For the second edition of exploring the dressage levels, I bring you First level! Arguably one of the best levels of dressage. There's just enough of it to keep it interesting, but with no sitting trot and enough down time, it's fairly achievable for almost all riders and horses.
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People who know Woodside- this is the old Bay arena
11 years ago before it was expanded! |
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LOL I love this picture because it's just so Rico when
he was young |
Purpose of the Levels
To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, and in addition to the requirements of Training Level, has developed the thrust to achieve improved balance and throughness and maintains a more consistent contact with the bit.
My interpretation is that First level is a test of impulsion. Necessary before collection, which rears its ugly head at Second level, but not necessary for the steadiness and forward that is required at Training.
One kind thing about this level is that you can still post! Phew. I guess it's been like that for a while, but sitting was the bane of my existence on both Rico and Larkin (2004 and 2005).
Oh so if you're wondering why I'm not going through the purpose of the levels in more detail, it's because I already did that
here.
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| Trying desperately to sit his trot |
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| Such a fancy boy, also some straightness problems, jeez |
First 1
I like the trot work from this test a lot, it's quite creative. You do your half circle/diagonal things first, which can be nice for a tense horse who is not going to be so fun to slingshot across the diagonal in a lengthening (like almost every single other test from now on). I like the way that the "ice cream cone" pattern rides, it's more interesting than just a circle. The stretch circle coming before the lengthening is also nice- as doing the stretch circle after the lengthening can be harder for some types of rides.
The canter is what I don't like about this test. I think it's way too short- it's just as long as the T3 test. Free walk to R, trot at M, canter in the judge's lap at C (note this difference from the Training level tests which always have you pick up the canter in the corner), then immediately at S you're doing a lengthened canter. But only to V and then you're doing a 15m canter circle and then you go across the diagonal to trot at X. The lengthening right away will turn some people off of this test. The idea of taking a hot, tense horse and within 20 meters of picking up the canter, you're galloping down the long side? And for the lazier horses, at least for me, I like having a circle first to get the horse forward off the leg.
BUT the circle at the end of the lengthening is nice since you can use it for the downward rather than having to sit the horse down on a straight line. Honestly, as much as it's not my favorite canter pattern- with the point of First level being impulsion, this series of movements tests that very well. If your horse doesn't have enough impulsion in walk, your trot won't have enough, your canter won't have enough, and your relatively short lengthening will not be big enough. So even if it's annoying, it isn't out of place in this test.
Note here the change of direction at the canter. At T3, you trot at X but then walk after, so that introduces the downward across the diagonal but without having to deal with the upward afterward. Then in the 1-1 pattern, you trot at X and canter again at C, meaning that you have to get your trot good enough to canter out of since you can no longer use the downward transition to walk to recoup. Keep that in mind as we move up through First and Second to prepare for the flying changes.
Collectives are the trot stretch, the free walk, and something that surprised me, the transition from walk to trot and then trot to canter (both in one movement) that comes up so quickly.
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More attempts at sitting the trot- that's me crunching my
back, I get injured just a few months later |
First 2
I like the trot pattern of this test too (especially better than the old 1-2 where there was way too much down time), it's got a lot of wiggle room as they give you your first taste of lateral work in a dressage test. After you half circle onto centerline, you wait until L to then leg yield to M. For a horse who is a bit tough to leg yield, starting slightly before L is a possibility. You don't want to start too early, but it's not like the 1-3 test where you have no wiggle room for a horse who is a bit tough to get across the ring. Also, if your horse has a bit too much crossover, waiting until slightly after L will be easy to mask as well.
The canter work is the way I like it, being someone who has always had lazy horses and been good at downward transitions- 15m circle to a lengthening. Then your change of direction is across the diagonal, trot at X and canter at F. You can see them shortening the time between picking up the canter after your downward.
Collectives are free walk, both canter lengthenings, and the stretch circle. That seems right, they really want to make sure you know that your canter lengthenings are important.
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Oh that's just embarrassing, on the struggle bus sitting
that lengthening |
First 3
Everyone rags on this test, but when you really look at how to get from 1-2 to 2-1, the 1-3 isn't the worst thing that they could have thrown at you. You get a taste of a few more difficult movements, a taste of the hectic zipping around the arena that Second level often feels like, and hey, it's a lot less offensive than the leg-yield-figure-8-leg-yield shit that was in the old version.
The trot pattern can be tricky. Like we saw, in 1-2 you had some wiggle room in the leg yield so for a horse with weak leg yields, the test is fairly doable. In this test there is no wiggle room so you need to be more accurate. The zig-zag element adds a bit of difficulty, but the leg yields are scored separately so while a nice coordinated change of direction will certainly help, you don't have to worry about it so much. What you do have to worry about if you don't have a good change of direction though, is getting to centerline so you can straighten and go back over. There are ways to finagle this exercise to have it work for you though.
The rest of the trot pattern is fine I guess. I feel like they were desperate to get rid of the 10m circles inside the leg yield pattern that they just dumped them on this weird serpentine pattern and were like "uh sure, this is dressage." I don't hate it though. Turning across the middle of the ring happens at 2-1 out of shoulder-in, so doing it with just a 10m circle coming before and after (and a halt in the middle because why the fuck not) is a nice set up for that. That turn is a little more technical than you'd expect, it's easy to turn it into a drunken squiggle.
The canter is long and can be tough. The 15m circle at C is always hard for people in terms of geometry vs at B/E, the loops are always tricky, and the simple change through the trot over X gets some people (see what I mean, we saw this movement developing from Training 3!). Advice- practice doing the transitions in that time on the quarterline without the change of lead, THEN do it across the diagonal. Good exercise a la Tracey. The loops, well, I wrote a bit about them in this
post if you're curious.
Coefficients-wise, they kind of kick your ass in this test in comparison. Both loops are worth double, as are the stretch circle, the free walk, and the halt across the middle.
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Lengthen your stirrups, Megan. It's interesting, I haven't gotten
any taller (and neither did Rico), but Rico's GP pictures make me
look short. I think that's because he gained so much muscle! |
Overall
I love how these tests take a horse from Training to Second. After Training 3, First 1 looks downright easy and doable if you can get a lengthening and the smaller figures on the horse. The technical aspect of it is pretty inviting. In my opinion, First 2 could do a better job being a stepping stone to First 3 in a few ways (such as at least hinting at counter canter, maybe with loops to quarterline or at LEAST making the canter a bit longer- lots of horses get tired at First 3). I think First 3 is an excellent stepping stone to Second 1. It makes Second 1 look easy so you can really focus on getting the collected and medium gaits perfect, and sitting the trot, finally.
Second level hopefully next week!
