Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or challenging moments on their journey with Western Dressage.
Karen: The art of charting progress
Dressage is not a sport of immediate gratification, far from it. Improvement is not measured in seconds, but over years. When progress comes at a snail’s pace, we can sometimes lose track of how far we’ve come. When we are focused so determinedly on where we are going, we forget all of the places we’ve been. I’ve had many a late night text from students in the midst of a crisis of confidence. Are they really making progress? Are they really making improvement? It’s easy to feel stuck and get frustrated when change doesn’t happen overnight.
And, this is why I encourage my students to get into the show arena. The first thing I stress, it is not about the color of the ribbon. I could care less how you place in the class. I’m interested in the score, the comments, and the test sheet. The only person you are competing against is yourself.
Dressage test sheets are a report card of your training. Dressage judges want to reward correct training. The USEF Rule Book explains judging methodology for dressage by indicating the judge should first decide if the performance of the movement is sufficient (5 or above) or insufficient (4 or below). Then other considerations must be taken into account, such as:
• Correct basics must be evident; the purity and quality of the gaits, sufficient impulsion and submission for the level (as you move up the levels, the expectations increase). When you think basics, think Pyramid of Training and use your collective marks as a guide.
• The criteria of the movement must be met, was the movement performed correctly? Read the Directives on your test sheet, they will tell you what the judge is looking for in each movement. You have the answers to the test right in front of you.
• Modifiers…things such as shying, stumbling, or inattention might sway the judge if he or she is debating between two numbers for your score. These are of lesser consequence.
Dressage judges take their responsibility quite seriously. They are stewards of the sport. They are tasked with emphasizing the most important issues they see before them in the ring, the areas they feel you must address. Use their numbers to guide you. Study your test sheets, a movement or area which consistently scores a 5 or below needs to be addressed and focused on. The comments will tell you why that movement did not earn higher marks, and will indicate a path toward improvement.
It is often times helpful to compare your latest test sheet to previous tests of the same level. Note any changes in the scoring, up or down. Are the comments similar? Have you fixed one issue (example: needs more energy, to cover more ground) but now uncovered another (unsteady in bridle). Remember, the judge is going to comment on what they feel is the most important thing you need to fix. It doesn’t mean it’s the only thing you need to fix, but what they feel is the priority.
And, so, back to my point about progress… In 2012, Deb had just begun competing Level 1 Western Dressage. Her median score was 58.6%. In 2013, we began working together and focusing on the correctness of her training. She has worked hard and done her homework. There is tangible evidence of that in her test sheets. Her median for Level 1 Western Dressage in 2013 now stands at 67.769!
That, quite impressively, is progress.
Deb: Progress has many face(t)s…
I used to be really terrified of showing. No... REALLY! Going down center line wasn’t so much the problem, it was the fear of the unknown concerning everything else. I was afraid my horse would be spooky in the warm-up or show ring and I would get nervous and lose focus, or worse, lose control. I was concerned that getting from the warm-up pen to the main ring would be a problem. I was afraid my mind would go blank even though I arranged for a caller. I was worried I wouldn’t know when I was on the wrong lead (yes… did that too!)
The interesting thing is that most of those fears really did happen, and I still lived to tell about it. There was the time I was coming around the short side to pick up a canter when a loose horse galloped right up to the ring just where I was turning. Belle reared and somehow I rode it out and completed the test. The judge noted “some tension” on my score sheet… REALLY? A year earlier I would have dismounted in a puddle and left the ring. Then there was the test where Belle was wearing a double ear headstall. I had just tracked left at C and we were jogging down the long side when Belle decided to shake her head. Violently! The headstall started sliding off her head and I casually reached over just in time and slid it back over her ears before I came around to A… if the judge saw she probably was laughing too hard to say anything serious about it on my test sheet. Note to self, switch to western headstall with cavesson and throatlatch! Or how about the time there was a huge puddle in the corner just past the judge; Belle decided that it was a bottomless horse swallowing pit and she suddenly cut the corner just when I was supposed to pick up a lope. Can you say “UGLY”!Now I look back at all those tests and kind of smile at myself. Each one was a learning experience, and although my scores may have been less than stellar, we went in, showed, and got out all in one piece.
Some things I have learned:
• Every time we try out a new level test for the first time I just tell myself it is the first show at this level and cut myself some slack.
• When we are schooling tests fabulously at home expect great “moments” at the show. Be positive!
• I compete against myself. PERIOD.
• Belle and I are on this journey together. She is my partner.
• Each test is a measure of only five minutes in our journey. There will be highs and lows. It’s the gradual improvement that I am after.
• Judges WANT you to do well. I read their comments thoughtfully and take them for what they are meant to be; helpful suggestions to improve my riding.
Our last show in September I almost scratched. I was in the hospital two weeks earlier and was not feeling quite fit. We had just come off of two months of solid rain. Belle was ridden once before the show, for the second time in three weeks. I needed a third score to finish up First Level, and it needed to be WD First Four to be able to compete in our club’s end of year championship. It was really a recipe for a less than stellar performance.
But you know what, I never would have known what we COULD have done if I didn’t give it a try. So, in we went, first time showing that test in front of a very tough Large “R” judge. We received a 61.4. Was I happy with the lower than our average scores? You bet I was! Later that day we rode our First Level Freestyle to applause. Belle tried her heart out for me. Am I glad that we went? Yes indeed.
Progress!
Stay Tuned for the next in this series…
About the WDAA: The Western Dressage Association® of America is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization focused on providing a model of horsemanship which optimizes the partnership of horse and rider for their mutual benefit. The mission of the Western Dressage Association® is “to honor the horse, to value the partnership between horse and rider and to celebrate the legacy of the American West” which it focuses on through its offerings of educational opportunities and events to the equestrian community. To discover more about the WDAA and Western Dressage, please visit www.westerndressageassociation.org.