A Closer Look: Training Level

In hopes of fostering discussion and giving me some more things to write about while waiting for the pony to get better, I came up with an idea for a series.

I've written about the dressage levels before, but kind of sporadically, and I suppose we did go over the new tests last winter... BUT I think it'd be fun to dissect each level and each test within the level. My main goal is to look at the progression from Training level to Grand Prix and see how each level (and test) contributes to the training of dressage horses.

So, without further ado: Training Level

Featuring: Rico and teenage Megan at Training level!

Purpose of the Levels

To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, is supple, and moves freely forward in a clear rhythm with a steady tempo, accepting contact with the bit.

My interpretation is that Training level is a test of the basics (which take a while to get right). Can you get through a whole test while keeping your horse a) forward, b) steady in the tempo, and c) on the bit? Great, you'll be fine at Training level. Um, we have some work to do on that.

Two notes for this level are that 1) the halt can be ridden through the walk (and should not be marked down for that specifically) and 2) you can ride the trot sitting or posting (except for the stretch circle is always posting).

Training is where a lot of people start when they start showing at rated shows- and at schooling shows too. Actually my trainer friend told me the other day that since I was an FEI rider, I couldn't start at Intro at a rated show. She seriously had me convinced. But then that's apparently just her rule that she's applying to me. We've already done intro at a few schooling shows, so I'm on board with starting at Training level this summer (PLEASE) or fall (slightly more reasonable) or next year (likely).

Beginning of free walk, quit poking that lazy horse so much, Megan
Ah but you won't learn that for another 7 years

Training 1

I do think that T1 is a nice first test. The trot work is pretty standard- circles in the middle, which I think are easier for people to make the correct shape, since lots of people tend to fall into the corners when the circles are at A or C.

The canter work is set up well for a lot of horses. For others (ahem, mine), that openness going from the short side to the long side as you ask for the canter may encourage some to leave. But it could be good motivation for a better trained lazier horse who may feel like there's room to pick up the canter vs on a short side. I think that's probably why they moved it from picking up the canter in the second half to picking it up in the first quarter.

The free walk is in a great place and only across a short diagonal, this way you have enough medium walk to theoretically get the horse back to you and take your time. This is great for a tense young horse, I like having that extra room to get everything in gear before I have to relinquish contact.

I like that they dumped the stretch circle out of this test. I think it's a lot to ask of a green rider or green horse to be able to correctly stretch down at a show. T1 now allows you to not have to either a) practice a shitty stretch circle and b) not give away your reins and resort to wings and prayers to make it through a whole circle with reduced control.

The coefficients are on the trot circles and free walk, making the score pretty friendly for a horse with a better trot than canter.

Nice trot, Rico!

Training 2

The thing I love about this test is how much trot there is (but don't get your hopes up score-wise, since the canter work has a double coefficient- means both trot and canter are weighted basically the same). It's a bit longer than T1, which is great for a young horse who needs to settle down or a rider to chill a bit. I think one downside for a young horse though, is that you switch directions right before you canter, so the horse has only one bit of a taste of the new direction before you have to canter. But they put the transition in the corner, so that's nice.

The canter is again set up in a way where the horse is looking down a long side as you pick it up, which can be helpful depending on your horse. Unfortunately for young speedy horses, you need to make it half way down the long side before you get to circle, this could lead to exciting things. Hence the increased difficulty of the level.

The stretch circle returns at T2 and it's not located in a very kind place IMO. Some horses do stretch better after the canter, and for those horses, this is an excellent placement. But I think for a lot of horses who may get unbalanced at the canter, the stretch circle adds some difficulty. The best thing to do is just get your trot transition as early as possible.

The coefficients are the canter circles and the free walk. I think it's great they don't throw a double coefficient on your stretch circle at this point.

Damn he was a nice horse, now he is fat and furry

Training 3

This is a great test. I think it's a really good stepping stone between T2 and 1-1. There is added difficulty in a few places.

First, the trot work involves no circles. I, for one, am reliant on circles when my horse has a case of the dumb, so that alone makes it a good test of the general influence the rider supposedly has over the horse. The loops are the bane to a lot of peoples' existences and I can see why. The movement basically makes fun of any idea of straightness or suppleness you may think you have and puts your failure on display. For this movement, practicing it is key, but the best way to really get better at it is to make sure that your horse is supple in both directions and is even in both reins and off both legs (hey sound like familiar requirements for the leg yields coming up? especially that zig zag).

Second, the canter is quite a bit longer. This is a great thing for some horses, but for a lot of them, it's a lot. Especially when you consider that 1-1 has the exact same amount of canter (but I think that's more 1-1's fault than T3). I think it's a good thing though, it's a fairly safe/generic series of movements and from now on, the canter work gets long, so you may as well jump right in.

The coefficients are the free walk and stretch circle, pretty normal coefficients.

* Yes there is a Training level Rider Test, I'll be doing the three rider tests together because they're more similar to each other than to the level they are at. Look for that probably after the Second level edition of this series. Unless I forget. Then look for it much later.

Haven't quite learned how to sit the canter yet, or put him on
the bit, both of those took... um... quite a while

Overall

I like all these tests, I think they are fairly cohesive and provide decent stepping stones from Intro to First level. As we look at First level (next week or whenever I get along to writing it), keep in mind the trot loops and where the downward transition was placed (X) in T3. Those are hints at future movements.


Feel free to add any thoughts!

Test Riding T1/T2

Friday's ride went surprisingly well given how much energy TC had. It felt really good to have my forward horse back, since he is usually quite behind the leg in small arenas (like the covered) and a little quieter with other horses (like when I ride amidst beach ball polo, beginner lessons, and roping). I also took him off his alfalfa (he gets alfalfa pellets, just no hay) so was worried I was depriving him of nutrients and that he was slowly starving to death... but no, that is not happening. I just overreact all the fucking time on occasion.

Wandering after Friday's ride

I optimistically didn't put any longeing stuff on him, figuring that if he was REALLY bad, I would just turn him out that day and ride him on Saturday.

He was a bit high, but he wasn't retracted in the neck, meaning that he was legitimately rideable. We worked on spiraling in and out, as well as the exercise Barbi had me do in both of my lessons this summer with her. By the time he settled, I had a super responsive horse who was also relaxed over his topline but still felt super powerful. We finally managed to walk the line between tension (without being insane) and relaxation (without being lazy) and that place is pretty amazing. It's also scary because it feels like I'm riding a cannon that is juuust about to explode.

What better use of our time then, than to do some test riding?

I had to quickly remember what T1 and T2 looked like, since it's been... since 2005 since I've showed them. I've had students show them more recently though, so I have no excuse for not keeping them memorized.

Yay an arena to test ride in

Training 1 went well, I actually judged it in my head, then recorded it in an excel document and came out with a 62 and change. It was mostly the canter work that slowed us down. There were no major mistakes, but as his canter is a solid 5.5 right now and his walk work is all 5s and 6s, we're just not going to make up the difference with our trot scores unless we get like solid 9s. Which we wont.


Let me go through the test-

1. A- Down centerline, X- halt, salute, proceed working trot
This wasn't so pretty, he wanted to lengthen, I wanted to halt, and we had a moment where he regressed back to the horse who simply couldn't halt. But he was pretty straight and prompt off my aid moving forward. I threw a 6 at this.

2. C- Track left; E- Circle left 20m
He was really good in this circle. I would have said 7. He was bending nicely, the circle was accurately ridden, he was super steady. The only thing keeping us from higher marks here is the fact that he just isn't an 8 mover. I like that this test weights the trot circles x 2.

3. A- Circle left 20m, developing left lead canter in first quarter of circle
This transition was prompt but hollow for what I thought was probably a 5.5, it's just how we do. Note that this canter transition being so early on the circle implies to my horse that we're about to take off down the long side. Definitely something to consider at a show.

4. AFB- Working canter
He went to gallop down the long side and got a bit of a hump in his back so I stood up a bit because again, that's how we do. Another 5.5, or maybe even a 5 because of my behavior.

5. Between B&M- Working trot
This was actually good, but the canter we start in isn't balanced so the trot isn't the most amazing thing afterward. I would think 6.

6. C- Medium walk
He was all about walking at this point, so he dumped a bit into the transition. Then he proceeded to walk so freakishly slowly. I would assume a 6, but it could be lower. The transition was slightly abrupt and the walk was slow. But he has a good quality walk soooo maybe a 6.

Spooking at different colored ground on Friday

7. E-F- Change rein, free walk; F- medium walk
This was hilariously bad for the first half and the second half I was actually really happy with him. Except that he fucking walks SO SLOWLY in the free walk. He looks like he is looking for a place to roll. So a solid 5 for that. And a double coefficient which is depressing.

8. A- Working trot
This was just good, I would have thrown us a 6.5 on it. He isn't great at the walk but he is good at the trot, so I can't see us breaking into 7s until I can get the walk under control. We should be getting 7.5-8.5 on these- he has a great walk and a great trot and he's incredibly steady in the transition. But the walk is just too slow.

9. E- Circle right 20m
Another great trot circle for a 7 x2. Again the scope of his trot needs to be bigger for an 8. I don't think we're going to be seeing 8s until Second or Third when I can get some collection and passage on this horse.

10. C- Circle right 20m developing right lead canter in first quarter of circle
He spooked in the corner for this so ducked a shoulder, but it was still quite a good transition. Probably a 5.5 or 6.

11. CMB- working canter
He was actually SUPER good down this long side, so I could see us earning as much as a 6.5 on this.

12. Between B&F- working trot
He was actually good in this, but again he just isn't the most balanced animal in the trot from the canter. He'll get there, but until then, we're in 6 land again.

13. A- down centerline, X- Halt, salute
This was really good for him, but again he ducked, but not as bad as the first time. I bet this would have been a 6.5

I took a quick fence video (which turned out crooked and I'm too
lazy to crop it) after Friday's ride

Collectives:

Gaits: 6.5 x1
Just due to his canter, I think it will take a bit until we're scoring 7s on gaits. I think at his best, he'll have an 8 walk, 7.5 trot, and a 6.5 canter. But right now the walk is slow (6), the trot is fine (7), and the canter is atrocious (5.5).

Impulsion 7 x2
He was quite forward and relaxed, so I can see this score being pretty good. He's very soft over his topline at home- that relaxation they're looking for in the lower back. But I am afraid at shows we'd be in the 6-6.5 range for impulsion, not because of the energy, but because of the tension. I'm afraid he's going to look like shitty baby Totilas.

Submission 6 x2
Just for the canter, walk work, and his topline being a bit short sometimes. I don't think he's bad enough to warrant less than a 6- I think when they get less than that it's due to either unsteadiness, not being on the bit, or acting up. He's very steady, is pretty good about staying on the bit, and doesn't act up, but his walk is slow, the canter is big, and he gets short in the neck.

Rider position 7 x1
I leaned a bit at the canter and I look down like I've been paid to do it. I don't see my rider scores being all too high. I don't give off that elegance I did at the upper levels on my well trained horse. I'm too busy running around picking up pony parts and gluing them back onto my pony.

Rider aids 6 x1
My aids suck. The end. I should have the canter better under control. I should be able to push him more forward in walk, and I should be able to lengthen his neck. It's frustrating because I feel like as a rider, I'm actually doing a pretty good job with him, but I know that it just isn't enough. Maybe a judge would see through that, but it's unlikely.


So not bad, right? I was pretty proud of him. It was definitely a good test for where we're at. I need to get used to his tendencies, he jigged once in the walk work, he needs more support into canter, and I need to plan ahead a bit more. I feel like Training is such a big step down from the GP that I don't take it as seriously. Like oh I have so much time to prepare, I'll just wait. Well, I'm also on a FOUR year old who needs all that time to prepare. Lesson learned.

He's so cute

Despite him being a little tired, I pushed into test 2. It was so bad

Training 2

1. A- Enter working trot, X- halt, salute, proceed working trot
This was the one highlight of the test. After learning more about centerlines in T1, he was on board for T2's centerline.

2. C- track right; B- circle right 20m
He was so distracted by the cows that he tried to canter on the circle.

3. KXM- change rein
He made a move to lengthen his trot and I just went with it.

4. Between C&H- working canter left lead
He got distracted again by the cows so didn't respond to my aid. So then I leaned at him, and then he got confused. Then I leaned sideways, so he picked up the wrong lead, then I finally gave up and just trotted down to the circle.

5. E circle left 20m
I had to wrench him around the circle. I dunno what happened, but he no longer had control over his legs.

6. Between E&K- working trot
He was counter flexed into this because again, COWS (which have been there the whole time btw).

At least there were no mirrors to get distracted by

7. A- stretchy circle
This was so bad, he basically just relaxed over his back and went like he was supposed to go. So right now all this movement is doing is demonstrating how much better my horse goes when I let go of his face. Damn it.

8. Between A&F- medium walk; FE- Change Rein
I tried to get him more forward in walk so we just jigged.

9. EM- Change rein, free walk, M- Medium walk
Yah he didn't do this because we were facing the pasture horses.

10. C- Working trot
As we went to pick up the trot, he dropped his shoulder to the inside to get a better look at the cows and I had a bit WTF WAS THAT moment as a rider because I wasn't paying attention.

11. E- Circle left 20m
He thought that cantering was appropriate again.

12. FXH- Change Rein
By this point I was just playing, we did another lengthening here.

13. Between C&M- Working canter right lead
This was awful, couldn't get the correct lead so again I just waited until the circle.

14. B- Circle right 20m
Then he was just tired here so he broke.

15. Between B&F- Working trot
I just kept him trotting from our break, poor pony.

A- Down centerline; X- Halt, salute
I totally forgot to halt at X. It's fine, I meant to do that...

Conformation shot, his topline is filling in a bit!

It was hilariously bad. He didn't mean to be bad, he was just kind of done with riding well before I was (because it was SUNNY and WARM and DAYTIME) so he did his best.

I was super proud of him for not using his energy for evil. I love that moderately terrifying feeling I get on days like that where he feels like he might just explode but then decides to pump himself up in trot or canter.

The canter quality in the first test was as good as it's ever been (Sunday night edit: not as good as the canter quality in our ride on Sunday!). We have a very very long way to go with the canter, and honestly it may never even be good enough for Second and I'll have to cut my losses and sell him to a lower level ammy than I had planned, but the fact that we're improving at all at the canter gives me a sliver of hope. Come on cantering!

Night rides = weird yellow pictures

I think I'm going to see about arranging a lesson with Heidi over Thanksgiving. She has a way of both being blunt with me about a horse's potential while being the sort of person who thinks that you can go from Prix St George to Grand Prix in a year! I think I need some help understanding the quality of my horse. I swing heavily back and forth between thinking he's an amazing prospect for the FEI levels and thinking that I should prepare to sell him in two years as a First schooling Second horse rather than in five or eight as a Third+ horse. I want someone who has a lot of young horse experience to inspire me a bit :) I still think he's a great horse! I just want to make sure that I'm not putting to much on him.

Be Still But Not That Still

Poor Ali is sick so she texted me and asked me to ride her horse for her! It was an excellent opportunity for me to a.) sit a difficult trot for once, b.) pay her back for all the support she has given me in the form of trailering me everywhere and letting me ride the best baby horse, and c.) ride a horse that reliably steers and goes on the bit and canters when you ask him to.

Her horse is super fun, but he's one of those horses who is so incredibly sensitive to your every move and this can really pay off or really not pay off. The first thing he did on the first day I was riding was instruct me on what I was required to do. He's like okay here are the rules, you sit there and I go over here and I can spook at anything on the left side of my body.

I rejected his rules and had the weirdest conversation I've ever had with a horse as I constantly had to shift my weight back to the middle and put his left hind back under him while trying to predict what was coming next so I could stop it. Everything I did was met with a condition. He's like okay you put your leg there, then I'll put my body here and we'd start over in a different version of crookedness.

It was the most cerebral ride I've experienced in a long time.

This guy did take some thought but I could take
my mind off of him for a bit and not risk a spook!

He challenged me to sit perfectly still and think ahead of what he'll be doing two steps down the road. It was like playing chess. Part way through, I had to take a walk break and think about it. If I block his left hind from falling out, he's going to fall in with his right hind and dump me to the right side of the saddle so I have to prevent that from happening at the same time as I prevent the left hind from falling out. If I do that and he doesn't connect to the left rein, he will use a spook on that side to jump away from his left hind, so I need to push him simultaneously into the left rein. But if I do that so much that he hollows right, he will try to bait me into pulling back on the left rein to keep his shoulders in line, which will then allow him to fall away from that rein again.

It took me a bit but eventually I felt him give up and he blasted down the long side in a really straight uphill trot. Hot damn can this little guy move when he isn't trying everything possible to become disconnected from the left rein.

Massive respect for Ali, this is not an easy horse and she makes him look a lot easier than he is. I get to ride him today again, cannot wait.

Me on Ali's horse when he was just a baby! Ali was nice to let
me borrow him as my "green horse" for my A-Dressage pony
club rating- I exceeded standards on the training portion :) 

While I was riding him, I took TC out and stuck him into a paddock to eat some extra food. He's maintaining his weight right now so we're not as careful to make sure he's getting a ton of extra food every day, but whenever I can, I try to stuff more calories into him.

Once as I was done with Ali's horse, I went to put TC back. Most of the time when I put him back he's all nasty and sweaty so I don't ever have any desire to sit on him and ride him back to his pasture. But he hadn't been ridden so was totally clean... so I tied up his halter and jumped on!

First, I don't think he's been ridden bareback, unless they did it while they were breaking him. But to my knowledge, this was his first time. I've also never ridden him in a halter and again don't know if they did it while breaking. He was so good! He just carted me back to the pasture and wasn't terrible to steer off my leg. He did try to bite me a few times but I just nudged his nose away from my boot.

Unfortunately he is not very comfortable to ride bareback yet because his topline is still developing. I don't think I'll be doing any bareback rides (other than getting back to his pasture) until he fills out a bit more.

Delicious boots

Friday I headed out to the barn to ride TC for real. I was really excited to continue our work from the last couple of rides and TC proved to be just as amazing as he's been recently. After a few discussions about being forward and not whinnying, he settled into that ridiculously rideable trot.

Of course I had to hold myself back from drilling harder movements. With that trot, I feel I could get a better leg yield, and I want to work on spiraling in and out and three loop serpentines and lots of transitions. But with it being only the third ride I've gotten him feeling this rideable, I did not want to push him. So we did long diagonals and large circles and figure-8s. I worked primarily on the transitions between bending and straight lines as well as changing the bend. He was great through all of it, although is still struggling more to the right than to the left, which is a nice change IMO.

I worked a bit at the walk to get him moving off of my left leg and stepping into my right rein while tracking right. It's a harder concept than moving him off the inside leg to outside rein, and he figured it out pretty well.

He really struggles with apple eating

The canter was pretty good again. And I discovered yet again that if I ride BETTER, the horse GOES better. Weird. On the right lead canter I had been feeling like he was so out of control that I felt like I had to really haul him around to keep him actually turning and not careening into the fence.

Once again, that was causing bracing on the inside rein like he had been doing at the trot to the left and once again, when I transformed the holding aid to a give and take aid (which I HATE doing ughhh it's not that I want to pull all the time, I just like pushing a horse into a steady contact, this makes me feel like I'm riding backwards), he softened up a bit. He did head wag at first, but I think he's just not the kind of horse that will do that permanently. I've had so many horses that want to head wag the second I do the "give and take" type riding that it has been pounded out of me.

I still don't like it at all, I don't like that the connection has to be so flippity floppy, but if this is what it takes to get him going better, I am willing to change that until he figures it all out and I can go back to being more quiet. I was able to maintain it for the rest of the ride and in the trot too, so I don't think it will be a problem. I just need to make sure it doesn't transfer into any other horse I ride or I'll have a wave of head waggers coming my way, which is the creepiest visual to imagine.

The riverbed, so exciting

At the end, we ran through Training 1. It's a long test in comparison to Intro B, but merely a blip on the test length radar coming off the Grand Prix. Still though, Training 1 proved to be a bit of a challenge, but not one that was too much for schooling.

The walk and trot work were picture perfect. I cannot wait to get him back in the show ring at Intro B. The centerline was straight, the connection was good, the circles were round and easy to ride. All transitions, even the canter transitions, were good. The canter itself is tricky but actually, the left lead was quite good. We aren't ready to show because he's still a bit of a careening mess in the canter, but if I so chose to ride the test in an actual court, I don't think we'd leap out of the court, at least on the left lead.

The right lead however... Well let's just say that if I do that test any time soon, I'm deliberately picking up the canter late so that we're not facing the rail. The canter itself isn't terrible, but he leaps left in the transition pretty badly.

He needs a mane pull... 

Overall though, it was a decent test and a nice way to see that we're not so terribly far off of doing this test at a show. I think what we'll do is eventually get to a schooling show where we do Intro B and Training 1. Then do another schooling show with Training 1 and Training 2 (we need a bit more fitness and a bit better stretch circle for that). THEN do a rated show at Training 1 and Training 2.

Obviously outside of being physically able to ride these tests, we have some issues at shows due to his nerves and loss of rideability. I'm hoping that will be fixed soon enough as we're planning on some clinics when we can't make it to shows each month. I need to figure something out for July, Tracey's only clinic is on a day that I'm coaching at a show, boo.