Dressage… when to move up?

[Darcey22]

Hi there
I have had my mare for 8 months now and we are really enjoying dressage. We started in December at intro level and got a score of 53% . We have now done 5 further tests at this level and getting scores of between 63% and 73%. We did a prelim at the weekend and got a score of 65%. (Our canter lets us down at the moment). Is there a hard and fast rule as to when you move up the test levels?

 

[eggs]

No hard and fast rule - just move up when you feel comfortable.

Some people will say you need to be scoring 'x' percentage before you move up but if I followed that rule my horse who is out at Inter 1 would probably still be doing prelims as he is a mid-60's horse and has been all the way up the levels. We get the odd low 60/high 60/very low 70 but they are the definite exception.

Sounds like you are definitely going in the right direction

My old trainer said that just about any horse should be capable of doing a medium level test. The changes at advanced medium and above can stop some horses progressing up though.

 

[Darcey22]

No hard and fast rule - just move up when you feel comfortable.

Some people will say you need to be scoring 'x' percentage before you move up but if I followed that rule my horse who is out at Inter 1 would probably still be doing prelims as he is a mid-60's horse and has been all the way up the levels. We get the odd low 60/high 60/very low 70 but they are the definite exception.

Sounds like you are definitely going in the right direction

My old trainer said that just about any horse should be capable of doing a medium level test. The changes at advanced medium and above can stop some horses progressing up though.

The thought of entering a medium, not only seems massively out of reach, but makes me feel a bit nauseous tbh x

 

[Birker2020]

Hi there
I have had my mare for 8 months now and we are really enjoying dressage. We started in December at intro level and got a score of 53% . We have now done 5 further tests at this level and getting scores of between 63% and 73%. We did a prelim at the weekend and got a score of 65%. (Our canter lets us down at the moment). Is there a hard and fast rule as to when you move up the test levels?

I was just interested to see what I could do with Bailey. I never had lessons (or very rarely and if I did they were always jumping lessons) and I used to compete dressage tests in my Jefferies Falcon Event Saddle as I didn't have a posh dressage saddle for years and years. So I used to do unaffiliated dressage, started at prelim, moved up pretty quickly to Novice and then used to always do one Novice and one Elementary at each outing. Usually scoring 64% to 68%.

The one day I went and did a BD test on a ticket doing a Novice test and we ended up 11th which was good for a first effort of 25 plus in the class.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Hi there
I have had my mare for 8 months now and we are really enjoying dressage. We started in December at intro level and got a score of 53% . We have now done 5 further tests at this level and getting scores of between 63% and 73%. We did a prelim at the weekend and got a score of 65%. (Our canter lets us down at the moment). Is there a hard and fast rule as to when you move up the test levels?

No hard and fast rules. There will be parts of a novice test that your horse perhaps is ready for, possibly medium trot, but it's only a very small part of the test. If you wait for movements to be perfect you will never move up!! And also if you move up and do think you have bitten off a bit much you can move down again for a little while. Good luck with your journey.

 

[Annagain]

Well done on your improvement so far!

There are no hard and fast rules. In two years I did 2 walk trot tests with Charlie. The first competition I went to with Wiggy, after about 3 months, I did a prelim and a novice. That's when I knew I had the right horse!

I would say the main differences between prelim and novice are the requirement to show some medium strides at trot and sometimes canter and a small amount of counter canter - if you're doing those ok at home, I'd give it a go! Pick a couple of novice tests (24 and 28 are the two 'easiest' in my opinion) and try some of the movements that are new to you in a lesson or a schooling session and see how you feel about doing them.

 

[rara007]

When you want to. There’s often restrictions on unaffiliated classes to stop you chosing a level/section well below your ability but beyond that it doesn’t matter.

 

[Polos Mum]

I find percentages very a lot between judges, esp. at unaffiliated levels so I would usually look as much as where you came as what %age you got.

If you do the same riding club each month and come first three times in a row - probably fair to move up and let someone else have a shot !

If you have a break you might want to step down a class for a time or two - so just because you try moving up - doesn't mean you have to stay their either.

 

[Vodkagirly]

The good thing with dressage is if you move up and it goes badly, there is no danger to horse or rider just a poor mark and some comments that might help you move in the right direction. Give it a go, you might get a nice surprise.