What Do Dressage Judges Look For?

ShowJumperBeckii

ShowJumperBeckii

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Hey :)
Just wondered as i cant ride for 3months but hoping if i get on and take it steady in a month :rolleyes: and just to flat only so was thinking of maybe might do some winter dressage as im sure that would help my jumping? :)
so what do they look for?
good riding and the right moves obv
but does the horse have to be in a constion outline? ill do just the smiple walk, trot, canter tests ect for the moment
and ebs has quite a thick long mane just wondered, shes not native breed so will it need to be pulled and plaited?
thanks alot :) x

Cuppa And Hob Nobs For AnyOne That Helps :p

PS. if you took the martlingale off a 5 point breastplate is it dressage legal? or not? thanks :)
 
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Hi there

I'm not an expert but at the lower levels they are looking for obedience, so when doing transitions you horse will do them fluently with no objections and circles should show some nice bend in the horse. Accuracy is important, if the test stated 'trot at C' then prepare to trot before C and do the transition bang on C - after C loses marks.

I have found that I can pick up simple marks by being accurate.

Also a breast plate is acceptable without the martingale attachment.

Grackle nosebands are not acceptable in BD but are ok in BE tests
 
flatwork will def help your jumping, rhythm, contact and suppleness is some of the things a judge will look for, ddoesnt have to be on the bit and a judge would rather see a forward rhythmic horse than one held in with stilted paces, being accurate in the test helps pick up marks - go watch some til you can ride.
 
In prelim, it seems that as long as your horse is consistent, you will be marked reasonably well - that can be consistently poking it's nose or doing giraffe impressions - and will get marked higher than a horse that shows some ability to offer a good outline.... (bit crazy really!)
Just try to be very accurate, so do transitions clearly and at the markers, make your circles circular, your straight lines straight! (harder than it sounds, really!)

Many people don't bother plaiting for unaffiliated dressage, so you would be find to leave her mane as it is :) Or you can plait it using a running or trellis plait if you wanted to? Otherwise you can pull it and plait it normally. As long as it is brushed though and not full of mud or anything, it should be fine! :p
 
I like to see a horse going forward in a good rythmn, I am not concerned too much where the head is, although a horse going forward correctly in a baby outline will obviously gain higher marks than one who is hollowing. Also be as accurate as you can (lots of points can be gained there) and use the corners of the menage properly.

My pet hates for prelim and intro are:

Inaccuracy - not riding to the markers and circles that are square/too big etc.

Spurs! - No one has any business wearing them at those levels.

People sitting - again the horses at those levels are not generally strong enough through the back to take this, there is a reason why sitting is not encouraged until elementary and not mandatory until Medium!

I also hate to see a horse behind the bit/vertical, this just creates a false outline and generally means the rider is using too much hand and not enough leg. I would much rather see a horse nosepokling than overbending tbh.
 
SirenaXVI said:
Nope not sweeping at all, the intro and prelim classes are intended for a horse at the beginning of his training - there is no place for spurs
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not all horses who do prelim dressage are at the begining of their training, if the rider wants to wear spurs then they can, they shouldnt get marked down on it, im taking a friends horse to dressage on friday, he's 14 has competed with past owners but has been used as a happy hacker for the last few years so is just coming back into competiting with me for a bit of fun, plus half the people who compete at prelim have horses that could be capable of moving up a level, where i stay anyway, people go round all the shows winning everything
 
I did not say people should be marked down for wearing spurs, what I said was, as a judge I do not like to see them at intro and prelim. Whatever you say, these tests are intended for horses at the beginning of their training, there is no place for spurs on a young horse.

If an older horse is in an intro/prelim test, the rider tends to be novice and does not know how to use the spur properly, I am not saying this is always the case but believe me I see far too many riders not in control of their lower leg. I have even had people in with their spurs on upside down!

Can't do anything about those riders who should be in the class above sadly, can only remark on the sheet.
 
Have got to agree that not all horses at Prelim level are babies, and I do think it is acceptable for some riders to wear spurs at Prelim. As an example, my daughter's new horse is 7 and has showjumped previously, but never done a dressage test before, so his first test was at Prelim level. He is quite a big lad in comparison to my daughter and she finds a small blunt pair of spurs quite helpful and she is not a novice rider and has used spurs before at higher levels of dressage.

As for the poster above who remarked that sometimes horses who are not in an outline are placed above those in an outline, you do actually have to look at whether the horse is actually working properly when in an outline. I am no judge, but have done a lot of writing for judges, and know some really dislike to see horses 'fiddled' or 'hauled' into an outline, with corresponding tension and lack of forwardness, and will mark them less favourably than those that are rather long and 'nose-pokey' yet relaxed and forward.
 
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BSJA - do what you feel comfortable with, you will find that at low level unaffiliated comps, pretty much anything goes :)

In a sense I agree with Sirena about the spurs etc. Spurs (in my mind) shouldn't be used because the horse is lazy, they're to refine the aids. Saw a few horses horridly overbent on monday at dressage, with a lot of people cooing over how lovely they looked... :confused: To me it's worse to watch than something poking it's nose!!
Do agree about sitting trot as well - luckily most people don't bother as it's 'hard work'. I do some tests on Dan sitting because otherwise he will take the p***, but I do a lot of schooling on him without stirrups and in sitting trot any way, and he is fine with it, and I also do it at the advice from my instructor :) If I did rising trot, many times he would simply take the mick, tense up, ignore me, etc - therefore is only learning that he can be a twit in the arena! Don't see the point in this. However when he is behaving, I rise :D I would not sit at all if I couldn't do so reasonably well, or it made the horse uncomfortable.
 
Sol said:
BSJA - do what you feel comfortable with, you will find that at low level unaffiliated comps, pretty much anything goes :)

In a sense I agree with Sirena about the spurs etc. Spurs (in my mind) shouldn't be used because the horse is lazy, they're to refine the aids.
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Exactly what I was going to say. I hate it when people use spurs because their horse is lazy, just one of my pet hates:o.

So long as your horse is in a good rhythm, the test is accurate and fluent then you should do well. I prefer to see the horse in an outline but only a novice outline and would rather see a longer neck than a short one.
 
Whilst you cant ride go and see if you can write for a judge at a local compation venue.

It's a fab way of finding out what judges look for in a test. :)
 
For those who don't agree with spurs for lazy horses what would you rather see? I school mine at home with a schooling whip but out and about I prefer a little extra, purely because I don't want for him to be used to having a whip whilst competing.
At home I use the nudge/kick/stick method but I tend to find he's a lot more backwards at competitions, I would rather nudge then back up my legs aids with spurs if needed than pony club kick,
 
I used to use spurs with Henry at prelim - he had a tendancy to be vile duriing a test, they helped just remind him what he should be doing!
 
I'd rather see someone USE a whip in the warm-up (as long as it wasn't every other stride, and was clear the horse was being backwards) than be using spurs every stride.
Surely the whole point of dressage is to teach the horse obedience? And if it is not going forward when you use your leg aid to ask for that, then it is not being obedient!
As sharp as he can be, Dan IS very backwards. I quite often boot him and growl at him (or if I can be bothered, carry a whip - he's a stroppy git with a whip though!) and aim to teach him that being lazy is bad - forwards is good :D Rather than just correcting it constantly.
 
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