Worried about dressage on grass!

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Starbucks

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Me and Foxy have our first event on Saturday! It's at eland lodge and we've been there jumping and XC schooling well over bigger fences so I'm feeling ok about the jumping..

BUT! I'm a bit nervous about the dressage which i never thought id say! It's PC intro test and it's got lots of cantering around the arena. Which i don't like the sound of! It's always dead slippy at eland and we are not that great at cantering yet!

Any tips? If we do the cantering really badly are we likely to get eliminated in the dressage!? Is that even possible!?
 
For dressage on grass I always use small studs in front as well but probably too late now.
Arena is likely to be pretty flat so you should be fine. Just set up properly for the corners and keep the horse in balance.
 
Starbucks said:
Me and Foxy have our first event on Saturday! It's at eland lodge and we've been there jumping and XC schooling well over bigger fences so I'm feeling ok about the jumping..

BUT! I'm a bit nervous about the dressage which i never thought id say! It's PC intro test and it's got lots of cantering around the arena. Which i don't like the sound of! It's always dead slippy at eland and we are not that great at cantering yet!

Any tips? If we do the cantering really badly are we likely to get eliminated in the dressage!? Is that even possible!?
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I don't think it possible to get eliminated for not doing a decent canter, you only have to read HotTotrot's recent thread to realise that, she even managed to get a 0 for one movement and still flew round the xc. The only reason they can eliminate you is if you break the rules, boots on or whatever, if the judge considers you unsafe they may pass this on to the organisers but you certainly don't fit into that category so no need to be concerned.
The PC tests are not nice to ride at the best of times and are not easy for a green horse despite being called intro, you will be fine, the studs will help, keep her as balanced as you can and if she is really struggling bring her back to a trot rather than plough on, I often trot very early on something young or green, sacrificing the canter mark for better trot ones in the next movement.
 
JDH01 said:
Sorry but if you are not confident doing dressage at this level are you confident jumping on grass which the Xc is?
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On HHO you just know someone will say something like that.🙄

I'm not 'scared' of cantering or anything lol. I'm worried about making a hash of it, wrong strike off. losing balance on the corners, breaking into trot etc. non of which Will be an issue XC and if she does it XC no one will give us a 3 for it.

Thanks for your comments other people.. I'm sure we will muddle through.
 
Starbucks said:
On HHO you just know someone will say something like that.��

I'm not 'scared' of cantering or anything lol. I'm worried about making a hash of it, wrong strike off. losing balance on the corners, breaking into trot etc. non of which Will be an issue XC and if she does it XC no one will give us a 3 for it.

Thanks for your comments other people.. I'm sure we will muddle through.
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Just remember to breathe! Don't over-ride etc. On Tuesday a little boy fell off in the warm up for the workers - big fall, poles everywhere. When he got back on and went to his class, he came out looking blue! I think he held his breath for the whole course!
 
The only way to get eliminated in dressage is if the judge thinks the horse is lame/the horse's health is at risk by continuing the test, and/or you have a situation where your horse refuses to move/go forwards for 45 seconds or more (if I remember the rule book correctly!). The latter is basically when the horse is being a royal pain, spooking away at something at the misbehaviour carries on too long. Then the judge can eliminate you as you havent moved for a while and the horse clearly is not co-operating.

But it doesnt sound like that will be an issue for you! Even if you dont canter at all and just remain in trot, the worst that will happen is they give you a 0 for not performing the movement. If you get a few strides of canter and have to break, they will give you somewhere in the region of 1-5 depending on how bad it was. Same for the wrong strike off, they'll probably give you a 4 or 5 as long as you correct the wrong strike off - golden rule, make sure you correct it! Dont keep going on the wrong leg, they'll mark you down more heavily for continuing in the wrong leg than they would if you went back to trot, and then back into canter on the correct leg.

So dont worry too much about the canter, you wont get eliminated if you dont get into canter - focus on making the rest of the test as good as it can be and then see what happens in the canter, just put it down to experience for you both!

If you can get studs sorted for the dressage even better, that will give you more confidence that you wont slip. But if you cant get any studs then just try your best to breathe and remain balanced, your horse will need all the help he can get with balance to make sure you dont slip, so try to keep still and dont interfere too much. Still hands, a relaxed seat and keep your aids as subtle as you can so you are not throwing your weight around.

Good luck!
 
kc100 said:
The only way to get eliminated in dressage is if the judge thinks the horse is lame/the horse's health is at risk by continuing the test, and/or you have a situation where your horse refuses to move/go forwards for 45 seconds or more (if I remember the rule book correctly!). The latter is basically when the horse is being a royal pain, spooking away at something at the misbehaviour carries on too long. Then the judge can eliminate you as you havent moved for a while and the horse clearly is not co-operating.

But it doesnt sound like that will be an issue for you! Even if you dont canter at all and just remain in trot, the worst that will happen is they give you a 0 for not performing the movement. If you get a few strides of canter and have to break, they will give you somewhere in the region of 1-5 depending on how bad it was. Same for the wrong strike off, they'll probably give you a 4 or 5 as long as you correct the wrong strike off - golden rule, make sure you correct it! Dont keep going on the wrong leg, they'll mark you down more heavily for continuing in the wrong leg than they would if you went back to trot, and then back into canter on the correct leg.

So dont worry too much about the canter, you wont get eliminated if you dont get into canter - focus on making the rest of the test as good as it can be and then see what happens in the canter, just put it down to experience for you both!

If you can get studs sorted for the dressage even better, that will give you more confidence that you wont slip. But if you cant get any studs then just try your best to breathe and remain balanced, your horse will need all the help he can get with balance to make sure you dont slip, so try to keep still and dont interfere too much. Still hands, a relaxed seat and keep your aids as subtle as you can so you are not throwing your weight around.

Good luck!
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Thanks! She's got really good marks in the tests shes done but she's only done walk trot tests so far. She has actually got front stud holes as well so ill stick some in there.
 
I did Eland a couple of years ago, and the SJ was on an arena, plus they had put surface on most of the take offs and landings.

When unsure on grass I just ride more smoothly, as in not going quite so deep into the corners, and rebalance when going downhill so the corner is easier. Otherwise just ride forwards and keep balance as if you overthink it you will ride too defensively, meaning the horse will likely become heavy in front.

I also use front and back studs for slippery dressage, so if you have holes all round I would use a small one in front too.

Good luck, and have fun!
 
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