated Dressage can be organised by anybody at any venue, and although the schedule may say it is run to British Dressage rules, there can be a lot more leniency in the rules. You may find this guide useful in explaining the difference. Unaffiliated shows provide a welcoming environment where the rider may even be permitted to ride in non-legal tack if needed. Affiliated shows ensure fairness in the sport by strictly enforcing the rules, and the judge must be a fully qualified, listed judge – whereas at unaffiliated shows, the judge does not have to be listed, and could be someone training to become a judge or a local riding instructor. Venues that run both affiliated and unaffiliated tend to run their unaffiliated shows similarly to their affiliated, and you may notice little difference; it completely depends on the venue.
What is the hardest dressage movement? The movements required at the top levels require a great degree of collection and so are physically difficult for the horse – it takes years of training to produce a horse that is able to collect to this extent. These movements include the canter pirouettes, piaffe and passage. Tempi changes, where multiple flying changes are performed in a row, also require a great deal of training, as does the canter half pass zig-zag, found at Grand Prix level.
What is a good score in dressage? Each movement and collective is scored out of 10, and while you may hope to gain 10/10 on movements you think rode well, very few riders gain the higher marks consistently. A 6 is deemed ‘satisfactory’, and a 7 is ‘fairly good’, while an 8 is ‘good’. These numbers are then scored to work out a percentage that is your score. Generally, an overall score above 70% is viewed as achieved by a combination who are established at that level.
Dressage is a great opportunity to showcase the training you have been doing with your horse and gain feedback on what your current strengths are and what there is to still improve. Producing a horse on the flat is always a work in progress, hence nobody ever gains 100%, but it is very rewarding to feel your horse become stronger and see improvement in the scores with continuous hard work. If you are thinking about dabbling in dressage and are worried about all the rules regarding what you and your horse should wear, please dont hesitate to get into contact with us!
