On the Levels

We went to the cabin over the weekend, not horse related I know, but I do have a point. We don't have a phone, cell service, internet, or cable up there (serial killers, please leave us be …) which means we get to be unplugged from society. This is a very good thing.

Not having a connection to the outside world doesn't mean we have no electronics however. Hubby uses the iPad, I read on the Kindle, and we enjoy watching movies and TV shows on Blue Ray/DVD, which brings me to the dressage point to this post. I brought along my copy of On the Levels, USDF's video package that includes all of the tests ridden with a trainer's and judge's remarks.

I hadn't watched it in awhile as I've been hovering at Training Level for so long. Now that I am going to show First Level (Test One) in a few weeks, I wanted to see it ridden with a judge's scoring. I watched the test from C with the judge's comments and then again from E. What was most interesting was the differences in scoring. 

Just from the way it is filmed, I am pretty sure the judge gives his comments while watching a video of the ride. I say this because the same judge scored the ride from the C perspective and then again from the E perspective. It was the same ride, just videoed from the two different locations.

The score from the C perspective was quite a bit higher than from the judge at E (same judge). It was easy to see why. Several rider errors became obvious once you saw them from E or B. The biggest "error" was the 10-meter half circles at X; they were large ovals with four to five trot steps at X. This was the movement I most wanted to see ridden and scored.

Another "error" was in the cantering lengthening. The rider really asked for a lot of jump into the lengthening, and the judge marked her down for that. A friend pointed that very thing out to me earlier by saying it's not a hand gallop. The judge just wants to see if the horse is truly in front of your leg. 

The third thing the judge "picked at" was not having enough inside bend. We already struggle with that so it won't be a shock to see that on my score sheet. And maybe, since I am working on it, it won't be as bad as I think.

I am so glad I took the time to watch the DVD. Of course, I forgot to bring it home so I can't watch it again until we go back up this coming weekend. I learned a lot by watching the test and seeing an immediate score for how it was ridden. We're ready!