Ringcraft: What you need to know about riding a training level test.
While in the USDF L program, I learned a lot about what judges are looking for that I wish I’d known years ago. Here are a few tips for improving your score without breaking a sweat!
Post!
Most Training level riders are dying to show the sitting trot they’ve been working so hard on, and hope to get brownie points from the judge for upping the level of difficulty. The problem is, without collection, which in not a part of training level, sitting the trot can be hard on the rider and on the horse, and it is the judge’s job to reward the rider who puts his horse’s welfare first. Posting will usually make the horse more comfortable, which will make him appear happier in his work and give a more harmonious ride. You will never be seen as less in a judge’s eyes for not choosing to sit, and you will get no extra credit if you do! So make it easy on yourself and your horse, post in your tests until sitting is required.
Walk faster, Trot slower
There is no mosey in dressage, so any time you are on your horse, expect him to walk as if he’s heading in for dinner! If you wait until you get to the show ring to ask for this, your horse will most likely break to a trot. Overstride (The back hoofprint overstepping the front hoofprint) is a required criteria for the medium walk. In the free walk, you are to give your horse complete freedom of his head, so if you don’t have some energy going into it, when you ask him to move he will break to the trot, you will pick up the reins, and the movement is shot. Also, practice picking up the reins from the free walk to medium walk, another place where the horse feels things changing and thinks it’s a good time to trot or toss his head in an effort to get his freedom back.
The trot should keep the same rhythm whether it is working, collected, medium, etc. It’s the size of the stride you are trying to change. The judge wants to see a relaxed (not lazy!), big stride, with plenty of energy. If your horse tends not to track up, you are probably letting him be a little too lazy. If he’s built in a way that prevents him from tracking up, don’t try to make up for it by rushing around the ring. If he’s quick and you’re having to pull the whole time to keep him from going even faster, you need a professional to show you how to keep him slow and balanced so he doesn’t fall onto the reins for support. Lots of downward transitions from your seat, at first reinforced with rein aids and gradually weaned off of them altogether, will help your horse balance himself better. Rushing means falling on the forhand, which means lack of balance. Perhaps you’ve seen this on your test somewhere?
Work on your halt.
If your horse and you have minimal star quality, here is your chance to shine! This often overlooked movement has a score that counts just as much as the others, and it’s easy to get right! Come STRAIGHT down centerline. Mark a centerline where you practice at home, and if you can, have someone stand at C and tape your entrance. If you don’t have enough energy, you will probably weave all over that line, crumble into a halt, and then your horse will slide his hauches out to one side. If your horse goes everywhere with his haunches to one side, here’s where it shows the most! Trot with exuberance into an even contact with both reins, step into the halt so that your horse is alert and obviously reacting to what you’ve asked, so that he doesn’t look like he just happened to putter out of gas somewhere near X. Practice asking him to be immobile while you salute. If you have to hold him there for the first time while you are in front of a judge, what do you think he’ll do when you put the reins in one hand to salute?
When you’ve got your reins again, expect him make an impression when he moves off of your leg, trotting straight toward the judge at C. And again, you are to go straight toward the judge, then turn. I know this sounds obvious, but sitting at C, you wouldn’t believe how many riders pad their turn by swinging way out to the side before hand. If you are turning left, you should never be to the right of centerline, and vice versa. This also goes for your final halt. When coming up the centerline, you should never cross it and then try to leg yield or weave back to center. Plan your turn so that you turn onto centerline and stay there.
I have not addressed frame, contact, position, or any of the things that a professional should help you with so that you establish a correct feel. These are just simple tips that anyone can practice at home, even if you’ve never shown before, that can help you present any horse in the best possible light. May the horse be with you!