Recreating the intensity of a test at home

[MsM]

IME horses love consistency and predictability. So it is not surprising that they will learn to anticipate parts of a test if you ride it too often.

Fellow boarder was excited about going to her first schooling show. She rode the test quite often trying to perfect things. Then her horse started some of the transitions before she aided and slightly before the markers! Trainer pointed out the error of her ways and advised her to practice mostly indifferent parts of the arena and out of order most of the time.

My horse is convinced that he can figure out what we are doing and beat me to it! Sometimes it helps - like anticipating trot lengthening on the diagonal and using that to get some nice collection. But if we practice simple changes on the center line more than a couple times he will try to go on auto-pilot and changes through the trot or going across to counter canter become a challenge. He keeps me aware of changing things up and making sure he waits for me!

[luvmyhackney]

@exvet

LOL, Arabians or you can also include Welsh Cobs. Owned/ridden/shown both and they definitely do memorize tests in my limited experience

You can include Hackney ponies being smarter than they should be. My kid did a little schooling show and pony transitions followed the ring announcer not my kids aids or ask. Even the reverse was followed. It was quite comical to watch. Pony was on his own program for sure.

[Montanas_Girl]

Anyone else think this is a really strange topic to get hostile about? I guess “enjoy your Arabians” is supposed to be some kind of snide insult?

[SillyHorse]

You not only seem determined to be insulted, but want to encourage other people to be insulted with you.

[Montanas_Girl]

I’m not the one who turned a tongue-in-cheek comment into an argument.

Since you are bound and determined to have the last word in this fight that you picked for no reason at all, I’ll bow out now. Hope that makes you happy and allows the OP’s thread to get back on track.

[Manni01]

Don’t worry, this poster is like this……

And yes horses are extremly smart and of course they know what a test is…. I mean, there are not too many tests on each level. And even in Germany with 10 third level tests possible, I rode only 3 this year one of them 4 times….
So horses do remember but IMO this is not a bad thing. The more experienced the horse gets, the better and more relaxed it will perform. Some years ago, I got a horse from a very experienced dressage rider and that horse knew every single test by heart…. I still believe they practiced them every day. This horse was more on the lazy side and I assume knowing the next movement helped rider and horse ….
And my current horse knows exactly the difference between riding tests and regular schooling… she is like two horses and she is not an Arabian, but a simple Warmblood….

[SillyHorse]

Still arguing

@Manni01

Don’t worry, this poster is like this……

LOL

[Manni01]

Thanks for confirming

[SillyHorse]

LOL again!

[RedHorses]

When I was showing regularly I did regularly ride my tests. My horses did begin to anticipate, but I used that anticipation to engage my horse’s enthusiasm. Instead of shutting them down, or dashing off in some other direction, or. never practicing tests, I used to say “you’re right that’s next, but not yet.” and train them to wait for me to give the aids, not just let them go. “Do this” instead of “okay, now”.

[seriously1]

For the last couple of months, I have been practicing and submitting tests to https://www.onlinedressageinternational.com/

They have a great show series with very interesting tests and very detailed feedback. Having a test prepared and ready (ish) for video is fairly intense, especially every two weeks. BUT: they are very reasonably priced, you choose your ride time and you don’t have to ship. The every two weeks gives you an opportunity to play with your preparation -how much of the test you practice, what other work you do, your warm up. Also, because the whole series is 6 weeks, you do each test twice.
Great online climate, the person who runs it is very supportive (says the person who sent in a recording missing the last two movements).

[DMK]

Ditto for fjords…

And @SillyHorse please don’t lose your shit over this. We recognize that these horses don’t memorize the tests in a human way, but if you don’t think some horses are way more gifted than others in pattern recognition, then you haven’t been around enough horses. Or ponies.

I’ve absolutely had horses who I could do the same pattern over and over and over and they never really anticipated what was next. And then there are a few select ones (ponies dominate this list) who pick up on any repetition in a pattern really, really fast.

The only thing that saves me with the fiendish Einsteins is that I’m very good at pattern recognition too, so I don’t have to practice tests sequentially or from beginning to end very often.

[SillyHorse]

@DMK

And @SillyHorse please don’t lose your shit over this.

Oh, I won’t. I hadn’t even visited this thread for almost a month, then you conjured me up!

[DMK]

Hah! Baby zombie thread!

[SuzieQNutter]

Well I didn’t see this thread last TIME.

Warmblood mare. First time I tried a dressage test on her was because I jokingly said I would go in her place as her horse was injured. My boss was behind me and said we are quiet you can go. The girl said she would take me.

That dressage test was a disaster. I washed her.

I tool her off the float the next day and every single winter coat hair was fluffed up. Every other horse was clipped. I just wanted to slink home, but sucked it up.

The first test she relaxed going in and felt too slow. She won.

The second test she had halted at C in the first test and she was going to halt at C in the 2nd test. I felt it on the longside and was doing everything I could to say keep her going. I was pushing her more in this test as I felt she was too slow in the first test. I pushed her out of walk in the the free walk. Argh.

When I exited the arena my friend said, she was going to halt at C wasn’t she?

Equal 2nd. She would have won if I hadn’t made her break the walk.