Accuracy in dressage? Please help :)

Firewell said:
Figjam thats amazing about the gates! I had never thought about it like that before! I would NEVER slop around the corner to a skinny, I always walk my line thoroughly, check a point in the background where I have to turn to get straight (like a fencepost or something) then sit up and really keep him chanelled into the fence... Must do more of that in the dressage!!!
Click to expand...

I know, it's so obvious when you think about it and such a great way of getting us jumping folk to understand a little better! ;) In one lesson we did quite a few 20m and 15m circles with the wee rubber "blob" markers out making gates at the quarter marks and it really helped. :)
 
If you are accurate at home, you will be accurate in the test. Also ride the middle part of any training session as if you were riding a test - sit up, plan ahead, be accurate and imagine you are being judged.

Learn how to use corners, etc., to prepare for transitions. The more you use the corners and turns, the more time you have to prepare for the next movement. A couple of steps of shoulder fore prior to a transition can really help.

I was taught to think about "yes" strides and "no" strides. As you school at home, on each stride ask yourself if, at that moment, your horse would be responsive if you asked for something different. E.g. if you are walking and you asked for trot at that moment, would your horse make a good and prompt transition to trot? If so, that is a yes stride. If not, then it's a no. The aim is to have yes strides coming into any transition or movement, to give you the best chance of accuracy and smoothness.

Be disciplined - if you asked for something at a particular point and either nothing happened or the result was poor or mistimed, then rebalance immediately and try again until you get it right.
 
I think you and J do really well and you should give yourself more credit. If it was me, i would go out and NAIL a prelim to boost my confidence (you could still do a Novice afterwards) but just so you feel excellent again x
 
I always aim for making the transition when my horse's shoulder hits the letter. By the time her mid section is across the letter, she should be in full swing.

Deep corners gives you more time between movements and helps balance the horse.

Across the diagnal, trot two strides before X and 2 strides after. Judges want symmetry. Everything equal distance, same number of strides before and after.

At home, I pretend beams or posts are markers and test myself for how long it takes me to prepare to transition at that mark.

Start a transistion as early as possible. That way if you flub it, you have time to correct it before the next movement. For instance, at C canter, as soon as my horse's nose touches C I ask for the canter. If she strikes off wrong, it takes me one stride downward and one stride upward to correct. That puts me halfway through the corner but setup to start the next movement. (just an example).

Max Gahwyler is fantastic! And his books are well worth the time to read. He helped me with my 20m circles after I rode a test for him. Nicest man in the world.
 
As an extra treat when you've been practising all the tips mentioned, BD in our region run test riding clinics at local arenas/venues generally once a month. These are open to BD members and non-members and cost around £40 for 45 min slot with an accredited judge/trainer, which seems cheaper than your lessons. You can choose your test, ride it and get feedback/help and then practice certain movements that you struggle with with the trainer and then ride through again to see how its coming together. Have a look on the BD website for your area and check out what is coming up.
Good luck!
 
I totally know how you feel! I think the judges think I'm drunk or just thick when they see the state of my circles. I have had lessons concentrating on test riding which have been v helpful but I also you tubed loads of tests that I was oding to see other people ride them and see what they do :)
 
I think ester and rara007 are spot on: I think it's important to know the measurements of the arena and the distances between the markers, and to be able to calculate from that where a movement will be, precisely. The geometry involved is not difficult, and it may help you enormously to draw out the test yourself on a to-scale arena diagram, because then, rather than just copying someone else's movements or diagram, you'll understand exactly why the movement has to fit into the arena the way it does. For the canter-transition-over-X thing, I think it helps to know how long your horse's canter stride is, or how many strides he tends to take on the long diagonal.

My problem is the opposite from yours, I think: I tend to try so hard for accuracy, that I then get far too tense and unforgiving when the pony tells me that he's happy to give me a nice transition, but two strides later than I really want. Hmm.
 
All transitions at Prelim and Novice are permitted to been progressive. All downward in Elementary. This is written on your sheet.


This means you can prepare before the marker so you are early rather thanks late.

I is better to ride a good fluent transition than lose the quality at the marker.

Quality will always be marked higher than accuracy.

Quality with accuracy even better
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top