A Closer Look: Intermediare II

This test is a beast in comparison to Intermediare I. When I was at Third level, I'd look up toward Grand Prix and it seemed like once as I got to Prix St George or Intermediare I, it would be smooth sailing to Grand Prix. But really, there's another huge filter at Intermediare II.

It literally has every single movement that Grand Prix has, just easier, leading lots of people to skip Intermediare II. I was one of the people who thought they'd skip, but was coerced into riding that test once by my trainer, good decision, since it's a nice way to try out all the GP movements without so much stress. Still a lot of stress though.

Onto the test.

Passage up centerline

Intermediare II

Hey an extended trot to start! Who would have thought? The first trot pattern is funny to me, since it's the exact zig zag you do at Intermediare I at the canter... but at the trot. That seems easier to me. Like why is that there? Honestly I think they were like "what do we do for trot?" and everyone was like "eh I dunno throw a zig zag in there." But be grateful, they're throwing you a bone here starting out super easy.

After this movement you track right at C, trot down the long side and passage between R and M. Note that you can passage BETWEEN letters at this level vs at a single letter. That is really helpful with horses green to the passage since you can take your time with the transition. Then you ride on a weird short diagonal from B to V. This is nice because you do not have to do 90 degree turns in your first passage, which are really hard. And crossing centerline, piaffe for 8-10 steps. Remember those numbers looking forward to GP. Then passage out, turn left at V to A, where you then piaffe again for 8-10 steps and passage out to P where you then transition immediately to extended walk. Rico loved that movement, it was bad for his training though!

Half pass zig zag in trot

At C you canter and immediately start with a medium canter across the diagonal, phew. A good place to energize the horse who may be backed off from the first pi/pa tour of the test. You get a nice short side and part of a long side to relax (you start cherishing down time at this point) before you do an extremely steep canter half pass from P to X (that's TWICE as steep as the steepest half pass you've done so far), ride straight on centerline, and full pirouette in the judge's lap at I.

Pirouettes on centerline are HARD and you never get to do them anywhere else from now on. See, one of the issues a lot of people have in the pirouettes are that they're hard to start ON the line, so the horse sometimes jumps in or out before starting, so you finish off your line. If you're on the diagonal, your error is not as noticeable to a judge and it doesn't really affect your trajectory afterward. When you're doing both pirouettes at I in front of the judge, all your mistakes are on display. Not only that, if you land outside your line, you may be setting yourself up for a very small half circle onto the rail, which might mess up your next movement, which is an extended canter (again very nice of them to let you do that).

Medium canter

Same thing the other way and this time coming out of your pirouette is a line of seven 2-tempis, same as Intermediare I. But you know what's coming... Eleven one-tempis follow your twos. After that you get to trot, phew, and they give you an extended trot right away to get the energy up for the final pi/pa tour (well, no piaffe) up centerline, which is again really nice of them- take note of how nice they're being to you. You passage starting between D and L (again notice the between letters transitions) and then halt at I.

Coefficients are the trot zig-zag, the extended walk, the collected walk, and both canter pirouettes. Note that there are no coefficients on your new hard movements- ones, piaffe, and passage.

Canter work

Overall

It was once described to me that the final (pi/)pa tour is always a test of heart in the horse. These tests are exhausting, they're nearly impossible to prepare for fitness-wise. Rico was as fit as he's ever been for these tests- riding 60 minutes of solid dressage at this level 4-5x per week plus trot and canter sets like an event horse on off days- and he could barely make it through. It's shocking and not for the faint of heart!

This test is great- it has enough difficult stuff (ones, a bit of piaffe and passage, that steep canter half pass, pirouettes on centerline) but it's a kind test for what it is. It beats the shit out of you, but offers you breaks and water and a massage afterward. Whereas the Grand Prix just leaves you mostly dead on the ground and steals your wallet too. And we'll see that test and the Grand Prix Special, which could probably qualify as a serial killer, maybe next week.