Dressage
Team Manager:
Mrs Karen Bishop 07808 094372
What is Dressage:
Dressage is about showing the judge that you can get your pony to do what you want him to do, when you want him to do it. You and your pony have to follow a set of instructions laid out in the dressage test. A judge marks the test. They give you a mark out of ten for how well you carry out each instruction. At the end of the test the marks are added up and the winner is the horse and rider with the highest score.
Flat Work
Schooling your pony is not just something dressage riders do, all riders need to school their ponies be it to improve aids for showjumping for example. The good news is that you have probably already started doing some Dressage without realising! When you are riding at home and getting the pony to do the things that you want him to do you are already practising the basics of dressage. To improve you and your pony, you might want to have lessons with an instructor. This includes the lessons that you have at a rally, where you will get help with your riding which will make the pony behave better. Remember all riders need to be able to school their ponies correctly if you want to get a better result whichever your preferred discipline happens to be.
Competitions
As you and your pony get better and your confidence grows you may want to take part in a competition. If you cannot remember your dressage test, don’t worry as someone can read the test out loud to you (apart from Area Competitions and Championships). With lots of practice and competition experience you may get to compete at National Pony Club Dressage competitions.
Pony Club run two specific competitions for dressage – Winter series and Area Competitions
Winter Series
Aimed at helping Members improve their ability, enhance their experience and enable them to gain confidence.
There are three stages to the series:
Preliminary Rounds are held between July and March all over the country, to enable competitors to qualify for their Area Competition
The 19 Area Competitions will take place between March and April for those who qualified through the Preliminary Rounds
Those who were successful at the Area Competitions will go forward to the Championships.
Winter Series Qualifiers can be found on the Pony Club or Area 9 websites and on local event sites.
Area Dressage
Teams of 4 compete against the rest of the pony clubs in our area at the different test levels, the top 2 teams in each level then qualify for Pony Club National Championships in August.
