Can you help with dressage project?

[*Sez*]

I am presently putting together a folder of information to help prepare me for our first dressage test. I have printed off a few relevant bits of the BD rules and regulations and a couple of tests, but any help, tips and advice would be appreciated. Does anyone have or know of a website that is essentially beginners dressage for dummies and outlines (in plain english) everything you could wish to know? ^_^

At the moment, I'm trying to break it down into categories:

1. Basic rules (AKA Things Thou Shalt Not Do)
2. Dress and turnout for me (with pictures)
3. Tack and turnout for Salsa (with pictures)
(to include info on plaiting, because mine are a bit :BOTTOM: )
4. Example tests and schooling
5. "On the day" - to include etiquette, things to remember to take, things to remember to do (i.e. tell them I've arrived!), etc.

And finally a section for me to record scores in so I can see if I'm improving :P . So any assistance the dressage bods out there can offer would be appreciated. Eventually I'll be re-writing it and doing all my own photos and illustrations and putting it into a PDF file, so if anyone would like a copy to help them prepare, I'll let you know when it's done. :Thankyou:

[DITZ]

having a time schedule is useful. For example for a 12.00 test my schedule might look like this :


8.30 groom
9.00 plait
9.45 hitch trailer
10.00 load tack & horse
10.15 leave yard
11.15 arrive & tack up
11.40 warm up
12.00 test

I also keep a standard list of things I need so that I dont forget them.

[Ross]

Don't forget to go and thank the organisers at the end - it takes about 2 minutes and is really appreciated :)

And be nice to the stewards - I'm sure you would be, but so many people are really snotty - remember they've given up their time to run a show for you, and without them it wouldn't happen, so a smile is, again, really appreciated. It helps if you find the ring steward and tell her that you've arrived when you start to warm up; you can also check whether they're running on time (there's nothing worse than getting warmed up and finding they're 30 minutes late!).

Have fun :)

Ross

[*Sez*]

Thanks Ross and Ditz for your tips. Ditz, would you post your list of things to remember, please?:)

[cvb]

Sez, the dressage plans are quite useful as sometimes you discover that the way a movement is supposed to be ridden is not what you thought !

For example I was writing for a judge and the test had a 15 m half circle away from the track, incline back and return to the track before the quarter marker, and trot at the quarter marker.

and loads of the riders were returning *at* the quarter marker and transitioning to trot so losing marks just for riding it inaccurately ! (you needed to show a stride or two of counter canter, so if you didn't do that you lost marks).

[DITZ]

no problem, here goes :

me : jods, jacket, shirt, stock, stock pin, hairnet, bobble, gloves, hat, boots, copy of tests, map, print out of running order, money.
horse : saddle, bridle, stirrups, girth, saddle cloth, bridle number, boots.

Hope that helps. Without it I would (and have) turn up without at least one of the items!