Tell me a little about it, please.
No. But I have worked at them, scribed for candidates, and scribed for the examiners… more than once. It’s a great program. The first half anyone can audit (size limits and no questions); the second half is for candidates only (but they have scribes…). For the candidates, lots of reading and study, handling pressure, training your eye. IMO everyone should at least audit if they train or compete. You can get a bunch of info on it from the USDF website.
Yes, I am an L graduate. Just missed being a distinguished graduate. It is probably the single best thing I did to improve my riding and training of my horse. Also, I am far more appreciative of judges; it is NOT easy.
Learning how judges arrive at a score was incredibly enlightening. Also, I learned that a not insignificant amount of things I been told was just plain wrong.
It is well worth the time to audit Part 1 if you don’t want to commit to the entire program.
I was fortunate that the sessions were held close enough to home that I could commute if I wanted to. I went ahead and got a hotel for most of the sessions because it was great to get to know others who were in it for the education as well.
You can read about the content on the USDF webpage. https://www.usdf.org/education/judge…gram/index.asphttps://www.usdf.org/education/judge…gram/index.asp
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I am very interested. It doesn’t appear to be offered now, corona virus I suspect. Perhaps virtual program in development.
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I’m midway through it, paused because of COVID. Our session will theoretically finish next year, and the next scheduled one in our area will I guess start fall 2021? They’ve made it pretty clear in some recent e-mails that it’s not a program that will viably work remotely. Seeing the live horses is a big part of it and they haven’t found a video program that will work well enough without delay for the participants to give real time feedback to the instructors. Maybe that will change depending on the duration of the pandemic, but the live portion is pretty important.
Bolding mine. Will you offer a few examples of this? It would be interesting to know what it was in your previous instruction that conflicted with that of the program, and whether they are common misconceptions.:yes:
This blogger is in the process right now and has been posting about the journey with fairly good details. https://aenterspooking.blogspot.com/2019/10/l-program-session-a.htmlhttps://aenterspooking.blogspot.com/2020/01/l-program-part-1-session-c.html
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I completed Part One last Winter. I agree with those who’ve said it’s one of the best and most educational things you can do–outside of regular lessons-- to improve your understanding of dressage training, riding, and showing. It really gives you an insight into what’s expected by judges. Even more importantly I gained a lot of knowledge as to how the training of a horse up the levels progresses.
I highly recommend Part One to every rider, especially if as in my case, it is local to you.
I was signed up for a Part Two program that was to begin this past Spring but then the pandemic canceled it. My second session of part two would have been at a show this coming weekend. I will try to take it when the courses are offered again. Part of my reason for enrolling when I did was that my horse was rehabbing a surgery so my show season was put off anyway. Now he’s recovered (yay) and I will want to get back in the competition arena and earn my Silver, when shows are available. That makes signing up for Part Two of the L program more complicated.
I will definitely complete it if the weekends align and when traveling is safe again. It’s going to be harder to get my mind back into the mentality of what we learned in Part One, the more distant it gets from future immersion in Part Two.
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What is the cost of the program?
I believe the individual organizations hosting the program get to determine their pricing structure. When I was applying to Part 2, there was a bit of a price difference between the various organizations that were holding it - but there were so few Part 2s being run, that I took the first opening for which I was accepted, which was not the cheapest program being run.
I want to say that my Part 1 was $900 to participate (I don’t remember the audit cost) and Part 2 was $1800. None of that included any travel costs or the cost of providing my own scribe.
I agree that it is just a different perspective to be viewing a test in person vs on a computer screen. Not limited to the ability to more clearly hear the footfalls and breathing of the horse which can give you more information about how the horse is going in the test that just looking at the movements on a 2 dimensional screen.
Yes. When I took part 1 the cost was $1000 for the three sessions. The part 2 I enrolled in, canceled due to COVID, was $1500. They refunded me fairly quickly after it was called off.
There were so few part 2 sessions on the 2020 schedule that there were wait lists. I didn’t get into the first part 2 I listed for, because it was not only first come-first-served, but, they prioritized the candidates who already had their qualifying scores to continue on into the small r program. I only had/have the scores for the L part 2. But I got right into the second one. The USDF committee really want to expand the pool of judges and are VERY encouraging for people to aim for continuing up the levels into the r, R, and S.
That’s another thing to bear in mind. For the part 1 there are no qualifying scores required, it’s open to all. Even people with a passing interest in dressage and who’ve not competed or don’t want to. Part 2 however has some score requirements in order to participate. You need to have achieved certain percentages at Second and Third Levels or in combination of the two. I can’t remember them exactly but it’s on the USDF site. Also for part 2 you are responsible for finding your own scribe to attend with you and that can mean an added expense, in addition to your own travel & hotel if necessary.
I wish! It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO expensive.
I’d have to go through my notes, but the most obvious thing was the difference between medium and extended trot; there actually is one and they should not be ridden the same as I’d been told by several trainers.
Another that springs to mind is that any mistake in a line of changes is an automatic 4.
When a movement begins and ends, that you are really being judged all the time.
I’ll post more if I think of them.
The automatic 4 is not reflected in the judging of competitors scores IRL is it?
I don’t attend shows in person anymore but of all the competitions I’ve watched online and in person, I’ve never seen a 4 given by rote, by any judge for “any mistake” in a line of changes. Do you think it is something that just falls by the wayside when people move on and become experienced judges?
I’m saying that it is NOT automatically a 4.
I think that people who get a 4 when they have an error in the a line of changes may be thinking that is the ONLY problem they had when there were other contributing factors; quality of the canter, straightness of the changes they did get etc that may be included in that particular score.
Here’s another thing I learned recently (to my embarrassment); your ride time is when you should be going up center line, NOT when you enter the area to ride around the outside!
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This. Absolutely the only reason I didn’t do it years ago.
I audited many (MANY!) years ago. It was quite local to me. Extremely valuable insights. Wish they had another close to me - I would go again!
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Wait, what??? So when should stewards send them in? I mean, if they just go by when the last rider salutes, doesn’t that risk the overall schedule getting thrown off? Is this written somewhere so I can understand it better?
I really enjoyed the L program. I’d encourage any rider or trainer to audit one if it is held within driving distance!
I took a quick look and couldn’t find it explicitly in the rules, however, it is called your “ride time” and is consistently referred to as when you ride your test.
I have yet to be at a show that runs exactly on schedule. On the up side, you can go in when the previous rider does their final salute and the judge is likely writing final comments. Most will give you some time, but I was once working my way to the ring from a crowded warmup and the judge rang the bell when I was still working my way through the pony riders blocking the gate. I trotted right in and rode my test.
