Dressage test confidence

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Ceriann

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We did our 5th and 6th tests today - prelim level. My mare has done a bit before me but I’m a newbie. We’re improving lots and my confidence has grown hugely - all down to my lovely little mare. Last comp she felt really flat so gave her a break from schooling and mixed up her work a bit more - now the ground is softer we’ve been having fun round the fields. Her schooling at home is much better as a result, lots of energy and activity which makes her a real pleasure to school. That didn’t transfer to our tests today and whilst she was better than last time, i got my best score (first time over 70% and we won), the energy wasn’t there so I was a little disappointed! It’s almost like she withdraws a little, isn’t quite as relaxed at home and that translates to lacking oomph. The comments around this were completely fair.

I allowed lots of warm up time today and did what we do at home really. Any suggestions?! Is it a case of getting out more? Should we try different venues? We lesson away so she goes out and about once a week/10 days. I’d like to try a novice test before the end of the year - level of work at home and in lessons, we could have a pop but not if I can’t get the same energy out!
 
amymay said:
School less (so much can be done out hacking and around the fields). And perhaps less time warming up at events?
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Last comp was a month or so ago - since then we’ve really reduced the manège schooling, no more than 3 times a week (twice this last week). Hacking much more and making lots of use of the softer ground on fields to get her out and moving forward. It’s really worked for the home schooling, she is full of energy - light leg and we’re getting some really nice work. It just didn’t carry into the test work. At home we warm up slowly (good 10/15 minutes of walk trot canter long and low) so wanted to do the same at the comp. Short warm ups haven’t worked for her.
 
Most horses are different at comps than at home or in lessons, many get tense and either get sharper or withdraw into themselves, I would try breaking the warm up into 2 stages, do the normal 10-15 mins stretching to get her relaxed and soft then take a short break before picking her up for 5 mins doing lots of transitions to get her thinking about you and listening so she comes more in front of you, it may help to get her attention on the job and less concerned about where she is.
Don't be afraid to give her a tap in the test as often the rider forgets to ride as forward as they do at home, also the rider holding their breath will have a similar effect on the horse so remember to breathe all the way round.

Well done on the win
 
also remember that they pick up on our emotions as well, you may think you are relaxed at a comp. but it is likely you change as you go in the arena and mares can be extra sensitive to us. i would do the warm up that you are happy with but make it a bit shorter than the one you do at home and before you go in try and relax by a bit of deep breathing and drop your shoulders so your body relaxes as well. a score of 70% is pretty good IMO so your tests cant be that bad!!!! well done..
 
be positive said:
Most horses are different at comps than at home or in lessons, many get tense and either get sharper or withdraw into themselves, I would try breaking the warm up into 2 stages, do the normal 10-15 mins stretching to get her relaxed and soft then take a short break before picking her up for 5 mins doing lots of transitions to get her thinking about you and listening so she comes more in front of you, it may help to get her attention on the job and less concerned about where she is.
Don't be afraid to give her a tap in the test as often the rider forgets to ride as forward as they do at home, also the rider holding their breath will have a similar effect on the horse so remember to breathe all the way round.

Well done on the win
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I’ll try that - that could definitely work with her. I stupidly didn’t take my whip as the much better sessions at home made me think she’d be as forward away. I also don’t mix the transitions up enough in the warm up to get her off the leg so that 5 mins would sharpen it up. Thank you
 
splashgirl45 said:
also remember that they pick up on our emotions as well, you may think you are relaxed at a comp. but it is likely you change as you go in the arena and mares can be extra sensitive to us. i would do the warm up that you are happy with but make it a bit shorter than the one you do at home and before you go in try and relax by a bit of deep breathing and drop your shoulders so your body relaxes as well. a score of 70% is pretty good IMO so your tests cant be that bad!!!! well done..
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I’m not as relaxed as at home - it’s a million times better than my first test but it’s a work in progress. The deep breathing and relax is a good point - I knew she was a bit backward in the warm up so that probably tensed me a bit.

I was a little surprised by the score - she is so obedient, everything I ask is on cue it’s just the lovely forwardness we get at home that fades a bit.
 
I have a similar problem with Millie in tha she goes a bit flat in the test. At home she is working fantastically, she came to me really quite unenthusiastic about schooling, but I’ve turned that around and she now really enjoys her 2-3 sessions a week (only 20 min sessions though)

She’s only been to two competitions and is quite good in the warm-up but goes a bit flat in the test. She’s still getting good scores and won her last class but I think part of the problem is that she still finds the travelling thing quite a big deal, although she’s getting more relaxed about it, I do think it’s taking a fair bit out of her and then after that and the warm-up, the adrenaline finally stops and she starts to tire.

I’m still in the trial and error stage myself with her, but we are out next weekend and I plan to keep the warm-up simple and concentrating on stretching. What didn’t seem to work very well last week was allowing her a good walk after warming up and before her test- I had no choice really as I was struggling with my own health, but she had really switched off in that walk and I think she thought we were done, so she was less than impressed to head into the arena to do a test!
 
be positive said:
Most horses are different at comps than at home or in lessons, many get tense and either get sharper or withdraw into themselves, I would try breaking the warm up into 2 stages, do the normal 10-15 mins stretching to get her relaxed and soft then take a short break before picking her up for 5 mins doing lots of transitions to get her thinking about you and listening so she comes more in front of you, it may help to get her attention on the job and less concerned about where she is.
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This is what I tend to do with my timid one. She's done plenty of shows now but still gets a bit backward and goes into herself, even just going from the warm up to the test arena I lose about 20% of her whizziness. So as well as a 5 min wake-up before our time is due, I also try to do the same when we are going round the outside of the arena waiting for the bell. Don't forget you can use that time too, you don't have to just trot round, you can canter, halt, whatever. If you watched any of the WEG dressage you'd see the riders really using those last few seconds to get the horse really ready to perform.
 
Great replies already, only other thing I can suggest is to arena hire with boards so you can get the feel of how she is at venues and ride her accordingly and often more confidently in competition. Helped me a lot with my horse who would go very tense on the flat at venues and be completely different to ride compared to at home.

Also if things aren’t going right in the test don’t be afraid to look messy or get after the horse. I am awful for trying to sit pretty and quiet and getting bad transitions over and over or lacking forward movement, which a quick kick or more refined aid would sort quickly. My theory is that a judge would rather see you correct it than carry on the whole test with the same mistakes. But I am no judge... :p
 
scats said:
I have a similar problem with Millie in tha she goes a bit flat in the test. At home she is working fantastically, she came to me really quite unenthusiastic about schooling, but I’ve turned that around and she now really enjoys her 2-3 sessions a week (only 20 min sessions though)

She’s only been to two competitions and is quite good in the warm-up but goes a bit flat in the test. She’s still getting good scores and won her last class but I think part of the problem is that she still finds the travelling thing quite a big deal, although she’s getting more relaxed about it, I do think it’s taking a fair bit out of her and then after that and the warm-up, the adrenaline finally stops and she starts to tire.

I’m still in the trial and error stage myself with her, but we are out next weekend and I plan to keep the warm-up simple and concentrating on stretching. What didn’t seem to work very well last week was allowing her a good walk after warming up and before her test- I had no choice really as I was struggling with my own health, but she had really switched off in that walk and I think she thought we were done, so she was less than impressed to head into the arena to do a test!
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They sound v similar! Red travels well now (we took a while to work out that all 15.1 of her needs the full trailer) but she is still slightly anxious going away. Yesterday morning we had the hunt around our land which set off her companion (who is a total stress head) and she was a bit more fidgety for plaiting. She is such a nice mare though, she’s never naughty or difficult so perhaps I underestimate how much energy she is using travelling and taking in the event. We won’t compete for a month now and we’ll see how she is when I school her next. She enjoys her schooling at home and at lessons (we travel to those) - we’ve had a few light bulb moments over the last 2/3 months (I’m just trying to improve as she is much better than me) I just need to find a way for that to really show when out. I’ll definitely drop the two tests next time (she doesn’t enjoy the second test - she def thinks she’s done) and I’ll try the 5 mins sharpening approach pre entry.

Best of luck with yours next weekend.
 
saddleoversofa said:
Great replies already, only other thing I can suggest is to arena hire with boards so you can get the feel of how she is at venues and ride her accordingly and often more confidently in competition. Helped me a lot with my horse who would go very tense on the flat at venues and be completely different to ride compared to at home.

Also if things aren’t going right in the test don’t be afraid to look messy or get after the horse. I am awful for trying to sit pretty and quiet and getting bad transitions over and over or lacking forward movement, which a quick kick or more refined aid would sort quickly. My theory is that a judge would rather see you correct it than carry on the whole test with the same mistakes. But I am no judge... :p
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Thanks - my instructor asked after the last test whether I’d got after her. I hadn’t but I did yesterday (I think) and did buy myself a whip for the second test warm up! The hiring of boards is a good suggestion - the other centre locally that I might try hires boards post events.
 
Do you actually ride her positively forward during the test, or are you concentrating on remembering the test and forgetting to ride? Um, I'm guilty of this
 
I used to tense up in tests. This resulted in my seat blocking the horse from going forward. Make sure you're actually going with your horse's movement.
 
I’m not as relaxed as at home but I am very focussed on her and have learnt my tests so I don’t have to think too much! I’m very new to competing at dressage so I’m sure my nerves are transferring to her - we are a proper team now so she really will pick up on me being tense. At home, once I’ve got her forward she will canter on cue and stay in canter - at the test I feel like if I don’t leg on pretty much every stride she’ll fall out. She’s got a lovely uphill canter but it really doesn’t come out at all at the test. I think I need to hire some boards and try out a test like arena without the stress of the test and see if I can carry that through when we compete next. Oh and she was plenty lively on our hack yesterday so this is just a competing issue!
 
mule said:
I used to tense up in tests. This resulted in my seat blocking the horse from going forward. Make sure you're actually going with your horse's movement.
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How did you fix this? I’d put her flatness last time down to me overdoing the schooling so I gave her a week off, just hacked her and then reduced the schooling massively. At home her schooling was much more active as a result. I was so convinced it would translate to the latest test but it didn’t. I will carry on with the reduced schooling - keep her activity up and before we test again focus on me and my approach. If I can get her to the test centre just to practice that will help.
 
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