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Dressage – pronounced dress-ahhzh – is a French term most commonly translated to mean ‘training’. Dressage is a path and destination followed in competitive horse training.
Horse and rider, at any and all levels, can benefit from the use of dressage principals and training techniques. Competitions are held from amateur to Olympic level, and consist of a series of tests that horse and rider must perform; the optimum aim of these tests is that they are performed in a relaxed way, with all movements seemingly appearing effortless.
Dressage is occasionally referred to as ‘horse ballet’ and, certainly, to watch some of the top performers is by no way an understatement.
Dressage tests are a series of a specific number of movements, performed in a special arena. Horse and rider will compete against each other at the given test level – it is done on an individual basis – with judges marking on a common standard.
Judges will mark each movement individually and give points from zero to 10; zero = move not executed, while 10 = excellent.
There are very few judges who would give a 10 as a mark, and to score a 9 would be considered as extremely good, marks 7/8 would be considered very good. However, simply to enter an arena and do a good test is not enough, there is a huge amount of preparation that needs to be done before a dressage test, the horse and rider turnout is of optimum importance.
Tack for formal competition at higher levels requires a special dressage saddle, and there are rules at all levels regarding the bridle and what sort of bit (bar in the horse’s mouth) can be used.
The horse must be cleaned to perfection and their manes plaited or braided. When performing the tests, horses are not allowed to wear any additional items such as boots or wraps or bandages or wear tack such as a martingale.
The rider formally should be wearing white or beige breeches, white shirt with tie or stock, and dark jacket with long riding boots and white gloves, longhair must be tied up in a hair net.
Dressage competitions have many levels and these differ slightly from country to country, but basically they start at an introductory level and move on up to Grand Prix. However, it would take me far too long to try to explain all these levels, but I will explain the levels that are used here in
Friday, December 18, will see the start of the Twin Palms Riding Centre Dressage League for 2009 2010.
The classes that will be held are as follows:
Best Turned Out – This class will not be an entered one, everyone attending will be judged on whether the horse and rider are correctly attired the condition and cleanliness of the horse, its tack, the tidiness of the rider and marks will be given for the overall combination of both.
The winner will be announced at the end of each show and at the end of the league there will be a prize for the best turned out pair. The judges are looking for effort here, not necessarily the best or most expensive.
Newcomer – It is a class to introduce new horses and riders to the world of dressage. The test is fairly basic, however, simply getting into a dressage arena and performing can be a daunting task, and this test is aimed to build both rider and horse confidence. The class is open to all junior and adult riders who have not competed or been placed in a higher level class.
Preliminary – This is the class that riders who have gained their confidence move on to. It is a progressive step for both, and this class again is open to all junior and adult riders who have not competed or been placed in a higher level class.
Following on from the Preliminary class are the Novice, the Elementary and the Medium Classes all open to junior and adult riders.
The Working Equitation Classes have this season been put into two categories, and are banded with Working Equitation A – Beginners and Working Equitation B.
The beginners class is open to anyone who was not placed in any of the previous seasons working equitation classes, the B is open to all. Class A is to again encourage horse and rider to make their debut into the dressage world.
Working Equitation is a series of dressage movements, which include trotting over poles, through barrels and manoeuvring of the horse through poles on the ground, and in the case of the B class jumping over a small fence.
The working equitation is predominantly a fun class, but beware of steely competition.
The Twin Palms Dressage Leauge on December 18 will consist of the following classes:
Best Turned Out
Newcomer
Preliminary
Working Equitation A and B.
Twin Palms second dressage show of the season will be held on January 15, 2010, where the Novice, Elementary and Medium classes will be run.
There will be a separate league table for the working equitation classes.
Schedules and tests for both these shows are on the Twin Palms website www.twinpalmsridingcentre.com along with a full listing of rules and terms and conditions.
So for those of you who have never been to watch dressage put the dates in your diary and come along to see what it’s all about.
