How do you learn your dressage test??

Sarah_Jane

Sarah_Jane

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I been thinking (I know dangerous) about the way I learn tests. I can learn them quite quickly usually after just a read through and have in my head the markers i.e. at C turn left, at M shoulder in, at A walk etc etc. What happens at M I abruptly wobble into an irregular shoulder in and at A I quickly put the hand break on! Lets face it dressage has never been my strong point. So is it the way I learn my tests?

Instead of thinking at M shoulder in should I be thinking the corner before M ride deep into corner, flex through neck and prepare for smooth transition to shoulder in. Instead of A walk think of half halt in the corner sit a little deeper and allow horse forward into walk.

I guess what I am saying is that I shouldn't be learning the test as per written down but visualising the preparation I need to do in order to execute the movement - does that make sense? At present I arrive at the marker and start doing the movement with little forethought how it related to the corner or movement before. How do other people learn tests?
 
I can't learn them as they are written, I have to pace them out in my living room as they would be ridden, saying walk, trot etc in my head where appropiate.

I've also done this at the yard and while you look a little stupid walking in small circles and the like it really helps me remember them!
 
I draw them out continously until am sure i have learned it :)
Or I work them out, like if I am sure of most movements but forget some I work them out in my head :)

I think things like "i need to prepare early" or "change direction then medium" etc. :)

I think it depends on what type of learner you are, Im a visual learner so drawings help me :)
 
I read through them once then go through it in my head without looking at the sheet and then i pretty much know it, but I always ride through it once with the horse a few days before the competition to see if there are any problem areas or things which need more preparation than you might think - sometimes things look simple on the test sheet but the horse might find a certain movement harder than others, that way I know which exercises to do with the horse over the next few days so that it all goes smoothly in the actual test!
 
Rachel1 - No offence but I hate people like that! LOL I spend ages drawing it out on a wipe board. I'll pace it out if I have to. I listen to a CD in my car to/from work. And I can still mess it up!

My friend has admitted to glancing at it just before warming up once, watching it once or twice and getting it foot perfect. That sooooo annoys me.
 
i learn test with actions that i need to preform with horse, so it's goes:
Power down centreline turn at judges' car, deep into corner with slight shoulder fore then circle at E etc.... don't cut corner and make it a circle!!!.... cos if i just learn straight i forget to ride!!! ;)
 
Hello :) I used to learn them just solely how they were written on paper, using my finger on a bit of paer to trace it over and over and over, as it was enough for me get through the test in one piece having remembered where I was supposed to do everything! :) Now I am feeling a little more relaxed about the whole thing and pony is coming along so much better I am now thinking about what I need to be doing for each movement/marker, I learn the test as I always have first and then I visually go through the test in my head on pony thinking about what I am doing with my body to make sure he bends properly round corners and steps through into the trans smoothly etc. When I realised I had started to do that without thinking about it, at first I was a bit worried about myself but then I realised that maybe I was actually starting to get somewhere with this dressage lark! :D I do find it makes a difference as I am now thinking about preparing for a movement instead of just doing it at the last minute, which makes for a smoother test all round :)
 
I read through it once and know it but then I go over it in my head rehearsing how I'm going to ride every movement and what I want it to feel like
 
I draw out the arena on paper and then run through it by moving a pen across the course - once I know the test I then work on potential problem areas and think what I need to do to ride specific movements i.e. change rein in canter is a bit iffy for us so I plan what I'll need to do to prepare to ride this movement correctly.
 
Sarah_Jane said:
Instead of thinking at M shoulder in should I be thinking the corner before M ride deep into corner, flex through neck and prepare for smooth transition to shoulder in. Instead of A walk think of half halt in the corner sit a little deeper and allow horse forward into walk.

I guess what I am saying is that I shouldn't be learning the test as per written down but visualising the preparation I need to do in order to execute the movement - does that make sense?
Click to expand...

Yes, it does make perfect sense and that is precisely how I learn them. One of my very first trainers made me learn them that way when I was a child (he would make me write down an 'expanded' version of the test, i.e. with all the movements but also with every single half halt, aid given etc, and every single corner made explicit, precisely as you described) and then learn the test from that sheet rather than the official one. I think it helps if you see the official one as a 'skimpy' version which NEEDS filling out.

The habit has stuck and I think it really helps. I believe that, in a stressful situation (like a dressage test is, with nerves and so on) your brain ends up doing only what it has learnt and if it has learnt just 'walk at A' it really will result in one single hand aid! At least that's how my brain works. If, instead, you have learnt 'half half, sit up, soften with the inside rein, self-carriage, up into walk' then that is what your brain will do - equally automatically.
 
FrodoBeutlin said:
Yes, it does make perfect sense and that is precisely how I learn them. One of my very first trainers made me learn them that way when I was a child (he would make me write down an 'expanded' version of the test, i.e. with all the movements but also with every single half halt, aid given etc, and every single corner made explicit, precisely as you described) and then learn the test from that sheet rather than the official one. I think it helps if you see the official one as a 'skimpy' version which NEEDS filling out.

The habit has stuck and I think it really helps. I believe that, in a stressful situation (like a dressage test is, with nerves and so on) your brain ends up doing only what it has learnt and if it has learnt just 'walk at A' it really will result in one single hand aid! At least that's how my brain works. If, instead, you have learnt 'half half, sit up, soften with the inside rein, self-carriage, up into walk' then that is what your brain will do - equally automatically.
Click to expand...

Phew I've made sense:) Will start the brain training to try and work it into my tests I'm hoping it could really help.
 
Don't underestimate the power of what your brain does automatically, and the more times you do it correctly, the easier it becomes to do less and achieve more - does that make sense? ;)

I visualise mine, thinking about which rein the horse is better on, planning what to do when it falls in/out, drops behind the leg, bucks, spooks or whatever :p, then I tend not to have the panic-stricken moments when your mind can go blank which are quite hard to recover from.

If it makes you feel better, here's some vid of HH from yesterday running through Two Star Test B and stopping and repeating any really bad bits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTixhD64NiY

Not the most fluent:o, and I doubt I'll get away with kicking him hard and circling before re-doing the movement if it does go wrong:D, but you can see how disjointed it is because I haven't quite learnt the test :rolleyes: and therefore can't do the preparation for each movement as I'm too busy listening to where I should be going and what I should be doing.:D
 
I know know why my tests are never amazing ;) I literally read it, possible draw it a few times and thats me done. I don;t ride through it, and certainly don't visualise it.... maybe it's worth a go next time ;)
 
I'm really lucky in that I've always just been able to learn tests! having ridden very basic dressage tests on my shetland since age 5, and now moving upwards with my 14.2hh's, i've only gone wrong once in 10 years!

a brief lookover will suffice if i have performed it before, but recently (having started pretty high-profile, high-pressure competitions!) i started this routine which seems to work!

before i practice it (a few weeks ahead)
-look through the test
-repeat the first 3 movements out loud, then the first 6, first 9, etc
-go through the entire test in my head
-then run through the test on my feet at least once every time i ride - great for fitness, working out where to turn in relation to markers etc, i often do this to warm up just before i tack up!

a week ahead
-having practiced the test I put it in a plastic pocket in my dressage folder. I then use a fineline marker to write very detailed notes all around each movement (i use the sheets with diagrams, so there is plenty of room). i include where to prepare for each movement, what to do with my hands/legs/seat, ways to keep my horse working well where we have been having problems in practice!
-I go through the test whenever possible, eg. in the car (as a passenger only!)

on the day
once on the way to the event (im always passenger - if youre not, try and find a quiet moment after you arrive), knowing everything is ready to go i chill out and visualise the test going perfectly, how i will ride each part

i dont know what other people do but i often find myself tracing the shape of the movements with my finger (gets some strange looks!)

hope that helps :)
 
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