Do other countries have the same sort of dressage levels as UK?

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soloequestrian

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Obviously the top level is the same sets of movements, but do other countries use a system similar to BD in terms of the number of levels and what is included at each, or are they very different? Was just pondering (again) the other day whether the progression is right here, specifically the lack of lateral work at lower levels but the presence of lengthening relatively early on. Anyone know?
Thanks!
 
USA has '1st - 4th Level'. Progression is similar as far as I know but I think they have leg yield sooner.

I wish there was leg yield in Novice. Would swap that for mediums for sure :p
 
I watched a "lowest level" class for 5 year old horses in Denmark that had "canter to halt" as the first movement, and half pass in trot and canter. MUCH more advanced standard than in UK.
 
I would say that in NZ it is very similar but it is levels 1-8 but levels are on par with Uk, ie level 3 elementary would be the same. Double bridles are not allowed until level 5 (advanced Medium) also not so many categories for riders so you do end up competing against the top riders at many of the shows. I have also heard said that the tests here are marked harsher than in the UK.
 
We have largely the same classes here in South Africa (prelim, novice, elementary etc) but a few differences:
- We have a level called Elementary-Medium, which is predictably in between elementary and medium
- We then miss out advanced medium
- There's no separate classes for pros/amateurs etc so if you're up against the SA champion in your prelim class then tough luck!
- I think our tests are marked a bit more harshly. I only say this as I read reports etc on here, and over in SA it is virtually unheard of to get a 70 or above, and a 65+ is considered very good

Then the tests themselves:
- lateral work starts earlier. We have leg yields etc in novice, shoulder in and walk pirouettes in elementary
-Collected walk starts a bit earlier too, either later elementary tests or earlier medium ones, I can't remember!
- simple changes through walk at elementary and flying changes at medium level (some at the end of a diagonal and some on serpentines)
- counter canter strike offs/serpentines etc come in elementary
-canter loops through X start at novice
- trot-halt-salute comes in at Prelim level, in both the first and last halt
 
I was in Hong Kong for a while, where they use the UK system (although sometimes they use Australian tests). Again no sections within each level, but there are far fewer competitors! Marking was certainly harsher there, if you got 60% you'd expect a rosette. We competed in the FEI World Challenge each year and the visiting FEI judges were usually far more generous, marks tended to go up 5%!
 
Yes it is similar here in America. As said before the levels are the same but are called Training (Prelim), 1st (Novice) through to 4th. The movements are the same pretty much except you halt on the first centre line as well as the last at Training. What is different is they have no way near the same number of tests. At Training there is only 3!! They change every year though.
I don't know much about the movements at the higher level but they are along similar lines at Training and First so I assume they follow a similar pattern through the higher levels. Judging is similar at least where I am.
 
Germany has E, A, L, M, S. The names correspond quite closely, so L is for "leicht" (easy, i.e. elementary), M you can guess, S "schwer" (difficult, i.e. advanced). Canadian level names I think used to be more similar to the British ones, but changed to match the American system some time ago.
 
We have different levels in France, but it's a bit of a mix up as it depends on what license (and horse) you have as to what classes you can do. For riding school types, you have Club 4 to Club 1 and then Club Elite. "Affiliated" classes would be Amateur (Am 4 - Am Elite) and then the Pro tests which are usually FEI tests and there is some cross over between the licenses, but they don't start in the same place. e.g. Am 4 is the same as Club 1 - and is about the same as Elementary

There is no equivalent of Intro.
Collected and Lengthened paces comes much faster then the UK, lateral work also.

All tests in France must be done in sitting trot (there are a couple of rare exceptions where rising is "allowed"), and you will get eliminated if you take your schooling whip into the test (again, there are a couple of rare exceptions, I think Am 4 and Club 4 Imposée). In club 1 tests (which is the first level you can use a double), if you use a snaffle bridle you get an extra 2 points.

I've stopped trying to equate French to UK tests, it gets too confusing!
 
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