Tracking up

[JoJo_]

How important is it that a horse is tracking up in a dressage test?

My friend competed my horse (I cant do much at the mo due to injury) in an interdressage competition so I could view all the videos of those who did better than her. My friend was determined not to get any comments about lack of impulsion and she did go a little quick so the judge commented that she was verging on a medium trot instead of working and needs to slow it down just a tad which we both agreed with. But when I viewed the ones who got a higher score than her, almost none of them looked like they were tracking up.

I just wondered if its not that important.

 

[monkeybum13]

I would say its more important at BD than unaff as the mare I used to ride (unaff) rarely tracked up and would get 8/7's for collectives. I know little about dressage marking so cannot say much.

 

[KatB]

Yes it is important, but its not always that easy to see! An active hindleg, with a soft rounded topline is the easiest thing to look at for the lower levels.

 

[zefragile]

I can't even tell what's going on on Interdressage videos, the screens are tiny!

I've nearly always been marked down for not tracking up.

 

[Yoyo]

I just looked at your video that you put a link to and your horse is going far too quickly. She also looks very on her forehand. But lovely horse

If you look at the higher ones they are much more active behind. And they are tracking up, you just have to look carefully. If you look at the one that won you'll see the horse is much steadier, but the hindleg is much more active than yours and not on the forehand. Make sure your horse doesn't rely on yours hands by give and retaking the rein and seeing if the outline stays the same. And lots and lots of transitions both between and within the pace.

It's just more practise

 

[TarrSteps]

Tracking up is just a tiny piece of the puzzle so it's not likely to be a "deal breaker" especially at lower levels. It's also very conformationally dictated - I've had horses with huge overreach who tracked up even when they were barely moving and other with long bodies, short legs and naturally flat strides, that struggled unless they were working absolutely correctly. Also, a horse on its forehand, "grounding" its fore foot and slightly breaking the diagonal pair will actually be more likely to step into the footprint of the forefoot, which is why such a way of going often leads to over reaches, forging etc. Obviously these are greater faults than a horse not quite coming through from behind.

A somewhat more useful "marker" is whether or not the hock steps forward at least under the point of the stifle, preferably further. I have to say though, dressage is not just about the "picture" so it's not really that useful to set such specific goals. Such standards are useful in the overall, as checks to progress, but the "feel" and overall correctness is more important.

 

[JoJo_]

Yeah the winner is my YO and her lovely 5YO Welsh. My friend (who is riding) has really been working with Tia on getting her active from behind and sometimes the energy does go out through the front a bit. Its hard to see some of those tests cuz the screen is so small but I was being biased as I was so proud of how well Tia went! She hasnt been that consistent after coming back into work. We've mainly been working long and low too so to pick up into a proper contact even that much was a bit of an achievement. She'll improve more i'm sure and we'll aim to be winning those comps!

Thanks for your comments!