When do move up a level in dressage?

[chestnutx]

Hello all, so when do you decide that one level is sorted and you can move up to the next one? I moved up from prelim to novice and then to elementary once I was consistently scoring above 60% and getting placed (although sometimes I have a bad day when we get terrible scores - normally when my horse canters when meant to be walking etc..!!

 

[Stoxx]

When I feel the horse is ready and consistently working at the level at home and ready to move on at home. I can't stand pot hunters who stay at the lower levels for as long as possible when the horse is working at a much higher level at home.
But that's just my opinion, everyone likes to do things differently!

 

[amandathepanda]

I like to work at least one level higher at home than the level I am competing at - that way you take into account tension caused by being in the competition environment etc. It really depends though if you are competing for fun though, or if you are trying to qualify for things like the Nationals...

Like Ifield, I can't stand pothunters who use a horse that is working at Advanced to win an unaffiliated RC Novice competition - there are a few of those around here!

 

[pennyh]

i'm lucky in that i have a very consistent horse who will work as well away from home as he does at home in general so one we are working well at a level at home we can compet that level too

once we can consistently score 60% plus i will move up & tend to test this at a new level by doing a few unaff comps , having said that i don't go out to win prizes , i compete to keep life interesting for us & to measure our improvement with our main aim being progression

 

[ajf]

Well with all that said, I would make sure u can do all the movements in the next level, and actually practice riding some of the tests at home, and if all goes well go for it!!!

 

[TFS]

when i feel the horse is scoring well at the level its working at 64% as well as how the horse is working at home at the next level

 

[Dutch]

Hi

I think the answer is all about competance, if the horse is established at the level that they are currently competing at and you can train and test ride the next level at home then it is ok to move up, or combine the levels for a while...for example elementary and medium tests.

I would also ask my trainer their opinion, dressage is all about training and fun, you don't lose anything by trying the next level even if it does not go according to plan the first time!

Diana