What do you consider a 'good' score for Dressage?

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nato

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Obviously I know it varies from judge to judge, and I try to look at what the top score is and how close I am to it, in order to judge my performance overall. We're consistently getting 63-65% when we go out, and I know that we have a lot to work on. I've videod all my tests and work with my instructor on the video + score sheet to try to improve them.

The most interesting thing is I've received the exact same collect marks in my last two tests from two different judges - for paces, impulsion, submission and rider - a sign of consistency I guess :)
 
It's all relative to your stage of training / ambitions etc.

I only count scores from affiliated as unaff can vary wildly.

For me at a new level I'm generally 'okay' with 64%+, 60-64 is a little disappointing and under 60 is not acceptable.

At an established level under 64 not good, 64-66 could be better, 66-69 generally pleased, 70+ good

But then that is me as a moderate amateur rider. A pro would have higher expectations
 
Me and my horse are just starting out, we've done three dressage competitions to date and have just done our first Novice. Because everything is still a bit new, and greenness is still having an impact, I aim for 60%+ (which we've always achieved!).

For something less green it'd be higher.
 
Competing unaffiliated Prelim - anything less than 68% is disappointing. We've done a few novice tests and the first two I just wanted to get above 60%. By the 4th test we hit 65%, and then we dropped a bit to 63 - 64% for a couple. Got a kick in the teeth with a 60% but have just bust through the 66% barrier. I will accept that for the next few. I know that if we affiliate we will probably see a 5 - 10% drop in scores so the aim is to hit the 68% plus for the novice to feel that we are good enough to affiliate. I want to see those collectives up by 1 mark each, too. Currently getting 6.5 - 7s in the Novice. However, she's a Connie, she's never going to have expressive paces so we just need to be 'correct'.
 
I'm pleased with anything above 67% (Prelim BD). At the minute I'm on a nose dive and have been getting 62% to 64% which I'm not happy with. I have had a couple of 70% scores but they are now a distant memory!!
 
Depends on the horse I'm sitting on and where we're at...around here, unaff/aff are generally judged by the same judges, and from what I can tell, reasonably consistently. When I did P and N with the Spooky Pony, I was ecstatic if we broke the 60%, because our tests were rarely uneventful: the whole exercise rather worried him, I think, and he was prone to unplanned changes in direction and/or explosions (once the judge and her writer actually ducked under the table when he did a canter transition near C... :o ). The Ballerina Mare appears to score around 65% at P when I think it was "mediocre", and managed low 60s in N37 when I forgot both of the G/R and generally rode like a lemon, so once we're finally out there consistently, I suspect my expectations will rise sharply!
 
Like ihatework says it's all relative.

Fi when i first got her, comment was thats the fastest prelim 7 i have ever seen. With a 59% on our last novice test I would be have been disappointed with less than 68%

BUT I have had horses I would have been ok with 55% at intro :)

I have a feeling I may be doing intro with a baby again. It's not a done deal so sshhh
 
When i first started i just want to get 60%. Now anything less than 68% for prelim isn't great. I'm on 64 % for novices which I am happy with, will be over the moon when i crack 65%
BE if we get more than 32 I'm a bit disappointed. I really want to break the 30 barrier & get into the 20s!!
 
when I first started I'd be happy with late 50s in unaffiliated dressage.

Now I'm happy with anything over 65% in affiliated prelim (although I am sometimes disappointed with a mid-60s rather than late 60s score). Affiliated novice I'm ok so long as it's over 62% (petplan score)

Unaffiliated prelim (which I have given up now) I'd be disappointed with anything below 68%, Novice under 65%. We do unaffiliated elementary now and I'm generally happy just to get around.

My rules change at regionals/area festivals. While I aim for late 60s/early 70s I'm generally happy with a score over 62%...65% and over and I'm positively chuffed :)
 
With my 'proper' pony I'd be disappointed with much below 67% at prelim (yet to come out novice) whilst with my trooper of a driving pony we grin our way round BD nov and Elem to get 60% and be chuffed as anything! I normally expect around 65% on him unaff.
 
The feral carthorse did his first test at the weekend, a walk and trot, no less. He scored 65%, he deserved it to be fair and his first ever centre line was a 7.5, I think the judge must have been wetting her pants at the sight of a Shire/Vanner thundering down the centre line at her VW Polo. Especially as I had spoken to her and warned her we did not know what might happen !

The best score my nice horse had was at the regional in 2009 with a whopping 82% elem. That was a day to remember.
 
I will preface this by saying - I have only ever done unaff walk and trot tests at this point, and only on youngsters / low-milage projects who weren't up to cantering in circles yet!
My last test, I wanted us to get more than 50% (and not come last!). We ended up with a very respectable score of 59.13% - respectable given we started the test by entering at C, cutting off the corner at M, and spooking at B! We've got another W&T test this coming Saturday, and I'm hoping we break 60% this time! For me, I'm happy to just get out there and have fun. 'My' pony doesn't actually belong to me, and I don't know how long I'll have him for, so for now, just competing is great.

My friend does proper grown-up dressage, and is hoping to compete and qualify at Elem this winter; she's just qualified for Novice nationals and though she says she's happy just to go, I know she's hoping for over 70% - they got 72% at regionals!
 
Hmm, TBH it depends on the level.

I only really compete BD these days, I have just started competing again with new horse, he’s in Medium points but we’re not there yet so we’ve been going HC and doing a Novice for warm up and Elementary as our ‘proper’ test. Last time out, I completely messed up the canter work in the Novice as I didn’t know the test well enough, we came away with 63% and would have been 3rd, which is RUBBISH… for a Medium horse, so I was really disappointed, however when I was collecting the sheet, the lady that got second with 64% was thrilled!

We got 66% in our Elementary which I was really pleased with as he’s really not easy to ride at all and if we keep on scoring consistently like that (64% plus) then I’d like to move up to Medium.

Sorry, haven’t really answered the question have I?

Basically, in short, FOR ME and at BD- in Novice and above- anything 65% and over is a GOOD score. I wouldn’t cry with 63-64% BUT, 65% + is what I’d like to achieve each time out.

I do think people’s expectations are getting higher though, I can remember 6-7 years ago, people seemed to be really pleased with 60%+ I wonder what’s changed?

Personally, I think marking (especially at unaffiliated events) has gotten a bit ridiculous. Last time I competed unaffiliated, someone won the Novice with 82%. That is a ridiculous score IMO (I saw the test, it was NOT worth that!) and just gives people unrealistic expectations. Yes, it’s good to encourage people and reward decent tests, but if that same test was ridden with another (listed) judge, I think it would’ve scored a far more deserved 67%ish.
 
ihatework said:
It's all relative to your stage of training / ambitions etc.

I only count scores from affiliated as unaff can vary wildly.

For me at a new level I'm generally 'okay' with 64%+, 60-64 is a little disappointing and under 60 is not acceptable.

At an established level under 64 not good, 64-66 could be better, 66-69 generally pleased, 70+ good

But then that is me as a moderate amateur rider. A pro would have higher expectations
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This sums it up for me :) but I've definitely changed as I've gained experience.

I've found it interesting to start again at prelim with my cob, because I ride her tests with the same expectations that I did in my final tests after 6 years of learning on Millie ... which has definitely improved my scores even on a green horse that knows nothing ;) You definitely learn a lot the first time you climb the ladder IME.

So with Millie, first horse I affilitated, I was happy with 65% and on cloud 9 for weeks with 70%. Now I'd be disappointed with 65, or at least feel like I could have done a better job on the day. Now I know more about ringcraft and the attention to detail required at home in order to do a good performance, I think 70% feels more attainable these days.
 
We're horribly erratic - on a good day we'll score around 68%, on a bad day low 60s, but the neddy is a sensitive sausage so I'll judge my percentage against whether I'm happy with how he's coped with spooky flags / monsters / idiots in the warm up. 64% might, relatively speaking, be a good score in the circumstances on the day.

I'm also mystified by high scores - as soon as I consistently start getting above 65% we'd be thinking about moving up, but I'm not bothered about the placings, particularly, more about the percentages. I can't understand people who are consistently 70%+ but don't move up - they must be bored rigid!
 
AdorableAlice said:
The feral carthorse did his first test at the weekend, a walk and trot, no less. He scored 65%, he deserved it to be fair and his first ever centre line was a 7.5, I think the judge must have been wetting her pants at the sight of a Shire/Vanner thundering down the centre line at her VW Polo. Especially as I had spoken to her and warned her we did not know what might happen !

The best score my nice horse had was at the regional in 2009 with a whopping 82% elem. That was a day to remember.
Click to expand...

YAY!!!!!! :D :D :D

We're just starting off and I'm happy with anything about 60% at BD, BE anything below 35.
 
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Theocat said:
I'm also mystified by high scores - as soon as I consistently start getting above 65% we'd be thinking about moving up, but I'm not bothered about the placings, particularly, more about the percentages. I can't understand people who are consistently 70%+ but don't move up - they must be bored rigid!
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Lol my first 70% at BD Novice absolutely bowled me over, I was ecstatic... but also only 2nd place. first scored 80%. Talk about thrashed!

(it was a long time before we got 70% again, and in fact not until we got to Medium, I also don't like to bob about at a level and get bored. But sometimes a 70% score is just the limit of what the horse is capable of. I could post a vid of my cob scoring 70% last week at Novice- her first Novice test ever and no WAY is she ready for elementary, she can only just do Novice IMO! It was just one test on one day, and I picked the Novice that I thought she could do. So it's not always pothunting ;) )
 
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