Dressage test question.

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risky business

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Hey guys,

After avoiding dressage for pretty much my entire riding career I come up with this strange idea that I'd like to try eventing 😳.

I've done a couple of intro tests so far with another this weekend. The trouble I'm having however is a complete fail of memory during my tests.

I'm having a caller currently during the tests but I can't stay at intro tests forever. I can seem to remember them when I'm at home then it goes to pot on the day.

Does anyone have any tips at all? Or atleast give me the comfort that I'm not alone and at some point I will be able to remember a test!
 
Look for the patterns - everything on the left rein is repeated on the right rein at some point. Once you have the layout pattern in your head it's then the paces pattern, on one rein and then on the other
 
It does get easier as you do more and become more confident generally, I tend to teach people by breaking up the tests into several parts, we may do the first bit a few times, move on to the next and repeat it until the rider is confident they know where they are going before moving on to the next part and do the same.
I will then 'test' them by asking for them to start at a certain point, not the start, ride to the end or to start and ride to a set transition and back to the start then repeat, most tests are logical, a few are not, so what you do one way will be done the other and in time you learn to anticipate what may come next even if you have not seen the test.

When you warm up at a competition try to ride the test format without the letters to guide you, it is rare to be in a 20x40 , being able to ride the test without a fence or letters can help set the pattern in your mind.
 
If you are a very visual learner, draw the test out and follow the patterns..

I taught my 8yo son a full prelim test this way successfully.

Use different coloured pen for walk, trot and canter.

See dressage diagrams or similar for an example.

Fiona
 
Thanks guys deffo some points to try!

I'm going to really make effort with learning Saturdays test in view of not having a caller this time.

Fingers crossed
 
I have used a few methods, i watch them on youtube a few times, draw the pattern out on paper and have walked them round myself.

Its really not that bad if you only have one they are normally quite symmetrical x
 
It really does get easier. I also found watching YouTube videos helped. Another thing I did was record the test on my phone (as in reading the movements not video) and then listen to it dog walking or when cooking dinner etc. You’ll find a method that works for you and then you’ll wonder what you were worrying about!
 
Don't try to learn it just as a list of instructions. Walk it out on the ground yourself and, even if you can't actually do that, visualise yourself riding the test how you would like it to go ie literally ride through it in your head, envisaging every aid you will give, how the horse will respond, so not just where the markers are etc, but also how you will ride the corners, where you will half halt etc etc. Envisage the perfect test and it is more likely to happen.
 
I find it helps if I know the venue, I can visualise riding the test in the surroundings. I also walk, jog and skip through the test on the yard, or in the kitchen if the weather's bad. I have even written the letters on scraps of paper and put them on the kitchen floor.
 
Tongue in cheek because you already have lots of sensible, helpful suggestions. I found the best way to force me to learn the test thoroughly was the humiliation of going horribly wrong, the judge telling me where to pick up and having no idea what to do next. I honestly can’t remember if I retired or was eliminated, I just know it didn’t end well. Vowed it would never happen again and now learn the test by drawing it and writing it out over and over again until I can recite it like a poem, lie in bed going over it, in the car etc.
 
CMcC said:
Tongue in cheek because you already have lots of sensible, helpful suggestions. I found the best way to force me to learn the test thoroughly was the humiliation of going horribly wrong, the judge telling me where to pick up and having no idea what to do next. I honestly can’t remember if I retired or was eliminated, I just know it didn’t end well. Vowed it would never happen again and now learn the test by drawing it and writing it out over and over again until I can recite it like a poem, lie in bed going over it, in the car etc.
Click to expand...

Ooh, memories of trying to do a dressage test and a Prix Caprilli test on the same day and getting them horribly mixed up. The judge's car horn seemed to go on and on and on!
 
address the reasons for brain failure, do you feel stressed, are arriving a bit late and have to rush, how is the warm up going? are you breathing properly, ?

if you can do it at home you can do at a comp
 
I used to have to do them to get the pattern in my brain - couldn't just remember off the words on the paper.

So lots of running around a rectangular rug at home in the evenings when no one was watching.
 
I learn the pattern rather than learning the test by the letters eg. change rein across long diagonal, trot 20 m circle by judge's car, etc.

I also 'practice' them by jogging (trot) and skipping (canter) around the living room.
 
When I first started, and when I was teaching new adults, we used to make a 'dressage arena' indoors in a reasonable size room and literally walk/trot/canter round on foot.

For myself I learn the pattern as opposed to the markers, for instance I may do a 20m circle starting at the judge, or pass the entrance and do a change of rein on the next long diagonal.

I also visualise doing it in several different arenas.

I draw it, and learn from the scribbles by going through it again and again.

I also learn it well enough so OH can ask "what are the 2 movements immediately before the canter right?" or, start at the transition from canter to trot on the left rein and give me the next 2 movements...

Once I know it that well it is rarely forgotten.

I may also talk to OH about how I am going to RIDE the movement, such as B-E half 20m circle showing FWLR, be back in walk for the half marker as I need to be in trot before the quarter marker, and I best do that early enough as I also need to be n canter before we get to the judge. Or, trot large past the judge, but keep the horse together as at the half way mark we have a tight 10m half circle and need to be balanced for that.
 
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I used to ride through the test in the warm up, a bit scaled down, but basically running through the test, with the sheet in my pocket.

I found going through it on foot in the living room or out on the lawn quite good.
 
I walk through it in the arena then walk through it when I’m warming my horse up. Same in trot - ie, here I walk, trot transition here etc...

Takes me about two weeks to get tests properly memorised.
 
Following, as I managed to remember a prelim last year to my amazement and we came 2nd but I really struggle too. I can't have a caller, confuses me to much.

Nerves get the better of me.
I have a free app which I can draw it out on, I draw it out on paper, walk it at home in the front room and try and do it in 'parts' when practicing. I also find instead of remembering set letters, remember it as shapes which helps! I make sure I have a good few weeks before the test.

I am not sure about others.. but I find if I read through a test just before going in, it all goes peak tong!
 
I use an app that is really helpful, you input all the movements then it plays the pattern out. The free version is 'Dressage Lite" but you can upgrade it to save more tests.
 
We all forget tests, I vaguely remember Carl Hester turning left instead of right or vice versa in a big event a couple of years ago - we're human and it happens and nobody will - or should - put you down for it (OK so maybe the judge will give you a fault but that's the worst thing that could possibly happen).

For me riding the test in walk works and saying in my head - "OK canter transition here, give the rein here"" etc. works great as a warm-up/cool down too. I've probably done 50-75 dressage tests in my life and only got lost twice! One of those times was when I did three tests in one afternoon, they were 2 x elementary and 1 x medium so quite long tests, remembered them all and then the penultimate movement in the final test of the day my mind just went blank and I got beeped at - just laugh it off, as frustrating as it is it's not the end of the world.
 
Sasanaskyex said:
We all forget tests, I vaguely remember Carl Hester turning left instead of right or vice versa in a big event a couple of years ago - we're human and it happens and nobody will - or should - put you down for it (OK so maybe the judge will give you a fault but that's the worst thing that could possibly happen).
Click to expand...

Think it was the europeans a few years ago where 4 riders (3 of them went on to win medals) went wrong in the GPS ;)
Charlotte and Adelinde made the same mistake, one after the other :p
 
I'm another that finds drawing it out on paper the most helpful. I basically don't lift the pen and just follow the instructions to get a feel for the pattern if that makes sense. Eventually my head starts to know the next step in the pattern before i read it and then I know i'm good to go.
 
I visualise riding it (if I know the arena that I'm riding in, I visualise it there). I close my eyes and ride the first movements until I'm not sure what's next, then re-read the sheet, close my eyes and start again. I do this over and over until I've got the whole thing nailed, then keep repeating it whenever I can, sometimes when I'm driving or I just take 2 minutes break while I'm working. Over and over and over again. I also know our weak spots so I'd visualise riding them well.
I do find visualising it at the venue very helpful, once I rode into an indoor that had mirrors straight ahead of me and it totally put me off my stride and I turned the wrong way after going up the centre line!
 
Lots of good ideas. Something I find helpful is to learn the last few movements first and then work backwards adding a new movement on the front with each repetition. It means you are moving towards the more familiar end of test all the time rather than moving away from the more familiar beginning of test all the time!
 
Write it, draw it and do it on foot but also, if you have the option, ride through the test on another horse/pony other than the one you are going to take to the competition. This allows you to practice the transitions and movements but your "competition" horse will not start to anticipate the movements.
 
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