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New dressage rider

Take the time to “earn” your stirrup length. If you find you are slipping or losing the stirrups a lot go up a hole until you feel like they’re too short, then go down again. I still feel like my stirrups are too short on my younger horse… until he trots. :wink:

Enjoy the concrete, personal feedback on each individual test and an actual percentage score! This makes it much easier to see how you are progressing from show to show.

Have fun!

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Agreed!

The only comment I disagree with is looking at other people’s stuff - read the rule book to see what the requirements are. Horse people are excellent about convincing themselves things MUST be a certain way, but that is not the reality. Braiding is NOT required (I roach manes, so much easier), white breeches are NOT required, white saddle pads are NOT required (I personally think anything white with horses is just silly- I like riding, not cleaning).

And volunteer as a scribe at dressage shows or events/horse trials. I learned so much from this & it is a lot of fun. You learn what is important & what is not.

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Welcome Welcome Welcome.

You will continue learning from now until the day you die, even if you live to be a 128yo.

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And every time you accomplish something new and think “Now I am really getting somewhere!” you also become more aware of the multitudes left to understand/learn/practice and the incredibly complicated, non linear path to get there.

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Then I will say that one thing you will find quite different is the definition of “contact.” Hunters ride on what is a very light contact. True contact is a much shorter rein. If I had $1 for every time I’ve said “shorten your reins!” I’d be retired by now. :slight_smile: Welcome to the light side and we have booze! <3

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Welcome! I’m a recent transfer from HunterLandia myself. In general, I’d agree with the saying that dressage is “riding for nerds.” :laughing: There’s lots of theory underlying the discipline (lots of good books out there!), and at least in my experience I was very impressed with the skill and knowledge level of the average amateur rider at even local unrated shows. The camaraderie is also better than hunters, I think because the explicit scoring allows you to compete against yourself as much as you do against others. I loooove getting judge comments back, and after scribing a few times I can say that most judges are honestly really rooting for you, which just leads to a better atmosphere overall.

One good resource is to search for youtube videos with judge’s comments. That’ll help you develop an eye for what is rewarded and not. In addition to reading the rule book, read through a couple of tests at different levels. Pay attention to the directives (what’s expected of a lower level horse compared to upper level? which words keep showing up?) AND the score weighting (what has coefficients and counts double?). If there are clinics or schooling shows in your area, see if you can maybe volunteer and/or scribe a bit, too. Like, I could have told you that showing a clear difference between movements was important, but writing “show more” a bajillion times made an indelible stamp in my mind. There are guides for scribes on USDF, and even if you don’t want to scribe anytime soon it gives you an idea of what kind of comments crop up.

In terms of riding practice, measure out at least a few letters in your arena and some 20m circles (especially if your usual arena isn’t standard court sized) and practice paying attention to geometry. Riding practice tests is really fun too- even if you’re on a baby there are plenty of w/t Intro tests out there! And feel free to pick out bits and pieces of higher level tests if you think they’ll help you learn or train something. While I’m not a particularly competitive person, test riding helped me understand just how precise my riding could be- like exactly how many strides out do I need to start thinking about going from free to medium walk?

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I’ve got some first level vids with judges comments and scores overlaying the movements (pony’s 1st show season). That might kick off YouTube algorithm to show you more vids like that.

There are so many things I want to share because I’m so excited you’re getting into dressage!! But, I’m sure your trainer will give you great guidance and help on your new adventure. I’m so excited for you! Feeing your horse become more supple, balanced, and athletic feels magical. It’s so addicting!
I hope you love it too!

ETA: I am not a good rider/trainer.

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