Very Beginner Dressage Test!!!

[toohorsemad]

Ok I am doing a very simple dressage test for pony club! The hardest things in it are the circles in trot and canter (20m at B and E) but yet my horse and me manage to make a mess of it! My horse doesnt like dressage very much because he loves xc and dislikes flatwork... but I am doing a ODE on Sunday and I got the test and I did it in my pony camp dressage test and he broke into trot in the canter circles and he keeps making a mess of the the circles and being lazy and making the circles smaller! I try pushing him on as much as possible and using my inside leg strong on the circles but its not very effective! Any ideas? I would really love to get a good dressage score!

[toohorsemad]

Anyone?

[Luv 2 Trot]

Bending through the circles with the inside leg is good, but remember that you need to balance with the outside aids as well. As you bend through, keep solid contact with the outside rein. Also, make sure you keep your outside leg on to help keep him foward.

You may need to talk with RI about other aids to help, ie spurs or whip.

Best of luck and hope ive helped some!

[Em 1]

As Luv 2 Trot says, you need to keep a contact with the outside rein as well as using your inside leg.

Try riding your circle as four quarters. When you are schooling, start by riding the circles much bigger than they need to be and then spiral them in to 20m. Could you set out some cones or something to guide you both round the circle? Once you've got into the habit hopefully it'll become easier!

[toohorsemad]

Thanks I think I am giving him a rest today because I rode him for pony camp all last week and hes tired so the school will have to be after the competition!

[Skib]

This is how I am taught. You are probably a better rider than me. But I have a good teacher.
Ride the circles in walk first. I learn everything in walk. If you have four cones you can set them round the circle. Dont attempt to think of a whole circle. Imagine the circle as four quarters and walk each quarter in turn.

The contact on the outside rein controls how much your horse can turn his head in. And at a basic level (my teacher taught me this way) where the head of a horse goes, the rest of his body is likely to follow. So the smaller the circle, the more bend you allow.

When you can do this 20m. circle in walk, do it in sitting trot. Again think of riding quarter circles rather than the whole ring. Then rising trot. Then canter. Keeping the same bend. Riding each quarter.

Once you have the circle shape sorted out, you can pay attention to the gait. If your horse is still dropping back into trot when he is supposed to be cantering. Try transitions on the circle. Ride half the circle in trot, the next half in canter, the next quarter in trot. Vary the cones (or letters) at which you ask for the up and down transitions. You can do canter to walk and back to canter too. This exercise will make you and the horse aware of the different cues for trot and canter. And that you ask for a specific gait at a specific point and expect that gait to be maintained until you ask for a downward transition. And it will help youto keep the horse cantering, if you know you want the canter to continue till exactly opposite "A"?

Because you are riding these transitions on a circle, and are using rein contact to control the shape of the circle, you may need to use more leg than if you were riding canter on a straight line. Or going full out XC. And this could be your problem?

I know you want a good score. And you say your horse doesnt like dressage. But my teacher told me that the point of dressage was to increase agility. And doing this sort of exercise, like transitions on a circle, gives you more exact control. And can be used to fine tune your riding when you are riding out.
You know your horse can canter cross country? So there is no point for either of you in cantering round and round a circle. He doesnt sound lazy to me. But if you forget about dressage scores and just focus on the idea of being able to ask for canter at a specific point and just canter half a circle? And have the horse listen to you and respond to every cue, wouldnt that be a really good experience for both of you?

[toohorsemad]

Thanks Skib that really helps hes a hard horse to keep going so I find myself exhauted after riding him! I love him to bits and everyone thinks hes an easy pony to ride but hes not!