intro dressage tests

[fatpony]

Hi, I am about to take the plunge and do my first dressage test. Is there somewhere that I can find the tests online without having to pay? Also they are listed as just Intro A and B with no year. Are they all the same or do I need to contact the venue and find out what year. Also any advice on what is required at intro level - I assume accuracy and a obedient and willing horse are more important than perfect contact or am I wrong?
Thanks

 

[*hic*]

For merely a couple of quid you can download them from www.dressagediagrams.com.

 

[kc100]

You cant get them for free anywhere I'm afraid - you can get them online from dressagediagrams or if you want physical copies they are only about 50p I think (might be wrong!) from the British Dressage website and they'll post them out to you. They are not expensive though and there are only 2 intro tests (Intro A and Intro B).

In terms of what is expected of the horse, it is mainly that the horse is relaxed, shows regular rhythmical paces, contact is not critical at this stage but if the horse is going around with its head in the air like a giraffe then you will get marked down. They expect to see some sort of early outline with the horse on the contact and the head in a fairly consistent place. Accuracy is always important, regardless of what level you are at - so make sure your circles are 20m not 15m etc, make sure the movements are done at the correct markers etc. Obedience again is always important regardless of level - so the horse moves into trot immediately when asked etc, no resistance to walk or halt etc.

Watch a few tests on youtube (search BD intro A or BD intro B) and pay attention particularly to the high scoring ones, that should give you an idea of what a good intro test looks like.

Most of all though - relax and enjoy it. As long as your horse is fairly willing and obedient and there are no silly moments with any bucking, or as long as you dont make any mistakes (have a reader if you dont feel confident remembering it) then you are quite likely to score fairly well. Judges are not too critical at intro level, especially if this is an unaff competition. Even if the outline varies and is not consistently on the bit, you'll probably score mostly 6's and maybe the odd 5 depending on how hollow he gets. So if you get all 6's then you are on roughly 60%, any 7's or above and that brings your marks up.

Think about the easy moves where you can get easy marks - if your horse can stretch down and maintain the stretch in the free walk that is double marks (all lower level dressage tests have a free walk). The centre lines both times should be super straight - if you are straight and make a good turn at the top & bottom the judge has to give you a decent mark. Make sure the walk is always active and he is over-tracking, dont let him plod along and switch off in the walk. Walk can get you a lot of marks in dressage so dont relax too much when he is walking, make sure he is striding out and forwards. Judges love a good over-track!

Generally if your horse can walk and trot without any major dramas, and you dont go terribly wrong you will be absolutely fine! Enjoy!

 

[fatpony]

Thank you for taking the time to write that excellent reply He is only 5 so I want to make it easy for him (and me) hence the intro rather than prelim but didnt know if I should prioritise contact/way of going for accuracy and didnt want to dither between the two so thank you for your very helpful advice - I shall aim for a neat test and try to remember to breathe and smile.

 

[nikicb]

Hi, I am about to take the plunge and do my first dressage test. Is there somewhere that I can find the tests online without having to pay? Also they are listed as just Intro A and B with no year. Are they all the same or do I need to contact the venue and find out what year. Also any advice on what is required at intro level - I assume accuracy and a obedient and willing horse are more important than perfect contact or am I wrong?
Thanks

Intro tests are great - I've been doing them over the past year with my now 6 year old and they've really helped build both of our confidence without having to worry about wall of death canters. When we first started out we were getting in the 60s quite comfortably with a sweet accurate test. We've been able to really push the marks up recently to scoring in the 70s with much more energy. These are our most recent efforts (the quality isn't great, and I managed to mess the halt up in both, but otherwise they hopefully show flowing confident tests from a combination who is just beginning to get it together).

Intro A (note long warm up - test starts around 2.30):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x4c89JyZQo

Intro B:

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

We've now reached a point where we're moving on, but as I say they have been a great foundation level for us.

Good luck.

 

[arizonahoney]

You can certainly get those tests gratis, although it's not the done thing to say...try Google images...

 

[fatpony]

You can certainly get those tests gratis, although it's not the done thing to say...try Google images...

Thanks

And thank you for the links to your videos nikicb - they are very helpful - and you look great!

 

[nikicb]

Thanks

And thank you for the links to your videos nikicb - they are very helpful - and you look great!

Thanks. There are many better combinations on the forum, but I do find it helps to watch other people's tests along with knowing what they've scored. And just to reinforce one of the points above, free walk on a long rein is a great one to nail - we now get 8s with ours which really helps bring up the percentage and make up for the odd blip elsewhere in the test.