Help! I am trying to find info to "describe the way of going of the novice horse"

I assume this is for a college assignment? How about consulting the reading lists you have presumably been given for your course, or using the library to research the scales of training, various theories of training young horses, and how they line up with the evaluation protocols of various official competitive bodies (e.g. dressage tests in BD)? On your other thread, perhaps it might be interesting to compare the BD Elementary tests and stated requirements with, for example, L tests in Germany?

Sorry if I come across as a bit sharp. As a uni lecturer, these sorts of threads do my head in, because they suggest that you have not learned how to do your own research. How exactly are you planning to cite/reference things that you are told on an internet forum? Simply posting your assignment question as is on a forum really defeats the purpose of doing your own reading and learning how to find reliable sources of information. Nothing wrong with asking for clarification of points that you don't understand after you've done your work (say, asking for recommendations for good books or articles about the scales of training), but don't use a forum, or plain google, as a starting point.

The article linked to by Jnhuk may well help you get a frame of reference for the questions you need to be asking, and ideas on search terms that will help you, but I wouldn't be happy if I saw it on a bibliography for the type of assignment that I'm assuming you're writing, because it's a random piece of informal writing off the internet. Perhaps the BD webpage has some recommendations you could follow up.
 
I'm going to support sp in her Grumpy Grownup stance. ;) Leaving aside the very pertinent points above, internet forums are spectacularly unreliable and often (don't say I said so! ;)) incorrect! You might ask ten people on here and get ten different answers - how would you know if they were right or wrong?

We're not picking on you, honest. Just pointing out why you haven't been given a nice, neat answer.
 
Thank you both. Assumptions aside (!), it is not for a college assignment. Having given tutorial after my Masters on behalf of lecturers I appreciate your viewpoint :)

I am a qualified coach, and my research, along with google as a last resort has not given me the definition I need.

I should clear this up and state I am looking for the definition of the requirement, aims, and/or guidelines from the official bodies that a trainer/rider should work by. (Eg from the FEI, or national dressage bodies)

The trading scale yes...rhythm, relaxation, contact etc. What about the frame? It should have "more" weight carried further back in the body than a pre novice...how much more?
 
I presume BD would be the authority then. FEI is obviously no use to you at those levels and, while you will get information from other FN's about their roughly equivalent levels, they won't, of course, break down the same way.

Apologies for the assumption earlier. You could see how it might happen, though, as questions like that do crop up regularly on here.

I'll be curious to see what your research turns up. I can't see how it would be possible to objectively define things like the exact expectation of frame, weight distribution etc. as every horse will be slightly different.

Just to clarify, I presume you mean "novice" as Novice level (and Prelim then would be "pre novice") not a subjective term of where the horse is in training? If not, then this will somewhat alter my first comment.
 
The reason for the assumptions was in the way your questions were phrased: the quotation marks made it look like an essay question, you didn't explain what you were after in your original post, and I'm afraid it's the time of year for students to be posting exactly this sort of thread!

As to your clarified question, I would use the BD handbook as a starting point for "official" definitions of movements, and similarly for other national federations. But to my mind, the "how much" question is a bit like asking "how long is a piece of string". Surely, the degree can't be defined in absolutes, as it will vary with the horse's conformation and particular abilities? Wouldn't the measure be the horse's ability to perform the movements of that level of competition correctly?
 
Novice way of going... The horse is working in a slightly more uphill frame than the prelim horse, he will have developed a small degree of collection to enable him to perform movements such as medium trot and the movements required at novice level. He will have developed more balance. He should be able to rein back and have a degree of balance that allows him to perform simple counter canter movements.
The horses frame should still be quite open and not too up in front. Although not too long and def not on the forehand.
I will answer your elementary question here as well.
The elementary horse will have more engagement and therefor working in a much more uphill frame. He will be able to show more collection, but only enough to perform the movements required at this level. The hind leg will be more engaged and he will show balance and ease of movements. He will need to be able to perform basic lateral work, rein back and walk pirouettes hence the need for a greater degree of collection.
In elementary tests all medium work needs to be shown from marker to marker and he needs to be able to show a definate difference between paces. The medium canter may be followed by a collected canter or a small circle so the horse must have developed the ability to collect, sit on his hind quarters and listen to the seat to perform these movements.
The overall picture of the elementary horse is of a horse with a shorter, more uphill frame, with the hind leg more engaged. The horse should, however, still remain in front of the vertical.
 
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