First affiliated dressage for daughter

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Jericho

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My 12 yr old daughter is doing her first affiliated BD dressage tomorrow on her 13.3hh.

In the past she has mostly worn her brown tweed, pony club tie and black silk on skull cap. Sometimes she has black jacket, white jodhpurs and white stock.

Pony is grey and wears black bridle/ dressage saddle and will be plaited/ pulled tail

I never know what looks best - I often feel when in her tweed she looks less 'the part' and I always think I should have put her in the black. In the black she looks very 'dressage' and matches everyone else but then I think it looks like we are trying to hard and not appropriate especially for a 12 yr

Opinions on what you think is most suitable? I am hedging towards the more understated ( we are not a flashy outfit at all!) but maybe we should really go for a v smart look...

I always wonder whether judges have slightly swayed by the smarter dressage look? As in presents a more 'professional' look? ( I know they really shouldn't / wouldn't be!)
 
For affiliated I would definitely go with the black!!

I compete unaffiliated and have worn both tweed and black and it's never affected my scores, but if I was to affiliate then I would definitely wear black. Good luck to your daughter, enjoy your day x
 
I think a child always looks best in tweed at the lower levels, it used to be correct until very recently and most old school judges still appreciate correct over fashion, it certainly will not have any effect on the marks, I have worn my tweed for BD and will not wear my navy jacket at below elem level.

Let her wear what she feels most comfortable in and enjoy the day.
 
I do BD on a native and I've competed in tweed at everyday comps plus regionals and area festivals. We have just moved over to blue after I got bought all the gear for Christmas but that's just personal preference (plus I've bought him a bling bridle which doesn't really work with tweed).

You can go either so I would just go with what she wants to wear (although if I was choosing I'd go tweed for a child).
 
Do just check the PC Rules as competing affiliated now seriously impairs your ability to compete at the same level in PC. Daft decision if you ask me - but there you go....

And my preference would be for black - but some judges do feel tweed is more correct for juniors. Perhaps bring both jackets and see which one she prefers on the day? As others have said it won't impact her marks so it is more about making her feel comfortable.
 
It wont affect her marks, but I would go with the black. Always felt that black and white is the best look for dressage. But yeah see what she is comfortable in. She may just pick whatever everyone else is wearing on the day so she doesnt stand out.
 
Thanks yes I was worried about this but I think they have to be elementary level before they aren't allowed to compete at novice level for Area PC dressage.

Shay said:
Do just check the PC Rules as competing affiliated now seriously impairs your ability to compete at the same level in PC. Daft decision if you ask me - but there you go....

And my preference would be for black - but some judges do feel tweed is more correct for juniors. Perhaps bring both jackets and see which one she prefers on the day? As others have said it won't impact her marks so it is more about making her feel comfortable.
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I used to have a grey 13.3hh, and i always wore black and white, he was a welsh so i could've worn tweed. Whatever you wear won't affect your results. I find the judges always concentrated on my pony more than me, so just make sure the pony is perfect (trying to get a grey clean is always a challenge) !
 
We will try to enjoy the day apart from the 6am start! Thank you v much everyone for your comments - we will let you know how we get on plus photos so you can see their turnout! Daughter wants to wear the black coat (but I will take the tweed just in case...)
 
Well it was an early start but home by 10.30 with a red rosette (out of 2!! :-) ) and a 66.4% score so they have their first qualifying score for the Areas .... Woohoo! And this was despite me trying to disrupt her by saying she had gone wrong when she hadn't! Bad mummy - sack the groom! Thankfully even at 12 she is v good at remembering tests and just gave me a look and carried on!

She did look v smart in black. Strangely enough there was more tweed than I expected and the one other youngster I saw was in black.

 
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