prelim 12 or prelim 18

shannonandtay

shannonandtay

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so daughter has moved onto prelim this year and is doing much better in it than intro. we have decided to try a new venue for a change and looking at their diary theyre doing prelim 12 restricted and prelim 18 open, I thought the restricted would be better for my daughter as it says not to have competed at novice but looking at the test prelim 12 looks quite hard, maybe im wrong and the prelim 18 is more difficult, any recommendations as to which one for a 14 year old who is quite new to prelim? :)
 
I prefer prelim 12 - really suits my horse! I always struggle with 18 for some reason, I really don't enjoy doing down th centre line away from the judge (they can see how wobbly we are!)
 
I quite like 18. There's a lot going on (and did have to have a caller when I did it because I was paranoid of turning the wrong way) but on our horse who can be a little...how shall I put this...conservative with her energy, this benefits us as you are constantly turning and dont seem to have long periods of trotting/cantering around the school. If you can be accurate then 18 is quite nice!
 
Nannon said:
I prefer prelim 12 - really suits my horse! I always struggle with 18 for some reason, I really don't enjoy doing down th centre line away from the judge (they can see how wobbly we are!)
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For some reason, we always do this better than going towards the judge! At our last show, we managed to watch a few classes before I had to ride. They have a canteen situated at A with a viewing window and we managed to sit bang on the centre line. i don't think we saw one combination who didn't go wobbly! (which made me feel better lol)
 
that's a point! I think weve been spoilt with two prelim 1 tests recently :) I think they both look hard but I think prelim 18 looks a touch easier but then im confused by the open and restricted tests!
 
ok that was why we were going with the prelim 12 in restricted but think we may well go with the prelim 18 might be best to practise both tests and see how they go. thanks.
 
hi, I have ridden both tests and found them both to be reasonable, if I had to choose between 4 and 12 I would go 12 any day. Although 12 does contain the movement of changing the rein at canter. My horse used to find that last line and turn up the centre line in prelim 18 very difficult. Why not do both tests on the day esp if you are practicing both?
 
Sukistokes2 said:
hi, I have ridden both tests and found them both to be reasonable, if I had to choose between 4 and 12 I would go 12 any day. Although 12 does contain the movement of changing the rein at canter. My horse used to find that last line and turn up the centre line in prelim 18 very difficult. Why not do both tests on the day esp if you are practicing both?
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its my 14 year old daughter who is doing it and she doesn't like having a caller (it confuses her) so I doubt very much she will remember both tests on the day, but we will see how she goes.
 
I've had to make this choice just this week as out next Sunday, I've opted for Prelim 18, rather than 12 as I personally found it the easier of the two and easier to remember.

Good luck! :)
 
Sukistokes2 said:
My horse used to find that last line and turn up the centre line in prelim 18 very difficult
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Ah yes, that does come up rather quickly! Horse is very keen to stop cantering at any point so it's pretty much leg on leg on leg on, then suddenly trot and straight away turn up centre line! Hard to get balanced for us lol
 
I liked both as enough going on to keep my very idle horse interested, but preferred 12 as found he was better picking up his second canter after the quick drop down to trot and back up to canter as he stayed lighter and more responsive. My ideal dressage day was when it was both as they were my favourite prelims !
 
I'd do the Prelim 12 if it is a restricted class as your daughter will have a better chance of a placing than against open opposition. If its a difficult test it will be difficult for everyone! :)
 
tobiano said:
I'd do the Prelim 12 if it is a restricted class as your daughter will have a better chance of a placing than against open opposition. If its a difficult test it will be difficult for everyone! :)
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Thanks for all your replies, as above I was thinking restricted as she's new to prelim, but then saw the test for prelim 12 and thought wow that looks tricky, but I can see from your answers that 18 is too! Once the school returns to normal rather than the puddle it has turned into today we will get practising and see which one daughter and pony prefer.
 
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