Dressage!

el_Snowflakes

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Hello all,

Going out to my first Unaffiliated dressage competition in a couple of weeks :) I'm planning on doing 2 prelim tests to get into the swing of it. having mainly competed at jumping & showing it's all quite new to me, any pointers or advice is welcome!
 

fatpony

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Good luck. Be accurate to your markers. And with the shape of your circles. Don't worry if you make any mistakes or have a spook etc. Each movement is marked individually so all is not lost. Have fun and smile. ;-)
 

el_Snowflakes

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Good luck. Be accurate to your markers. And with the shape of your circles. Don't worry if you make any mistakes or have a spook etc. Each movement is marked individually so all is not lost. Have fun and smile. ;-)
Thankyou, I will keep that in mind! Really looking forward to trying something new :)
 

Chirmapops

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Practise circles by riding them as a diamond and then rounding off, definitely don't give them corners! A good tip for when you ride a circle in a test is to ride the corner before as deep as you dare, then ride a very circular circle (with no corners!) then ride the corner after as deep as you dare to show a clear difference between the horse bending on the circle and the horse making a turn in teh corner.

Which tests are you doing?
 

eggs

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Know the dressage rule book if the schedule says they are running under BD rules. You must wear gloves, the horse can't have boots or bandages on for the test, you can't have bit 'biscuits' (the round plastic things) if under BD rules.

Know your tests but have a caller if that will give you more confidence. Warm up and don't be intimidated by others in the warm up. Don't throw away easy marks - ride to the marker (your body should be at the marker, not the horse's head), when riding up the centre line look up and smile!
 

ajf

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Learn the tests now, as you will get flustered on the day. If you are getting someone to call them, learn them now anyway!

Have a practice of the tests. Then you can work on a certain movement/transition that didn't go well before the big day.

Dressage is quite like showing, as in the way you present yourself and the horse, so if your horse does something well show it off! If it doesn't do something so well try and hide it a bit more (i.e. canter transition the horse throws their head, if transition between two markers do the transition closer to the marker where the judge can't see the horses head so well - hopefully that makes sense!).

And don't forget to breathe! :D
 

Kikke

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Good luck. Be accurate to your markers. And with the shape of your circles. Don't worry if you make any mistakes or have a spook etc. Each movement is marked individually so all is not lost. Have fun and smile. ;-)

best advise ever, not much else matters at that level. smile!!
 

mrswad

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Get there in plenty of time so you can have a look round & settled so you will be more relaxed. It's JUST walk trot & canter on both reins so chill & enjoy.
Read your test shortly before going in, even if you have someone reading for you...... just in case ;-)
Good luck.
 
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