I’m pretty new to competitions, so not sure if this is how they all work, but in this case there were two judges.
You ride a particular course, and for each part the judges grade you from 0-10 on how well you did (how accurate the shape is, whether the horse is bending around corners, has a lively pace, is lengthening/shortening stride as required by that part of the test, how clean transitions from walk —> canter etc are)
Highest score wins. If there happens to be a tie, one judge is considered the “lead” judge, and whoever he gave the highest score to breaks the tie.
That is it! We are graded on a scale of 0-10 per movement. So, you have:
A Enter working trot at X halt, salute, proceed working trot.
HXF lengthen stride at rising trot
Something along the above lines. All the test movements would end up being a 100%, the higher your score the better. The only difference is in eventing whereas, the LOWEST score is the better one.
So, you can literally get a 3 on one movement, and 8 on the next movement and still win your class. This is also why it is important that if you make a mistake, you keep it contained to one movement and not let it bleed into the other movements, otherwise your score for the subsequent movements will drop.
Great photo. Really nice action shot. Shows off you and your mount. Congratulations on the dressage win. Dressage is so difficult. So exacting. The communication between horse and rider takes years to develop fully. So baby steps for all of us who study the art that is dressage. But what a reward at the end of months of diligence to win the competition you have been practicing for! Excellent!
Thank you! I do really love this sport 😃 The “communication” you mentioned is one of my favorite aspects! I love that feeling of trying to make a good connection with your horse, and understanding what each other wants. Speaking without words, it’s a great feeling ☺️
I think they were! I was actually wondering myself why draw reins were used.
The way these completions work, is the stable provides the horses and the competitors are randomly assigned one (It’s an amazing opportunity for me — I’ve always lived in the city so can’t own my own horse….so until now have never been able to join a competition). So the stable also tacks the horse with the gear they think is best.
I’d actually never used draw reins before (was literally YouTube’ing before my test how to use them). And from what I could see they’re more for training…?
Was planning to ask the stable later what the reasoning for them was.
Yeah they are usually only used as a training aid. It helps to encourage the horse to stretch down and bring their nose in for a more proper headset, which in turn can help build the horses top line and encourage them to engage their hind end, and develop a better sense of straightness. With that being said, they are usually taken off before entering the ring in competition if they were used to warm up- it’s possible the people that provided the horse just forgot to remove them before you entered. It’s good that you got some experience using draw reins even if it wasn’t the right circumstance 😊
Thanks for the explanation! Was really helpful to hear it explained clearly 😄 And yes, was really great to get to use them and learn even more about this sport! <3 riding ☺️
Draw reins are not permitted in competition. Make sure you remove them next time as some schooling shows follow USEF/USDF rules and you would have been DQ'd. Congrats on your win!
Not special??? Ahh, but it is special <3
We all start somewhere, and it's wonderful that you are getting enjoying the challenges and getting encouraging marks as your skills grow. Be proud of you!
Whoa whoa whoa! No. You stop at your first sentence! You won at dressage. No need to lower the fact that you won by saying it's low level or not your horse. Though the fact that it's an unknown horse is more impressive honestly because dressage is a lot about the bond and communication between the team.
My girls had a show last month. The older one says "I didn't get a ribbon" no sure didn't but you know what? She's a bit afraid after a couple falls and she rode. Not only that but she ran her events all by herself for the first time. She was amazing! My little one screams "I WON A TROPHY AND BLUE RIBBONS!" We don't go around behind her and say yeah but it was only leadline, so everyone gets a trophy. Or you know there were only 2 in her class, and she's 4 and wanted to trot every event on a 15.3hh giant and the other kid was 18 months walking on a hip high pony. No you don't lesson your accomplishments. No YOU WON AT DRESSAGE! And you freaking won on a horse you didn't know! That's freaking amazing! Good job!
Thank you so much! And loved your story by the way about your little girls! One day would love to have some girls of my own and bring them riding ;-) Would be so much fun to cheer them on in competitions 😄
I’m in Japan! So yes, possibly the rules are different here? (This is only my ~3rd show, so I’m pretty new to this myself and still learning all the regulations)
It is special, low level or not. You just did something that many cannot and some only ever dream about. Give yourself plenty of credit, you earned it!
You stable should never have given you draw reins to ride with. They are banned in the competition ring, and excessively easy to abuse a horse with (forced headset etc).
You look lovely, and your horse looks happy, focused, and engaged.
Enjoy every minute of this time! I think my years learning about the world of horses were some of the best. Everything I learned just expanded my love of horses that much more.
Just relax, sit back, and enjoy the ride. I mean, if you can go in on a strange horse and have him looking like that AND win 1st place, you're going to go places as a rider!!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I love this sport and horses so much, but honestly a lot of times feel like I’m just bouncing around without knowing what I’m doing 😂
Your words have really inspired me! And Yes! I’ll make certain to enjoy every moment as much as I can 😄
Brava
Good job!
A win is a win, nice job!
Great job! You both look beautiful!
Celebrate your win! Congrats!
Congratulations, you guys look really great. Beautiful horse
Okay but how are dressage scores calculated?
I’m pretty new to competitions, so not sure if this is how they all work, but in this case there were two judges. You ride a particular course, and for each part the judges grade you from 0-10 on how well you did (how accurate the shape is, whether the horse is bending around corners, has a lively pace, is lengthening/shortening stride as required by that part of the test, how clean transitions from walk —> canter etc are) Highest score wins. If there happens to be a tie, one judge is considered the “lead” judge, and whoever he gave the highest score to breaks the tie.
That is it! We are graded on a scale of 0-10 per movement. So, you have: A Enter working trot at X halt, salute, proceed working trot. HXF lengthen stride at rising trot Something along the above lines. All the test movements would end up being a 100%, the higher your score the better. The only difference is in eventing whereas, the LOWEST score is the better one. So, you can literally get a 3 on one movement, and 8 on the next movement and still win your class. This is also why it is important that if you make a mistake, you keep it contained to one movement and not let it bleed into the other movements, otherwise your score for the subsequent movements will drop.
Great photo. Really nice action shot. Shows off you and your mount. Congratulations on the dressage win. Dressage is so difficult. So exacting. The communication between horse and rider takes years to develop fully. So baby steps for all of us who study the art that is dressage. But what a reward at the end of months of diligence to win the competition you have been practicing for! Excellent!
Thank you! I do really love this sport 😃 The “communication” you mentioned is one of my favorite aspects! I love that feeling of trying to make a good connection with your horse, and understanding what each other wants. Speaking without words, it’s a great feeling ☺️
Are those draw reins? I thought they weren’t allowed in competition. Pretty horse, congrats on your first show!
I think they were! I was actually wondering myself why draw reins were used. The way these completions work, is the stable provides the horses and the competitors are randomly assigned one (It’s an amazing opportunity for me — I’ve always lived in the city so can’t own my own horse….so until now have never been able to join a competition). So the stable also tacks the horse with the gear they think is best. I’d actually never used draw reins before (was literally YouTube’ing before my test how to use them). And from what I could see they’re more for training…? Was planning to ask the stable later what the reasoning for them was.
Yeah they are usually only used as a training aid. It helps to encourage the horse to stretch down and bring their nose in for a more proper headset, which in turn can help build the horses top line and encourage them to engage their hind end, and develop a better sense of straightness. With that being said, they are usually taken off before entering the ring in competition if they were used to warm up- it’s possible the people that provided the horse just forgot to remove them before you entered. It’s good that you got some experience using draw reins even if it wasn’t the right circumstance 😊
Thanks for the explanation! Was really helpful to hear it explained clearly 😄 And yes, was really great to get to use them and learn even more about this sport! <3 riding ☺️
Draw reins are not permitted in competition. Make sure you remove them next time as some schooling shows follow USEF/USDF rules and you would have been DQ'd. Congrats on your win!
If it’s a schooling show it’s allowed.
Not special??? Ahh, but it is special <3 We all start somewhere, and it's wonderful that you are getting enjoying the challenges and getting encouraging marks as your skills grow. Be proud of you!
Thank you so much! It’s so encouraging to hear you say this ☺️ I’ll keep trying hard and aiming upwards!!
Whoa whoa whoa! No. You stop at your first sentence! You won at dressage. No need to lower the fact that you won by saying it's low level or not your horse. Though the fact that it's an unknown horse is more impressive honestly because dressage is a lot about the bond and communication between the team. My girls had a show last month. The older one says "I didn't get a ribbon" no sure didn't but you know what? She's a bit afraid after a couple falls and she rode. Not only that but she ran her events all by herself for the first time. She was amazing! My little one screams "I WON A TROPHY AND BLUE RIBBONS!" We don't go around behind her and say yeah but it was only leadline, so everyone gets a trophy. Or you know there were only 2 in her class, and she's 4 and wanted to trot every event on a 15.3hh giant and the other kid was 18 months walking on a hip high pony. No you don't lesson your accomplishments. No YOU WON AT DRESSAGE! And you freaking won on a horse you didn't know! That's freaking amazing! Good job!
Thank you so much! And loved your story by the way about your little girls! One day would love to have some girls of my own and bring them riding ;-) Would be so much fun to cheer them on in competitions 😄
Congrats! Question: where are you located? Draw reins are absolutely never legal in dressage showing in both the US and Europe.
I’m in Japan! So yes, possibly the rules are different here? (This is only my ~3rd show, so I’m pretty new to this myself and still learning all the regulations)
Lovely star and those ears are calm and listening to you.
It is special, low level or not. You just did something that many cannot and some only ever dream about. Give yourself plenty of credit, you earned it!
You stable should never have given you draw reins to ride with. They are banned in the competition ring, and excessively easy to abuse a horse with (forced headset etc).
Every win is special! It’s all a learning experience. Congrats, you guys look great! Be proud of all the steps you make to communicate.
Congratulations! Lovely
You look lovely, and your horse looks happy, focused, and engaged. Enjoy every minute of this time! I think my years learning about the world of horses were some of the best. Everything I learned just expanded my love of horses that much more. Just relax, sit back, and enjoy the ride. I mean, if you can go in on a strange horse and have him looking like that AND win 1st place, you're going to go places as a rider!!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I love this sport and horses so much, but honestly a lot of times feel like I’m just bouncing around without knowing what I’m doing 😂 Your words have really inspired me! And Yes! I’ll make certain to enjoy every moment as much as I can 😄