Ride A Test
Today I went to Beautiful Gaits farm and did my first Ride A Test. In Dressage you ride different tests in different levels. In the US there are two introductory levels to the lower levels of dressage (1-4th). There are several tests for each of the levels, but at the very very very beginning before you get all fancy, you start with Introductory A.
And that, is what I did today with Lily. It is a very simple pattern, probably taking me 3 minutes and the 15 minutes that followed were some of the best I have ever had in all horse activities. Usually you get scores from the judge and then you are given a percentile based on the total possible points. So for instance, if you get 114 out of 200 points, you get 57% and that is generally the common discussion point for test to test, evaluation of horses, etc. And it isn't like school where 60% is barely passing, instead with scores of 60% you should generally consider moving to the next level.
The great thing about the Ride A Test is that the judge came out and gave me 15 minutes of her time and talked about what was good and what was not. So here is the result:
I got a 57%. I am SO pleased with myself I can't get over it. I did not get a below a 5 and I also got a couple of 7's. The judge said we were VERY consistent and she was very pleased with the basic rhythm. She said I rode well and had a very nice rising trot. She helped me with 10 meter circles because I overshot the centerline by about 10 feet. She helped me with my transitions and asked me questions. At the end she said to me 'You have a very good understanding of the sport. You have obviously studied or done your homework and you should just go and DO'.
Simrat took video and I can't wait to watch the judges feedback-it is always tough to remember everything that was said. But when I went home, I felt good. I felt REALLY good. Dressage is so good for me because it is 1. an individual sport with only one rider at a time 2. athletic for both the horse and the rider 3. skill building for horse and rider 4. very goal oriented.
When I worked in retail a while back we were judged on 7 different attributes. Each day based on our success we were ranked against the other stores (all 750) of them. Your daily ranks led to monthly ranks and so on. And for each 7 you were measured against the other stores in your area (say 10 of them). Your boss was always happy when you were #1 out of those 10. When I started my department (which I managed) was ranked 500 out of 750. I told my senior associate at that time what they key to being in the top 10 nationally was. It wasn't about being amazing at any one attribute, but being good at all of them. We didn't have to be #1 at any of those just #3 or #4 in all of them. Slowly but surely I focused on my teams core competencies, I worked on making them more consistent and eventually we were always #3 or #4 in all 7 attributes in our region. That changed our national rankings and when I left we were #7 out of 750. That is top 1%.
There are many keys to dressage that I am sure I will figure out over time. But I know numbers and statistics and I can guarantee you this, the same principle applies, be consistent, work on your core competencies and do a good job and everything and the scores will come.
And that, is what I did today with Lily. It is a very simple pattern, probably taking me 3 minutes and the 15 minutes that followed were some of the best I have ever had in all horse activities. Usually you get scores from the judge and then you are given a percentile based on the total possible points. So for instance, if you get 114 out of 200 points, you get 57% and that is generally the common discussion point for test to test, evaluation of horses, etc. And it isn't like school where 60% is barely passing, instead with scores of 60% you should generally consider moving to the next level.
The great thing about the Ride A Test is that the judge came out and gave me 15 minutes of her time and talked about what was good and what was not. So here is the result:
I got a 57%. I am SO pleased with myself I can't get over it. I did not get a below a 5 and I also got a couple of 7's. The judge said we were VERY consistent and she was very pleased with the basic rhythm. She said I rode well and had a very nice rising trot. She helped me with 10 meter circles because I overshot the centerline by about 10 feet. She helped me with my transitions and asked me questions. At the end she said to me 'You have a very good understanding of the sport. You have obviously studied or done your homework and you should just go and DO'.
Simrat took video and I can't wait to watch the judges feedback-it is always tough to remember everything that was said. But when I went home, I felt good. I felt REALLY good. Dressage is so good for me because it is 1. an individual sport with only one rider at a time 2. athletic for both the horse and the rider 3. skill building for horse and rider 4. very goal oriented.
When I worked in retail a while back we were judged on 7 different attributes. Each day based on our success we were ranked against the other stores (all 750) of them. Your daily ranks led to monthly ranks and so on. And for each 7 you were measured against the other stores in your area (say 10 of them). Your boss was always happy when you were #1 out of those 10. When I started my department (which I managed) was ranked 500 out of 750. I told my senior associate at that time what they key to being in the top 10 nationally was. It wasn't about being amazing at any one attribute, but being good at all of them. We didn't have to be #1 at any of those just #3 or #4 in all of them. Slowly but surely I focused on my teams core competencies, I worked on making them more consistent and eventually we were always #3 or #4 in all 7 attributes in our region. That changed our national rankings and when I left we were #7 out of 750. That is top 1%.
There are many keys to dressage that I am sure I will figure out over time. But I know numbers and statistics and I can guarantee you this, the same principle applies, be consistent, work on your core competencies and do a good job and everything and the scores will come.
Labels:
Choctaw Lily,
Dressage,
Learning Lessons
3 comments:
That is AWESOME! Great job! I think you should be very pleased with yourself and your horse. :)
Congratulations! That's awesome!
Congratualtions, that's pretty cool. I'd be excited to have a judge spend that amount of time with me helping too.
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