Are the USDF Intro tests goals "realistic"?

I’ve always been of the opinion that Intro tests are meant for Beginner riders (and the occasional green pony who needs show environment miles) but looking at the USDF description, it seems to expect quite a bit more of the horse/rider combo than what I would expect someone riding at the beginner/elementary level could do:

USDF Introductory Level: To introduce the rider and/or horse to the sport of dressage. To show understanding of riding the horse forward with a steady tempo into an elastic contact with independent, steady hands and a correctly balanced seat. To show proper geometry of figures in the arena with correct bend (corners and circles).

Now, in most lesson curricula (Pony Club, French Galops, Forward Riding System etc), elastic contact, independent seat and correct bend are more of intermediate skills.

Does that mean that Intro (particularly A and B - which are in essence walk/trot classes) are actually not suitable for beginners?

And related question: then, what would be suitable for beginners as a first foray into showing?

I teach mostly beginner kids on school ponies. (We are not in hunterland so group equitation classes don’t really work for us - + teaching 12 year old girls is hard enough without having them competing against each other at a show! :wink: - but these kids still would like to “show” (at in-house type schooling shows) as a goal to work towards and as a “dance recital” kind of thing for their families to see their progress. If Intro A and B are not truly for beginners, should the USDF offer a more introductory level than this?

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I don’t think Intro should read any different! Remember you are getting a score and feedback and the tests are pretty straight forward. Plus schooling shows tend to be more forgiving and a great place to start to understand the basics. What don’t you find acceptable in the tests?

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What is your problem with them as tests? Are you wanting a walk only test? This is a pretty basic test with a wide range of scoring options. A kid on a pony needs to be able to memorize a test, the letters, and independently go around an area.

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It’s not the tests - they are very accessible and straightforward, I agree but I don’t think that true beginner riders are at the level where they should be evaluated on their elastic contact and correct bend. Beginners are still working on keeping the trot at a consistent rhythm and posting without their hands moving up and down.
A “good position” for them is:

  • Non-abuse to the pony by the rider’s weight and the aids
  • Security of the rider in the saddle (they can stay on if the pony shies at the barn cat darting under them).
    And if you teach kids doing weekly lessons - that stage goes on for a couple of years at least. The patterns themselves of Intro A and B are totally within their reach but the description I quoted in the original seem to be geared more towards intermediate riding than beginning/elementary. (there is a bit of a disconnect in my opinion).
    Do we need something more accessible that is more in touch with what young students can actually do on average ponies?

For reference, this is how I describe elementary vs. intermediate (cf. V. Littauer via the ARNC):

  • Elementary Level
    The elementary level is used by beginning riders while developing their positions […].
    The elementary level means authority over the horse through quick and definite control. […] Elementary control techniques are characterized by using the four natural aids which are leg, hand, weight, and voice:
  • Hands – loose or semi-loose reins used in a check-release fashion for control and turning
  • Legs – tapping or kicking
  • Voice – used liberally
  • Gaits – in schooling, the horse should be working toward stabilization. For beginning riders in the process of learning, the horse should already be stabilized.
    An example of aids for a transition at the elementary level from the trot to the walk would include in this order: (1) use of the rider’s weight (stop posting and sit) (2) voice “walk” (3) hands using a check-release (4) urging leg, alternately tapping to walk forward.

Intermediate Level
The intermediate level encompasses a large part of the horse and rider’s education. Intermediate control implies the horse and the rider are both mentally and physically ready to advance with training, having worked through the “stabilization” process. Strong emphasis is placed on cooperation between horse and rider.
An intermediate rider learns how to establish contact and “connect” the horse’s movement to perform soft, precise transitions in cooperation with the horse’s efforts and reactions. The horse’s performance is enhanced by the rider’s ability to create impulse, resulting in forward movement, with long, low, efficient, and ground covering strides. With the rider’s refined use of aids, the horse should respond without resistance, accept contact softly, and move forward freely. The horse develops straightness, as well as lateral and longitudinal flexibility. Intermediate control techniques are characterized by the four natural aids which are legs, hand, weight, and voice:

  • Hands – use of rein contact with following hands, give and take; use of reins in cooperation with the horse’s movement.
  • Legs – squeezing leg aids in timing with the horse’s efforts
  • Voice – used as a schooling aid
  • Gaits – the horse should be stabilized on contact, move forward with impulse and connection, work with cooperation and efficiency.

The aids for a transition at the intermediate level from trot to walk would include in the following order: (1) weight, stop posting and sit (2) hands give and take (3) legs squeeze and release to encourage the walk forward (4) hands continue to follow the head and neck gestures of the horse.

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I don’t have a problem with the pattern.
I find the USDF description at odds with what a walk/trot kid on a pony can actually do.

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I think that your students aren’t quite ready for a horse show and show environment then. Scoring an Intro rider on a scale of 1 to 10 covers a wide range of established skillsets and is more a judge of where the rider happens to be at that moment.

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Yes, elementary level kiddos then may not be ready for “showing” (that was my questions) if those are the guidelines. But most kids who start at 6-8 yo and ride weekly will be at that level for 2 to 4 years. That is a long time without “doing something in public” - when they play games at little league, or “perform” their piano recital in front of their families.
Should we think of tests (and mostly guidelines for scoring them - anyone can ride Intro A but not necessarily to the current judging standards) that are more beginner friendly?

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The “bend” thing can be challenging but over the years I believe it is so important if you want to ride/show dressage. To be honest my lower level school horses were trained correctly and the students had to learn to ride them correctly or they could not bang out even an Intro test.

I taught a few adult hunters over thew years and they were the most difficult to teach on my dressage horses because their positions/use of aids were hard to change after years in hunters.

So teach the kids correctly now and you will have an easier time as you go up the levels!

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Given the vast number of people that seem to be stuck in the very early levels, I kinda agree? I wonder if the descriptions can be understood as ideals rather than expected presentation, given that anyone can really fudge “connected” and “throughness” on an expensive schoolmaster who is basically on autopilot.

I don’t agree with the sentiment that you shouldn’t show if you’re not absolutely polished. And this attitude further punishes those who maybe ride a horse who isn’t built perfectly uphill, or who naturally has a straighter carriage.

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Oh take them out to show! It’s intro level, let them have the experience! Seriously I have never seen a judge do anything but try to give the kid a good score!

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Totally agree!
But I believe that there is a “scale” in teaching (much as there is a dressage training scale). You can’t/shouldn’t ask for more advanced skills until the skills at the bottom - secure position - are achieved.

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You are overthinking it! Have you watched the intro tests at a schooling show? Have you seen the scores? It’s not judged harshly at all!

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I don’t think an Intro rider should be absolutely polished. I think that if the OPs students can’t navigate Intro A in a ring then maybe they also can’t navigate an often crowded warm up. Dressage judges are in general aware of young beginner children riding tests and tailor their comments to suite. There’s a wide range of scores a beginner rider can get, and a child shouldn’t be focused on getting “10” anyway. Remember, the tests are for “riders new to dressage” not someone “new to riding.”

I’m showing one of my horses in Intro B this weekend. I’ll try my best to have connection, good circles, and roundness, but I also might jump out of the area. I think the OP is overthinking Intro level.

Dressage isn’t a pattern class, the OP could attend open shows with showmanship patterns for more experience with different goals as well. Or doing Ponyclub?

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If you are just doing in house shows, bring in someone to “judge” and just have the kids do the patterns. The “judge” could just over look the directives that are not appropriate for the kids/ponies at the level of riding you are describing. This will still give the kids the “fun” of competing at a “show”. You could make part of the show score how well the kids “turn out” the pony and themselves (without breaking mom and dads bank of course).

You can also teach the rules of showing:

Show up to the ring at the prescribed time
How to properly salute the judge before the test begins and at the final halt
How to introduce themselves to the judge before the test begins

If you have a group of kids and a local schooling show that is amenable, you can take them as a group with the understanding that the judge (usually an L-graduate) will “overlook” some of the directives. Those kids can be put into their own class so they are judged against each other and not the older AA’s (who may or not ride as well as your kids :sunglasses:) or the pros on green horses.

When I volunteer at the local schooling shows, it’s SOOOO fun to see the itty-bitty’s out on their ponies. Some of the kids are QUITE serious and they do put a lot of adults to shame. But that comes from the teachers instilling the proper etiquette for showing.

Good luck and bless you for teaching the next generation of riders!!!

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Not been my experience when trying to hire judges for in-house schooling shows. As in kids doing the whole pattern accurately and getting 4s and 5s on each movement because of “not riding with contact” and riding “ex-polo pony types” as someone said in a previous thread :wink:

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Well we have some very encouraging judges in Region 8!

edited to add that my school horses were quite diverse, Icelandic, welsh pony, draft crosses and a quarter horse or two so the highest they went was 2nd level but we had some fun!

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Correct. The directives are not aimed at beginner riders. None of dressage - apart from the old rider tests and equitation classes - are about riders. The tests are about developing horses, and the rider is presumed to have the skill (or more) necessary to do so per the directives of the level.

I think the intro test directives are aimed at a rider new to dressage, not a rider new to riding.

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The kids can safely ride in a group (we do group lessons), they would be fine in a crowded warm-up. They can ride the “pattern” (we don’t have local showmanship classes that allow you to ride in an English saddle) but they can’t - and in my opinion probably shouldn’t at this point in their education - be trying to put their pony on the bit without independent aids or good hands. Which then means that they are not riding to the standards described by the USDF.
So if we don’t want to loose this crowd to 4-H Western pleasure shows (the only other local alternative for “flat” classes around here), should the USDF come up with something that is more suitable for that level of riders and “realistic” of what they can achieve?

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Great point!

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I have never heard anyone saying besides you that Into A (which is mostly walking) or Into B wasn’t suitable or realistic for beginning riders.

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